This paper presents calculation and measurement results of a high-performance permanent-magnetic gear. The analyzed permanent-magnetic gear has a gear ratio of 5.5 and is able to deliver 27 N m. The analysis has shown that special attention needs to be paid to the system where the gear is to be installed because of a low natural torsion spring constant. The analyzed gear was also constructed in practice in order to validate the analysis and predict the efficiency. The measured torque from the magnetic gear was only 16 N m reduced by the large end-effects. A systematic analysis of the loss components in the magnetic gear is also performed in order to figure out why the efficiency for the actual construction was only 81%. A large magnetic loss component originated in the bearings, where an unplanned extra bearing was necessary due to mechanical problems. Without the losses of magnetic origin in the bearings and less end-effects caused by relatively short stack, an impressive efficiency estimated at 96% can be obtained. Comparison with classical mechanical gears has shown that the magnetic gear has a better efficiency and a comparable torque per volume density. Finally, it is concluded that the results in this paper may help to initiate a shift from mechanical gears to magnetic gears.Index Terms-End-effects, finite-element analysis (FEA), gearbox, high torque density, magnetic gear.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the interdisciplinary research field, autonomous industrial mobile manipulation (AIMM), with an emphasis on physical implementations and applications.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an introduction to AIMM, this paper investigates the missing links and gaps between the research and developments efforts and the real‐world application requirements, in order to bring the AIMM technology from laboratories to manufacturing environments. The investigation is based on 12 general application requirements for robotics: sustainability, configuration, adaptation, autonomy, positioning, manipulation and grasping, robot‐robot interaction, human‐robot interaction, process quality, dependability, and physical properties.FindingsThe concise yet comprehensive review provides both researchers (academia) and practitioners (industry) with a quick and gentle overview of AIMM. Furthermore, the paper identifies key open issues and promising research directions to realize real‐world integration and maturation of the AIMM technology.Originality/valueThis paper reviews the interdisciplinary research field, autonomous industrial mobile manipulation (AIMM).

The purpose of this paper is to present experience from a real-world demonstration of autonomous industrial mobile manipulation (AIMM) based on the mobile manipulator "Little Helper" performing multiple part feeding at the pump manufacturer Grundfos A/S. Design/methodology/approach-The different AIMM technologies exist at a mature level-the reason that no mobile manipulators have yet been implemented in industrial environments, is that research in the right applications have not been carried out. We propose a pragmatic approach consisting of: a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile manipulator system design ("Little Helper"), a suitable and comprehensive industrial application (multiple part feeding), and a general implementation concept for industrial environments (the "Bartender Concept"). Findings-Results from the three days of real-world demonstration show that "Little Helper" is capable of successfully servicing four part feeders in three production cells using command signals from an Open Process Control (OPC) server. Furthermore, the paper presents future research and development suggestions for AIMM, which contributes to near-term industrial maturation and implementation. Originality/value-The paper presents a full-scale demonstration of a state-of-the-art COTS autonomous mobile manipulator system with particular focus on industrial utilization and application.