News

Positioning systems for micro production in the electronics industry

Fuerth, Germany, 18^th October 2021 – At Productronica 2021, the world’s leading trade fair for the development and production of electronics, Aerotech will present its IGM (Integrated Granite Motion Systems) multi-axis positioning system with integrated galvo scanner and the latest Automation1 control platform. In addition, the manufacturer of high-performance motion control and positioning systems will showcase its comprehensive know-how in system solutions for the production of displays, LEDs and discrete components.

In the electronics industry, Aerotech is known for its high-precision motion solutions for critical applications, including manufacturing systems for micronano production, including system peripherals such as galvo scanners and control platforms. An IGM linear table with an AGV20HP galvo scanner and the new Automation1 control platform will be on display at the stand as a demo system. Aerotech launched the IGM (Integrated Granite Motion Systems) linear stages only three years ago as an alternative to conventional

positioning stages with granite substructures. They offer significantly higher rigidity and thus more flexibility in design. The customised linear stages have already proven themselves many times over as practical in a wide variety of applications.

“We will be using the IGM linear table to show live how an electroforming scanner and several movement axes can be precisely controlled simultaneously,” says Simon Smith, European Director Aerotech, specifying the upcoming trade fair appearance.

Galvo scanner with unlimited field of view

By synchronising with other movement axes, the galvo scanner shown can also process workpieces that are larger than its actual field of view – but the high processing quality is maintained. The proven IFOV function (Infinite Field of View) is available for improving the structural accuracy and for general error prevention, e.g. in “classic” stitching. Linear or rotational axes can be synchronised with the laser scanner in such a way that the scanner’s field of view can theoretically be extended to infinity.

New Automation1 version

“At the same time, we will also focus on the latest version of our control software “Automation1 – Precision Motion Control Platform”, we have installed it as a demo system for visitors to the fair.”

The Automation1 is much more than a mere “motion controller”, but also takes over the complete machine control with all components. The platform has its own software-based motion controller, which makes it easy to control different positioning systems as well as connected components.

Higher precision in electronics production

Applications in the electronics industry include automation systems, precision laser processes, and test and inspection processes. One example of the use of Aerotech positioning systems from electronics manufacturing is the production of OLED displays. Here, optimal synchronisation between scanner and servo table movement is particularly important. An additional advantage of controlling the scanner and servo table using a uniform hardware and software platform is that it minimises the dynamic errors of the servo stages. The execution of the cascading movements by means of a single integrated control algorithm enables the scanner to compensate for errors in the tracking of the servo stages in real time. In this way, OLED display manufacturers have little to no loss of accuracy compared to a separately controlled scanner system. “We will be happy to explain how such a system can be optimally synchronised to those interested in the trade at our trade fair stand. We are looking forward to numerous visitors and certainly many interesting discussions,” emphasises Simon Smith.

Simon Smith, European Director Aerotech in Ramsdell

Taipei, Taiwan, 18^th October 2021 — Advantech, a leading provider of industrial flash storage solutions, is announcing the adoption of KIOXIA 112-Layer flash BiCS5 in multiple series and form factors. The new BiCS5 3D TLC SQFlash BiCS5 provides NAND chips with extended native temperature ranges that ensure reliable operation in extreme environments, and support use in applications that require ruggedized designs.

Next generation BiCS5 Flash with higher speeds and greater capacity

Advantech’s SQFlash BiCS5 provides 50% faster flash speeds than previous NAND generation technology, engendering performance and smooth presence – crucial attributes in high-resolution display applications such as gaming/medical displays and indoor/outdoor signage. Similarly, Advantech’s SQFlash delivers up to 8TB capacity for 5G and WIFI6 data transmission and AI analytical data storage used in edge computing, gaming, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing industries applications.

