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Micro motors as the driving force behind intralogistics
Suitable transport structures in intralogistics are a prerequisite in all industries in order to withstand competitive pressure in the future. The basis for this is comprehensive automation, which would be inconceivable without an armada of powerful micromotors. These often have to release considerable forces in very confined spaces, work reliably even in continuous or stop-and-go operation and often also position with high precision. Drive systems from FAULHABER have proven their efficiency in many applications, from sorting and transportation to a wide variety of robotic solutions.
Transporting and sorting
If products are transported on conveyor belts or roller conveyors, they can be separated via diverters, flaps or pushers and transported to the desired processing route. It is not only in large warehouses, where thousands of parcels are transported per hour, that speed is of the essence when it comes to automatic sorting. The switches must be set to the correct position with split-second precision. For this task, graphite commutated DC-micromotors are often used in conjunction with gearboxes matched to them (Fig. 1). Their commutation system is very robust and is particularly suitable for dynamic high-performance applications with fast start/stop operation, as required for automatic sorting.
Autonomous logistics robots
Autonomously driving and independently acting logistics robots are a crucial building block for "Intralogistics 4.0". They are used for storage as well as retrieval and shipping preparation. A typical setup consisting of a lifting column and gripper on an autonomous logistics robot (Fig. 2) contains, for example, brushless DC servomotors with an integrated motion controller and planetary gearbox as the drive unit. When used in the lifting column, this combination ensures precise positioning during storage or retrieval in continuous operation with constant load changes. The complete drive unit only weighs around 300 g. This means that there is no need for a counterweight, even when the gripper is fully extended. With a diameter of just 32 mm and a length of 85.4 mm, the brushless DC servomotors are also very compact. This makes it possible to design the gripper to be very flat so that it can also pick up packages that are stored just above the floor. Expensive storage space can thus be optimally utilized.
Flexible through production
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are the means of choice for ensuring flexible transportation in the production process. Drive technology from FAULHABER (see company box) plays an important role here: Brushless DC servomotors, for example, are suitable for driving the wheels; the motor power can be transmitted to the wheels via planetary gearboxes and drive belts (Fig. 3). Encoders from the IE3-1024 series are attached directly to the servomotors for precise position detection. The magnetic incremental encoders, which are available with different resolutions, have an index channel for referencing one revolution of the drive shaft and a standardized electronic encoder interface. Resolution, direction of rotation, index width and index position can be flexibly adapted to the application. A motion controller controls the servomotors and communicates with the control system. The microdrives are also used in mobile robot platforms that move completely autonomously in industrial halls without a pre-installed control system. Here, they can score points in the wheel modules primarily due to their high power density (Fig. 4). There is hardly an area of intralogistics in which the small FAULHABER drive systems are not represented.
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