South Yorkshire firm rolls out pioneering move for offshore wind industry

Magnomatics, based in Sheffield, is pioneering a new process which cuts the labour-intensive process to position powerful permanent magnets on to large generators for offshore wind from one hour to just 55 seconds for each magnet.

Magnomatics wants to explore how robotic technologies can optimise the manufacturing process and drive big productivity improvements for its wind turbine generators, which form part of its Pseudo Direct Drive (PDD) generator technology portfolio.

The Sheffield-based company teamed up with engineers at the AMRC’s Factory 2050 to automate its current manual process which involves operators painstakingly placing 204 large magnets – each weighing 18kg and capable of generating a magnetic force of up to 3kN – using jigs and lead screws to carefully slide the magnets into position, taking up to an hour for each magnet.

The ROBOMAG project is led by the AMRC’s Dr Alexei Winter.

Dave Latimer, chief executive of Magnomatics, said: “We are delighted with the outcome of this project. It is just one element of a series of developments all aimed at manufacturing large direct drive generators for wind here in the UK.

“This project places Magnomatics on the right track to develop bigger generators and attract big offshore wind OEMs to Sheffield and the UK.”

Magnomatics, a University of Sheffield spin-out, was one of seven companies to win funding last year from the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) to carry out supply chain improvement projects for offshore wind power.