A light-weight exoskeleton for the elderly.

Graduate students at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) have developed an improved exoskeleton design using maxon brushless DC motors and motor controllers.

Members of the Mechatronic Engineering department of NTNU have developed a lightweight lower extremity exoskeletal robot to assist people who have difficulty walking. The exoskeleton provides support for the hips and knees.

Exoskeletons have been in development since the mid-seventies and have continued to evolve following advancements with technology. Price, weight, safety, ease-of-use, and a proper fit all pose challenges to developing exoskeletons that are practical for the general public.

Graduate students in the Intelligent Automation/Robotic Lab at NTNU found that—due to heavy motors and batteries—most exoskeletons are difficult for users to put on without assistance. The lack of a user-friendly design means that most exoskeletons are inconvenient and can pose a safety risk to the user. Due to the high cost of hardware, they’re also expensive.

Using maxon DC brushless motors and motor controllers for the hip and knee joints, the students were able to develop a high-torque wearable unit that is smaller and lighter. By incorporating lightweight 3D printed components along with high-efficiency DC motors from maxon, the exoskeleton provides an agile, user-friendly solution to an aging population.

The team’s next goal is to extend the development an exoskeleton for the ankle joints and feet, exploiting the same easy-to-wear design as their exoskeleton for the hips and knees.

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

maxon reports a steady result for 2020.

Sachseln, Switzerland – The maxon Group based in Sachseln, Switzerland, succeeded in largely keeping its revenue stable in the demanding 2020 financial year, in spite of the difficult market conditions caused by the COVID-19 situation.

The revenue amounted to CHF 553.5 million, compared to CHF 567.8 million in the previous year. There were some revenue losses in the automotive and aviation sectors, however, maxon was able to largely compensate this with the huge demand for drives for precise laboratory automation and ventilators in the fight against the coronavirus. This quick pivot required a high degree of flexibility and pragmatism from the management and employees. Undeterred by all the crises of 2020, maxon invested CHF 50.3 million in new factories, machines and systems. The cash flow amounted to CHF 37.1 million, compared to CHF 44.9 million in the previous year. Worldwide, the maxon Group has 3,059 employees at nine production sites.   

“2020 was a rollercoaster ride like none we experienced before,” said Karl-Walter Braun, majority shareholder of the maxon Group. “In fact, it is our global presence and our international customers that are active in a wide range of markets and applications that enabled us to weather the pandemic.” Even during the shutdown, maxon managed to uphold the global supply chains. “This once again demonstrates the resilience of well-networked global value chains and a broad range of diversified contacts all over the world,” said Karl-Walter Braun.

The research & development (R&D) and sales departments in particular faced great challenges in the last year. “On the one hand, direct contact at the customer was impossible. On the other hand, direct contact with the suppliers, for detailed clarification of technical feasibility or delivery options, was difficult.” Around the world, maxon has some 330 employees in R&D and the company invests around CHF 35 million in this field.

Continued innovative strength

Even under the difficult conditions maxon faced, the company launched several new products in the field of precision drive technology. This includes micromotors for medical robots, but also multi-axis controllers for highly dynamic positioning tasks. A special highlight was the Mars expedition with the first excursions of the Perseverance rover, equipped with maxon BLDC motors, and the successful flights of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, equipped with six maxon motors,” said Eugen Elmiger, CEO of the maxon Group. “All expectations regarding the length, altitude and duration of its flights have already been met.”

And down here on Earth, maxon exhibits continued innovative strength. For example, in the medical field, the company and one of its customers cooperated to develop a minimally invasive aorta pump, which helps cardiac patients to heal quickly. And in intralogistics, intelligent motion control solutions for AGVs (automated guided vehicles) are increasingly being used. In the past few months, the drive specialist also developed an innovation in the field of e-mobility: this summer, maxon presents the BIKEDRIVE Air, an light and invisible e-bike system that consists of mid-mounted motor, integrated battery and control element. It weighs only 3.5 kg and can be incorporated into elegant frames by bicycle manufacturers. The e-bike system will be available exclusively to bicycle manufacturers worldwide.

Looking ahead with confidence

maxon is satisfied with the current financial year. “Due to high-volume orders, the suppliers reached their capacity limits,” explained Eugen Elmiger. “The result is that we are experiencing supply shortages.” In the future, the company will continue its development as system supplier. “The customers should be able to get everything drive-related that they need for their products from a single source. This includes motors, gearheads, electronics, motor controllers and plugin solutions,” said Eugen Elmiger. “Additionally, we are pulling out all the stops to become the digital leader in drive technology.” 

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

Bacteria: access denied.

