Machine Substitution Brings New Opportunities To The Pneumatic Components Industry

Pneumatic components are the basic components of industrial automation. Due to their environmental protection, energy saving, small size, light weight, long life and high reliability, they are widely used in industrial machinery transmission solutions. Pneumatic components are also a sophisticated component. At present, the world's mainstream manufacturers include Germany Festo, Japan SMC, Germany Rexroth and American Parker.

In recent years, the global industrial robot industry has developed rapidly, which has brought great business opportunities to pneumatic components. In particular, China has promoted the upgrading of manufacturing industry and vigorously developed intelligent manufacturing. The demand for pneumatics has been greatly enhanced. The end action of industrial robots is mainly done by pneumatic actuators and electric actuators. No matter which kind of robot, the final function is to use the actuators for grabbing and rotating.

As a world-renowned manufacturer of pneumatic components, SMC has been committed to the development of wireless valve guidance technology in the past two years, trying to use remote sensing technology to carry out some functions to make pneumatic components more flexible and more comfortable. At the same time, the product also supports Internet technology. Reducing the interference of some lines provides strong support for the development of the industrial robot industry.

In the past, the control cabinets were basically connected by cables. During the installation and commissioning process, the wireless valve guiding technology can greatly reduce the installation space and save the labor of the daily maintenance process of the equipment. Ma Qinghai, general manager of SMC (China) Co., Ltd. said that wireless technology was originally applied to earphones. Now it is entering the industrial scene. It is necessary to fully consider the interference of harsh environments. At present, the wireless remote control distance of SMC is 10 meters, which can satisfy most of the equipment. Demand, this is also the latest technology in the pneumatic industry.

Energy saving is an important direction of pneumatic components. SMC invented a new air gun that can save 75% of electricity consumption. Compared with the old air gun, only 25% of the air volume can complete the same action. This product has obtained a new invention patent. In many products, SMC expands the air volume through the cylinder, and uses the modification of the airflow loop to recover the exhaust gas as a new drive to achieve the effect of solar energy. Ma Qinghai said that the trend of parts is miniaturization and light weight, which can make the power consumption of the robot lower.

With the development of the industrial Internet of Things trend, automation equipment needs to meet the requirements of all things interconnection and human-machine interconnection. To adapt to the development of the Internet of Things, SMC has developed IO-Link products. In future industrial scenarios, users will be able to collect data on industrial components, including pressure, flow, location, temperature, etc., through the Internet of Things, and then improve the overall efficiency of the production system through data analysis.

The integration of pneumatics and electrics is also an important trend of the actuators. SMC is initially based on pneumatic support, the cost of pneumatics will be lower, and the cost of electric motors is about 3-4 times that of pneumatics. However, with the continuous development of electric technology, the cost is declining, making electric components widely used. Therefore, SMC has also begun research and development of electric actuators.

For the future trend, Ma Qinghai believes that the robot industry will become increasingly lightweight and intelligent. Industrial robots were first used in the automotive industry to perform processes such as welding, stamping, assembly, and painting. With the rapid development of consumer electronics, robots have begun to be used in electronics manufacturing, especially in the smart phone industry. The future, including the semiconductor and new energy industries, will also use a large number of robots. The power battery industry derived from new energy vehicles has great potential.