Vector Award for extraordinary applications

Details: Released: 25.06.2020; Last updated: 24.08.2023; Hits: 5651

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Igus has its Vector awards for exciting and creative applications of energy chains awarded. The Golden Vector The multi-spindle automatic lathe from Gildemeister Italiana won the award. There are eight ready-made products in it energy chains in the narrowest space Lines and hoses. A Green Vector was also awarded for the first time.

Content:

Golden Vector Award for Gildemeister Italiana
Silver Vector Award for Alpinatec
Bronze Vector Award for Grenzebach Maschinenbau
Green vector awards for sustainable projects
- Dropwater vending machine
- Water treatment system from Huber

Vector Award for extraordinary applications

06.10.2021 | Igus is looking for exceptional use cases for the Vector Award 2022. This competition honors unique energy supply solutions every two years. A jury of experts consisting of representatives from science, industry and specialist media will select the winners Hannover Messe 2022.

The prize money for the Golden Vector is estimated at 5000 euros. Last year alone, 266 users from 32 countries applied. In addition to the gold, silver and bronze Vector, there is also the Green Vector Award advertised.

"Many industrial companies - like us at igus - are increasingly addressing the issue of sustainability. For example, customers can send their disused energy chains back to us. We sort the material by type and recycle it so that granules are created for new products. That's why it was important to us as the initiator of the vector award - together with the jury - to also award sustainable projects with a special prize," explains Michael Blass. The prize was spontaneously awarded to two projects at the last vector.

The submission deadline is 11. February 2022. We will introduce you to the winners at this point.

Golden Award 2020 goes to Gildemeister Italiana

The new Multi-spindle lathe of Gildemeister Italiana SpA, subsidiary of dmg mori AG, reduces throughput and set-up times, reduces the effort for process development and process integration and does justice to the increasing complexity.

The Spindle drum with six spindles for the simultaneous processing of several workpieces is the heart of the machine. The drum moves the workpieces quickly and with high precision to the Tools. A travel for one of the six spindles to the next position takes only 0,65 s. In order to return to the starting position after processing in the six stations, the drum has to turn back by 300 °. The unit, which weighs more than 3 t, only takes 1 s for this.

Energy chain without guide trough saves 88 percent installation time

A safe one Energy management Realizing it for all six spindles was the greatest challenge. A unique energy supply ensures this rotation of the drum and its linear movements. This energy supply system has 8 energy chains, 64 Lines and 73 hoses from Igus are used.

With the Golden Vector Award, Gildemeister Italiana also receives prize money of 5000 euros.

Silver Vector Award for Alpinatec

The Silver Vector Award goes to Alpinatec GmbH from Austria for their work on Gestra project of Fraunhofer Institute. Gestra is working on a radar-based system for searching and mapping space debris.

For the Transmission and reception system Two three-axis positioning systems with electrically tensioned and backlash-free drives with suitable cable and supply routes were designed. The Energy management had to implement the complex degrees of freedom of the axis arrangement and a variety of media and signals to be conducted via hoses and cables in a tight construction volume.

robotic arm | also as a kit

Especially for the azimuth axis a complex one becomes rotating energy supply as well as a bilateral one for the elevation axis Double energy chain system used. It does justice to the changing gravity conditions. For the azimuth axis has Igus developed and implemented a complex RBR application with a floating island in cooperation with Alpinatec.

Bronze Vector Award for Grenzebach Maschinenbau

Igus presented Grenzebach Maschinenbau with the bronze Vector Award for their Friction stir welding system. Grenzbach relies on friction stir welding technology for high quality weld seams. In the automated Welding systems The welding head is the heart of the machine builder. It must be able to handle rotary movements of ± 720 °.

The same requirements therefore also apply to cables and hoses that run within the Welding head are safe to use. The connection structure and media supply must be just as flexible as the welding head itself. The entire energy supply system had to be integrated into the supporting structure of the welding system. Therefore the installation space of the construction was very tight.

The whole world of igus robots

The fail-safe solution consists of coupling one Twister band with the Energy supply chains R4. The pre-assembled system already has suitable Plug, is labeled and therefore easy to assemble. The 24/7 design of the components offers low-wear operation with little maintenance.

Green vector awards for sustainable projects

For the first time Igus presented a Green Vector Award for particularly sustainable projects. Equal two companies can look forward to the award. Endowed with 1000 euros it went to the company Dropwater in the USA and to Huber SE in Germany.

Dropwater vending machine

At Dropwater the winner is one Vending machine with compostable containers. When filling the drinks at the push of a button, the water does not have to be transported because the machine has a water connection. The safe cable routing of the linear usedrobots takes over a prefabricated energy chain ReadyChain.

Water treatment system from Huber

The Huber SE was for their Water treatment plant in Egypt awarded with a sewage sludge drying by solar energy. Dehydrated sticky sludge is reduced in mass and volume to about a quarter by the solar drying and transformed into a granular granulate.

Plug-and-play gearbox kit for cobots and service robotics

The system treats the drinking water from the polluted Bahr-El-Baqar canal system for 500.000 people. In this automatic system 128 units of energy chains take care of it Chainflex Lines over a travel distance of 100 m for fail-safe power supply and energy supply.

Every two years, the Vector Awards recognize exciting and spectacular energy chain applications. The jury consists of representatives from specialist media, business and research.