Speakers confirmed for Automation event

The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Research Institute (AMTRI) and product design consultancy PDD will both make presentations at Eureka’s ‘Automation for the Future’ Design Day next month. The event, held on 11 September at the Kaetsu Centre in Cambridge, blends technical presentations with hands-on workshops to bring design engineers up to speed with the latest automation technologies. Bob Lloyd, project manager at AMTRI, will give a personal view on some of the emerging technologies – such as new algorithms – that will revolutionise the design of automation systems in future. He is joined on the programme by Tim Court, operations director at design consultancy PDD, who will explains some of the key steps behind managing an automation project – including a case study that shows how setting clear guidelines helped automation specialist Modular Automation to build a complex assembly machine for a major client (pictured). In the afternoon, the focus shifts to four hands-on workshops led by event sponsors Heidenhain, Delta Tau, Oriental Motor and Copley Motion. Subjects covered in the workshops include: · The importance of high quality encoder signal output to the dynamics of drive response, plus an explanation of how a single encoder in safety-related positional applications can meet the dual channel requirements of safety regulations. This is illustrated with a demonstration rig. (Heidenhain) · Delta Tau will help delegates to understand the plethora of engineering terms applied to motion control systems before examining how ‘traditional’ control filters have improved – both by migrating hardware from power amplifier to position control, and by enhancing the control filter itself. · Oriental Motor compares the relative benefits of two- and five-phase stepper motors, such as where each should each be specified and how they should they be designed in. The workshop includes a food industry case study, plus information on solving gearbox backlash cheaply and efficiently. · Copley Motion explains how a ‘mechatronic’ approach to linear motion can benefit designers – by comparing existing systems with a theoretical ‘ideal linear motor object’. Details of a gearbox test rig are given in the workshop. To secure a place at the event (which costs £95 if booked by the end of the month) go to www.designdays.co.uk/automation