There is much going on in the world of fluid power and motion control, from technology introductions and industry advancements to new trends and industry leaders. Each week the Power & Motion team collects some of the latest industry news to help keep our readers up to date on what's happening in the industries in which they work.
Hallite Appoints New Business Development Manager
Hallite Seals Americas has announced the hiring of Mark Hill who will become Business Development Manager at the company. In this role he will utilize his sales and application engineering expertise to help customers and meet Hallite's growth objectives.
Hill's previous roles included design of automated solutions for manufacturing and other industries as well as engineering within the seals industry.
"Mark brings strong engineering, technical, and sales skills to a critical customer-facing role that will help take our business and customer relationships to the next level," said Chuck White, Director of Sales and Marketing and to whom Hill will report, in Hallite's press release announcing the hiring. "His knowledge will benefit Hallite in numerous ways."
New Briggs & Stratton Partnership to Expand Electrification Solutions Availability
Briggs & Stratton has formed a partnership with Canimex Group, a manufacturer of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical and electronic solutions. Canimex has several business units; as part of the new partnership its Mechanical and Electrical division will use Briggs & Stratton's Vanguard brand battery systems in various applications.
The Canada-based company provides OEMs in a variety of industries with engineering and technical support, and can create customized solutions for forestry, construction, agriculture, industrial and other applications as needed. These include electrification solutions as well of which the use of Vanguard batteries will be a part.
"There’s no question that the future is battery power. As more of our customers pursue electrification, we are excited to be partnering with Vanguard to deliver ruggedly designed, powerfully built battery solutions that our customers can trust to deliver a solid performance," said Dominic Bolduc, technical sales representative at Canimex, in Briggs & Stratton's press release announcing the partnership.
"As more OEMs look toward electrification, we are pleased to add Canimex Group to our list of impressive Battery Technology Partners," said Chris Davison, senior marketing manager — Electrification at Briggs & Stratton, in the company's press release. "Canimex’s manufacturing expertise combined with our cutting-edge battery power technology will help set OEMs up for success as they pursue integrating electrified equipment."
READ MORE: Briggs & Stratton Expands Battery Lineup
Case IH Debuts Autonomous Spreader
During the 2022 Farm Progress Show, one of the largest U.S. events for the agricultural industry, Case IH and Raven Industries introduced the Case IH Trident 5550 applicator with Raven Autonomy. Considered to be the first autonomous spreader, the machine allows driverless operation to help with productivity and the labor challenges farming and many other sectors are facing.
Per Case IH's press release announcing the machine's launch, it combines proven driverless technology with an agronomically designed spreading platform for a flexible autonomous solution. The technology stack is powered by guidance and steering, propulsion control, perception, and path planning software developed by Raven.
Raven's system utilizes cameras, radar and artificial intelligence to sense the environment around the Trident 5550 applicator and prevent possible collisions with objects detected in the machine's path. "The Raven Autonomy perception system provides an advanced, reliable solution for autonomous operation and is tailored specifically for the spreading application with a self-propelled machine," said Eric Shuman, Raven general manager, in Case IH's press release announcing the spreader's launch.
Development of the machine comes after years of research, which included the reveal of a concept autonomous tractor at the Farm Progress Show in 2016. According to Case IH, market research conducted by the company found spreading is among the leading tasks for which farmers would adopt autonomous machines. Parent company CNH Industrial acquired Raven Industries in 2021 as a means of advancing development efforts in autonomy for its agricultural and construction equipment brands such as Case IH.
Launch of this new machine shows the continued advancements being made within autonomy which is likely to have impacts on many vehicle components and systems in the future including hydraulics and pneumatics.
igus to Speak on Methods for Avoiding Downtime at IMTS
igus smart plastics industry manager Michael Patterson will be among the presenters at IMTS 2022, one of the largest trade shows dedicated to the manufacturing industry. His presentation "Avoid Unplanned Downtime with Intelligent Monitoring" on Sept. 12 will examine the benefits of utilizing monitoring components capable of supporting predictive maintenance.
Patterson will bring his decades of expertise in this area to the presentation, showing how use of "smart" technologies can help to increase productivity by minimizing the chances of unplanned downtime.
His presentation will be one of 19 sessions focused specifically on Industry 4.0 technologies and trends which are ever increasing in the manufacturing and other industries.
READ MORE about the event: IMTS Returns to Address Key Manufacturing Issues
GreenPower Opens New Electric School Bus Manufacturing Facility
Electric vehicle developer GreenPower has opened its newest manufacturing facility in South Charleston, WV, which will build its all-electric school buses. The additional manufacturing facility will help the company to meet continued growing demand for electric vehicle options.
In addition to providing more manufacturing capacity for a growing market, the facility will also provide skilled jobs for people in the region. As such, the company is partnering with BridgeValley Community and Technical College to provide potential future employees with the skills they will need to work in clean-energy jobs like those available with GreenPower.
"Today marks a significant milestone for GreenPower as we continue to live the vision of advancing the adoption of purpose-bult, zero-emission school buses. Through this new facility we will be able to exponentially increase our production to meet the increased demand for all-electric school buses," said Brendan Riley, president and director at GreenPower, in the company's press release announcing the opening of the facility and citing recent public funding from both the state and federal levels and state climate change regulations as sources of the increased demand. "The work we're doing in South Charleston is a testament to GreenPower's mission and allows us to be well-positioned as the leader nationwide in the transition to clean, electric and safer transportation."
