The Machine That Was Built Before the Design Review We built a machine on a tight schedule. The design review (a meeting where the team checks the design) got skipped — “we’ll review it during build.” On the floor, problems surfaced: a cylinder that didn’t reach its stroke, a sensor in a spot the operator …
Continue reading “Automation Design Review Checklist: Before You Build the Machine”
The Belt That Slipped on the Drive Pulley We built a belt conveyor. At first, it ran fine. After a week, the belt slipped on the drive pulley — the pulley turned, but the belt didn’t move (or moved slowly). The problem: the belt stretched with age. The belt tension dropped. The drive pulley lost …
Continue reading “Conveyor Belt Take-Up: Stretch Compensation, Tension and Tracking”
The E-Stop That Restarted Automatically We wired an e-stop circuit. When the operator hit the e-stop, the machine stopped. But when the e-stop was released (twisted to reset), the machine restarted on its own. The operator hadn’t cleared the fault or pressed “start.” The problem: the safety relay had an automatic reset (auto-monitored reset). When …
Continue reading “E-Stop Reset Circuit: Manual Monitored Reset and Safety Monitor Relay”
The Touchscreen That Was Too Small for the Operator We used a 7-inch HMI on a machine. On the bench, the screens looked fine. On the floor, the operator (wearing gloves) couldn’t tap the small buttons. The screen’s buttons were 8 mm wide. With a work glove, the touch was unreliable — the operator tapped …
Continue reading “HMI Selection Guide: Screen Size, Glove Touch, Protocol and Mounting”
The Indexing Table That Overshot Every Cycle We used a pneumatic rotary index table to position parts between assembly stations. The table indexed 90° (4 stations). On the bench, it stopped accurately. On the floor, it overshot — the table kept rotating past the 90° stop. The reason: the table’s rotational inertia (the table plus …
Continue reading “Pneumatic Rotary Index Table: Kinetic Energy, Sizing and Stop Design”
The Robot That Couldn’t Reach the Conveyor We laid out a robot cell: a 6 kg robot on a stand, a conveyor for parts, and a machining fixture. On the layout, the robot’s reach covered everything. On the floor, the robot couldn’t reach the far end of the conveyor. The conveyor was 1.4 m from …
Continue reading “Robot Cell Layout: Work Envelope, Reach Margin and Safety Distance”
The Vision System That Couldn’t Read the Label We set up a camera to read a barcode on a shiny metal part. The camera worked on a flat sample. On the actual parts (which had a machined, reflective surface), the barcode image was washed out — glare from the overhead light. The camera saw a …
Continue reading “Vision Lighting: Light Type, Color, Strobe and Glare Control”
The Diverter That Jammed the Boxes We built a diverter (a pop-up arm) on a roller conveyor. It pushed boxes from the main line onto a side spur. On the bench, it worked. On the floor, the boxes jammed — the diverter arm hit the box’s bottom flap. The problem: the diverter was a flat …
Continue reading “Conveyor Diverter Selection: Product Routing, Timing and Sensor Design”
The Pallet That Wouldn’t Locate on the Return Conveyor We built a pallet circulation system: pallets carry parts through assembly stations. The pallets locate on each station with two pins. On the outgoing conveyor, the pallet went through fine. On the return conveyor, it came back rotated 180°. The pins didn’t line up with the …
Continue reading “Circulation Pallet Design: Locating Pins, Orientation and Lift Stations”
The Rivet That Wasn’t Setting Properly We built a pneumatic press for riveting: Ø4 mm semi-tubular rivets into aluminum brackets. The press delivered 800 N at 6 bar. On the bench, the rivets set fine. On the line, about 10% of the rivets were loose. The problem: we sized the press for the average riveting …
Continue reading “Pneumatic Press Design: Riveting Force Curve, Cylinder Sizing and Monitoring”
The Machine That Failed the CE Inspection We shipped a machine to Europe. The customer’s CE inspector came. He checked the machine’s documentation: the electrical schematic, the risk assessment, the CE declaration of conformity, and the machine nameplate. The nameplate had the company name but not the required information (machine year, serial number, electrical rating, …
Continue reading “Machine Documentation: Nameplate Data, Risk Assessment and CE Declaration”
The Coupling That Winded Up Under Load We used a jaw-type (spider) coupling between a servo motor and a ball screw. On the bench, it positioned fine. On the machine, under load (the screw pressed with 500 N), the axis had a following error. The coupling winded up (twisted) under torque. The motor moved, but …
Continue reading “Servo Coupling Selection: Bellows vs Jaw vs Disc for Positioning”
The Linear Guide That Ran Dry We installed a linear guide on a dispensing axis. The guide came with grease fittings. On the installation, we greased it once. Then we forgot about it. Six months later, the guide started making noise. The balls had lost lubrication. The guide’s life was compromised. The mistake: one greasing …
Continue reading “Linear Guide Lubrication: Grease Interval, Automatic Oiler and Maintenance”
The Axis That Crashed on Homing We set up a linear axis with a home switch (a proximity sensor) at one end. The homing routine: move toward home at high speed until the home sensor triggers, then stop. On the first run, the axis moved at 500 mm/s toward the home sensor. It triggered the …
Continue reading “Axis Homing Design: Home Switch, Limit Switch and Homing Speed”
The Cylinder That Hammered at Full Stroke We mounted a pneumatic cylinder (Ø50 mm, 200 mm stroke) for a push station. On the bench, it extended and retracted fine. On the machine, the piston hit the end cap hard every cycle — a loud “clang” at full extension. After a week, the end cap seals …
Continue reading “Cylinder Cushioning: Speed Control, End-Stroke Deceleration and Shock Absorbers”
Number of items in cart:
Everything you need to know about designing efficient and reliable conveyor systems