Reliable wide-temperature SQFlash products with intelligent monitoring

Advantech’s SQFlash supports SSD operation in wide temperature environments (-40 to 85 °C), making it an excellent choice for energy sourcing facilities, automated factories, and in-vehicle applications that require advanced reliability in harsh environments. In addition, SQFlash products leverage Advantech’s DeviceOn/SQ Manager Software for real-time performance/health monitoring and lifespan prediction.

Comprehensive security protects user data

Advantech’s SQFlash series comprises a comprehensive selection of security features with the wide coverage of a TCG-OPAL compliant design. Likewise, Flash Vault uses a password to secure the drive; hardware and firmware write protection to prevent data replacement/removal, and crypto erase to enable full data sanitization on the SQFlash.

Key Features:

• Wide capacity range: (TLC Solution) 64GB ~ 8TB (sTLC Solution) 32GB ~ 2TB
• Wide operating temperatures (0 to 70 °C/-40 to 85 °C; extendable to automobile grade)
• High endurance sTLC solutions
• Intelligent monitoring and management
• TCG-OPAL compliant with diverse security features

Advantech’s SQFlash BiCS5 Selection

The SQFlash BiCS5 product series will be available for early customer samples in October 2021. The BiCS5 NAND Flash will be implemented into more SQFlash series in 2022. For more information about SQFlash BiCS5 series or other Advantech products and services, contact the local sales team or visit the company’s website at http://sqflash.advantech.com/

Virtually all of today’s safety-critical embedded software applications are made up of three components: developer-Written application code, standard library components, and a real-time operating system (RTOS).

For Rolland Dudemaine, Vice-President Engineering at eSOL Europe, that last element is why compliance with safety standards, such as ISO 26262 for automotive, is so important. One of his responsibilities is to ensure that the real-time operating system releases which his team develops and supports are exhaustively tested for robustness and compliance.

That is why eSOL chose the SuperTest test and validation suite for C and C++ compilers and libraries from Solid Sands, to undertake a crucial part of this job. With multi-core processors for automotive and other safety-critical applications currently sporting tens or hundreds of cores on a single chip, verifying operating system compliance is a critical part of the company’s development effort.

“Multi-core processing is a trend we identified a long time ago. We created an operating system called eMCOS, designed to run on systems with up to 256 cores and sometimes even more, which we currently provide to customers mostly in the automotive market,” says Rolland Dudemaine. “We also have a team supporting our Autoware, AUTOSAR Classic Platform and AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform offerings.”

Being able to offer safety-certified operating systems and platforms based on eMCOS or AUTOSAR means eSOL needs to provide a fully-tested standard programming API, which is where SuperTest fits in perfectly.

“Everyone expects the operating system to be shipped with the C library, and sometimes the C++ library, so we need to make sure that the functionality of these libraries is fully tested in accordance with the latest Functional Safety (FuSa) methodology.

“For us, the use of SuperTest is essential, because even though we use the Arm platform and a functional safety qualified commercial Arm compiler with a set of pre-qualified C and C++ libraries, they don’t provide all the pieces we need – for example, things like malloc, parts of the C library and POSIX library that are operating system dependent, and some additional headers that are related to our operating system APIs.

“It’s not that Arm has failed to include these things, it’s because they are operating system dependent, so the Arm tool chain assumes that the operating system or platform vendor will implement the remaining pieces.”

eSOL’s eMCOS development team now runs SuperTest on each new release of eSOL’s operating systems to verify that the many operating system APIs that SuperTest covers are functioning as expected.

“We use SuperTest as a functional test suite, a coverage test suite, and a compliance test suite, because our customers expect eSOL to provide an operating system that is already fully tested and compliant,” says Rolland Dudemaine. “SuperTest also has the advantage that several of our customers and partners are already familiar with it and will often use SuperTest themselves for verifying compliance. The fact that we have pre-tested our operating systems and libraries with SuperTest gives them added confidence.

