Gardena is moving into the future of water with LinMot.
June 26, 2023
Considering the battery-powered lawn edge shears introduced as early as 1973 or the irrigation computer from the 1980s, GARDENA has always proven itself to be a particularly sustainability-minded innovator. However, the age of Industry 4.0 and the increasingly apparent limits of ecological and economic sustainability also present the globally operating subsidiary of the Swedish Husqvarna Group with the challenge of producing in a more networked, faster, and, above all, more environmentally friendly way. Thanks to a partner, the fundamental prerequisites for future-oriented and sustainable production have already been met: With state-of-the-art lifting, rotary, and linear technology from the drive specialist LinMot, GARDENA has succeeded in redefining the precision, speed, and sustainability of its production facilities.
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More informationBack to the roots
130 liters per person. That's how much water each person in Germany uses daily for drinking, washing, cleaning, and cooking. A considerable amount, but only a fraction of the actual total consumption. An often invisible indicator, so-called virtual water, contributes far more significantly to the overuse of water resources. When this embedded water, required for the production of food, beverages, clothing, and other consumer goods, is included, the water footprint amounts to approximately 7.200 liters per day per person, or 219 billion cubic meters per year for all of Germany – according to the findings of a research project by the Technical University of Berlin. Undoubtedly, industrial manufacturers in many sectors, with their sometimes vast production facilities, bear a significant share of the responsibility for the exploding figures of consumption-induced water use. GARDENA is aware of this responsibility and its associated consequences, however, and has been designing its production processes with an ecological perspective on the future of water for decades. “Both our products and their production should be gentler, more efficient and more economical,” summarizes Heribert Wettels, Communications Manager of Public Relations at GARDENA, briefly summarizing the company philosophy.
That this philosophy has always been a lived practice is best demonstrated by the modular drip irrigation system from the Husqvarna subsidiary, which has held absolute market leadership in the consumer sector for decades. The Micro-Drip-System (MDS) is a resource-efficient irrigation solution that delivers water drop by drop to where plants need it: to the roots. "The very first version of the MDS was launched in 1985. That was long before the major sustainability debates and periods of drought in Europe," explains Heribert Wettels, Head of Communications, regarding the history of the irrigation system, thus underscoring the company's environmentally conscious approach, which has also influenced the automation technology of its production facilities over the years. "Since the new generation of the Micro-Drip-System has been completely redesigned, further development of the underlying manufacturing system and its drive technology was also necessary," explains Reinhold Steck, Head of Special Machine Design at GARDENA, regarding the technical aspects of the transformation. Since the MDS system is already in its fourth expansion phase, this advancement in manufacturing processes also had to be implemented at virtually all levels of the drive technology. "Conventional solutions were used in the first three expansion phases of the MDS," explains Head of Design Steck. Because the new generation of systems was intended to offer greater basic and process reliability, increased precision in force control and process parameters, as well as optimized sustainability and energy efficiency, Steck says the special-purpose machine engineering department inevitably turned to a manufacturer "where we finally found the solution for our demanding pick-and-place tasks. LinMot drive systems are unbeatable in their dynamics and precision, especially in these processes."
PR02 – Precision at the touch of a button
Realizing industrial systems for precise and dynamic closing, screwing, or assembly is an extremely complex challenge with conventional servo solutions. The various components, such as the two types of servo motors, grippers, hoses, sensors, etc., must be coordinated and integrated into the engineering. This makes the realization of efficient industrial machines planning-, material-, cost-, and time-intensive, and yet it still doesn't guarantee the full precision and versatility in processing—as is the case, for example, with GARDENA's Micro-Drip-System—of small-scale components. For instance, the inline dripper for row crops and the end dripper, which is ideally suited for targeted and water-saving irrigation even with differences in elevation, are very small and therefore require a new level of assembly accuracy. “While force-controlled operation is possible with two servo motors, the precision required for MDS systems is lost when dealing with the large mass that needs to be moved,” explains Head of Design Steck, outlining the fundamental problem of small parts assembly with conventional servo drives. This highlights the first crucial unique selling point of the PR02 motors: Thanks to the decoupled rotary servo motor of the LinMot linear-rotary modules, only the motor shaft needs to be accelerated or decelerated. This significantly reduces the moving mass, both rotationally and linearly, and allows for very precise control of the feed force, even in vertically oriented processes.
Lifting and rotating module PR02
- Maintenance effort reduced to a minimum
- Real-time process monitoring
- Available as a standardized catalog product
- Integrated plug-and-play function
- Programmable servo motors
- Calibratable sensors with accuracy <1%
Fully automated processes thanks to LinMot components: Regardless of the size, material, contour or complexity of the parts to be processed, complete pick-and-place processes are implemented quickly, cost-effectively and sustainably with LinMot linear modules and rotary lifting motors.
