Engineering News

By Design News Staff -- Design News, August 2, 1999

Irvine, CA-Rock & Waterscape Systems (RWS), creators of naturalistic outdoor environments for theme parks, zoos, and resorts, has replaced a time-consuming hand layup procedure with a system that mixes, meters, and sprays a high-viscosity silicone mold-making material. The process replicates waterfalls, rock formations, rivers and streams, underwater habitats, and even ancient ruins. The result: reduced mold-making time and manpower requirements.

"In creating a rock environment, our process frequently begins by building a mold that duplicates a spectacular scene from nature," explains RWS Vice President Lance Friesz. "With the mold-making technology, we can spray horizontally, vertically, and even beneath an overhang. The material has a thixotropic additive metered automatically by the equipment that prevents running or slumping."

The molds typically consist of several layers of the quick-setting silicone elastomer. Depending on the object, the final coating can range from only ¹/8-inch to as much as 1 inch in thickness. In some applications, the silicone molding compound may be used to produce flexible parts.

RWS relies primarily on two silicone mold-making formulations supplied by Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, MI). Dow developed the two-part elastomers specifically to reproduce detailed 3D objects. With the thixotropic additive, the mixture converts to a non-flowable paste suitable for casting against a vertical surface.

The patented dispensing equipment, provided by Fluid Research Corp. (Costa Mesa, CA), features a continuous-flow, progressive cavity pump system. The machine can meter, mix, and dispense up to four components. Because it requires no dynamic shaft seals, the progressive cavity technology eliminates the valve wear, leakage, and potential phasing errors sometimes associated with piston-pump systems.

The proprietary system's microprocessor-controlled, optically encoded servo drives and hardware deliver accurate and repeatable shot sizes anywhere from 1 cc to several gallons. Since the components are mixed at the spray head, the system's positive shutoff valves prevent material from clogging lines.

"The labor savings realized by the system and the material combination is significant," says Friesz. "There's essentially no waiting time now in applying the layers. It cures almost as fast as we can spray it on."

RWS' artistry can be found at a number of Las Vegas hotels, including The Mirage, Treasure Island, and Caesar's Palace.

Machine tool accuracy = cleaner engines

According to President of the Industrial Automation Systems group of Unova Inc. Clayton Williams, improvements in cutting tools, grinding systems, and CNC technology permit today's engine builder to routinely achieve levels of precision (5-25µ range) that couldn't even be measured a decade ago. Along with innovations such as fuel injection, multiple valves, and lighter materials, cars today are 96% cleaner and 50% more fuel efficient than in the 1970s.

Cyclists 'burn rubber'

Treviso, Italy-Equipment no matter how good or how bad an athlete, enhances or hinders performance. As in most applications, engineers designing sport equipment are aiming for better performance, a lighter product, and of course, a cheaper price.

This is exactly what Calzaturificio Piva-Northwave, an Italian maker of sports footwear, had in mind when it developed the Fibra Z road sole for competition class cycling shoes. In cycling, pedal power is critical to speed. So the company left the physical training to the athletes and turned its design efforts to a critical part of a cyclist putting power to the road: the shoe.

Shoes for this sport need to have a rigid sole to concentrate the force exerted on the pedal. Effort spent on twisting or bending the sole, is in fact, wasted. Designers therefore aim to minimize the distortion of the sole in the are.

Mid-career engineers who move around tend to make a bit more, because they usually get more pay when they change jobs. (Data relates to engineers with 11 to 15 years experience.)

See-through bottle blocks UV

Kansas City, MO-Three non-profit principals saw an untapped medical customer need and, after several false starts, successfully filled it using plastics chemistry. The trio developed a plastic formulation that blocks drug-damaging UV light while producing a pharmaceutical bottle clear enough for visual inspection.

Alphapointe Assn. for the Blind now manufactures and ships nearly 17 million amber-tinted pharmaceutical bottles to the nation's 178 Veterans Administration Hospitals each year. VA hospitals were using white bottles to package medicines, but wanted to put an end to the high-priced and labor-intensive task of reopening and inspecting the contents that the opaque packaging demanded. At the same time, they needed to accommodate certain drugs which cannot receive more than 10% of light in the 290-450-nm wave-length spectrum.

