World’s First ‘Smart Hybrid Actuator’ Developed
World’s First ‘Smart Hybrid Actuator’ Developed
World’s First ‘Smart Hybrid Actuator’ Developed
Sisa News People – Busan – Journalist Roh, Dongjin
Creator of the ‘green juice’ legend, Angel Co., Ltd. (President Jeom Doo Lee Kim), has again developed a technology making history in domestic industry. Robotron (President, Jong Hee Lee), an affiliate of the company, presented the first high performance 'Smart Hybrid Actuator' (SHA), which contains the components necessary for all hydraulic control in one cylinder. This product is lightweight and compact. In particular, energy use can be reduced by 50% or more, which is expected to be applied as a new element in various industrial fields.
Continuous technological development—commercialized.
Robotron is a start-up company that stands out in the fields of industrial and deep-sea robots and robot parts materials. Under the support of parent company Angel Co., Ltd., a technology research institute was established in 2011, and as a result of the technology development, key items that have a great influence on the whole industry are being poured out. The secret is technology development and endless effort. Jong Hee Lee, the head of this company, continues to study day and night. There are many industrial robots all over the factory and tests are in full swing.
In addition, there are more than 30 researchers. The company has invested more than 10% of its average sales for the last three years in research and development. It is a bold investment that cannot be imagined by SMEs. In addition to the expansion of the company, the researchers have been recruited to secure the original technology and commercialization of related fields. This effort has proven fruitful. SHA includes a robot motor, a reducer for a robot, and an encoder.
SHA is the core technology of the 'industrial robot' that emerged as a new ruler in the industrial field. The performance of the robot depends on the movement of the SHA.
Currently, SHA technology is being developed for combat in advanced countries such as the United States and Europe and is gradually expanding its scope to robots, aerospace, construction machinery, shipbuilding, automobiles, and industrial facilities. SHA developed by Robotron improves the problems of hydraulic drive system composed of a hydraulic cylinder and power pack. A hydraulic cylinder, pump, accelerator, motor, and linecorder are integrated.
Therefore, it has high thrust, an advantage of hydraulic systems, and controllability, an advantage of the ball screw system. It also resolves the complexity, cost and environmental pollution of existing systems. Due to the applied pressure balance, it is possible to operate in underwater environments with high water pressure. This technology can be applied to a variety of industrial robots such as aircraft direction control drivers, unmanned construction equipment, underwater robot manipulators, disaster rescue robots, military & dangerous work robotic arms, and robots for handling heavy materials. Patent-pending 'harmonic rotary actuators' also brighten the future of the company. At present, in the case of domestic motors, 100% depend on imports, filling this situation with promise.
On the technical side, the motor type is AFPM, which produces a thin, high torque output. In addition, it is easy to wire and frameless bearings are applied due to the application of the biaxial shrinkage structure, so that the size is small and the cost is reduced. Durability has been improved compared to conventional motors, and the water-cooled cooling structure has improved the stability of the continuous drive.
In addition, due to its many strengths, it is expected to contribute to the improvement of productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized manufacturers in Korea. Not only can it be applied to the actuator for the manufacturing of robots, but it can also be applied to the various systems such as the automation equipment, the electric car, the mobile robot, and the muscle strengthening robot.
There must be continuous R & D investment and honing of craftsmanship.
"Most of the products are made from molds. However, the country is at the most basic of the basic. After all, ‘Made in Korea’ is hard to find in domestic department stores and specialty shops,” cries Robotron’s Jong-Hee Lee. He faced a sad reality from the very beginning, that development of the world's first technologies could not be solved in the domestic industry. Molds required for product development themselves have to be done by hand.
Lee pointed out that "the reason why the entire domestic industry faces difficulties is because we face the influence of the global economy but there is no basic technology present."
In fact, he went to a lot of new machining companies in Korea for a new concept motor, which would have a large ripple effect on the whole industry. When requesting parts be processed, he was told the CNC machining accuracy was less than one-hundredth of a millimeter, the processing cost was several times more, and the technology was also impossible to provide. In Japan, on the other hand, a mother machine capable of processing with a precision of one-millionth of a millimeter has been produced and processed for fifteen years. Jong Hee Lee said, "It was possible because they had continuous R & D investment and craftsmanship." He said, "We will face problems in the competition with Japan because of the differences, as well as with China in regard to price competitiveness."
His concerns can be felt enough in reality. 70% of the domestic manufacturing industry has already gone to China and returned to empty hands, and the remaining small and medium-sized manufacturing companies depend on larger companies. As a result, foreign competitiveness is weakening and imports are increasing, leading to severe export sluggishness.
The cause is the incongruity of the entire Korean society, and I have words for the older generation first. "I understand with my heart that we want our children to have an easier life than we had, but in fact, we must wonder if there is a better way than the easy way. We need to go over this again and see if we can’t further develop this,” he stressed.
The government also emphasized, "Although it is important to foster young entrepreneurs, it is a priority for young people to transfer their know-how, personalities, interpersonal skills, and experiences to professional workers who have experience in the field for further development. If you change your values about working for a conglomerate or obtaining high-paying easy jobs, and find your own colors, philosophy, and dreams, you will be able to find similar people and live a joyful and pleasant life surrounded by others."