Wireless sensors and actuators are on the edge

If you are a machine builder, how valuable would it be to eliminate the need of running wires all over your machines to sensors and actuators? I think that could have some value. Wireless technology has been available to eliminate the control wiring, but power wiring was still necessary. New products are beginning to emerge that eliminate the need for both control and power wiring and that are small and light enough to be integrated into many packaging applications. Although probably not yet ready for routine use, this is certainly a technology to think about.

If you make semi-custom equipment, as many packaging machinery suppliers do, a lot of effort goes into the design, construction, tear-down and reassembly of wiring. Design of conduit or wireway systems and their installation can add weeks to the overall build, test, tear down and reassembly of a machine. In addition, sensors and actuators on moving parts of the machine pose difficulties of determining proper routing to insure reliability. Wiring to devices on the end of robot arms brings other issues due to the high accelerations that may be involved.

If you could integrate wireless proximity switches, photo eyes or solenoids that weren't much larger or heavier than the equivalent wired unit and could be powered through induction - without any attached wires- things could be much simpler. ABB Stotz-Kontakt out of Heidelberg is developing the technology. Proximity sensors are currently available with a radio module that is about 2 x 2 x1 inch and weighs 125 grams. Festo offers a valve manifold with the same built-in technology. Much smaller and lighter units are under development as are other sensor types.

Sure these units aren't cheap, but the time to wire up the machine and create all of the electrical documentation isn't free either. And like all new technologies, prices are bound to drop significantly over time. If you want to learn more, go to www.abb.com and search on WISA which stands for wireless interface for sensors and actuators. Then let us know what you think the potential for this technology might be.

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