According to Alphapointe President and Executive Director Thomas Healy, the team investigated different resins, such as clarified polypropylene, and even tried to place a clear plastic window in the old white bottle. "When we combined Phillips Chemical K-Resin KR-05 styrene butadiene copolymer with a UV-blocking color concentrate, we hit the right combination," says Healy.

The bottles are injection blow molded on two Jomar units and are produced in 120-, 200-, and 250-cc sizes.

The clear, amber-tinted bottle permits contents to be inspected without removing the cap.

ASSEMBLY Technology Expo '99 celebrates 20^th year

Rosemont, IL-ASSEMBLY Technology Expo, held September 20-23 at the Rosemont Convention Center, celebrates 20 years with two celebrations and new focus areas.

The events, which consist of an exhibitor-focused networking party on Monday, September 20, and an exhibitor and attendee networking party on Tuesday the 21^st, are greatly expanded from last year, according to Howard Friedman, industry vice president for the Assembly Group of Reed Exhibition Co., the show's sponsor.

More than thirty trade publications will participate in or sponsor the show, including Design News, ASSEMBLY, and Modern Materials Handling. Taking up more than 200,000 ft² of floor space, ASSEMBLY Technology Expo's more than 700 exhibitors come from such industries as automotive, electronics, computers, industrial equipment, and appliances. This year, the show has expanded from two pavilions to five.

The new pavilions, which join the existing General Assembly Hall and Electronics Assembly Pavilion, are the Robotics Pavilion, which was the Flexible Automation Pavilion; and the Test, Measurement, and Inspection Pavilion. "These pavilions will address the implications of design on the assembly process," Friedman says.

More than 40 sessions will be held, including the following technology tracks:

Improving workflow in assembly

• Parts feeding, orientation

• Robotics and flexible automation

• Joining methods

• Electronics assembly

• Design for manufacturing

• Wire Processing

• Motion Control

• Vision Systems

• Adhesives & Dispensing

• Fastening Tactics

Design News Chief Editor Paul E. Teague chairs the Design for Manufacturing session. Panelists include representatives from Applicon, Clippard Instrument Laboratories, and Penn Engineering and Mfg. Corp.

Keynote speakers will include David Wathen, senior vice president and group executive officer for Eaton Corp., who will present "Open Systems for Informed Manufacturing Solutions" on Tuesday. Wednesday,Ron Spencer, NASA aerospace engineer, talks about assembly of the International Space Station.

According to ASSEMBLY magazine, one of the participants in the show, attendees' major assembly issues include reducing cost, increasing productivity and quality, and shortening product life cycles. To address these issues, Friedman says,"ASSEMBLY Tech Expo is the largest dedicated gathering of assembly expertise in the world, with a solid, specific focus."

Center focuses on collaborative engineering

Livonia, MI-Collaboration and innovation during product development are the most recent industry buzz words. To help businesses promote collaborative engineering, Unigraphics Solutions (UGS, St. Louis, MO) has opened a new innovation center. The first of its kind in greater Detroit, the center serves as a meeting place for automotive suppliers and other manufacturers to meet with their entire supply chain to discuss designs, ideas, and potential problems.

"The Innovation Center provides a great environment for our customers and prospects to study and improve their product-development processes," says John Mazzola, president and CEO of Unigraphics Solutions.

All UGS products will be available, including the company's recently announced iMAN Portal. Based on Java technology, iMAN Portal works in conjunction with UGS' iMAN product data management (PDM) software to provide a customizable window into the Internet.

The center features an 8 x 20 ft Immersive Visualization PowerWall driven by a Hewlett-Packard VISUALIZE J5000 workstation with two HP VISUALIZE fx6 graphics pipes. The HP VISUALIZE workstations and 3D graphics provide the innovation center with the computing and graphics power necessary to interact with complete digital prototypes on a life-size scale.

