Should Robots Look Like People or Machines? Wolfe's Den 2/1/2012 32 comments The unusually anthropomorphic automatons coming out of Japan raise this question. We asked participants in our Systems & Product Design Engineering and Automation & Control Engineering groups on LinkedIn what they think.
MCUs Cut Mechatronics Design Costs News 1/27/2012 10 comments In a wide-ranging half-hour discussion titled, Microchip engineer Keith Curtis addressed questions about the future of mechatronic control.
Slideshow: Top 5 Robotics Trends to Watch in 2012 News 1/23/2012 22 comments The most important robotics trends of this coming year will enable volume manufacturing and greater integration of robotics with machine vision and automated systems.
Design News Radio: Microcontrollers for Mechatronics Electronic News & Comment 1/19/2012 4 comments If you design mechatronic systems and want to learn more about using microcontrollers (MCUs) in your applications, listen to our Design News radio program on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
What's the Noise in Signal-to-Noise Ratio? Mechatronics Zone 1/11/2012 7 comments A signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) lets us express the relationship between signal and noise powers and between the root-mean-square (rms) values of signal and noise voltages.
Little Robots Forge Automated Welding Cells Engineering Materials 12/2/2011 17 comments Industrial robots that do welding and metal fabrication are getting both a lot smaller and a lot larger, depending on the size of the company using them and the type of welding configurations they need.
Laws of Physics Under Attack by Economics Guest Blogs 12/2/2011 60 comments Investment in STEM programs at all levels is a stated national priority. But this vital education and economic policy objective has slammed into an economic headwind that apparently makes rational budgeting a political impossibility.
Keep Your Eye on Donut Opportunities Mechatronics Zone 11/22/2011 7 comments Our mechantronics blogger opines on entrepreneurs who fall lose sight of the overall problem and fix their vision on something unimportant.
Industrial Distributors Face Integration Challenge Blog 11/8/2011 9 comments Distributors in the industrial, automation, and mechanical engineering sectors are having to adapt to changing requirements among customers as engineers try to differentiate their designs through performance boosts, faster manufacturing cycles, and the need for easier maintenance.
Downsized MEMS Aim at Lab-on-a-Chip News 11/7/2011 2 comments A new glass etching technique could lead to better microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) systems and faster, more reliable optical micro-gyroscopes and other apps.
Would You Buy a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt? Wolfe's Den 11/2/2011 50 comments We asked members of Design News's Systems & Product Design Engineering group on LinkedIn whether they're ready to embrace electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf.
Short, Happy Life of GM LEDs Made by Monkeys 11/1/2011 17 comments Two different GM vehicles suffered the same early LED burnout in the life of one frustrated car owner.
Washer/Dryer Washes Out Made by Monkeys 10/28/2011 7 comments The Bosch washer/dryer looks great on the outside, but monkeys live inside.
Slide Chart Helps Find Screws & Fasteners Mechatronics Zone 10/25/2011 14 comments Mark Atkins at Great Innovations has come up with a great way to present frequently-used information about screws and metals in a two-sided slide chart.
Is There a Diamond Machine in Your Future? Mechatronics Zone 10/21/2011 8 comments Researchers at the Sandia Corporation have created complete machines with gears and microscopic transmissions fabricated from microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) systems.
Case Study: Automated Patient Transfer Device News 10/20/2011 5 comments Nurses face the daily challenge of caring for an overweight population, which leads to debilitating injuries. A motorized lateral transfer device allows even the smallest nurse to move a heavy patient.
What Would You Do With a 6-V Motor, Two Servos & a Battery? Mechatronics Zone 10/18/2011 10 comments Someone should start a robotics competition that challenges kids to build something out of a small DC motor, a 2-channel transmitter and servo receiver, two servo motors, and a battery pack.
Interface Chip Simplifies Time-Frequency Measurements Mechatronics Zone 9/26/2011 1 comment This Universal Sensors and Transducers Interface (USTI) integrated circuit provides 29 measuring modes, as well as digital sensors that operate in the time-and-frequency domains.
So What's an 'Embedded System,' Anyway? Blog 9/21/2011 10 comments IDC says 1.8 billion embedded systems will ship this year, generating $1 trillion in revenue. Is its definition of the market so broad that we must reconsider what does and doesn't fit in its boundaries?
Damn the Error Codes Mechatronics Zone 9/20/2011 14 comments Service manuals often give incomplete error or malfunction information and fail to include information on fixing the problem.
Starter motors with automatic starting capabilities will hit the auto market in a big way in 2012. Within 15 years, every new vehicle could offer "start-stop."
Branching out from its CAM software roots, PartMaker is adding a 3D CAD modeling component to its PartMaker portfolio, acknowledging that machinists need better tools for working with 3D models.
Environmental stress cracking is a common failure mode for plastics, and you may need to do your own testing to make sure that the plastic you plan to use will not crack.
The tray table that folds in half for stowage in the armrest of an airline seat is something admired for its design ingenuity, but long cursed for its operational opaqueness and flimsiness.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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