I was fortunate to attend the E Drives Conference In Atlanta Feb 14 & 15. The show is an annual gathering of specialty companies involved in mechatronics. The exhibits and lectures cover magnetic design tools, power electronic modules, control technology, feedback technology and gear reducers. A lot of cutting edge conversations in the mechatronic world.
The design of motion control components is a difficult balancing act. Component manufacturers must incorporate a lot of features and functionality in order to address the broadest portion of the market. For the OEM machinery builder, this often means paying more for a product that exceeds the requirements of a particular application.
It has always been my opinion that most of the available motion control products are very expensive, so I am always on the lookout for technology that offers the potential to reduce price and deliver the right kind of performance.
Two companies at the conference have standout contributions to make. One is Luminary Micro which makes high performance, low cost control chips. They are making major inroads displacing the ubiquitous DSP with more processing capability and full Ethernet and Canbus communications embedded in the same device. Very cost effective.
The other is Novatorqu, a new company that has broken some performance barriers in the electric motor. Novatorque’s President John Petro has re-invented the electric motor’s internal architecture making the DC brushless motor smaller, faster and a lot more efficient. Did I mention lower cost? Yes, lower cost too. So much so, that they think they can take on the AC motor cost point in some applications with their technology.
I hope both of these companies will succeed in growing their respective markets and recovering some of the ground we have lost to foreign suppliers.
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