Stories connected by measurement

Microtech Laboratory Co., Ltd., headquartered in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, is a company that manufactures and sells high-precision rotary encoders and motors. We have had a relationship with them for 30 years, including the supply of OEM products.

The company has been developing and selling rotary encoders since its founding in 1981, but in 2015, it entered the industrial motor market with the development of the "μDD motor," a direct-drive motor based on that technology. Since its release, this product has grown to account for 30% of the company's sales, with adoption in industries such as semiconductors and surgical robots.

The company currently uses our MT series torque detectors and TS series torque stations.

"To achieve high torque, our μDD motors minimize the gap between the permanent magnet and the coil. While it's impossible to completely eliminate cogging torque, we achieve a 'soft landing' by applying techniques such as skew (twisting the iron core with the coil winding grooves)."
This is according to Yusuke Nomura, President and CEO of the company. They use the MT-82M14 and MT-6222A torque detectors to measure cogging torque according to the torque capacity of the product, and they also use the MT-84M25 torque detector to evaluate the performance of newly developed prototypes.

For this project, Masumi Iwai (from the Testing Machine Technology Lab), who is in charge of the product, worked together with Hitoshi Iwasaki and Naoki Inose (from the Manufacturing Block) to deliver our product.
"We believe it's a difficult product to manufacture. Although it's part of our standard product lineup, we often customize it to meet customer needs, so it's mostly semi-custom-made (Inose)."
"For the MT-84M25 torque detector, we created a mounting jig for the test specimen to meet the needs of Microtech Laboratory. We worked closely with Mr. Iwai and borrowed a μDD motor to proceed with the manufacturing. This was the first time we saw the product actually being used (Iwasaki)."

After hearing their comments, Iwai reflected, "Hearing from everyone at Microtech Laboratory today, I was pleased to learn that the products I'm in charge of are useful in product development and contribute to ensuring quality. It's a humbling experience."

We hope that the solutions we provide to our customers will become a new standard that supports their daily lives.

The company's Machida factory installed the MT-6222A torque detector and TS-7700 torque station in August 2014. The company's Nakamachi Development Center installed the MT-82M14 and MT-84M25 torque detectors in February 2023. We also provide mounting jigs manufactured by our company for the MT-84M25.

"It was incredibly hot. I was drenched in sweat as I carried the heavy measuring equipment down to the engine room at the bottom of the ship, where there was a thick shaft connected to the propeller. People from various companies were huddled together there, all frantically inspecting the equipment (Suzuki)."

In 1988, newly hired employees Morio Suzuki and Shuji Kakegawa went to Nippon Steel Corporation's Tsurumi Shipyard to inspect the annual inspection of the Antarctic research vessel Shirase 5002, which was in dry dock. Their purpose was to inspect the shaft horsepower meters used by the company on this ship.

Antarctic research vessels are ships with high icebreaking capabilities. In the case of the Shirase 5002, it was possible to continuously navigate through sea ice 1.5 meters thick at a speed of 3 knots. To break up the ice with an enormous power of 30,000 horsepower, the shaft horsepower meter was required to measure torque and horsepower with high precision.
"I was in charge of inspecting the MP-966f electromagnetic detector with Suzuki, and we performed cleaning and calibration (phase adjustment)," Kakegawa said.

After thorough inspections, a test voyage was conducted, and the two men boarded the Shirase 5002. Suzuki recalls:
"I think we went as far as Izu. I still clearly remember being treated to curry rice."

Thirty-five years later, the two were aboard the Shirase 5002, reunited with that shaft horsepower meter. The shaft horsepower meter continued to operate without major incident, sailing 25 round trips between Japan and Showa Station in Antarctica with the Shirase 5002, covering 540,000 miles (approximately 21 times around the Earth). The ship was decommissioned in 2008 and renamed "SHIRASE5002" under the management of the WNI Meteorological Culture Creation Center, a general incorporated foundation. Since 2010, it has been docked at Funabashi Port in Chiba Prefecture.

Guided by Mr. Shigeru Saegusa, the director of the center, we descended into the ship's hold.

The day of the interview was in September and relatively cool, but it was still hot and humid inside the ship. "It's not here," "Yeah," Suzuki and Kakegawa exchanged glances. They arrived at the dimly lit engine room, but although the shaft was there, the crucial shaft horsepower meter was nowhere to be found.
"This is it!"

Suzuki shouted. Unfortunately, although the inspected shaft was found, the MP-966f electromagnetic detector had been removed. Apparently, after the Shirase 5002 was decommissioned, it was decided to scrap it and its equipment was removed, so it was probably lost at that time.
"It's strange, isn't it? Even though it was more than 30 years ago, I still know that 'this place is different'," said Kakegawa.

The two were covered in sweat, but their faces were filled with the same fresh smiles they had when they first joined the company.

Fujitecom Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, is a manufacturer that primarily produces and sells equipment for inspecting water pipes and the like.

In 2018, the company launched the Quattrocore LC-5000, a GPS-equipped digital 4-point real-time correlation leak detector. It incorporates world-first features (at the time of release; see below) and is a leak detector that significantly speeds up water supply maintenance and inspection work. It is exported to over 50 countries worldwide and is a global strategic product supporting seven languages. In fact, our company was deeply involved in the development and manufacturing of this product. We spoke with them at their Niiza training sensor facility.
"About 40 years ago, overseas manufacturers were leading the way in correlation-type leak detectors. However, their casings were large and difficult to use in the field. That's when we consulted with Ono Sokki, and that's how it all started."

This is according to Kenichi Suzuki, an executive officer at the company. The correlation-type leak detector uses two sensors to detect leak sounds propagating through a pipeline, and calculates the leak location from the time difference between these detections.

Our company readily agreed to the request. Based on the CF-300 portable FFT analyzer we were selling at the time, we developed the first model, the LC-1000, incorporating a digital correlation circuit, and released it in 1982. This resulted in a significant reduction in size.

The key features of the new LC-5000 are "four-channel sensors" and "digital wireless compatibility." The former doubles the number of sensors from two to four, allowing for simultaneous correlation processing of up to six paths. The latter was necessary to comply with the revised Radio Law regarding digital wireless compatibility. Our sales representative at Fujitecom, Koji Aihara, explains.
"At the time, I was surprised by the mountain of requests we received from Mr. Saijo, who was in charge of development. I think it took the longest time to develop of all the models in the series."
"Implementing digital wireless technology was difficult," said Kazuhiro Saijo of Fujitecom.
"Digital radio transmits data using a single frequency band, so it's impossible to send data from multiple sensors simultaneously. That was a real challenge."

Thanks to their efforts, the LC-5000 became the world's first product at the time of its release, featuring simultaneous correlation processing of six paths using four channels (patents obtained in Canada and Australia). Ono Sokki 's technology also supports water infrastructure around the world.