GeorgBerner,
Headof Strategic
BusinessDevelopmentGroup
Holding, Festo
Onemorequestion
trends inautomation:
Howare thesuperconductors in the
Festoexhibits cooled?
GeorgBerner:
All superconductors
in thenewSupraMotionexhibitsare
cooledbyelectric compressors
whicharebuilt into thehousingwith
thesuperconductors.Only80watts–
roughlyequivalent to two conven-
tional lightbulbs–are required for the
freezingprocess. The coolerskeep
the temperature constant at around
93Kelvin (–180 °C),withapower
consumptionof around12wattsper
cryostat.Thismeans that theexhibits
canbeoperatedenergy-efficiently
and independentlyof coolants like
liquidnitrogen.
trends inautomation:
Why is Festo interested in
superconductors?
GeorgBerner:
Theuniqueproperties
of superconductors–suchasenergy-
efficient, frictionlesspositioning, easy
mediaseparationandmaintenance-
freeandwear-freeoperation–open
up completelynewareasof applica-
tion. Theobjectiveset by Festo to-
getherwith itspartners from industry
andscience is tocontinue topush for
ward the researchof superconductors
for industrial use.
Contactless transport
TheSupraShuttledisplay illustrateshow
a levitatingobject canmove inall direc-
tions thanks toasuperconductor. In this
exhibit, the cryostat isactivelyhandled
between twoEGCgantries. Thisallows
thepermanentmagnet levitatingabove
thesuperconductor to rotate froma
horizontal toavertical positionwithout
touching thefloor or beingmechanically
handled.Objects tobe transported canbe
mountedon themagnet. TheSupraShuttle
alsodemonstrateshow levitatingobjects
canbemoved intohermeticallysealed
chambers. For thispurpose, adomemade
of Plexiglas isplacedover themagnetic
support and formsanenclosedspace
around it,without theneed for anykind
of lockgates, railsor guidesystems.
Controlled rotation
With theSupraChanger, the ring-shaped
superconductormodule, togetherwitha
steppermotor EMMS-ASandamagnetic
coupling, isfittedunderneath thebase-
plate. Thereare threedifferent stations
on theplate, eachofwhichhasa rotary
application: one centrifuge, onemixer
andone levitating rotary indexing table.
Eachstationalsohasamagneticdisc,
whose levitatingdistancehasbeen frozen
above theactively cooledsuperconductor
module.
Thewholebaseplateautomatically
rotates throughanangleof 120degrees
so that oneof the threeapplications is
alwayspositioneddirectlyabove the
superconductormodule. Assoonas
astation is locatedabove themodule
again, thedisc reacts to thesuper
conductor andbegins to levitate. Using
themagnetic couplingunder thebase-
plate, thesteppermotor sets themagnetic
disc in thestation ina rotarymotionand
thusmakes the respectiveapplication
rotate. For thefirst time, a controllable
rotarymovement is thus transferred toa
magnetwhich levitatessteadily thanks to
thesuperconductor. The rotarymotionof
themagneticdisc canbegeneratedwith
very littleenergyas thereareno friction
losses.
SupraChanger:
Controlled transfer of rotarymotion to three
applications that levitateabove thesuperconductor.
SupraHandling2.0
movesa levitatingslideonmagnetic rails
withsuperconductivebearings.
Easy cleaning:
Themagnetic railsareeasy
to clean thanks toastainlesssteel cover.
Frictionless transport:
Steady levitation
horizontally, on thewall andoverhead.
1.2014
trends inautomation
Compass
14
–
15
