A house made by a 3D printer could one day be a reality. The façade of the ‘Europa-Haus’ in the Amsterdam Marine Quarter, built for the duration of the Dutch Presidency of the EU, was partly constructed in this way. Based in Amsterdam, DUS Architects have used a mobile 3D printer in extra-extra-large (XXL) format, which is housed in a shipping container. For the construction of the building, the architects worked closely w...

Extensive research and development has been undertaken by igus, into 3D printing filaments in order to offer its industrial customers more freedom in their product design and prototyping. The result was the world’s first structural plastic filament for use in 3D printing, designed specifically for moving applications. 

Robotic welding systems have been widely used in large scale automated manufacturing facilities, particularly in the automotive industry, for a number of years. Faced with cost-down pressures from their customers, small metalworking job shops are now starting to consider implementing automation.

  The challenge? To design, develop, build and market a single seater racing car for the IMechE’s annual Formula Student competition.

The proliferation of low cost drones for hobbyists has led to a number of well publicised incidents. The use of drones is now often forbidden by law around airports, sporting events and government establishments due to the risk of physical injury or use in committing crimes. Policing has traditionally resorted to arresting the drone operator and/or seizing the drone and its cargo when it lands, as forcing the drone out of the sky while it is flyi...

igus has just announced a universal plain bearing material that helps prevent the build-up of electrostatic charges.  Being electrically conductive, any electrostatic charge is safely discharged avoiding sparking, and like all other iglidur materials, the bearings are self-lubricating and require no maintenance.

igus has launched the B160, a recent black option of its iglidur tribo-tape. Where a standard bearing solution won’t suffice, the B160 has proved an excellent alternative across many automotive applications. The iglidur tribo-tape offers a low friction and noise dampening properties and will eliminate rattles and squeaks wherever there is a metal to metal or plastic contact; typical examples include leaf springs, steering columns, seating, ...

When a team of students from the University of Hertfordshire was tasked to make this year’s UH Racing car much lighter than in previous years, at first, the assignment seemed daunting for the students. Fortunately, igus, one of the team’s sponsors, was more than happy to pitch in, explaining the features and benefits of using complex technical polymer and ultralight metal components in place of the more traditional steel ones.

  Following significant investment, polymer bearings specialist igus now offers 16 different tribopolymer materials in standard DIN ISO 3547-1 dimensions up to diameters of 50mm. This amounts to over 13,000 plain bearings, available for delivery from stock within 24 hours.

To celebrate 30 years of iglidur materials and the 50th birthday of the company, igus has retrofitted a car’s conventional bearings with iglidur plain bearings and circumnavigated the globe, demonstrating the durable and robust nature of iglidur materials in some harsh environments, from dirt tracks to wet and humid locations.

Plastics specialist igus has developed a new tribo-polymer filament for 3D printers, developed specifically for engineers who wish to create structurally robust prototypes or small batch components for test in real-world applications or solutions. Suitable for use with any 3D printer that has a heated nozzle, print bed and uses ABS filaments, the material is up to 50 times more  resistant to wear and abrasion than products made from conventi...

igus has introduced a new range of products for port cranes at the TOC Europe in Bremen. The aims are to improve technique, increase lifetime whilst saving costs. The “P4” energy chain system which has been around for about one and a half years now, is available in two new sizes: P4.32 and P4.42. The P4.42 (42 mm inner height) in a “heavy-duty design” is made for particularly demanding crane applications: high speeds up to...

Cables constructed in layers are significantly cheaper to produce, therefore some manufacturers offer 'continuous-flexing cable' with this low-cost approach. However, these cables are often constructed without attention to pitch length, pitch direction or centre-filler design and typically have fleece wraps and binders with a sleeve-extruded jacket.

GÜDE uses reinforced plastic cable carriers from igus to minimise downtime across its range of automated systems—from multi-axis robots and press-transfer systems, to factory-automation equipment and gantry robots. The cable carriers guide and protect moving cables and hoses to maximise uptime for GÜDEL’s customers.

For those who want to export machines and plant to the USA, there is often no way around the requirement for the new NFPA 79 approval. This standard, which originated in the construction field, prohibits the use of some AWM cables (UL Recognized) in machines. Due to the very high fire-resistance requirement, NFPA 79 restricts the selection of cable materials used to PVC only.

Bus system problems can occur during twisting applications in energy chains, particularly with shielded data cables, because the shields can get damaged and open up. This is not the case with fibre optic cables: These do not have a mechanically vulnerable shield braid, and they are insensitive to EMC whilst transferring high-speed bus signals up to a length of 400 m. Following comprehensive tests, the energy chain and flexible cable specialist ig...

At the last Vision trade show, GigE – as an alternative to FireWire, USB, and CameraLink – was referred to as the new future standard. The first camera manufacturers have already presented camera specific cables for the consumer market. However, the industrial market for visual automation demands that the Ethernet cables tolerate high mechanical loads. igus® have developed the world’s first GigE cable for continuous dynamic ...

igus® UK has unveiled a new maintenance-free linear unit for format adjustments. DryLin® EasyTube can be used for adjustment tasks up to 150 newtons in vertical applications or 500 newtons when installed horizontally. The system is temperature-resistant up to 80 degrees Celcius and has the option of a corrosion-free stainless steel leadscrew. Potential industries for this product include machine tools, food manufacturing and packaging, al...

igus UK, known for its reinforced cable carrying Energy Chains, flexible cables and polymer bearings, has launched the Y.E.S. (Young Engineers Support) Program, which offers free samples, product information and technical support to students and trainee engineers.

igus has launched a cable with individual conductors designed to withstand high levels of torsion in all three dimensions. The robot-suitable cable is ideal for robotic and other applications, such as rotary tables or spindle drives that must be supplied with high power levels.