“The two big values of SuperTest are firstly the test suite’s capability itself, and secondly that its existing tests have already been developed and well documented. The addition of new tests to meet our specific requirements was not really difficult,” adds Rolland Dudemaine. “SuperTest and the C++ library does part of it, and we have added other tests that cover specific aspects of our operating systems.”

As far as installation was concerned, getting SuperTest up and running was straightforward.

“Our initial installation of SuperTest was painless and the code is clean, which meant we were quickly able to get the tool on-line. And the support we received via Solid Sands’ Japanese distributor was high-quality and reactive,” says Rolland. “We don’t simply see Solid Sands as a supplier, we also see them as a partner, because we recognise that SuperTest will also be used by many of our customers.”

For further information on Solid Sands visit https://solidsands.nl/. For more information on eSOL’s safety-compliant real-time embedded software platforms, visit www.esol.com

Compact metal case with screw terminal block

• Universal input 85-264 VAC
• Single, dual and triple output solutions
• High efficiency up to 91%
• Active PFC >0.95 (above 100 Watt)
• Compliance to EN 61000-3-2
• Short circuit, overvoltage and overload protection
• IEC/EN/UL 62368-1 safety approvals
• 3 year product warranty

The new TXLN line comprises a series of metal enclosed AC/DC power supplies ranging from 18 to 960 Watt (split into 12 different power levels) and is designed for a wide range of industrial applications. The TXLN is an active replacement of the older TXL line and is built on the same design principals to make the transition to the new TXLN series as easy as possible. The model selection includes single, dual as well as triple output solutions to cover different applications requirements.

With a low-profile metal case and screw terminal block connection, they are easy to install in any equipment. Up to the 200 Watt models the TXLN power supplies are completely convection cooled and from 320 Watt and above they come with an internal fan. Above 100 Watt an active PFC (>0.95) function is added to the standard feature pool. All models in the TXLN line have universal input and comply with the latest industrial standard IEC/EN/UL 62368-1, European EMC standards and the Low Voltage Directive (LVD).

Taipei, Taiwan, 01^st September 2021 – Advantech, a leading industrial computing platform provider, is pleased to introduce its new out-of-band management solution – an intelligent board management controller known as an iBMC.

Advantech developed its iBMC to simplify the management of remote systems and edge devices. iBMCs are embedded hardware-based technology that allows administrators to conduct power management tasks (power on/off, force shutdown, and system reboot) remotely even in abnormal or out-of-range conditions, such as during a software failure or operating system (OS) crash. This is known as out-of-band power management and it provides a secondary communication channel for accessing and controlling equipment within an infrastructure network.

Remote Out-of-Band Power Access and Control

For industrial applications such as continuous manufacturing and AI-based edge computing, system interruptions or failures can cause lengthy downtime, leading to significant losses in productivity. In most circumstances, simply restarting the device can restore system functionality. However, for devices deployed in the field or at the edge, this can cause delays if technicians need to manually restart devices onsite. By enabling corrective action through remote out-of-band power management, Advantech’s iBMC not only eliminates onsite maintenance, but also reduces system downtime and operational costs.

Comprehensive Device Management with WISE-DeviceOn

IoT infrastructure typically involves hundreds of devices deployed at numerous geographically dispersed sites. Advantech’s WISE-DeviceOn software platform is designed for remote management of multiple interconnected industrial IoT devices. With the integration of iBMC technology, the WISE-DeviceOn solution can serve as both an in-band and out-of-band management system that enables comprehensive access, configuration, monitoring, analysis, and control of all IoT network assets from a single centralized platform. This drastically simplifies the management of remote servers, systems, and peripherals for a wide range of industrial applications.

Compatible with a Wide Range of IPCs

To ensure ease of integration, the iBMC is compatible with many of Advantech’s IPC offerings, including the UNO-348/148 control cabinet PCs and TPC-B610 box PCs, as well as the AIMB-787 motherboard, ACP-4340 4U rackmount system (with AIMB-787), and MIC-770 V2 fanless modular IPC depending on BIOS version. Moreover, iBMC technology will be supported by many of Advantech’s soon-to-be-released IPCs featuring 10th gen Intel® Core™ i3/i5/i7/i9, as well as Pentium®/Celeron® CPUs.

