Hitchin-based Roemheld (UK) Ltd (www.roemheld.co.uk) offers a range of products designed to support a ‘smart factory’ environment.

Take five-axis clamping for machining operations, for example. Here, Roemheld has developed an electronic wireless pressure sensor that offers stationary and mobile measurement of rotating or hard-to-reach sections of hydraulic clamping fixtures.

Designed for use with automatic manufacturing systems, transfer lines, assembly lines and rotary indexing fixtures and tables, these pressure sensors can be individually configured and up to 16 of them can be monitored via a single receiver.

Suitable for applications where wired connections are impractical or too costly, the wireless pressure sensor uses radio transmission with a free-field indoor range of up to 300m and an outdoor range of 60m.

The scanning frequency of the sensor is 0.5-20sec, so pressure drops in hydraulic clamping fixtures can be identified in real time, helping to avoid tool breakage and machine damage.

Roemheld’s sensor recently proved key to a collaborative research project with the Manufacturing Technology Centre. This involved running tests to measure the effects of centrifugal force on hydraulic fixtures.

Being able to use a wireless pressure sensor to monitor multiple moving sections at the same time was extremely advantageous.