Servo valves are crucial in hydraulic control systems, providing highly accurate movement control for precision engineering applications. Since their inception in the 1950s, they have found use in various industrial manufacturing applications, including injection moulding, robotics, metal processing, and industrial automation.
This article examines some key trends for servo valves in industrial manufacturing.
Connectivity at the Core
Connectivity is becoming increasingly important to the future of manufacturing, reshaping industries with advances in technology and the Internet of Things (IoT). Connectivity allows for seamless integration of devices and systems across the production floor and beyond, enabling remote control and real-time monitoring. Advanced, real-time data collection and analysis allow for predictive maintenance, helping manufacturers create maintenance schedules to decrease downtime and optimise operational efficiency.
Servo valves play a critical role in a variety of industrial manufacturing applications, lying at the heart of many control systems. There has been an increased focus on creating digital and intelligent servo systems, equipped with advanced sensors and real-time data collection. These smart valves can be monitored remotely, allowing for the real-time analysis needed to optimise efficiency in modern manufacturing environments.
Digital Transformation
Traditionally, servo valves use analogue control signals to control the flow of hydraulic fluid through the valve. More recently, digital control signals have become popular, providing such improvements as finer control resolution, reduced hysteresis, and enhanced adaptability.
The digitisation of servo valves is an important step in meeting the demands of Industry 4.0. Optimising the control of servo valves and the integration of remote monitoring is key to realising the full potential of Industry 4.0, allowing for digital control and optimisation of the manufacturing process.
Smart Integration for Autonomous Operation
Modern, digital servo valves are equipped with a range of advanced sensors and controllers that allow for remote monitoring and control. This area of development is relatively recent but is proving to be one of the most important trends moving forward. The ability to collect real-time data allows users to make decisions quickly and action those decisions remotely. This opens up possibilities for real-time, autonomous optimisation of servo-valve performance, ensuring optimal operational efficiency is always maintained. Advanced data collection also enables predictive maintenance, allowing manufacturers to preemptively identify and mitigate potential issues, ultimately reducing downtime.
Eco-Friendly Solutions
Sustainability has become a fundamental aspect of modern engineering, with a strong focus on creating solutions that prioritise the efficient use of resources. Integration with renewable energy sources is one of the ways companies are looking to reduce their dependence on scarce resources. Energy efficiency is another significant area of focus, with the potential to reduce environmental impact and operational costs.
Traditional servo valves are mostly based on decades-old technology, with fundamental design flaws that make them inefficient and prone to leakage. New, energy-efficient designs are key to making a significant impact on the overall energy efficiency of hydraulic motion control systems. Engineers are looking at optimising fluid dynamics to fix some of these fundamental inefficiencies and create an overall energy-efficient product. Servo valves lie at the heart of motion control systems and consume a large portion of the overall energy used. By improving the energy efficiency of these critical components, industrial manufacturers can go a long way in reducing their overall environmental impact.
What we are Doing at Domin
At Domin, we are developing advanced, connected servo valves that are ready to take their place on the modern industrial-production floor. We design our valves from the ground up, developing valves that are efficient, sustainable, configurable, and connected.
All our valves can be customised to be connected via a controller area network (CAN) interface, which allows integration and data exchange with other electronic systems and controllers. This allows for real-time monitoring and remote diagnostics. Our valves are configurable, allowing their behaviours and control parameters to be customised. This enables manufacturers to adapt and optimise our valves according to their specific requirements.
By completely rethinking the basic design of servo valves and using additive manufacturing, we have developed a new design for servo valves, which dramatically improves the overall efficiency of our valves compared to our competitors. This translates to a reduction in emissions of 1 tonne CO2e per valve per year, or at least $400 in energy savings. These savings are all achieved without sacrificing precision or power.
Digitisation, connectivity, and sustainability are the drivers that are transforming the industrial manufacturing sector. Adoption of these advanced servo-valve technologies can lead to significant improvements in operational efficiency, system reliability, and overall sustainability. Embracing these developments is crucial to stay ahead in this rapidly evolving engineering landscape.
