Superconductors have tremendous potential for future industrial applications. They enable objects to be suspended and moved without contact, with low power consumption and without any control technology at all for the suspension. Their dust- and abrasion-free operation makes them ideal for the protected transport of levitating objects in very clean environments. It even makes handling functions through walls possible.
Superconductors are materials with unique magnetic properties. If you cool them below a certain temperature, they can store the field of a permanent magnet inside them. This creates a strong but invisible coupling. This keeps the magnet and superconductor at a defined distance from each other – even through walls, in liquids or in a vacuum. As long as the superconductor remains below what is known as the transition temperature, its magnetic memory stores the fingerprint of the magnet, and thus its position, even if the two are separated from each other.
There are already various technologies for moving objects using levitation. However, superconductors open up opportunities for completely new sequences. Superconductor automation modules can be designed with a wide range of active actuators. This enables you to carry out even unusual motion sequences, handling tasks and different types of storage without any contact. The latest SupraMotion concept, the SupraCube, enables autonomous operation for up to two hours by separating the superconductor unit and the electric cooler.
Keeping processes in the laboratory free of contamination is not easy. The equipment used, for example test tubes or measuring devices that are brought into the work area from outside and can introduce contamination, are particularly problematic.
In its current SupraMotion concept, Festo demonstrates the fully automated filling and contactless transport and weighing of disposable freeze-dry containers in the cleanroom. Thanks to SupraMotion levitation modules and products from the automation portfolio for laboratory applications, the highest standards of cleaning and cleanliness are met.
SupraMotion's contactless levitation module moves the freeze-drying container through an airlock into a symbolic cleanroom. A universally applicable, compact rotary gripper module EHMD opens the screw cap of the container regardless of its thread pitch. It is then transported to another station, where two dispense heads VTOE fill the container with liquid. The non-contact scales integrated into the transport system allow the filling quantity to be checked precisely at all times during the entire process.
The Festo concept demonstrates how innovative superconductor technology can be combined with automation solutions for the life science sector to create a reliable overall concept that meets the highest standards of cleaning and cleanliness. The most demanding challenges in laboratory automation can be thus be mastered.
We use high-temperature ceramic superconductors for SupraMotion that can be cooled down to -210°C. The coolers being used at the moment consume a maximum of 40 watts of power per cryostat (cooling container). This keeps operating costs comparatively low. The levitating effect itself requires neither power nor closed-loop control technology.
Thanks to the high thermal capacity, operation is guaranteed for many minutes, even in the event of a power failure. The coolers currently have a service life of more than ten years.
The contactless and friction-free form of superconductor levitation offers an elegant and practical solution for some of the most challenging problems in high-tech industries, from semiconductor, battery, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to food and medical technology as well as laboratory automation. Reducing contamination of all kinds to an absolute minimum will help pave the way for the high-end technologies and products that are needed for a clean, healthy and sustainable future.
The use of superconductors in the industrial automation sector is still in the development stage. Yet completely new and efficient processes are already conceivable with this technology today.
As such, we are specifically investigating application ideas with partners and customers that can be implemented in pilot projects. Why not take the next step and join us in leading superconductor technology into the field of industrial applications?