COVER STORY
Developments in motion control technology streamline industrial automation design
Accurate motion control is the heart of modern industrial automation. Whether it’s a robotic arm assembling intricate electronic components or a conveyor system managing the flow of goods, this technology plays a pivotal role in achieving seamless operations. It is like the invisible but ever attentive servant that delivers precisely, accurately and predictably the movements that the system mandates, bringing robots, CNC machines, and numerous other automated processes to life. The quality of its design has a huge impact on the speed, efficiency, quality and material consumption of the industrial process as a whole. Analog Devices, a pioneering leader in the field of motion control solutions, has been at the forefront of innovation, driving progress and reliability across various industries. As a trusted advisor, Analog Devices work together with customers to co-create easily adopted solutions, enable digital transformation, and build a sustainable industrial future. In this month’s edition, Pierre Morris, field applications engineer at Anglia, provides an overview of the latest
trends in motion control and solutions from Analog Devices, helping customers to optimize their designs to meet the need for greater efficiency and sustainability.
Intelligent motion control
Intelligent motion control combines precision feedback, advanced sensing, high performance control, and seamless connectivity to deliver deterministic motion solutions that enable highly flexible and efficient manufacturing. Motion control solutions in robotics have evolved from basic on/off fixed speed motors to complex multi-axis servo-drive solutions. This transformation has been driven by the increasing complexity of automation required to deliver higher levels of performance and autonomy in smart manufacturing and to reduce energy consumption, examples shown in Figure 1.
Trends in intelligent motion control There are four key drivers accelerating innovation in the intelligent motion space: reduced energy consumption, agile production, digital transformation, and the move toward new service-based business models which rely on reducing downtime and increased asset utilization.
Figure 1 – Connected intelligent motion control system examples
Reduced energy consumption As much as 70% of the electricity used in industry is consumed by electric motors. Intelligent motion solutions deliver significant reductions in energy consumption by moving more applications from fixed speed motors to high efficiency motors and variable speed drives, in part driven by energy efficiency regulations.
Agile production
As industries adapt to keep up with consumer demand, changing buyer behaviours and smaller batch sizes, agile production— based on reconfigurable production lines—is required to deliver more customization and faster turnaround times. Agile production increases resilience in times of disruption and enables a faster response to changing customer demands.
Digital transformation
Motion data and insights from advanced sensing are now more accessible, as motion assets are networked together
to share data in real-time. This data can be analysed by powerful cloud-computing and AI to optimize manufacturing flows and monitor the current state of health of the assets across the entire installation.
New service-based business models Intelligent motion applications are integrating condition monitoring capabilities to implement real-time monitoring of industrial assets’ health. This creates new business model opportunities for predictive maintenance and service-based contracts around deployed assets, reducing unplanned downtime and delivering higher levels of productivity and asset utilization.
Sustainable automation
Optimized industrial motor systems could help cut global electricity demand by an estimated 10% and significantly reduce industrial CO2
emissions. The global electricity supply in 2022 was 28,642 terawatt-hours and was responsible for
10 November 2023
Components in Electronics
www.cieonline.co.uk
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