"By allowing customers to interact and collaborate affordably in human scale, rather than 19-inch monitor scale, the HP VISUALIZE Center is ushering in a new era of engineering, focusing on enterprise productivity," says Patty Azzarello, marketing manager of HP's Workstation Systems Division.

The center also offers dedicated product demonstration rooms equipped with the latest workstations supplied by Compaq, Dell, IBM, Intergraph, Silicon Graphics, and Sun Microsystems. Three conference rooms are available with a total of 90 seats, a food galley, copy room, and courtesy phones.

If interested in using the facility, contact Ken Lenneman at lenneman@ugsolutions.com

Low-cost CAD, NC-milling level playing field

Mystic, CT-Mystic Power Boats and Design, Inc., a leading engineering firm in the high-performance-boat industry, consists of two design engineers, a single seat of CADKEY^{® mechanical CAD software, and a network of manufacturers who use the latest technologies available in manufacturing. Together, they built a record-breaking 135-mph boat in record time.}

"All the boats we design exceed 30 knots," says Mystic's owner and head engineer, John Cosker, "anything from a 20-ft catamaran to a 150-ft yacht. We do hull and mechanical design of all the driveline, fuel, and electrical systems, as well as the interiors. It's a real small niche market." Not so long ago, only the bigger companies who could afford the larger CAD systems and a multitude of engineers could play in this market. Now, lower-cost CAD systems, like CADKEY from Baystate Technologies Inc. (Marlborough, MA), have leveled the playing field. "They have the versatility and power to handle this kind of a project and be our design engineering department," he says.

Mystic Power Boats and Design, a two-person engineering firm, designed this 3,000-horsepower helicopter turbine engine for a high-performance boat with one seat of CADKEY and a network of manufacturers. The boat’s owner hopes to break the Miami-to-New York speed record.

His theory was put to the test recently when a Boston client decided he wanted to break the Miami-to-New York speed record with a craft that could be used as a pleasure boat after the run. "There is no prize, it is simply a matter of holding the record for bragging rights," Cosker says.

The resulting 55-ft boat comes equipped with an enclosed cockpit and five military seats with full suspension, two 3,000-horsepower helicopter turbine engines, and Aancson surface drives. Cosker expects the craft to easily exceed 130 mph on the trip along the Eastern Seaboard.

The boat is not only fast on the water it is also fast in the shipyard. Only ten months will pass from the signing of the contract to when it sets sail in late summer 1999. Most boats of this design take 15 months or more to complete.

Cosker credits the reduction in construction time to advanced CAD and Vectorworks Intl., the contract tooling shop on the project. Vectorworks uses an NC milling machine to directly mill the hull's fiberglass molds. "We can get the boat to market six months or a year ahead than with hand construction of the tooling," he says.

The CAD files drive the milling programs and Cosker claims this is a much more accurate method than any other available to him. "There's no human error in it," Cosker says. "When I put in the engines and the interior parts, I know they'll fit. This is important, because if a single part is off by an inch it forces everything else to move an inch, and then the mounting systems have to be adapted to the problem."

The entire hull is created with fiberglass in the mold as a single piece. The NC mill, which creates the female mold, has an envelope 65 3 19 ft, and 10 feet tall. Using the NC mill eliminates the need to make a male plug, saving Mystic four to six months and a host of errors that can crop up between model and mold.

Cosker works exclusively with 3D solid-model CAD part files. Although most of his vendors give him 2D files or 3D wireframe models, the software easily transforms these formats into solid models. Then Cosker's team works with the spline features in CADKEY. "The solid modeling has really accelerated the project, especially for the interior features. I can add fuel tanks and cells and immediately get volumes. I can model in bulkheads, stringers everything. It works really well for me," he said.

Vectorworks Intl. used an NC milling machine to directly mill the 55-ft hull. The hull was created with fiberglass as a single piece.

The solid modeling also gives him clearance figures automatically. Advances in 3D rendering make rigging easy for the builders running about the boat who can now readily see how parts fit together. The versatility allows Cosker to send JPEG files to his client via e-mail so that they can confer quickly and proceed on changes. This reduces development time and expense.

