4 tips for motion control

Swedish lubricants and seals giant SKF offered advice recently on motion control applications. 1. Use operators to drive reliability. Since machine operators are closer to their machines than anyone else, they are in the best position to note visual, auditory, and odor cues that something might be going wrong with the machines they tend.

By Staff December 1, 2006

Swedish lubricants and seals giant SKF offered advice recently on motion control applications.

1. Use operators to drive reliability. Since machine operators are closer to their machines than anyone else, they are in the best position to note visual, auditory, and odor cues that something might be going wrong with the machines they tend. Consider hardware, software, and training methods to make machine operators the first line of defense in preventive maintenance programs.

2. Consider a person in the loop control. While the goal of most automation activities is to replace people with automatons, sometimes it’s just not possible. Person-in-the-loop control looks at an operator as an intelligent, adaptable system component when it is impossible, impractical, or inadvisable to replace them.

3. Centralize lubrication systems: As systems become more complex, the number of lubrication points increases, as does the penalty for over/under lubricating them. Centralized lubrication systems, in which most or all of the lubrication points are serviced from a central location, makes it possible to introduce highly sophisticated lubrication procedures based on machine usage rather than time, accounting for varying conditions, such as speed and temperature.

4. Use mechatronic components to save time and resources. Putting motion and control in one package integrates mechanical and electronic technologies with application-specific software. Consider multi-functional components, such as bearing assemblies that include position, force, and speed transducers as well as races, bearings, etc. Mechatronics combines mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, and information technology.

www.skfusa.com