Projekten
Power transmission for rotational moulding robots
This company uses rotational moulding technology in its production environment. In recent years, competition from Eastern Europe has increased significantly, making innovation essential to remain profitable. For this reason, the company developed its own rotational moulding robot, but the project has been hampered by the substantial electricity requirements of the rotating mould.
We teamed up with client to design a slip ring system that can transmit all powersignals to the robot’s rotating head. After building the prototype and more than two years of testing, the concept was declared “ready for production”. The customer has been building these robots for years now and is now even considering exporting them.
Challenges: high power, insufficient cooling, low circumferential speed, no references.
Troubleshooting on cable winding machines
Customer complains that a cable winding machine malfunctions almost daily and wears out carbon brushes extremely quickly. The installation was built in the USA at the recommendation of the American parent company.
All external parameters were virtually ideal, as the machine is located in a climate-controlled hall. After extensive research, it was suspected that the material used for the carbon brushes causes the problems.
In collaboration with a renowned factory in Germany, material research was carried out on the carbon brushes and our suspicion was confirmed: although the material composition was correct, the crystalline structure has been build wrong.
After removing the old carbon brushes and conditioning the slip rings, a new set of carbon brushes is installed. To date (almost four years later, in June 2025), the installation is running smoothly and with hardly any wear on the carbon brushes.
Challenges: limited documentation, extreme unusual cause.
Modernization of fairground attraction
This company purchased an old Ferris-wheel abroad. Besides a complete renovation of the exterior (painting, applying stickers, repairing the structure, and replacing the sound system), they now also want to install gondola lighting using slip rings.
It soon became clear that standard components weren’t a viable solution, and custom work was necessary. After some searching, suitable slip rings were found, but unfortunately, they had the wrong shaftdiameter. A specialized company was asked to produce spacer bushings, which were used to adapt the shaft diameter.
After delivery and installation, we received a photo of smiling children on the customer’s attraction.
A small effort, a big pleasure.
Challenges: limited installation height, large axle size, tight budget, high time pressure.
Plant selection machines
Client is a major producer of automized plant slection machines in greenhouse horticulture. To further develop an existing sorting machine, they were looking for technology capable of achieving high data rates on a linear current rail.
Previous tests had failed due to the high acceleration rate of the start-stop system. The test setup was further developed in collaboration with the client, and after a year, the test results were so improved that the concept was put into production.
Challenges: high acceleration rate, low voltage (Ethernet) signal, extreme environmental conditions.