Tiny DC motor systems for use in the human body have to be built in a clean environment, free of microbiological contamination. Welcome to the GMP cleanroom of maxon, where discipline and gelatin meet.

Amongst the hustle and bustle of the busy manufacturing facility at the DC motor specialist’s headquarters in picturesque Sachseln, Switzerland lies a world very different from the rest of the areas of the maxon Group. Recently opened, is a production area for DC motors to be used in medical applications. The particle concentration in the air is low and constantly monitored. This clean environment is usually perfectly adequate because DC motors for insulin pumps, medical dosing units, etc. do not have to be completely free of germs and bacteria.

However, applications in the field of high-tech medicine are another story altogether, especially when it comes to implantable drive systems. For these applications, assembly is being moved to the new GMP area (Good Manufacturing Practice). In this cleanroom class, not only the particle concentration, but also the microbiological contamination of surfaces and the air is measured and examined for traces of spores, bacteria, or fungi. This clinical environment places high demands on the ventilation technology, the instruments, and especially the people that spend time inside it.

People who work in this environment always have to observe the same strict processes and rules. The two production staff members, Albane Lloqanaj and Ruth Da Silva, put on special pants and tops that arrived vacuum-packed from a cleanroom laundry. These uniforms are made from high-tech materials and are anti-bacterial. The two staff members then put on special hygiene masks, hair nets, gloves, labcoats and antistatic shoes.

Additionally, they have to follow a six-step hygienic hand disinfection procedure and disinfect their hands for at least 30 seconds using skin-friendly disinfectant. Subsequently, the gloves are disinfected with pure alcohol that evaporates without leaving any residue. This ensures that neither particles nor germs can stick to the gloves. All these process steps occur in a defined order. Additionally, care has to be taken that no contaminated air enters the GMP room from the outside. To this end, three zones that are separated by automated airlocks have to be crossed. It is only possible to open one door at a time, because the further you go in, the higher the air pressure in the respective room becomes.

Inside the cleanroom itself, the staff have to be highly disciplined. For example, they are not allowed to touch their faces. And if they do, it must always be consciously, so that they can immediately disinfect their gloves again. “I like this kind of work very much, because it’s challenging, varied and responsible. No mistakes are allowed when our drives are being used for implantable systems”, says production staff member Albane Lloqanaj. This also requires an open approach to errors. Team leader Stefan Kathriner: “It’s important that we immediately alert each other if something looks strange or we suspect an error. Criticism is never personal, always objective.”

The effort involved in operating such a GMP environment is immense, which is why only a few special customer orders for implantable systems are processed there. In the past few years, the cleanroom specialists at maxon have learned a lot from these projects. Stefan Kathriner says, “We have comprehensive know-how and hope that we will be able to handle more customer orders of this kind in future.”

To ensure that the amount of germs or bacteria on the work surfaces or in the air does not exceed a certain threshold, maxon regularly conducts tests with a nutrient-rich gelatin. These so-called agar plates are pressed onto surfaces or left open around the room. The gelatin serves as breeding ground for micro organisms. After 72 hours in the incubator, it is possible to see with the naked eye whether there is contamination and how high it is. 

For further information contact maxon Group Australia Tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

When lives are at stake – switching to crisis mode.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant a lot of laboratories had to quickly increase their testing capability in 2020, and acquire additional devices for liquid handling. For maxon, this meant creating special medical express lines for orders. They were managed with a lot of hard work and close co-operation.

NTEGRA Biosciences develops and produces electronic pipettes and pipetting robots which have been used in a large number of laboratory processes relating to COVID-19. During the pandemic, the testing capacities of the laboratories have been pushed to their limits. INTEGRA had to act fast to cover the high demand for automated liquid handling instruments. DC motors and drive systems from maxon are used in the electronic pipettes. For maxon too, fast action was required in order to supply additional electric DC motors to the customer more quickly.

Stephan Hegetschweiler, sales engineer at maxon Switzerland, and Amir Mujkic, head of the Cylindrical EC motor production line in Switzerland, explained how they and their teams mastered the challenge.

What caused the impending bottleneck at INTEGRA?

Stephan Hegetschweiler: The orders from INTEGRA increased substantially already at the beginning of the year. But the bottleneck was not yet foreseeable at that stage. Then, in the middle of the first coronavirus wave in April, their purchasing manager contacted us. The demand for liquid handling devices had increased so sharply that there was an imminent risk of a production stop in INTEGRA’s device assembly due to a lack of materials. To head off that bottleneck, we took action immediately and switched to crisis management mode. After all, this was about saving lives.

And what kind of action did you take?