Cosker likes CADKEY's versatility. "Where some specialized programs are aimed strictly at architecture, mechanical design, or boat building, I can design everything from hull and deck to a slide fixture on a seat. Most of the stuff I design has never been done before, so the specialized packages do not have the versatility I need. With the one program, I can put the entire boat together, for a price that a small company like mine can afford."

"Even the boat's trailer manufacturer, Myco Trailers, uses CADKEY. I sent them a file of the hull before it was ever a physical part, and the they easily designed the trailer to fit it," Cosker explained.

LS design guys did their homework

By Rick DeMeis, Senior Editor

Willows, CA-How do you take on BMW? You buy a bunch, drive 'em around, and take 'em apart. That's part of what Ford's design engineers did in developing their Lincoln LS luxury sport sedan.

How'd they do? Well, nearly 350 miles of driving the LS, with a few dozen turns around the Thunderhill Park racecourse thrown in, would soon tell the tale to our group of auto journalists.

Getting there from San Francisco was half the fun, with turning, wine-country roads showing the car was competent in handling and control. But what struck me most was how quiet it was. Thick glass (4.6 mm) cuts wind noise, which was mostly noticeable in cross winds. But firewall-positioned, metal-faced panels with sound absorbent sandwiched within gave the biggest noise reduction by eliminating engine noise almost too quiet for me with the lack of engine cues.

Also notable was the Select Shift option for the automatic transmissions on both the V6 and V8 models. Except for the Ferrari F355 sports car, this is probably the closest any maker has come to the more precise transmission control of a manual available in an automatic. When you push the transmission lever sideways into the SelectShift position, tapping it forward shifts up and moving it back shifts down. In this mode, the transmission will not automatically downshift, except in 4^th and 5^th gears. Then it goes into 1^st below 10 mph as a safety feature to provide acceleration if entering traffic.

Fun time. First up was a slalom course, hosed down to demonstrate the optional AdvanceTrac^TM yaw-control system. Its yaw sensor data is combined with driver inputs and vehicle accelerations to activate individual wheel braking to help keep from skidding. Wriggling through the tight turns and then gunning it over the wet portion resulted in maintaining a turn line with less understeer than a front-wheel-drive-based system that was also available at the course. Correction input pulses were frequent enough to be fairly smooth.

Tackling the three mile road course, many of the test drivers were openly coveting getting in the V6 version with the optional 5-speed Getrag manual transmission the first stick available on a Lincoln since the 1951 Cosmopolitan. What was also valuable to me for comparison was having a BMW 528i on hand as well. This is what I like to drive with a manual, although the one here was an automatic.

The vehicle dynamics engineers I spoke with said they aimed the LS to be comparable to the BMW in handling, but not a carbon copy which comes down to personal preferences of drivers in choosing between the two. For instance, the LS has less understeer, while the BMW has a stiffer suspension but a less stiff body. Based on the track experience, I preferred the handling and overall control with the manual LS to the automatic 528i. While having my manual BMW on the same course may have changed this, the LS is definitely in the same league when it comes to dynamic responsiveness.

Another comparison circuit in an Audi A6 showed its softer brake pads installed for the American market, which produce reduced dust on the wheels and brake squeal, had noticeable fade, overshadowing all other aspects of the car. In designing the LS to challenge in Autobahn performance, Ford officials said the first aspect they considered was adequate braking to stop the car. The optional sport package geared for such driving has 17-inch wheels, not only for handling but to allow fitting of bigger brakes within the wheel.

Conclusion: the LS should be on the short list of any driver considering a sport sedan and you can't beat the price: $31,450 for the V6; $32,250 for the V6 with manual transmission and sport package; and $35,225 for the V8. But, unlike its British cousin, Jaguar's sinuous S-Type (see Design News 7/19/99, p. 39), too bad its chiseled, muscular lines are more generic than style setting.

