Electricity + Control May 2018

round up

SENSORS, SWITCHES + TRANSDUCERS

Non-contact temperature measurement Available from ifm electronic , this product is suitable for the precise temperature meas- urement of particularly hot objects or objects which are difficult to access, e.g. in the steel, plastics or glass industries. The measured value is provided via the analogue output. In ad- dition, a switching output and an IO-Link interface are provided. Integrated LED pilot light: The pilot light shows the user the exact position and size of the measuring segment. The green light is visible very well even on glowing surfaces. Besides a low current consump- tion, the LED is distinguished by a virtually unlimited lifetime. Batch-related programming: Thanks to the integrated IO-Link communication interface, the parameters can be dynami- cally adjusted to the application from the control room. Local parameter setting on the unit is not necessary, but can optionally be done via the buttons and the display. Enquiries:Tel. +27 (0) 12 450 0400 or email info.za@ifm.com

Torque transducers on test rig test advanced powertrain

heavy duty buses and trucks, as well as motorsport vehicles and off highway ma- chinery. Its high efficiency electric motor and power electronics technology delivers class-leading electrified powertrains and propulsion systems. In order to test and characterise the high performance electric motors used in electric and hybrid powertrains, AVID Technology designed and built a special purpose test rig. Central to the design of the test rig is an innovative wireless rotary torque measurement device from Sensor Technology. These non-contact surface wave acoustic (SAW) transducers offer sig- nificant advantages compared with strain gauges, magnetic torque sensors and op- tical devices that might be fitted to a con- ventional dynamometer for motor charac- terisation. Sensor Technology SAW-based devices are non-contact, robust and highly accu- rate. TorqSense torque sensors use two tiny SAW devices made of ceramic piezo- electric material containing frequency res-

A draft clean air policy has been introduced in the UK, along with the announcement that sales of petrol-only and diesel-only vehicles will be banned from 2040, bring- ing the role of hybrid and electric vehicles to the fore. In evolutionary terms, these technologies are still in their infancy, and this is where Instrotech (South Africa) is pleased to represent AVIDTechnology. The company develops powertrain im- provement solutions for a wide range of electric and hybrid vehicle applications, in- cluding high performance passenger cars,

onating combs. These are glued onto the drive shaft at 90 degrees to one another. As the torque increases the combs expand or contract proportionally to the torque be- ing applied. In effect the combs act similar- ly to strain gauges but measure changes in resonant frequency. The adjacent RF pick- up emits radio waves towards the SAWs, which are then reflected back. The change in frequency of the reflected waves iden- tifies the current torque. This arrangement means there is no need to supply power to the SAWs, so the sensor is non-contact and wireless. AVID Technology sales director Jordan Taylor explains: “The TorqSense transducer was chosen as it allowed us to use a fixed pedestal load motor and eliminate friction- al losses and parallax errors from the load installation in the measurements. This al- lows AVID to produce very accurate perfor- mance characterisation results compared to a conventional motor dynamometer.” Enquiries:Tel. +27 (0) 10 595 1831 or email sales@instrotech.co.za

One sensing range for all metals ifm ’s ‘Kplus’ sensors have the same sensing range for all types of metals. They are for ex- ample perfectly suited for the detection of aluminum, where conventional sensors show a considerably reduced sensing range. The high switching frequencies enable the monitoring of fast changing switching states. The resistant stainless steel sleeve allows reliable use in oil and coolant applications. The wide temperature range as well as the high protection ratings enable universal use of the new ‘Kplus’ sensors. ‘Kplus’ sensors are suitable for welding robots and welding machines. Strong magnetic fields occur during welding. The new ‘Kplus’ sensor technology reliably prevents incorrect switching. The sensor housing and the fixing nuts have a non-stick coating to prevent weld slag from sticking. Enquiries: Email info.za@ifm.com

8 Electricity + Control

MAY 2018