Amir Mujkic: We rescheduled all our ongoing orders at short notice, and freed up extra human resources for the EC-max DC motor production line. To keep the lead time for the express order as short as possible, it was very important to keep a close eye on our overall coordination and the information flow in the production process. Downstream departments, such as the final QA inspection and shipping, were informed in advance about the important orders.

What are the most important prerequisites for successful delivery and processing of orders like this?

Stephan Hegetschweiler: The best thing the members of the team can do is to communicate continuously. That means talking to people, analysing bottlenecks in detail, communicating your success, and just involving everyone who can successfully move the order forward. The rapid flow of information between maxon and INTEGRA was effective for the express order.

Amir Mujkic: An express order can come at any time, and our production staff know that too. So I know I can rely 100% on the flexibility of the staff. In these situations, there is always a high level of willingness to work beyond the usual working hours. Cooperation plays a very important role here. If the communication and processes in the team are right and everyone knows what their tasks are, then on-time delivery to the customer goes smoothly.

How can future bottlenecks be prevented for customers?

Stephan Hegetschweiler: With rush orders, it’s important that senior management gets involved too, so the customer knows that we take the problem very seriously. It’s also helpful if the customer submits more orders right from the start. In the case of this express order, we suggested to INTEGRA that we should produce and store a safety buffer of drives that they can then access in an emergency. Close collaboration with the customer and the transparent communication that goes with that helped us to process the order quickly, to the customer’s satisfaction.

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

maxon complete new state-of-the-art production centre.

For the past 60 years, maxon has focused on customer-specific solutions, quality and innovation. Continuous growth saw a need to build additional facilities and a new production site, to meet customer demand for their DC motors, gearboxes, sensors and controllers.

Construction work has been in progress at maxon headquarters in Sachseln (Switzerland) since 2020. maxon’s original building from 1961 was demolished and replaced by a new state-of the-art facility with twice the production space than was previously offered. The relocation to the new building will take place in the later part of 2021 and be completed by the end of the year. The products involved are maxon’s pancake DC motors, EC cylindrical motors, X-Drives DC motors (DCX and ECX motors), as well as their assemblies.

Businesses from a wide range of industries, including medical technology, robotics, industrial automation, mobility, and aerospace, place their trust in reliable DC motors and systems by maxon since it opened its doors 60 years ago. maxon DC motors excel where extreme precision and the highest quality standards are vital, and where compromises cannot be tolerated – not only here on Earth but on Mars. Over the past three decades, maxon has provided more than 100 DC motors for robots sent to Mars, working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on various missions. In 1997, the first rover (Sojourner) landed on Mars – powered by 11 maxon DC motors. maxon brushed and brushless DC motors are also used in demanding robotics applications in surgical equipment, humanoid robots, and industrial automation. maxon were an Official Supplier to Emirates Team New Zealand, winners of the 36th America’s Cup in March 2021 and selected for their uncompromising quality that can be relied upon in even the harshest conditions.

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

maxon involved in another historical milestone: a one-way flight on Mars.

Ingenuity helicopter currently on Mars made its first one way flight. Six DC micromotors from maxon are inside Ingenuity helping steer the direction of flight.

In its fifth flight on the Red Planet, Ingenuity helicopter has reached another historical milestone succeeding in the first one-way flight from Wright Brothers Field to another airfield 129 metres to the south. Upon arrival, the rotorcraft rose to an altitude of 10 metres and captured high-resolution colour images of the surrounding terrain before touching down. The one-way flight began at 3:26pm EDT, 12:33pm local Mars time and lasted 108 seconds.

There are six maxon DC micromotors with a diameter of 10 millimeters that control the tilt of Ingenuity’s rotor blades, which determines the direction of flight. Aiko Stenzel, Aerospace Design Engineer at maxon, was part of the team that developed the DC motors. “The biggest challenge was the extreme weight requirement. We had to take off every tenth of a gram we could, so that the helicopter can fly in the thin atmosphere on Mars. It’s great that we were able to find a solution with enough power to adjust the rotor blades, despite the weight reduction — and which could handle all the vibration and temperature fluctuations as well.”

According to NASA JPL, the flight marked Ingenuity’s transition to a new operations demonstration phase, which will focus on investigating the range of capabilities rotorcraft operating from Mars can provide . This is expected to include scouting, aerial observations of areas not accessible by a rover, and detailed stereo imaging from atmospheric altitudes. 

Ingenuity is now expected to await future instructions, relayed via Perseverance, from mission controllers.

