Reduce throughput times and set-up times, reduce the effort required for process development and integration and at the same time meet the increasing degree of complexity: The new automatic lathe from Gildemeister Italiana, a subsidiary of DMG Mori, meets these challenges. The heart of the machine is the spindle drum with six spindles for simultaneous machining of several workpieces. The drum moves the workpieces to the tools with high precision and speed. It takes just 0.65 seconds for one of the six spindles to move to the next position.

To return to the starting position after processing in the six stations, the drum has to be rotated back 300 degrees. The unit, which weighs over three tons, only needs one second to do this. The biggest challenge: a safe energy supply system for all six spindles. The solution: a unique energy supply system that follows the rotation of the drum and enables the linear movements of the spindle drums.

A total of eight Igus energy chains, 64 cables and 73 hoses are used in the multi-spindle automatic lathe. An application for which Gildemeister has now received the golden vector and 5,000 euros in prize money. The prize is awarded every two years for energy chain applications. The jury is made up of representatives from the specialist media, industry and research.

Silver and bronze go to Austria and Germany
The silver vector award goes to AlpinaTec from Austria for its work on the Fraunhofer Institute's Gestra project. Gestra is a radar-based system for searching and mapping space debris. A complex rotary energy guide is used specifically for the azimuth axis and a double chain system on both sides for the elevation axis. The bronze vector award goes to Grenzebach for its friction stir welding system. Both the energy and media supply within the welding head and the connecting structure had to be flexible. The coupling of a twister belt with the R4 energy guiding chains proved to be a creative and fail-safe solution for the compact installation space.

Premiere: Green vector award for sustainable projects
Sustainability is a major topic at Igus. Since the end of 2019, for example, the company has been taking back and recycling used energy chains. The jury was therefore keen to present an award for particularly sustainable projects. The green vector award is endowed with 1,000 euros and goes to the company DropWater in the USA and the German company Huber.

DropWater received the award for a vending machine that fills drinks into compostable containers at the touch of a button. The water for the drink does not have to be transported as the machine has a water connection. A prefabricated readychain ensures safe cable routing for the linear robot used.

Huber, on the other hand, uses solar energy to dry sewage sludge in a water treatment plant in Egypt. Dewatered sticky sludge is reduced in mass and volume by solar drying to around a quarter and turned into granules. The plant is used to recycle drinking water from the polluted Bahr-El-Baqar canal system for 500,000 people. Energy chains with Chainflex cables are used in 128 units over a travel distance of 100 meters to ensure a fail-safe power and energy supply for the automatic plant. as