Robotics require especially compact brakes that are tailored to the situation and operate reliably over their entire service life. The life cycle is tested by Kendrion with a special robotic test bench, which means that customers no longer need to carry out their own simulations and/or testing, thus speeding up the time-to-market. The test bench is an important tool for the development department, which has been operating with twice the manpower, combined know-how, and synergistically on behalf of customers since Kendrion’s and INTORQ’s merger.
High speeds, a wide temperature range from -60 to +120 °C and tight installation spaces are common boundary conditions in robotics. But when you look at brakes in particular, the requirements are even more varied. “Each customer has unique expectations and preferences based upon the relevant application,” explains Bernd Fürst, Head of Prototyping and Laboratory at Kendrion Industrial Brakes. “One way of dealing with this is to individually adapt our brakes. But furthermore, our test bench enables us to map the usage scenario as realistically as possible and thus test the products under near real-world conditions.” Kendrion can precisely predict how the brake will behave under the given conditions, and over its entire service life. The benefits for the customer are enormous: The brakes developed by Kendrion require fewer development loops at the customer’s facility. The simulation carried out by Kendrion also accurately indicate how high or low the torques will be, so that the customer application can be designed more precisely.
On the test bench itself, the drive/brake subsystem is modeled. “Robots usually have various axes that we simulate on the test bench,” explains Bernd Fürst. The low inertia of the test bench allows us to test compact brakes at high speeds.” This includes, for example, individually adapted spring applied brakes based on the Servo Slim Line and Servo Line product lines. But we can also test small permanent magnet brakes that are designed for general drives outside of robotics.
While the robotics test bench is located at the Villingen site, it is used by all locations of the brake expert. It is representative of the new structure of the development department of Kendrion and INTORQ, which truly has become a unit since the two companies have merged. “We have become entwined very quickly and formed teams across locations,” says Bernd Fürst. “The vast experience in development, which was previously split over two companies, has now become one. While we developed similar products in the past, we still employed different approaches and methodologies. Today, we are taking advantage of the synergies and learn from each other. For customers, it means that they are getting incredible expertise from a single source. Because we offer not only many years of technical experience, but also an extensive product portfolio that comprises both technologies: permanent magnet brakes and spring applied brakes.