Drives at work at cricket's hallowed ground
March 2006
Motion Control & Drives
Home of the Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC), Lord's cricket ground in London is considered by many enthusiasts to be the centre of the cricketing world. Named after Thomas Lord, owner of the first MCC ground, which was opened in 1787, the present day Lord's is not, however, in the same location as that original ground.
Photographer: Sarah Williams
In fact, Lord's moved to its present site in 1814. Strangely, the turf on which the first matches were played at the new ground was older than the ground itself, having been transferred from the previous location! Clearly, even in those days top quality turf was considered supremely important.
Today, Lord's is the setting for some of the world's finest cricket. In addition to test matches, it hosts one-day internationals and most of Middlesex's home games, as well as many club and village cricket finals. While much may have changed over the years, the famous Lord's turf is still central to the ground's success, and drives from Vacon are helping to keep it in prime condition.
And while rain may also be traditional for test matches played in England, the English climate can deliver long dry spells. This makes effective irrigation essential for maintaining the condition of the Lord's turf, which is why a new irrigation system for the playing area was installed in 2002. The control systems for this were provided by a water application specialist, ST Controls, of Stoke-on-Trent.
ST Controls, which supplies control systems for water features as well as for irrigation, has standardised on variable speed drives from Vacon. These are used to control the pressurised booster pump set at the heart of the new Lord's cricket ground irrigation installation. ST Controls finds that Vacon drives allow substantial energy savings to be achieved in irrigation systems, while in water feature applications the fast, accurate response of the drives allows precise pump control for dynamic special effects.
Also important is Vacon's design approach, which avoids large numbers of built-in special features that are rarely needed, but instead allows easy configuration for specialist applications with custom software developed by Vacon to suit the user's precise requirements. When minor changes or updates are needed, for example, the company has found that, in most cases, it is possible to provide end users with the instructions over the telephone so that they can carry out the work themselves.
Steve Tellwright, owner of ST Controls, explains that the company has been manufacturing specialised control systems for water-related applications for more than 12 years. "Until about three years ago, we used variable speed drives from a range of suppliers. We were then introduced to the Vacon products, and were very impressed by how easily they could be set up to meet our needs by using application-specific software."
For more information contact Rob Hare, CHI Control, 011 827 9124, [email protected]
Further reading:
Solving common automation challenges with Festo’s servo drive and servo motor solutions
Festo South Africa
Motion Control & Drives
Automation projects face challenges that include limited installation space, the need for precise and repeatable linear motion, rising cycle-speed demands, and seamless integration with existing control architectures. Festo’s servo portfolio directly addresses these issues with compact, modular drive and motor solutions designed for specific applications.
Read more...
Inside the Giant Magellan Telescope with mechanical engineering at astronomical scale
Motion Control & Drives
Construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope, set to become the world’s largest Gregorian optical infrared telescope, is well underway. While its scientific mission is to transform astronomy, its performance depends heavily on advanced mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic engineering.
Read more...
Filtration as a reliability driver in motion control systems
Parker Hannifin - Sales Company South Africa
Motion Control & Drives
This article highlights the importance of filtration in motion control systems, how contamination affects performance, and what fleet managers, operators and maintenance teams in southern Africa can do to reduce downtime, avoidable wear and costly repairs, aided by Baldwin Filters.
Read more...
Supporting construction of next-gen floating offshore wind turbines
Motion Control & Drives
While windy locations naturally make ideal spots for offshore wind farms, they bring challenges when it comes to assembling wind turbines, particularly in ports. Mammoet was approached by Euroports to support with the marshalling and assembly of the components that make up the three turbines at Port-la-Nouvelle in France.
Read more...
Rollers excel where profits balance on a knife edge
igus
Motion Control & Drives
Polymer component specialist manufacturer, igus has developed a range of lubrication-free long-life knife edge rollers designed to improve the transfer of products between conveyor belts in high-speed production environments.
Read more...
Bringing physical AI to the factory floor by deploying humanoids in industrial operations
Siemens South Africa
Motion Control & Drives
Siemens and Humanoid have marked a landmark milestone in the journey to bring physical AI from vision to industrial reality. Humanoid’s humanoid robothas been successfully tested in operations at Siemens’ electronics factory in Germany, performing autonomous logistics tasks.
Read more...
Next-generation oil-free motor systems with active magnetic bearings
WEG Africa
Motion Control & Drives
WEG and SpinDrive are collaborating to integrate SpinDrive’s AMBs and built-in IoT condition monitoring into WEG’s market-leading electric motor offering, creating an oil-free, maintenance-free drive solution.
Read more...
Rising demand for advanced coolant technology
Motion Control & Drives
As modern engines become smaller, more powerful and increasingly complex, coolant technology has undergone a fundamental transformation.
Read more...
Addressing cost, supply and disease pressures in Africa’s feed industry
Motion Control & Drives
Feed producers across Africa are operating in an increasingly complex and volatile environment. The pressures are forcing producers to rethink how they operate, balancing cost control, production efficiency and the need for greater flexibility in an unpredictable market.
Read more...
Rapid headframe replacement for Canada’s biggest potash mine
Motion Control & Drives
Mammoet has supported Ledcor with the construction of BHP’s new Jansen potash mine.
Read more...
printer friendly version