Transportingwithout contact,
transferringobjects insuspension,working from
behindwallswithout any connectingmechanical systems. Automationbasedon
superconductormodulesmakes thepreviouslyunthinkablepossible. The latest
future concepts for superconductivity from Festo, suchas theSupraCycle, show
thepossibilitiesof this fascinating technology.
I
nsomeautomationprocesses there
areadvantages toseparating theob-
ject tobe transported from the trans-
port device. Contactlesshandling is
openingupnewperspectives, particularly
with regard toeasier cleaning inhygienic
environmentsandmovingdelicateobjects.
This cannowbedone thanks tosupercon-
ductivity, a technologywhich Festohas
been researching for anumber of years.
Expertsbelieve that contactlessmotion
will lead tomajor advances inautomation
in the future.Withsuperconductor auto-
mationmodules, productsmove through
productionhallsquietly, cleanlyandenergy
efficiently, as if guidedbyan invisible
hand. It canbeused to runprocesses
without interruption, becauseenclosures,
sluices, etc. areno longerobstacles.Hand
lingsystemsbasedonsuperconductivity
canevenmeet requirements forhigh-purity
or harshenvironments.With thecurrent
SupraMotion3.0projects, Festo isshow-
inghowautomationcouldfind itsway into
areas inwhich itwouldpreviouslyhave
beenscarcely conceivable.Oneof the
latest projects is theSupraCycleexhibit.
It shows for thefirst timeeverhowasus-
pendedpermanentmagnet canbe trans-
ferred fromonesuperconductor element
toanother usingsuperconductivity.
Contactless transfer
ThenewSupraCycle from Festo transfers
amagneticobject carrier between two
superconductor elementswithout any
Motionwithout contact
SupraMotion3.0
1.2015
trends inautomation
Compass
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–
15
