Beckhoff Spain presents its XPlanar engine system on the talk show El Hormiguero

2023-02-11

On January 11, 2023, Miguel Cubillo, technical director of Beckhoff Spain; Javier Menchén, XPlanar product specialist, and Miquel Coca, Account Manager of Beckhoff Spain, presented the XPlanar in the Science section of the talk show program El Hormiguero, before the host of the program, Pablo Motos, the special guests and actors Eduardo Casanova and Ángela Molina, and the audience of more than 2,300,000 viewers.

Miguel Cubillo, with the help of Javier Menchén backstage, authors of the development of the application, detailed the properties of the XPlanar, where he explained that, thanks to the precise control of the magnetic fields, it is possible for the movers to move and float with free movement with up to 6 degrees of freedom. Spectacular movements were shown with containers with liquids to move, mix and centrifuge them. Eduardo Casanova was surprised with the control of the movers using his non-contact hand. This was possible thanks to the integration of the TwinCAT Vision Artificial Vision in the same XPlanar control PC, allowing an immediate response between the Vision system and the XPlanar control system.

The XPlanar motor system for the transport of products with free movement was launched on the market in 2018, since then its functionality has been continuously expanded. It is now possible to have a better traceability of the products thanks to the new identification functionality of the movers. Additionally new sizes of movers have been launched even in rectangular size.

The new ID function allows a unique identification of the movers by reading their individual serial number. This identifier is easy to mount or reset on the move and does not require any additional hardware. In this way, it is possible to optimally monitor the products, even after a power failure. In addition, it is not necessary to perform a search for the system boot if the application has been programmed properly.

The new mover APM4221 (127 x 127 mm), the second largest model in the APM4xxx family, is designed for a payload of up to 1 kg and is ideal for handling small, high-density products. The same goes for the new rectangular mover APM4230 (115 x 155 mm), for payloads up to 0.8 kg. The APM4350 (155 x 235 mm) also with rectangular format for payloads up to 3 kg. And the larger model, the APM4550 (235 x 235 mm) for loads over 4.2 kg.