Exhibition organiser, DFA Media, is optimistic that next month’s Drives & Controls show (NEC Hall 3/3A, Birmingham, 8-10 April 2014) will exceed the visitor numbers of the 2012 show, reflecting the significant return of confidence to the UK manufacturing sector. The free-to-attend exhibition will cover the very latest in mechanical power transmission, motion control and automation from over 300 leading companies from around the globe.
For 2014, the biennial Drives & Controls exhibition will once again be co-located with leading complementary shows Plant & Asset Management and Air-Tech, together with the Fluid Power & Systems Exhibition, and the newly launched European Offshore & Energy Exhibition. These shows will run alongside MACH - the UK's largest biennial event for manufacturing technologies, which will run throughout the week commencing April 7.
Seminar programme
Complementing the exhibitions will be a full programme of free technical seminars, with speakers offering expert insight and practical advice on important and topical issues.
New to Drives & Controls 2014 will be the Motor Driven Systems (MDS) programme, which brings together the varied strands of legislation, standardisation, system strategies and technological developments that affect motor driven systems.
Featuring representatives from the UK Government, the EU, research bodies, trade associations, manufacturers and end users, MDS focuses on practical solutions to real-life industry requirements.
Electric motor driven systems comprise a massive 40 percent of the world's total electricity consumption. Despite this, many businesses are unaware of the technologies available that have the potential to significantly reduce their energy costs, and in turn the global demand for electricity by 20 percent - 30 percent.
MDS presents a series of live events that focus on ways to make these huge savings a reality by applying a systems engineering approach to reduce energy, improve performance and ultimately save money.
Ian Atkinson, managing director of event organiser, DFA Media, hopes to build on the success of the 2012 shows by further improving the look and layout of each co-located event, as well as making it as easy as possible for visitors to navigate their way around them. He also welcomes the MDS programme, which will feature for the first time at Drives & Controls in 2014.
So what can you expect to find at this year’s event? We haven’t the room here to mention every exhibitor and the products they plan to show, but we hope the following brief preview will give you a flavour of what’s on offer.
Lenze and its subsidiary, Techdrives are putting on a bit of a splash with several product launches on stand D470. Among these, the company's new c300 and p300 controllers are economical units that are easy to integrate on machines with central control. The two models are for DIN rail mounting in the control cabinet or panel mounting with HMI visualisation, and both use the same operating system based on PLC logic compliant with IEC 61131 and CoDeSys standards.
Using a high speed backplane bus, the c300 controllers can be plugged together with up to 64 stations of I/O. This makes a very compact and space saving assembly with reduced wiring time. The p300 controllers have a colour touch screen available in three sizes: 4.3, 7 and 10.4 inches. The latter are particularly useful for smaller scale machines, as they combine control and visualisation in one unit.
Meanwhile, Techdrives will be highlighting the Panasonic MINAS A5 servo drive and servomotor system, now extended with higher powers to 15kW, plus optional features like Safe Torque Off, and EtherCAT communications. The A5 range is now available in 15 power steps from 50W to 15kW.
In addition to its Mobile Info Bus (Stand D964), fitted with all the latest innovations for industry and IT technology, Rittal will have a variety of new products on display in the main hall on stand D230, including an operating housing with handle strips that can easily be mounted to a support arm system from Rittal’s CP 60/120/180 range.
First introduced in the 100mm high version, Rittal’s 200mm high flex-block plinth completes the series of sizes for the entire range of Rittal floor standing enclosures. The innovative design of the flex-block plinth provides simple but effective features providing time saving benefits. Also on the stand Rittal will be showing ‘The System’ highlighting new accessories.
Rittal can also be found in the co-located European Offshore & Energy show on stand E224 where it will be showing enclosure products designed and certified for hazardous area applications.
Omron will be supporting the GAMBICA Pavilion on stand G70 and will demonstrate the capabilities of its new Sysmac Automation Platform. An Omron Delta-style robot at the show will undertake a typical material handling application, with every aspect of the machine cell being controlled by a Sysmac machine automation controller.
Omron says this platform offers a complete automation solution "via one machine control through one connection and one software", integrating motion, logic sequencing, vision and sensing, robotics, safety, data management, networking and machine visualisation components using the IEC-compliant Sysmac Studio software.