Key Features

• Remote power management and control even during software or OS failures
• Out-of-band management function configurable in the BIOS
• Supports a wide range of Advantech’s entry-level and high-end IPCs
• Integrated with Advantech’s WISE-DeviceOn platform as a powerful remote device management tool

Advantech’s iBMC out-of-band management solution is available now. For information about other Advantech products, contact your local sales support team or visit our website at www.advantech.com.

Combining Codeplay’s Acoran Platform Supporting SYCL™ and OpenCL™ With eSOL’s eMCOS RTOS Platform Will Empower Safety Critical Embedded Multicore Applications

TOKYO, Japan, Nov. 4, 2021 – eSOL, a global developer of real-time embedded software solutions, and Codeplay Software, a leader in enabling acceleration technologies for AI and HPC, today announced their partnership to develop high-performance, safe embedded applications for automotive and industrial applications running on multicore real-time systems.

Codeplay and eSOL are both pioneers in their respective fields. Codeplay led the creation and definition of SYCL (pronounced “sickle”), The Khronos Group’s open standard C++ programming model for heterogeneous processor architectures in artificial intelligence (AI)  and high-performance computing (HPC). eSOL is a leading global embedded software vendor, providing unrivaled high-scale, multicore support for extreme high performance in safety critical and secure environments through its unique and innovative “multikernel” commercial real-time operating system (RTOS) solution. Through the partnership, Codeplay will integrate their Acoran Software Platform with eSOL eMCOS, the ultra-scalable RTOS platform, allowing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) application developers to port their software using modern C++ to eSOL’s reliable and familiar framework.

The strategy for integration will start with a multicore CPU environment and then grow to support integrated accelerators for AI and computer vision (CV) functions. AI and CV are being adopted for next generation automotive systems to provide enhanced safety and control, reducing accidents, saving lives, and taking into account increasing autonomy of vehicles.

According to Data Bridge Market Research, embedded systems are expected to have a market growth of almost 6% annually from 2020 to 2027. However, AI and autonomous focused solutions within the embedded market are forecasted to grow significantly faster.
ADAS solutions in the automotive segment are projected to grow at a 21% annual rate and machine vision (MV) applications are expected to grow 34% annually over the same period.

Codeplay’s Acoran Software Platform provides programmability, optimized processor-specific routines, and a wide ecosystem of domain-specific optimized libraries for exascale and AI. A key foundation of Acoran is SYCL, an open standard programming model that enables heterogeneous programming based on standard ISO C++. Heterogeneous programming is the basis for today’s growing HPC, AI, and machine learning applications. SYCL has been gaining momentum as embedded C++ developers look for a non-proprietary programming model.

eMCOS is a breakthrough real-time operating system platform for next-generation embedded applications with high performance and functional safety requirements. It combines a common POSIX user interface with an underlying multikernel architecture to enable the highest possible performance on modern multicore and manycore hardware by reusing available source code. eMCOS has been developed from scratch and designed to meet the most stringent quality, safety and security standards of automotive and industrial critical embedded applications.

“Our customers have the highest demands for quality and safety. They are also eager to apply AI and HPC to their real-time embedded systems to meet the growing demand for autonomous solutions,” said Bob N. Ueyama, Executive Vice President of eSOL. “We are excited to partner with Codeplay and bring an open standard heterogeneous programming model to our customers.”

“More and more AI and HPC systems require true real-time execution within the operating system,” said Andrew Richards, CEO and founder of Codeplay Software. “The POSIX compliant eMCOS perfectly aligns with our solutions and approach to open standards support across all processor systems for ADAS.”

