Page 21 - Industrial Technology April 2021 issue

DESIGN ENGINEERING

leading company for special cables, available from stock, with long delivery times but they can select from a
for continuous motion in applications involving energy standard range of products which has been specially
chains and torsional stress. Igus in Cologne has a developed for torsion applications and includes over 100
2
3,800m test laboratory – the world’s largest lab for types of robot cables, all available from stock.
dynamic cables. Here, Igus twists the chainflex CFROBOT
cables millions of times while continuously measuring Predictive maintenance
core resistance in different test set-ups. The ‘smart plastics’ products from Igus provide a glimpse
The biggest challenge in the tests is that it is difficult into the future of robotic cables. Under the name isense,
to reproduce every conceivable application that involves Igus products carry different sensors that detect the
torsion over the service life of the product. While service condition of components such as cables or energy chains.
life limits can be dependably predicted in the case of They measure, among other things, wear during the
linear travel in energy chains, due to fixed parameters and operation and will alert the user with enough notice to
known ambient-influences, robot applications are usually plan a repair or replacement.
much more complex. In particular, the sequence of By networking with the icom communication module,
movements the robot will follow is often not known during data is transmitted to an intelligent system. The module
the planning phase. For the cable supplier, it is therefore can be connected to all Igus specific sensors. Once the
very important to test, test and test again. measured values from a sensor have been transferred to
All the test results are recorded in a database at Igus. the icom module, they have to be interpreted in order to
With Igus’s decades-long experience in plastics generate instructions from the module.
technology, the company can offer a 36-month guarantee To date, this has been possible via connection to the
on the mechanical specifications of the chainflex cables, Igus cloud. Due to the increasing importance of IT
allowing the mechanical engineering processes to be security, however, many companies are increasingly
precisely planned. If a CFROBOT cable should fail when relying on developing of their own SCADA systems, which
used for the purpose described in the catalogue, Igus will is why Igus has now advanced its data concentrator
supply a new cable immediately and free of charge. Users module into icom.plus. With the new module, the maximum system runtimes with minimal failure risk. The
can order cables of one metre and longer, which will be customer can integrate the data in the way that best suits data in the cloud draws on the 10 billion test cycles of
delivered within 24 hours. The advantage of the their equipment. With the online connection of icom.plus, energy chains and cables performed in the Igus test
CFROBOT series for robot manufacturers and users is that the service life statement of smart plastic products is laboratory.
they do not have to depend on expensive, special cables continually connected to the Igus cloud to enable MORE INFORMATION: www.igus.co.uk

well placed

M5/M8/M12 Signal/Power/Data IP67/IP68/IP69K For assembly & moulded

www.binder-connector.co.uk