To help Mott Corporation increase its design and production capabilities for filtration and flow control components, Renishaw supplied the RenAM 500 Flex. This new metal additive manufacturing (AM) machine has enabled Mott Corporation to reduce machine turnaround and setup times, while improving the performance metrics of components. Technological advancements like this are pivotal in enhancing production processes.
Mott Corporation's Capabilities and Expertise
Mott Corporation specialises in solving filtration and flow control engineering challenges in integrated components, point of use subassemblies, and integrated subsystems. It offers an extensive material selection for the most critical operating conditions, such as highly controlled bioreactor environments, semiconductor, chemical processing/refinement, and aerospace applications.
Challenges with Traditional Manufacturing Methods
Historically, Mott Corporation produced components using three compaction methods: axial, isostatic, and rolling. However, there are some geometries these techniques are unable to produce. To expand its capabilities, Mott decided to investigate AM, identifying laser powder bed fusion as the best technique for its needs.
Open Architecture: Key to Research and Development
The most important consideration for Mott Corporation when choosing a machine was that it had open architecture, to enable the parameter editing that is so essential to research and development work. The organisation therefore approached Renishaw to purchase a RenAM 400.
Upgrading to the RenAM 500 Flex for Enhanced Performance
For added control, the company then upgraded its system to the new RenAM 500 Flex machine. This machine is configurable with one (500S) or four (500Q) high power 500 W lasers and offers automatic or flexible powder and waste handling. The lasers can be used in either modulated or continuous wave regimes, adding an additional level of customisation. It uses the same industry-leading gas flow system, safety, and precision digital optics as the rest of the RenAM 500 series but offers additional flexibility with the ability to swap the metal powder feedstock in a short amount of time. Incorporating the RenAM 500 Flex reduced machine turnaround and setup times by over 50 per cent, while improving the standard deviation of performance metrics by approximately 30 per cent in certain cases.
Impact of Technological Advancements on Manufacturing Processes
Incorporating technological advancements like the RenAM 500 Flex into the production process at Mott Corporation has drastically improved both speed and accuracy. The ability to swap the metal powder feedstock quickly and efficiently allowed for better flexibility, all while reducing setup times and enhancing performance metrics.
Segway Navimow: Recognised for Technological Advancements in Robotics
Segway Navimow, the robotic lawn mower arm of Segway, received seven awards at CES 2025 − hosted in Las Vegas at the start of this month – for its lineup of robotic lawn mowers. Showcasing a portfolio comprised of the X3 Series, i Series, and H Series, the successes highlight the brand’s position at the forefront of automated lawn care.
Technological Advancements in Lawn Care
The X3 Series, which will launch in Spring this year, is designed to maintain up to 2.5-acre (10,000 m²) lawns with unparalleled efficiency by leveraging a self-developed EFLS 3.0-enhanced RTK coverage system, vSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping), and VIO (Visual Inertial Odometry) technologies. The machine received three awards at the show, including acknowledgements in the following categories: Geekspin’s ‘Best of CES 2025’, The Ambient’s ‘Best in Show’ and ZDNet’s ‘Best Robot Lawn Mower at CES 2025’.
Also recognized were the i Series and H Series, with the former earning accolades from The Gadgety Awards, Trusted Reviews, and TWICE PICKS, and the latter for House Digest’s ‘Best of CES 2025’. Designed to tackle smaller lawns with precision to deliver flawless results, the H Series launched in the UK in 2023, while the i Series was introduced last year.
Segway Navimow’s Environmental Impact
Commenting on the award wins, Segway Navimow CEO George Ren said, “It’s incredibly rewarding to see all of the team’s hard work recognised at CES 2025 and we’re delighted that the Navimow range picked up seven awards across the show. Our lineup of mowers has given back a significant amount of time to homeowners and reduced over 1.13 million kilograms equivalent of carbon emissions in the process.”
igus Mobile Shore Power Outlet: Technological Advancements in Marine Industry
The igus Mobile Shore Power Outlet (iMSPO) is a mobile connection system for shore power supply that can be aligned to the ship’s position at berth. With iMSPO already deployed at the Port of Hamburg, igus has received the ‘Port Innovation of the Year’ award at the Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo Europe 2024.
Innovative Marine Power Supply Solutions
Cable specialist igus® has developed the igus Mobile Shore Power Outlet (iMSPO) for exactly this: the world's first movable power supply that is used to connect ships at any point along the quay. An iMSPO system can cover a ship berth of over 400 metres in length, meaning that in future, shore power will come to the ship and not the other way round. This gives port operators full flexibility while reducing operating, installation, and maintenance costs.
The iMSPO system includes a mobile trolley fitted with a socket. An igus energy chain system ensures safe and reliable guidance of the cables. The roller e-chain that is used allows long travel distances with heavy cables. The process is simple and smooth: Once a ship is moored to the quay, the iMSPO is moved to the connection point, then the connection process begins. The socket box is lowered, and the protective cover opens. The ship's cables can be connected directly and easily to the sockets. After that, the protective cover of the socket box is closed and locked to prevent access during operation and to ensure a safe power supply. The socket box is then retracted so as not to obstruct the berth while the power is supplied.
Luminous Wins King's Award for Technological Advancements in Special Effects
A tech scale-up that has created special effects for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre shows across the USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Australia, the Commonwealth Games, and Disney’s touring productions, has been recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. Luminous was awarded the accolade in recognition of its innovation and creativity which has delivered global success.
Creating Cutting-Edge Effects for Live Events
The events engineering business, based in Exeter, was the brainchild of founders Mike Badley and Edwin Samkin who launched Luminous at Exeter Science Park in 2017. Both qualified engineers, Mike’s background was in film special effects including Bond, Star Wars, and Batman, and Ed was delivering special effects for live events including London 2012.
Since 2017, Luminous has been responsible for devising stand-out concepts and creating world-record beating flames, creating jaw-dropping displays around the world with its bespoke technology developed in Exeter. The team continuously develops new hardware, ensuring user-friendliness and reliability for its operators in the events industry.
Innovative Water and Smoke Effects Technology
With its roots in science, Luminous specialises in manipulating physics and chemistry to bring live performance, experiences, and projects to life. From super-sized water effects and digital rain to huge flames and smoke effects, the team engineer’s technological advancements that light up stages and performances across the world. Luminous has recently launched cutting-edge, large-scale water and smoke effects including the HYDRA-TECH Digital Rain System creating controllable rain and water effects onstage and the SMOKE-TECH Cryo curtain generating large-scale smoke effects for live events. Both systems are modular, suitable for the largest events. Luminous plans to expand its product range with new technological advancements in the next 12 months.