“The momentum has grown with SYCL, with organizations embracing SYCL for their next generation processing systems, and developers favoring the open standards approach” said Michael Wong, Chairperson of the SYCL Working Group within The Khronos Group and Distinguished Engineer at Codeplay Software. “This partnership between eSOL and Codeplay is a great example of the increasing choice available for software developers within a rapidly growing SYCL ecosystem.”

Heilind signs global agreement with Sensata-Crydom, expanding presence in solid state relay market. Heilind is now an authorised distributor for Sensata-Crydom – a leading solid state relay (SSR) manufacturer.

Heilind Electronics, a leading distributor of electronic components, has added Sensata-Crydom products to its growing portfolio of relays and switching solutions. For more than 40 years, Sensata-Crydom has delivered proven solid state relay (SSR) solutions to customers around the world.

As an authorised distributor of Sensata-Crydom products, Heilind will stock a wide range of solid state relays, contactors and power modules, as well as custom-designed solid state switching solutions. These items comply with the latest legal environment directives, including RoHS regulations.

The new selection of relays and related products is designed to serve a variety of industries including building equipment, energy and infrastructure, food & beverage, industrial OEMs, medical and transportation.

Visit www.heilindeurope.com for more information about Sensata-Crydom solid state relays and switching solutions.

NI has announced the acquisition of NH Research, LLC (NHR), a leader in high power test and measurement applications such as electric vehicles (EV) and batteries. The transaction closed on October 19, 2021. NI is also announcing that it recently entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the EV Systems business of Rosenheim, Germany -based Heinzinger GmbH, a European leader in high-current and high-voltage power systems and this deal is expected to close in Q1 2022.

These acquisitions will expand NI’s portfolio of electrification (EV), battery, and sustainable energy capabilities to provide customers with critical power level signal sensing, capture and analysis. NI, NHR, and Heinzinger serve highly complementary positions in testing components used in the automotive industry to rapidly innovate to electrify vehicles. We believe combining the strength of NI’s flexible EV test platform with these companies’ power conversion and power supply test systems expertise will optimize testing workflows and enable rapid responses to changing test needs, accelerating time to market for a broader range of customers.

The focus of the acquisitions is to accelerate NI’s opportunity in high growth EV applications. Due to the complementary nature of these companies to NI’s priorities of innovation and meeting customer needs, NI expects that there will be minimal cost synergies from these transactions. NI is funding both these transactions through a combination of its existing revolving credit facility and cash on hand. These two transactions will represent 3 percent to 4 percent of NI’s total revenue in 2022 and be accretive to earnings per share. Approximately 150 employees will be joining the company.

“We continue to be intentional with investments where we see high potential to accelerate our growth. The addition of expertise and complementary capability from these two leading technology companies will help strengthen and expand our systems offerings to shared customers in the fast-growing area of electrification.” said Eric Starkloff, NI President and CEO. “These companies demonstrate our continued commitment to delivering systems to our customers who are facing a once in a career technology inflection in electrification. We welcome the employees of NHR and Heinzinger as we collectively accelerate our long-term growth ambitions.”

A manufacturer of textile handling machines trusts the speed, precision and reliability of Contrinex’s long-range Analogue Inductive sensors to measure the small changes in the position of a ‘dancer’ roller or ‘follower’, which follows the fabric web’s position and so indicates the web’s tension. The sensor’s precision measurement is fed into a tension control system, which in turn provides continuous feedback to a variable speed drive.

Customer application

As the textile web is unwound and fed into the machine, the control system must compensate for minor changes in tension. These can be due to variations in the properties of the fabric and from within the machine itself, such as slight deformation of the rollers, worn bearings, alignment issues, and the requirement to enable acceleration/deceleration to make speed changes.

A web tension control system registers these tension changes via a dancer roller, which rises and falls constantly in small increments (‘dancing’). Encoder or precision potentiometers are typically used by the customer to measure the ‘dancer’ roller’s position, providing a signal to the machine controller, which adjusts drive speed/braking accordingly.

