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Configure wear-resistant gear wheels in 60 seconds
It is almost impossible to design gear wheels without aid, because of the complex geometry involved

Configure wear-resistant gear wheels in 60 seconds

Motion plastics specialist igus has launched a new online configurator that enables engineers to configure gear wheels in just one minute.

Once ordered via the web shop, the gear wheels are 3D printed from iglidur I6 material for quick dispatch.



Characterised by a wear resistance of at least six times that of standard materials, the iglidur i6 material is well-suited for printing wear resistant parts, such as gears, offering a particularly long service life.

At the company’s in-house 2,750 m² test lab, a 3D printed gear wheel, made of iglidur i6, was put through its paces to exemplify its high wear resistance properties.

In the test a worm wheel drive with 5 Nm torque and 12 rpm was used, and gears made from different materials compared.

The SLS printed PA12 gear failed after 521 cycles, as the heat generated by friction melted the plastic.

The gear made of iglidur i3 stopped at around 345,000 cycles.

The iglidur i6 gear was still fully functional after 1 million cycles, showing only minor wear. The iglidur i6 gear was also compared with machined gears.

The gear made of POM (Polyoxymethylene) failed after 621,000 cycles, while the machined PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) gear stopped working after 155,000 cycles.

It is almost impossible to design gear wheels without aid, because of the complex geometry involved.

In a few steps, simply enter the specifications of the required gear wheel – tooth module, number of teeth, width and inner diameter.

This automatically displays a 3D model that can be exported as a STEP file and uploaded onto the igus online 3D printing service.

With a mouse click, the customer can order printed parts for shipment within one to three days.

How to set up the motor controller for the drylin E linear robot

Rene Erdmann, head of the drylin E electric drive technology business unit at igus, shows how easy it is to set up the dryve motor controller for the drylin E linear robot.

Machine builders can achieve system start-up using the motor controller in less than a minute

The web-based system can interface easily to a desktop PC, tablet or smartphone – simply type in the IP address and connect directly to the controller’s interface. Here, different parameters, such as the drive profile, can be set.

“The beauty of dryve is simplicity in itself – no additional software or special app is required to enter the data,” says Erdmann. Machine builders can achieve system start-up using the motor controller in less than a minute. Afterwards, the values can be changed or intermediate steps added via the web browser.

To watch the video of Rene Erdmann’s demonstration, click HERE.

RoboCup German Open 2018

Robots from 14 countries competed against each other at the RoboCup German Open 2018 in Magdeburg.

In the logistics league, the Carologistics team from Aachen has become German champion – with the support of the motion plastics specialist igus.

Robots from 14 countries competed against each other at the RoboCup German Open 2018 in Magdeburg

How far has robotics and artificial intelligence developed in the last few years? It is exciting to watch systems from all over the world in real-life at the RoboCup German Open 2018.

Pupils and young engineers from around 40 universities and research institutes had a wide variety of robots in their backpacks: from small humanoid robots to table-high transport robots.

They competed in various disciplines, such as football, simulated rescue missions or intralogistics tasks.

A large number of the teams use self-lubricating and maintenance-free high-performance plastics from igus in the moving parts of their robots.

Team Carologistics, sponsored by igus, is one of them, achieving first place in the logistics league. Operating in a Smart Factory environment, the robots communicated with each other and oriented themselves in a 112 m2 field without help. They transported rings and caps between assembly stations and assembled products at the end.

In the new intralogistics robots, drylin linear modules are now used in the three-axis control of the gripper.

In addition, an electric linear axis with a spindle motor and a dryspin leadscrew, which ensures precision when placing and removing the products.

In the Standard League, in which robots compete on the football field, igus also supported Team B-Human of the University of Bremen and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence.

Last year’s winner took 3rd place and, like Carologistics, will compete against teams from all over the world at the World Championship in Montréal, Canada, in June.

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