The Perseverance rover is also scheduled to travel south, where it is expected to commence scientific operations and sample collection. Perseverance has 10 maxon DC motors inside, including for the first time brushless DC motors: nine EC 32 flat DC motors and one EC 20 flat DC motor in combination with a GP 22 UP (Ultra Power) planetary gearbox. Years of collaboration between maxon and the space experts at JPL led to the development of the BLDC motors which handle the valuable soil samples on Mars during Perseverance’s mission.

Like all of our electric DC motors used on Mars, they are based on standard catalogue products especially modified to suit the harsh conditions of Space travel. Florbela Costa, SpaceLab Project Manager at maxon said “(the DC motors) are different from other applications, above all because of their generally higher quality requirements for things like resistance to vibration and temperature. Consequently, everything needs to be analysed and tested. Parts used in our standard motors are re-evaluated to make absolutely certain that they will function in space or on other planets”.

The Aerospace team at maxon can’t afford to make mistakes as not only is there no way to fix materials once they’re on Mars but it could also cause the entire mission to fail. “When making motors for Mars, nearly everything has to be done by hand. Every move and every assembly step have to be documented and has to be right — we can’t afford to make mistakes. We’re working with materials that you can’t just get from the warehouse” said Dominik Omlin, Production Engineer Aerospace at maxon.

maxon have expertise in space applications and have established quality assurance processes that meet the expectations of the industry. Customers from other industries where requirements can be just as demanding, like the medical sector, also benefit from this know-how.

For more information about DC motors for harsh environments please contact maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477. Visit maxonworld to follow the Mars adventure.

maxon motor Australia – COVID-19

Medical Industry prioritisation and emergency sector fast turnaround markets.

During the extraordinary and challenging times the COVID-19 virus has brought about, maxon motor Australia would like to extend our wishes of good health to all customers, staff and suppliers.

In response to the corona virus outbreak maxon group have established a task force to help address the many challenges including staff isolation, continuance of supply, logistics and most importantly the service and delivery to our important medical industry customers.

maxon group supply high end medical products across a broad range of hospital applications, and most importantly at this time, life-saving medical ventilators. As such maxon have established a fast track for medical and associated critically important applications. We would like to ask any customers in this category that we have not already been in contact with and are experiencing hyperactivity on demand or forecasts, to please register this with our staff. maxon would like to prioritise raw material and production capabilities around medical applications first. Our supply chain and production sites are flexible, adaptable and reliable.

For more information or to get in touch contact maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

© 2020 by maxon motor Australia

maxon’s Ceramic department.

Ceramic can be used where other materials fail. The advantages of using this customisable component is found in its mechanical strength, exceptional insulation properties, high resistance to corrosion, ability to withstand extreme temperatures and chemicals, durability and wear-resistant properties.

At their state of the art manufacturing site in Sexau, Germany, maxon Group develops customisable CIM (Ceramic Injection Moulding) components. Working with the latest technology and incorporating the 20 plus years of experience in Powder Injection Moulding (PIM) maxon uses the most up to date CAD technology and finite element calculation.

The ceramic department works across technology found in watches and mechanical clocks, measurement technology such as sensor housing for flow meters, audio equipment including headphones and bearings for high-end record players, industrial automation and machinery, medical industry for example in Endoscopes, and of course, DC motors.

In DC motor technology, the limitations of traditional materials become evident where environmental conditions are extreme. Ceramic is particularly suited to the harsh conditions found in salt water.  For example customised underwater drives require saltwater resistant materials. maxon ceramic spindles work with virtually no slip-stick effect, are corrosion resistant, robust, wear resistant and have excellent efficiency.

For more information visit the maxon ceramic page

maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

A mechatronic orthosis glove, for restoring mobility to the hand after an accident or stroke.

A specially developed glove with maxon DC motors provides strength and mobility to the wearer.

Two medical engineers have created a glove that restores mobility to the wearer’s fingers. The mechatronic orthosis, called the exomotion® hand one, is in its testing phase and available soon to the market. The exomotion® hand one is worn like a glove and consists of custom-fitted exo-finger mechanics, a supporting forearm splint, a sensor, a control unit, and four miniature drives that provide the power to open or close the wearer’s fingers. Six types of grip are available, restoring freedom of movement that may have  been lost as a result of accident, stroke or degenerative disease.

The hand orthosis was developed by Dominik Hepp and Tobias Knobloch, both medical engineers. They first met in university, where they both focused on this issue and founded start-up company HKK Bionics, in 2017. The two men hope to close a gap with their development: “We offer patients with fully or partially paralysed hands an aid than helps them to perform everyday tasks on their own again,” explains Dominik Hepp. Simple tasks like cooking, carrying shopping bags and opening packages will soon become part of the wearer’s daily routine again. “With an aid that is suitable for everyday use, these people can regain a degree of independence in their daily lives.”

