Electronics

You may be at the point of looking at adding feedback to your mechanics in order to make them more precise or to capture some of the errors I discussed last episode in Episode 20. But, you may also be wondering about some of the problems that can cause.

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I have a question for you:  Do you embrace linear encoders?  Or do you avoid them whenever possible?  Or are you wondering what a linear encoder even is?  After all this sizing and selecting of mechanics, and even designing your own mechanics, you might be considering putting a feedback device on there and whether you should or not.

LOSTPED is an acronym where LOSTPED stands for Load, Orientation, Speed, Travel, Precision, Environment and Duty Cycle.  But, what does it REALLY mean?

In this video you will see just a few of Valins custom engineered solutions. A complete list of solutions includes integrated automation, electrical subassemblies, motion control subassemblies, robotic solutions, custom gantry systems, custom server solutions, control panels, valve assemblies, nitrogen generators, filtration systems, and custom heating solutions. 

A common topic when putting together a motion control system and a gantry is whether to use end-of-travel limit switches, home sensors or absolute encoders. This really depends upon the application. So, let's talk about the pros and cons.

You cannot just start on the mechanics, pick the motors, pick the drives, pick the controls, pick the HMI.  First you must understand everything all together.  Since we're talking about mechanics, there's a few things we need to kind of jump on right off the bat.  To figure out the holistic approach, there's a lot more to it.

When we size, select, and design gantry systems such as this one, we must make sure that we take into account the whole framing that this is going to be mounted on.

Back in Episode 6, I explained to you the different types of linear mechanics.  This included ballscrews, belt & pulleys, linear motors and even rack & pinion.  I get the question all the time: which linear mechanics do I use?

A very important factor to keep in mind when sizing your gantry system is the cable management and cable lengths you'll need. If you think about it, we're going to need cables to span throughout every axis of motion.

One of the things that can really trip people up with sizing and selecting a gantry system is whether they need one or two motors for the X and X-prime. In this video we will shed some light on this topic.

After taking a break from mechanics for a few episodes, we're returning to the idea of a gantry. But, you may wonder what a gantry looks like. For an explanation of that, we're going to turn to Valin’s own Michael Reynaud with a special animation by Valin’s Cassidy in order to show you what a gantry looks like.

I am continuing my conversation with you about EMC installation. We talked about electrical noise, where it comes from and how we control it. We talked about the reasons for Mains filters. Now I'm going to talk a little bit about how to select Mains filters and unfortunately, it's a real black art.

A new way of thinking about nitrogen. A new source of sustainability. Advanced on-site generator producing nitrogen gas from compressed air to produce all the nitrogen you need.

Continuing on talking about electrical noise, I often times have suggested mains filters to customers and they say, “Well I'm not shipping my system to Europe so I don't need it.”  But there are very good reasons for putting a mains filter on your system even when you're not shipping it to Europe.  Let's take a look at this.

Today we're taking a break from all the mechanical topics we've been talking about and let's talk about an electrical one: electrical noise.

What is specmanship?  Why do we care?  Well, in case you havent noticed, the catalog specs are not always straight forward as they appear.  Let's look at a couple examples.

This overview will help you to understand the differences between industrial automation manufacturers, representatives, distributors and integrators…and who you want to reach out to for help.

We've been talking about a lot of different basic terminology.  Now we're going to talk about just some basic types of linear mechanics.

We're continuing on with talking about some of the basic terminology and things you need to know in order to be able to size your own mechanics and gantry. We cover motion requirements and a summary at the end of the last several episodes.

As we dive further into sizing and selecting mechanics, there are a couple of terms that are extremely important in understanding the requirements of an application.

Before we dive into the meat of the matter of sizing and selecting mechanics, there are some basic concepts we need to understand: namely the force, torque, moment, inertia, and axes of motion.

You may be wondering what the main components are that you need to make a motion control system. What are the minimum number of components you need?

The new 2-Phase Bipolar Stepper Motor CVD Driver offers superior performance and value and is ideal for OEM or single axis machines. T