State-of-the-Art Applications
Published: May 18, 2008Ethernet, robotics and motor-drive controllers create powerful application solutions.
For machinery OEMs interested in modular machine design, increased levels of performance, flexibility and smaller footprint machines, motion and automation control technology continues to offer compelling solutions.
Even as manufacturing has advanced and machinery has become more sophisticated, Ethernet-based control, robotics and integrated motor-drive solutions are continuing to keep pace. New machine designs are leveraging these technologies in unique ways to meet specific goals and improve machine performance. Here is a series of state-of-the-art automation and motion control applications that illustrate how these new technologies are helping to drive higher levels of machine control performance.
Major Strides in Rehabilitation Therapy
* Motion technology enhances physical therapy while reducing therapist labor up to 75 percent.
* Consistent motion gives patients the ability to walk more than a thousand feet and take several hundred steps in one session.
Losing the natural ability to walk can be characteristic of injuries or illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease or Multiple Sclerosis. HealthSouth Corp., a leading company in the inpatient rehabilitation market, has developed a safe and efficient rehabilitation tool incorporating Rockwell Automation motion control. It allows hospitals to treat more patients, more efficiently and offers the highest standard in rehabilitation therapy.
Most physical therapy for individuals who have lost use of their legs requires up to four therapists to simultaneously support the patient and move the patient’s legs. Seeking a therapy tool that would alleviate the physical stress for the therapists, HealthSouth’s engineering team addressed these concerns by designing the AutoAmbulator which employs a harness to hold a patient in an upright position while robotic braces move the patient’s legs across a treadmill.
The first few prototypes of the system were designed with the motion control independent from the central machine controller which hindered communication, programmability and flexibility and didn’t allow for smooth, controlled movement. A new system using Allen-Bradley® Kinetix® motion provides a complete automation system consisting of ControlLogix® programmable controllers, servo drives, servo motors and actuators.
