High precision gearing and actuation expert Harmonic Drive UK has launched a series of offerings, available worldwide, designed to meet the specific challenges faced in a range of extreme sectors such as severe service environments. Called “Special Environment” projects, these will include gearing and actuation products for sectors such as space, aerospace, military and defence, as well as offshore and subsea environments.
To ensure that equipment used in space continues to achieve the highest levels of accuracy and repeatability — while still delivering the necessary reliability — Harmonic Drive’s space gears, which are used on satellites and on Mars Rovers, are impregnated with phenolic substances to ensure the lubricant remains in situ under vacuum.
To help scientists and engineers, Harmonic Drive’s HDUF component set is used on pan and tilt camera systems mounted onto subsea remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). In addition these ROV’s also use subsea torque tools fitted with Harmonic Drive component sets to operate subsea valves.
“Around 70 per cent of our work falls in areas that we call special projects,” explained Graham Mackrell, managing director of Harmonic Drive UK. “These are typically extreme applications where a standard off-the-shelf product simply won’t do. Here, customers demand bespoke products or ones where factors such as coatings, lubricants, connectors and motor windings need to be customised to meet their needs.”
Image courtesy of http://museum.wa.gov.au/