The development of engineering medical prototypes is not without its challenges. The orthosis is intended to be worn all day long therefore it needed to be robust, high-performing and lightweight. After developing the initial prototype, the main focus was on making everything smaller, including finding suitable new components. “That was a real challenge, since we couldn’t accept any compromise in terms of stability or performance,” says Dominik Hepp. To solve this problem, the two designers collaborated with suppliers to develop special components. At the core of the hand orthosis are four customised EC motors from maxon. These requirement was not only small in size and powerful, also the DC motors had to guarantee years of service with hundreds of thousands of operating cycles. The brushless micromotors deliver the necessary grip strength and are controlled via sensors that respond to still-intact muscles, a principle that is also found in prosthetic arms.

2019 is a year of practical trials for HKK Bionics, as the product goes through extensive testing before it is approved and becomes available on the market. “We want to make the exomotion® hand one accessible to as many patients as possible. That’s why we are pursuing collaborative partnerships with selected medical supply stores while expanding our network to include doctors and therapists,” explains Dominik Hepp. For the two young businessmen, this is an exciting challenge at the interface between technology and human beings. “It’s great to see that with our experience, plenty of creativity, and some tinkering around, we can contribute to improving the quality of patients’ lives.”

For further information please contact maxon motor Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.

Medtech development: miniature surgical robot with haptic technology

A start-up company in Hong Kong has developed an abdominal surgical robot with two small arms that unfold inside the abdomen and controlled by the surgeon using a control panel.

The start-up company NISI (HK) Limited is developing a miniature surgical robot that can be inserted though natural openings in the body and only unfolds inside the abdomen. To achieve this goal, the engineers are pushing components to their limits and beyond.

In the world of medtech, there are many astonishing new developments these days. The world of surgical robots could soon be disrupted: In summer 2018, the Hong Kong-based startup NISI announced that they have successfully performed a series of gynecological operations on live pigs. This may not sound like anything special at first, however: The essence is that the surgeons used a small robot that had been inserted rectally. This is a world’s first in medical history, according to the company.

NISI was founded in 2012 and works with the universities of Hong Kong and Cambridge to develop a robotic system that enables complex, minimal-invasive surgeries in the abdominal and pelvic area without leaving visible scars. “We want to become the world’s leading expert in non-invasive surgical robotic technology,” says Dr. Corinna Ockenfeld at NISI. The successful surgeries in the summer of 2018 have given the medtech start-up a lot of momentum. Initial surgeries on humans are planned for 2021.

The idea behind the NISI’s novel surgical system is as follows: The surgical robot is inserted through a natural orifice, usually the anus or the vagina. By doing so, only a small cut inside the body is necessary to get multiple robotic instruments inside the abdomen. Current systems require several incisions, one for each instrument. The new technology has obvious benefits: Less blood loss during surgery, less wound related complications, shorter recovery time for the patient, and no visible scars.

The robot itself has two small arms that unfold inside the abdomen and can be controlled by the surgeon using a control panel. The two robotic arms are directly controlled by micromotors from maxon and have up to eight degrees of freedom. The system also has a high-resolution 2D and 3D camera and delivers haptic feedback, so that the surgeon is able to feel what is happening at the other end and can work with even higher precision.

Bringing surgical robots to the next level requires more than outstanding technicians and engineers: Quality components are a key element. NISI is therefore testing various concepts and combinations of components. “We want to push the boundaries of medical and robotic technology,” says Dr. Corinna Ockenfeld. With regard to the motors, this requires an extremely small size and extremely high power density. “We are working closely with maxon and have a weekly exchange of information. We really appreciate the support we’ve received over the past years. The collaboration with maxon is highly productive and extremely valuable for both sides.”

The prototypes of the NISI surgical robotic system currently use various brushless DC motors from the EC series, with diameters ranging from 4 to 8 millimeters, complemented by matching customised gearheads. Both partners are pushing the precision drives to their limits, sometimes running them outside the nominal specifications. However, the BLDC motors are customised for the application’s specific needs. They require high power density, must fulfil extremely strict quality standards and be sealed against body fluids. In the future, the drives will also be biocompatible.

The next steps are to make the entire system even smaller, to make the motors even more dynamic and to expand the working range of the robot. “We take care of every little detail and take innovative approaches to solving problems,” says Dr. Corinna Ockenfeld. Step by step, NISI is coming closer in fulfilling its vision of making non-invasive surgery without scars a commonplace reality.

For further information please contact maxon Australia tel. +61 2 9457 7477.