trends inautomation:
What fascinatesyouabout thesubject of SupraMotion?
Dr. SusanneKrichel:
Therearealreadyvarioussolu-
tions for storingandmovingobjectswithout contact.
But rotation through360° inanyspatial direction isonly
possiblewithsuperconductivity–without theneed for
intricate control technologyandwithminimal energy
consumption.Weare involved right now inorder to in-
vestigatepossibleapplicationareas for this fascinating
technology. This is completelyuncharted territory for us
and it givesusagreat deal of creative freedom for our
ideas.
SupraMotionhasbeenatHannoverMesse for the
past threeyears–what are theplans for the future?
Krichel:
Wehavemovedon frommerelyshowingoff the
impressive levitationeffectsandpossibilitiesof super-
conductor technology toactivelydiscussing theirpoten-
tialwith theautomation industry. Basedonnumerous
discussionswithcustomers in recent yearswehavecon-
cluded that individual elements fromour futureconcepts
couldalreadybeused today.Weare currentlyworking
ongettingour first pilot projectsoff theground.
What are thebiggest challenges facing the Festo
SupraMotion teamover the comingyear?
Krichel:
Right nowwearedealingwith thequestionof
howwe canuse the technology for problems forwhich
there is currentlyno feasiblesolutionor that couldonly
besolvedwithcomplexworkarounds. It’salso important
to create the right conditions toallow the technology to
succeedon themarket.Wearediscussing these issues
withour customers, andour team iscallingon theknow
ledgeandexperienceof our Salesdivisionaswell asof
expertsand technologypartners.
Dr. SusanneKrichel,
PortfolioManagement,
Superconductor
ProjectTeam, Festo
Onemorequestion
protectedandenclosedareas that are
susceptible to contaminationanddifficult
to clean. Because thestorageandholding
functionsof thesystemsarenot affected
bynon-magneticmaterialsentering the
bearings, use inareas that contain large
amountsofmaterial particles isalso
possible. The coolingsystemsusedare
extremelyefficient,withmaximumenergy
consumptionof 80wattsper cooling
unit.
Uniqueoperatingprinciple:
suspension in the
superconductivestateat –180 °Celsius.
1.2015
trends inautomation
Compass
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