25 years of innovation in the UK

Liverpool University Guild of Students

One of igus®' recent projects was the permanent lighting and PA system at the University of Liverpool's Mountford Hall. The hall is used for a variety of live, concerts, events and conferences, including the BBC's 'Question Time'. Sound and lighting designers, Adlib Audio collaborated with igus® using maintenance-free cable management solutions to develop a fully-automated manoeuvring solution.

A custom e-chain and e-spool® system was fitted to each of the four main speaker arrays to provide no-break connections between the amplifiers and speakers, this eliminates reliability and signal quality issues.

The system provides a secure cable management solution and raising and lowering the speakers have become a simple automated procedure. Costs and health and safety issues relating the recruitment of extra crew to work at height for manual manoeuvring have now been eliminated.

Bearings help focus drone defence system

Sky-Wall100 - reusable drone defence system developed by Openworks Engineering was created to assist with the criminal activity and physical injury that has been linked to the use of drones.

At the heart of the system the easy-to-use SmartScope allowing engagement of static and moving targets using predictive algorythms. When the target is acquired the SmartScope adjusts its bearings to force the operator to redirect their aim to compensate for gravity and drone movement.

iglidur J plain bearings are used for the pivots in the SmartScope because of their low maintenance and low weight when compared to conventional metal roller bearings.

Wimbledon

Sometimes projects can be complex, for instance, the concertina roof of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, which involved 148 axes of control, huge steel trusses and over 17,000 sq ft of fabric covering, with cabling. All controlled by 108 high performance actuators, 40 servo motors and 196 servo drives, along with miles of cables.

The issue here was how to protect the cables from damage when the roof opened and closed. This was solved by igus® energy chains that guided and protected the cables during the intricate function.

Energy chains are modular and can be assembled quickly to accommodate any length or orientation of travel. For Wimbledon, they were tested and proven against environmental elements, high loads and speeds, and noise.

Jaguar Land Rover

An innovative energy chain solution also helped Jaguar Land Rover to reduce the downtime of on one of its factory robots by 66%.

The problem - a high level of downtime caused by the cable management hose, as it kept falling into the robot’s working range. The company needed help, and called on us for a solution.

The answer was the triflex® RS 6-axis robot energy chain, which was developed specifically for applications in harsh industrial environments. Since the installation, the robot has been maintenance free and Jaguar Land Rover has achieved a significant increase in uptime.

The igus® solution is not only lightweight and cost-effective, it has high torsional stability and a small bend radius and pitch, all this provides an answer to applications that carry energy supply in confined spaces.

Theatre and Stage

The novel applications of igus® technology has also extended to the world of theatre and the arts. One company that has made extensive use of its products is EZ FX, a leading manufacturer of jibs, supports and fixtures for film and video applications.

The company adopted iglidur® plain bearings and drylin® linear drives for use in its camera jibs. They replaced conventional bronze bearings that needed regular lubrication and servicing. Since changing to igus® products the company have developed a new lighter and less expensive design that is completely maintenance free because of the smooth running of the components and the elimination of grease.

Next generation in UK Engineering

Looking forward - igus® is well aware that industry suffers from acute skills shortages, and is therefore a keen supporter of academic projects aimed at inspiring the next generation of engineers.

Our Young Engineers Support (YES) programme offers initiatives that share our industry knowledge with students and lecturers alike by offering free samples and reference materials. For instance, recently benefiting from the scheme are universities that have participated in the Formula student competition, where students design and racing cars to compete. For this years event we supplied drylin® rails and pedal brake bearings to Cardiff University for their CR12 race-car.

igus® is proud to be on the team.