A servo-driven partnership

A donation of servo technology to a technical college yields students with motion control experience that the packaging field so desperately seeks.

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What happens when automation students develop a machine to showcase the capabilities of servo technology? At Alexandria Technical College, Alexandria, MN (see packworld.com/go/C068), that combination resulted in a one-of-a-kind, hands-on educational experience and an attention-getting demonstration at Pack Expo. That’s according to Dr. Kenneth Ryan, director of the Manufacturing Automation Research at ATC’s Center for Automation and Motion Control (CAMC).

The 4’x5’x3½’-tall machine, which emulates a packaging machine, was unveiled November ’02 at Pack Expo in Chicago.

For this unique project Yaskawa Electric America, Inc. (Waukegan, IL) provided hardware, software, and technical expertise sufficient to build two identical, 6-axis linear motor demonstration units. The Yaskawa components include servomotors and drives, machine controller, and digital network. Yaskawa uses one of the demos to model its linear motor innovations, and Dr. Ryan will use the other to educate his students in the technology. Dr. Ryan places Yaskawa’s donation of hardware and technical assistance for the CAMC machine at $60ꯠ. Yaskawa senior regional motion engineer Michael Miller assisted the CAMC team.

Designed, built, and programmed by the students, the demo machine uses four axes of linear servomotors and two axes of rotary servomotors. “It was important for students to understand the interaction of the linear and rotary systems,” says Ryan. “We can teach about servomotors, but to actually program multi-axis servos—in this case six axes—in precise coordinated motion was a great learning experience.”

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