But it's not just the processes in GARDENA systems that benefit from the features of the PR02 motors. LinMot, the market leader in tubular servomotors, understands all customer needs: Whether for screwing, assembling, or closing, the PR02 series linear-rotary motors are characterized by their high flexibility, dynamics, safety, and connectivity. Calibratable force and torque sensors ensure precisely reproducible and logging of motion sequences. In addition to the setpoints provided by the servo controller, these sensors offer the possibility of monitoring and evaluating real-time process parameters such as pressing force, torque, angle, or linear position for each process with an accuracy of better than or equal to 1% of the nominal value. "This also allows the control parameters to be adjusted much more precisely to the respective component contour," confirms Mr. Steck, and demonstrates the resulting benefits for GARDENA: "Thanks to the precision of the LinMot PR02 motors, our systems are more process-stable, and reaction and cycle times have become significantly shorter," says the Head of Design. While a cycle time of 6 to 7 seconds was perfectly adequate for the production conditions and volumes of 15 years ago, the MDS systems and the LinMot rotary actuators used in them are now designed for high speeds and operate with a cycle time of 1 to 2 seconds, even in a dual-lane configuration. "These cycle times are no longer achievable pneumatically," says Head of Design Steck, pointing to the previously mentioned inline dripper. Thanks to the LinMot PR02, this can be screwed onto the T-piece in just 0,3 seconds.
Furthermore, the LinMot components can meet additional special requirements arising from the unique position of GARDENA's design department: "High drive flexibility is particularly important to us, as we are constantly developing new, customized special systems for each new product," explains the head of design. Parameters and contours can change fundamentally and rapidly, both on the product and machine sides, so relearning individual positions must be quick, easy, and precise. "Thanks to their flexibility, the LinMot components adapt instantly to all adjustments to the production machines, and all changes can be implemented in no time," says Reinhold Steck.
LinMot linear modules – complete package instead of complexity
The highly dynamic LinMot modules DM01, SM01, and SM02 are ready-to-install, pre-assembled units. They represent a further development of LinMot's B and H guides, which have been in use for more than 20 years, and offer all the design advantages of a modern drive system. Heribert Wettels explains: "A GARDENA system is not an off-the-shelf solution. This also means that the components used in it must exhibit a high degree of flexibility. Furthermore, our colleagues, as special-purpose machine builders, deal with many different technologies. The LinMot modules have to integrate seamlessly." This is a challenge that the LinMot linear modules master with flying colors: The DM01 modules, for example, are capable of realizing an unlimited number of motion sequences for any customer application. With numerous strength classes, sizes and stroke lengths, as well as optional, industry-specific accessories such as a completely washable motor interior for clean-in-place and sterilization-in-place processes, stainless steel versions, fully encapsulated stator and stroke lengths up to 2 meters, LinMot linear guides and modules are unbeatable in any production environment and machine.
Linear module DM01
- Available with cleanroom certification up to ISO4
- Ready-to-install module, no engineering required
- Implementation of force-controlled applications
- Real-time process monitoring
- Anodized aluminum housing, easy cleaning
- Corrosion-resistant guide rods
The modularity of the LinMot linear modules also impressed the GARDENA engineers. Firstly, the linear modules use the same control system as the existing rotary actuators, making the electrical setup of the GARDENA systems significantly faster and more efficient. Secondly, the numerous centering holes in the front plates and guide block allow for quick, versatile, and precise mechanical fixing of the load or additional LinMot modules. "LinMot provided us with extensive support during the development phase," says Felix Kaifel, Head of Software Project Engineering for MDS systems. This allowed GARDENA to investigate the various processes and determine optimal program sequences through a test setup. Thanks to the kinematic function, both the X and Y axes of the motion sequence could be implemented with ground corner points on the two assembled LinMot linear modules. "These advantages of the LinMot linear modules enable us to achieve a significantly more drive- and machine-friendly, yet faster, operation without jerky movements," reports Project Manager Kaifel.
Safe and effective thanks to Safety Drives
As is well known, Germany has high safety standards in industrial production. For GARDENA's engineers, the Functional Safety offered by LinMot is therefore of particular importance. The LinMot Drives with the -2S option contain an integrated, certified safety module in the same housing. In conjunction with -2S motors, this enables the implementation of safety functions such as safe speed reduction (SLS) and safe stop/safe shutdown (SOS). "With the -2S Safety Option from LinMot, we have become not only safer but also more convenient, both in troubleshooting and in commissioning the production lines," explains Project Manager Kaifel. Thanks to the high inherent safety of the LinMot -2S components, the safety doors of the systems can be opened while the motor is energized in order to teach positions or to rectify malfunctions. "Such troubleshooting is not only safer, faster, and more efficient, but also increases system availability. This has proven to be a significant advantage for a rapid production and sales launch for all our seasonal GARDENA garden products," says the Head of Software Engineering.
Sustainability or efficiency?
The ultimate all-rounder for pick-and-place applications: The outstanding modularity and combinability to two-axis systems, as well as accelerations up to 50 m/s and speeds up to 5 m/s, make conventional solutions look old and make the LinMot DM01 modules unrivaled in every customer application.
Around 15 years ago, this was indeed a choice between sustainability and efficiency, or vice versa. However, the collaboration between GARDENA and LinMot demonstrates today that climate-friendly industrial production and increased efficiency are not mutually exclusive, but can even lead to further benefits with the right drive technology. The partnership between GARDENA and LinMot makes a twofold contribution: On the one hand, it results in products that use natural resources responsibly; on the other hand, it develops new manufacturing processes that help to efficiently reduce the consumption-induced water use in industrial production. "For GARDENA, investing in sustainable automation technologies is only logical. The partnership with LinMot will therefore continue to develop significantly," summarizes Heribert Wettels. "The systems are already being delivered to plants in the Czech Republic, China, the USA, and Australia. This means that the special-purpose machines with LinMot components are just as globally positioned and popular as GARDENA itself."
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