IT Jan 2008 - Industrial Technology Magazine

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COMPACT & COMPLETE More Compact Machinery Digitax ST is an extremely compact servo drive that can be mounted sideby-side with other drives or components without leaving space. The result is an incredibly high packing density for multiple axes. Onboard features such as synchronised motion control and Safe Torque Off reduce the need for external components further reducing cubicle sizes and cost. Matched Motors Unimotor FM is a performance matched range of servo motors. FM means Flexible Motor, available in six different diameters with a wide range of motor lengths, rated speeds and feedback devices.Factory fitted options include integral brakes and servo gear boxes. Digitax ST operates successfully with other manufacturers’ servo motors including linear motors and almost any feedback device. Increased Value How do you increase the value of your machines while reducing your costs? Digitax ST offers reliability, and the performance to increase speed, repeatability and accuracy while also reducing the size and cost. Digitax ST addresses all of the challenges associated with modern machine design. Digitax ST - Base Digitax ST - Indexer Digitax ST - EZ Motion Digitax ST - Plus Two option module slots ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Digital and analogue I/O with pluggable connector ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Smartcard ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ High speed Freeze input for position capture ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Safe Torque Off (Secure Disable) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ CTSoft and CTScope commissioning software ✔ ✔ ✔ Removable keypad (optional) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ RS485 PC programming port ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Intellectual Property Protection ✔ ✔ Index motion programming within CTSoft ✔ Able to import Index Motion Program multi-tasking ✔ ✔ PowerTools Pro programming environment ✔ SyPT Pro programming environment with PLCopen programming Drive-to-drive networking ✔ ✔ 30 For more information call Control Techniques UK drive centre on 01952 213700 or visit www.controltechniques.com
John Richardson’s ENGINEERING DIARY In the spirit of environmentalism, I took the bus into town recently instead of using my car. Whilst on longer trips I always try to use the train, I have to admit that on shorter hops I have been rather guilty of always falling back on my own private transport. But we all need to be considering our carbon footprints these days, and seeing as I had to go out, the bus seemed the lesser of two evils. In the event, I suspect my bus trip contributed more to the greenhouse effect than leaving my car at home saved. A journey that would have taken me 15 minutes by car took 45 minutes by bus, and the bus itself appeared to have one of those throttles that was either open or closed, with nothing in between. In fact, so jerky was the ride that a couple of pensioners in front of me were in serious danger of being thrown out of their seats. So there we are. One small step for a man, but not even a tiny contribution really to the giant leap needed for mankind. And it still seems completely topsy turvey to me that when it comes to travel up and down the country, the fastest, cheapest way for me to get around – ie to take a plane – is also the most environmentally damaging. I may be able to pat myself on the back for taking the train, but there’s certainly a sting in the wallet. Small crumbs of comfort Still, I can at least draw comfort from the fact that the UK’s greenhouse emissions are already down to 15% below 1990 levels, some 2.5% below the Kyoto targets which the government committed us to meeting by 2012. Or can I, because a recent study casts doubt on the figures, saying the government’s claims to have tacked global warming are an illusion. While the government figures focus solely on the production of carbon, the new analysis measures the actual consumption of carbon, and incorporates the effects of pollution from aviation, shipping, overseas trade and tourism, all of the which the government figures conveniently ignore. According to this new analysis, UK carbon output has actually risen by 19% compared with 1990 levels. To quote the report: “This is a dramatic reversal of fortune. It merits an immediate, more detailed and more robust assessment. It suggests that the decline in greenhouse gas emissions from the UK economy may have been to a considerable degree an illusion.” Among the many failings of Kyoto was clearly the fact that major polluting powers such as the USA were never on board. Could the climate change summit in Bali change all that? Officials from 189 countries met to try and agree a road map for climate change before meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 to thrash out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. In the event, as perhaps we all expected, the EU’s insistence on clear targets proved to be a sticking point. The suggested wording read: “The unequivocal scientific evidence... Will require Parties included in the Annex 1... to reduce their emissions in a range of 25 to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.” Alternative wordings This was never going to be acceptable to the likes of the Americans, Canadians and Japanese. And then of course you have China, which, having seen the USA grow rich and fat on a foundation of fossil fuels, clearly feels it has a right to do likewise, and is building enormous amounts of coal capacity, basically adding the equivalent of Germany each year. So, late into the proceedings the EU delegation caved in to the opposition, and ditched specific target percentages. Instead, the final document says countries recognise that “deep cuts in global emissions” will be required, and calls for a “long term global goal for emissions reductions.” Somehow, everyone coming away from the summit seemed to think that this was a success. UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn hailed it as an historic breakthrough, whilst Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he was delighted. The various campaigners and non-governmental organisations, meanwhile, aghast that the hard science of the first draft has effectively been relegated to a footnote, are calling the agreement nothing less than a suicide pact. You have to feel some sympathy. The absence of any firm targets will effectively make any successor to Kyoto little more than a voluntary agreement rather than something which is legally binding. The problem, though, as we have seen, is that even when there are firm targets in place, the reality of life in the twenty-first Century, where soundbytes and headlines count for more than genuine substance, is that even quoted figures in the end mean nothing. We have only to look at the UK’s own emissions crisis for evidence. If a country which has been one of the strongest proponents of Kyoto, and which claims to be leading from the front on emissions reduction, can be some 34% out in the reality of its quoted figures, then what hope is there for the world in general? Answers on a postcard accepted as always, but remember that a nice movie could win you a Nobel prize. feedback@itmagazine.uk.com <strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2008</strong> • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY 31
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IT Jan 2008 - Industrial Technology Magazine

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