Festo’s AI-enabled monitoring and predictive maintenance system AX Motion Insights Pneumatic is a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution for preventing unscheduled machine downtime by monitoring pneumatic cylinders for wear and anomalies. This AI-based industrial app ensures operations are more reliable, efficient, and ultimately more profitable. The system uses AI to detect anomalies in the behavior of pneumatic […]
Components
State feedback pinch valve provides real-time verification for smarter, safer automation
Clippard has released its new State Feedback Pinch Valve, providing precise, real-time valve status information for enhanced automation, improved diagnostics, and smarter process control. This plug-and-play design verifies valve position both electronically and visually, providing a direct feedback signal that mirrors valve operation and turning a standard pinch valve into a data-ready control component. Using […]
A designer’s guide to pneumatic valves
Directional control valves are the traffic police of pneumatic systems, charged with diverting, directing, and reversing airflow to manage the operation of actuators. A fluid power designer must first understand valve functions, flow rates (and the resulting sizes), and the construction materials best suited to their application before sending out requests for quotes. This designer’s […]
Compressed air efficiency: The showdown at 86 psi
By Ron Marshall It all started on a Tuesday morning. Dave, a seasoned mechanic, walked onto the shop floor and felt something was off. The familiar din of the pneumatic machines sounded … weaker. He glanced at the main compressor gauge. 86 psi. For years, it had been humming along between 90 and 100. He […]
A designer’s guide to pneumatic cylinders
Pneumatic cylinders are highly varied in their construction and execution, making them difficult to select when you don’t understand your requirements. I won’t pretend that application isn’t the most important deciding factor, but the same can be said of any fluid power actuator. This guide provides all the information you need to select the pneumatic […]
Piab expands portfolio of robotic end-effectors
Piab offers a range of robotic end-effectors intended to support automation cells in manufacturing and logistics. The portfolio includes modular end-of-arm tooling, vacuum grippers, magnetic grippers, foam area grippers and soft grippers for applications such as picking, packing, palletizing and handling packaged goods. Flexible end-effectors for different applications Cobot picking, packing and palletizing – piCOBOT […]
VSD compressors: Put your system on cruise control
When Dana took over as production manager at a packaging plant, she quickly learned that compressed air pressure was a constant source of frustration. Operators often complained about pressure swings, too low during peak demand and too high during quieter shifts. The compressors seemed to be either racing at full throttle or idling wastefully. Energy […]
Keeping compressed air filters efficient
By Ron Marshall Compressed air filters are often forgotten components in industrial plants, but their role is critical. They not only protect downstream equipment and processes from contaminants but also affect the efficiency of the air compressor system itself. Neglecting filters can lead to poor air quality, rising energy costs, and unnecessary wear on equipment. […]
Do your workers care about compressed air?
By Ron Marshall When Sarah took over as operations manager at a mid-sized food processing plant, she assumed compressed air was just another utility, important, but hardly worth much attention. Her team kept the machines running, and as long as production targets were met, she didn’t think twice about it. But when a compressed air […]
How an air receiver transformed a plant
When Jorge walked through the compressor room at his manufacturing plant, the big machines caught his eye, the humming compressors, the dryers, the filters. But tucked away in the corner stood a piece of equipment he hardly noticed: a tall, steel air receiver tank. It didn’t have power cables, flashing lights, or gauges that demanded […]
