Nidec adds precision gear reducer with built-in sensors

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Nidec Drive Technology Corporation, a member of Nidec Corporation’s group companies, announced that it has developed Smart-FLEXWAVE, a product that combines FLEXWAVE, an existing precision control reducer for robots and machine tools, with built-in torque, temperature, and angle sensors.

FLEXWAVE, the currently available precision reducer with a wave gear mechanism, is used mainly in the joints of industrial robots. This is due to its ability to achieve a high reduction ratio with a single axis, among other features such as light weight, compact size, high rotation accuracy, and low backlash.

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Smart-FLEXWAVE, the newly developed reducer that combines torque, temperature, and angle sensors in its mechanism, can detect output torque, temperature inside a reducer, and input axis angle while maintaining an existing reducer’s space. This feature lets Smart-FLEXWAVE contribute to making smaller and lighter collaborative robots, detect a robot crashing into an obstacle, and monitor screw tightening torque, overheating, and stopping place all remotely via a network, boosting productivity.

Nidec was established in Kyoto, Japan in 1973 by its Chairman Shigenobu Nagamori. In 1979, Nidec successfully commercialized a direct drive spindle motor for HDDs based on a brushless DC motor. Since then, the company has grown into a world-leading comprehensive motor manufacturer encompassing more than 300 subsidiaries employing over 100,000 people throughout the world and with annual sales exceeding $13 billion.