Encoders and potentiometers have a moving shaft coupled to the pivoting dancer arm of the dancer system and are therefore subject to wear and tear on delicate bearing surfaces and well as limitations in the service life of the encoders and potentiometers in a dusty or fluffy environment. To avoid these problems the customer was looking for a non-contact solution.

Customer solution

Contrinex analogue inductive sensors from their Extra Distance 509 Series family, available from PLUS Automation, provided the perfect solution for this application and the dusty environment. Their Condist oscillator technology ensures excellent temperature stability and repeat accuracy which is required for precision measurement at longer operating distances (up to 40 mm) to a resolution in the µm range.

Their excellent speed, resolution and continuous non-digitised output is particularly suitable for fast precise measurement of the constantly ‘dancing’ roll in this feedback control system.

The use of an analogue inductive sensor requires no mechanical contact but merely an elliptical metal target or direct view of the moving dancer arm. It is then possible to interface the sensor output directly to a controller, with several switch points included in a single device. This greatly simplifies installation, while the problems of wear and tear associated with mechanical contact are also avoided.

Titan Enterprises celebrates over 10 years of partnership development with Paxman Coolers Ltd (www.paxmanscalpcooling.com) as the company reports over 4,000 Paxman scalp-cooling systems are now installed around the world, reducing the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

Paxman’s innovative liquid-based cooling system utilises Titan’s mini turbine flowmeters to monitor the rate of coolant flow around the patented cooling cap during chemotherapy treatment. The scalp cooling technology can alleviate the damage caused to the hair follicles by reducing the temperature of the scalp by a few degrees before, during, and after chemotherapy treatment.

Chemotherapy-induced hair loss is one of the most feared and traumatic side-effects of patient cancer treatments. The growing awareness of the benefits of scalp cooling has led to an increase in demand for Paxman’s Scalp Cooling System from both healthcare providers and chemotherapy patients.  In recent years, the product has received clearance from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and market approval in over 60 countries, helping over 100,000 cancer patients worldwide.

Neil Hannay, Senior R&D Engineer with Titan Enterprises said: “We really value long-term relationships like the one we have with Paxman. Working with OEMs is a large proportion of our research and development and it’s particularly rewarding to see that our technology is being used successfully within such a significant medical device.”

These turbine flow measuring devices are an ideal low-cost component for OEM applications. In this case, Titan’s 300-010 mini turbine flowmeter ensures that the coolant flow rate within the cooling cap is kept within an optimum range to provide the patient with the best possible chance of keeping their hair.

Patrick Burke, Paxman’s Head of Operations commented: “We chose to integrate Titan Enterprises’ mini turbine flowmeter into our Scalp Cooling System because it offered an excellent balance of measurement accuracy, long term resistance to coolant fluids, high reliability and proved easy to maintain”.

Titan’s industry proven mini turbine flow devices use sapphire bearings for long life and reliability. These simple flow monitoring devices are well suited for installation into systems that require batch filling, dispensing of liquids or long-term repeat dosing – such as Paxman’s scalp cooling system. The NSF-approved 800 Series and Beverage mini turbine flowmeters combine high performance and inherent reliability. The Beverage flowmeter operates over a single flow range of 0.6 to 10 litres per minutes, whereas the 800-Series turbines operate over 6 flow ranges from 0.05 to 15 litres per minute.

Titan continues to be a part of Paxman’s exciting developments as they work towards a medical compression and cooling device to prevent chemotherapy-induced nerve damage in hands and feet.

For further information on Titan’s mini turbine flowmeters please visit https://www.flowmeters.co.uk/turbine-flowmeters-overview/. To discuss an optimised flow measurement device for your OEM application please contact Titan Enterprises on +44 (0)1935 812790 or email sales@flowmeters.co.uk.

For information about Paxman’s story and their scalp cooling systems, visit www.paxmanscalpcooling.com/.