All of the control functionality is performed by advanced software engines, making the system far more flexible than a traditional PLC. The new Sysmac NJ controller comes as standard with EtherCAT and Ethernet/IP open networks, providing the perfect match between fast real-time machine control and data management tasks or operations.
Danfoss is spreading its wares out a bit at the show, with a presence on stand D480 in the main hall and Stand G20 in the GAMBICA pavilion. At D480 you'll find the VLT OneGearDrive and the VLT Decentral Drive FCD302. Along with the VLT AutomationDrive, these products make up 'VLT FlexConcept', covering a wide variety of applications in the material handling and food & beverage industries. You can also take a closer look at the new, space-saving VLT DriveMotor, available in powers from 0.55 to 7.5kW.
Stand G20 is reserved for VLT High Power Drives and low harmonic versions of the VLT Automation, HVAC and AQUA Drives. The VLT Advanced Active Filter is designed to complement the VLT series of Low Harmonic Drives, a flexible and adaptable product for stand-alone or group harmonic mitigation.
Precision motion control specialist, Dunkermotoren will be showing a range of rotary and tubular linear electric motors and associated products on stand D32. Of particular interest, the new ST11 tubular linear motor features an integrated controller option for easy integration and simplified wiring.
It features a range of analogue and digital I/O, with CAN, Profibus and EtherCAT communications protocols available as standard. The new controller mounts easily with all models in the ST11 series and maintains a combined IP67 rating with the motor; alternatively it can also be positioned away from the motor in the same way as a conventional controller. The ST11 with its integrated controller is an ideal replacement for pneumatics in all-electric machines.
New developments in industrial connectivity will feature on Harting's stand (D460), including new families of high-temperature connectors and devices with high mating cycles, plus interconnectivity products for smart network infrastructures and smart power systems within the industrial environment.
A major new development is the Han HighTemp series, which enables the reliable transmission of signals and power at temperatures up to 200°C in industrial environments. Its design is based on Harting’s established Han B and Han E series with the addition of high-quality temperature-resistant materials and heat-resistant design applied to all components, such as contacts, insulating materials, housing, seals and grounding elements.
These high-temperature connectors offer significant savings in equipment design, manufacture and maintenance by removing the need to enclose machine parts which are exposed to high temperatures and clearing the way to modular plug-in designs. The resulting lower wiring complexity results in reduced maintenance costs, fewer outages and minimal downtime.
Gears will be a main focus for R A Rodriguez on stand EP150. The company will be demonstrating the quality and extent of its established and growing KHK range of stock and custom gears, as well as introducing a range new to the UK that allows even greater custom capability.
Since its appointment as the sole distributor for the German manufacturer, Framo Morat, R A Rodriguez has concentrated on the Framo range of drive systems. These include compact slip-on geared motors, linear actuators and push-pull linear chains, all based on modular design principles and customised to suit each application.
At the show, the company will be turning its attention to the core competence of Framo Morat, the production of gears - particularly worm gears for which the company is ranked amongst the leading suppliers in Europe.
Also new is a European manufactured range of KHK branded high precision racks and pinions. Supplied with straight or helical teeth, these new KHK products are available from R A Rodriguez in a choice of sizes and qualities to suit a variety of rotary-to-linear and linear-to-rotary motion requirements.
On stand D650, Switchtec will be showcasing the Dinkle range of DIN rail mounted terminals, which are available as ‘DK.N’ screw terminals and ‘AK’ spring clamp (screwless) terminals, the latter offering more rapid assembly and servicing, whilst maintaining high levels of reliability and security.
Designed with space and cost saving in mind, Dinkle DIN mount terminals are compact, thus saving space within the enclosure and simultaneously keeping the cost of the product to a minimum. For use around the world, the Dinkle DIN rail terminals carry VDE, UL, FI, TUV, CSA and CE approvals as well as being fully RoHS compliant.
Switchtec’s exhibit will reflect the company's extensive range of products, from audible and visual alarms, control components, measurement and control, switches and switchgear, to PC connectors, relays, and sensors.
For more information and to register as a visitor, click here.