• WAAM 3D printing technology and benefits
• Sensor Tip: IO-Link, what it is and why it's used
• Application: Dancer arm application
• and more. |
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WAAM technology demo and WAAM printed metal bridge
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WAAM Technology 3D Prints Metal Bridge
First, WAAM stands for wire arc additive manufacturing. According to a company called Ramlab, it is the combination of two processes—depositing layers of metal on top of each other, essentially 3D metal printing, combined with a gas metal arc welding robot melting a feed-wire as it goes. Benefits include the ability to manufacture large objects, like a bridge as well as complex metal parts. A research paper (source 2) describes time and cost saving benefits compared to other metal parts manufacturing processes as well.
A 39 foot bridge over a canal in the Netherlands was made using WAAM technology. The process from a robotic arm depositing and melting metal to creation and the final bridge are shown in the video.
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What Is IO-Link and Why Is It Widely Used
What is IO-Link?
IO-Link is an open-standard serial communication protocol which means no individual company or entity has the right to exclude anyone else—it is open for all to use. The practical result of this is you can specify an IO-Link part and use it with any other part, even from another company, as long as it confirms to the standard. It is used to transfer data and communicate other information.
It enables sensors, actuators and other devices to connect to a network and provides fieldbus functionality but is point-to-point communication, so it not classified as a fieldbus. Communication to a master device is bi-directional and the IO-Link master can transmit this data over various networks, fieldbuses or backplane buses, making the data accessible for PLCs and HMI. |
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Why companies choose to use IO-Link Technology
Here’s a list of benefits followed by a brief explanation:
• Increased productivity through increased up time
• Easier design, set up and maintenance
• Increased flexibility
• Better scalability
• Lower inventory and operating costs
• Plug ‘n play operation |
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IO-link technology increases productivity and uptime because it includes diagnostic information that reports whether a sensor is functioning or in need of replacement. This means users don’t have to check every sensor in a system if a problem occurs. By using simple 3-wire connectivity that does not have to go all the way to a PLC from a sensor, IO-Link devices are easier to set up and maintain.
IO-Link can handle thousands of devices from more than 150 manufacturers on one cable. The bi-directional data also permits adjusting the sensor from the controller. The protocol allows for cyclic and acyclic service-data communication, separately from process data communication. These features greatly increase flexibility and scalability. Because IO-Link sensors can function like traditional 3-wire sensors when not connected to IO-Link systems, the same part can be stocked for other applications, lowering inventory costs. Several of the features described in the preceding paragraphs can lower operating costs as well.
One really nice feature IO-Link provides is that by using a unique identifier for each device, it can store each sensor’s configuration values in an IO-Link master. This means that if a sensor needs to be replaced, when the new one is plugged in, it is automatically programmed to the stored setting values and ready to go.
Among the sensors Novotechnik offers, one excellent example of an IO-Link device are the 44-Turn magnetic encoder MC1-2800 and the RFC 4800 angle sensor. View the manual and specifications for the RFC 4800 here.
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Wire Enameling Drawing Speed Control
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A manufacturer of wire-enameling machines needed to control the dancer arm position that takes up the slack in the wire the machine spools.
Novotechnik's IP6500 rotary potentiometer is mounted on a dancer arm. The dancer controls the speed of the main drive of the drawing machine as a function of the enameling equipment wire-speed. An increase of the diameter of the coil increases the wire speed. The slack in the wire to be coiled-up then becomes smaller. The IP6500 detects this variation in the dancer arm position, and the speed of the wire coil is reduced accordingly. Thus the take-up speed of the wire is effectively monitored and regulated constantly.
The main criteria for selecting the IP6500 are long life and the ingress protection rating of IP65, because during the manufacturing process of wire-enameling our customer needs to monitor the operation constantly over a fairly small electrical angle, so accuracy is important. The IP6000 Series has independent linearity of ±0.075% and repeatability of 0.007°.
Learn more. |
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