The vacuum-based soft gripper will grip sensitive and lightweight objects of odd geometries and/or an unusual surface. piSOFTGRIP has three gripping fingers and a sealed vacuum cavity, all made in one piece, resulting in a simple and robust product. The product is not sensitive to dust and the gripping force is easily adjusted and controlled […]
Pre-engineered robotic carton clamp tool can be used out of the box
This standard clamp tool is designed to increase efficiency and decrease production time. The carton clamp tool EOAT is pre-engineered and one-of-a-kind in the industry; it’s simple to set up and allows for multiple configurations and accessories. It’s a suitable tool for handling boxes, crates, and trays and has a payload of up to 50 […]
Compressed air knowledge Lacking? Throw the book at it!
By Ron Marshall If you want to learn a lot about compressed air, you need to be prepared to read. There are very few comprehensive training courses covering the full subject of compressed air from inlet air, through the compressors, filters, piping and to the end uses. One “must have” document is the Compressed Air […]
Compressed air fail: When unloaded is loaded
A compressed air auditor placed data loggers on a 100 psi system, measuring pressure, power and flow. He downloaded the data and started scanning through it only to find a surprise. Instead of finding a system running between its 90 to 100 psi setpoint, the system, during low load times reached as high as 150 […]
Compressed air fail: Mind the gauges
A sawmill had a large compressor located in a small outbuilding near their mill. The compressor was moved away from the plant because there was excessive dust inside. But even in a remote location, the sawdust found its way into the compressor intake — and deposited inside the compressor’s air-cooled aftercooler. The restriction caused by […]
Compressed air fail: Verification spots trouble
An aerospace plant purchased a new high efficiency variable speed drive compressor to replace an older VFD unit that had come to the end of its lifespan. The new compressor was more efficient than the old unit and was expected to save significant energy; calculated specific power was projected at 22 kW per 100 cfm […]
Compressed air fail: Flow meter trouble
A sawmill was having trouble finding a flow meter to measure the compressed air that was produced by compressors totaling 1,500 cfm utput. This flow was running through a 3-in. pipe. The plant personnel contacted a compressed air expert to see if he could help. They were surprised by his answer. The most common and […]
Mode selection makes a difference
A little button press can make a big difference. The compressor in the photo was running in a control mode called online/offline (aka load/unload) for the first bit of its service life but now has been changed to a mode called modulation. The reason for the change, as found by a compressed air system auditor, […]
Festo’s auto industry predictive software named an AI champion
Festo has been named an artificial intelligence (AI) champion for the company’s project Intelligent Pneumatic Runtime Monitoring. The award was given during the inaugural Baden-Württemberg awards ceremony on August 11. Baden-Württemberg, Germany’s third largest state, is one of the country’s leading regions for AI development. Thousands of pneumatic clamping systems are used daily in […]
Turn off the air before the lights
An aerospace plant has an 8 hour per day shift, but the rest of the time the plant is empty. The facility has a compressor monitoring system where the pressure, power and flow is recorded over time. Recently, the flow meter output has been showing a regular timed pattern during overnights and weekends. The maintenance […]
