1st March 2021 9:00 am 25th February 2021 12:16 pm
A labour-intensive process to position powerful permanent magnets onto large generators for offshore wind has been made 60 times faster by automation experts at the University of Sheffield AMRC, cutting down the cycle time from one hour to just 55 seconds for each magnet.
The ROBOMAG project, led by the AMRC’s Dr Alexei Winter (pictured) uses cutting edge robotics technology speed up the production process. Picture: University of Sheffield AMRC
Magnetic gear technology company Magnomatics wants to explore how robotic technologies can optimise the manufacturing process and drive big productivity improvements for its wind turbine generators, which form part of its Pseudo Direct Drive (PDD) generator technology portfolio.
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The Sheffield-based company teamed up with engineers at the AMRC’s Factory 2050 to automate its current manual process which involves operators painstakingly placing 204 large magnets – each weighing 18kg and capable of generating a magnetic force of up to 3kN – using jigs and lead screws to carefully slide the magnets into position, taking up to an hour for each magnet.
Magnomatics
The ROBOMAG project is led by the AMRC’s Dr Alexei Winter.
Dave Latimer, chief executive of Magnomatics, said: “We are delighted with the outcome of this project. It is just one element of a series of developments all aimed at manufacturing large direct drive generators for wind here in the UK.