Reel-to-reel molding saves 10 ways

East Hanover, NJ-Reel-to-reel insert overmolding combines two technologies: stamping and molding. When designing a new product that requires dimensional stability and must function flawlessly in a harsh environment, this process, although it may not be the least expensive initially, can provide many advantages that could pay dividends over the long run.

In the reel-to-reel process, stamped components or frames arrive from the stamper in continuous form on a disposable cardboard, Masonite, plastic, or other type of reel (see diagram). The base material of the stamped frame can be any material, with copper or nickel-based alloys being the most common.

Reel-to-reel insert molding can prove a more efficient process for design engineers when it comes to lowering assembly costs.

The perforated, continuous strip resembles a movie film. The perforations (pilot holes) enable the stamper to advance and locate the metal strip in the progressive die. The accuracy of the relationship between the mold's cavity and the pilot hole guarantee that the plastic detail always remains in the right place. The pilot hole also helps assure the correct alignment of components in any subsequent manufacturing operation, such as forming, bending, soldering, welding,or assembly.

The stamped, reeled-up frame mounts on a pay-out reel (uncoiler) and feeds into the molding machine. Like the feeding motion in the die, the frame advances through the mold after each molding cycle. Here, the feeding unit on the punch press is usually mounted on the beginning of the progressive die and pushes the strips through the die.

This arrangement is the opposite in the molding process, where the feeding unit mounts at the end of the mold and the strip is pulled through the mold. Molding can take place in a horizontal or vertical molding machine. Following the molding process, the frame rolls back onto a reel, and the part is ready for any secondary operation or shipment to the customer.

Requires only one "A" and one "B" side mold, whereas in shuttle or rotary molding two or more "B" slides are needed, increasing up-front tooling costs.

• A vertical molding machine costs less than a shuttle or rotary machine, resulting in lower hourly machine rates and part costs.

• Requires no operators to place stamped inserts into the mold cavity or to assemble them into loadbars.

• Use of single, continuous frame operation eliminates the cost of an expensive robot or other type of delivery system.

• Ability to provide continuous, unattended operation assures consistent, repeatable cycle times that result in a better product.

• Eliminates inaccurately placed components that can cause flash or mold damage.

• Doesn't waste expensive gold in the stamped contact area of electronic components that require metal plating.

• Enables many finished parts to fit onto a single reel, assuring an economical, safe way to package and transport components.

• Higher output gives the engineer greater latitude in designing a product, especially when two strips are fed into a mold.

• By receiving a continually molded and oriented product, the end user requires less sophisticated assembly tooling, which lowers up-front costs.

Material comes to grips with sport knives

Ellenville, NY-Changing market needs sometimes mean that even a best-selling product requires an update to keep ahead of the competition. Such was the case of Imperial Schrade Corp., a company that has produced sport knives since the early 1900s.

Schrade needed to find a new material for the handles of its Old Timer^© hunting, fishing, and other types of sport knives that would offer state-of-the-art benefits, without sacrificing the firm's reputation for producing long-lasting products. So, with its custom-plastics molder partner, CPC (Middlebury, VT), Schrade began the search for a material that would add a soft touch to the handles.

After scouring the market for material that offered processibility, quality, appearance, and durability, the companies settled on thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). The winning material: the DYNAFLEX^© line of KRATON^©-based TPEs supplied by GLS Corp. (McHenry, IL). The material, according to Mike Funk, CPC president, adapts readily to the company's multi-shot (two material) molding machines.

Now, some of Schrade's latest products have handles that feature a polypropylene base overmolded with the TPE to form the one-piece Safe-T-Grip^© handle. One side highlights the Old Timer logo, the other has a clip built into it for users to hang the knife on a belt.

Schrade and CPC officials admit that the handles went through several iterations before going into full production. "We experimented with the idea of using two dissimilar polymers, one soft to provide a non-slip grip and the other to ensure or enhance rigidity and strength," Funk explains. "Our greatest concern after deciding upon polypropylene as the hard material was to find a grip-like material that would adhere to polypropylene and never fail."

How have the new handles been received? "The Safe-T-Grip handle has hit a positive note with our customers,'' says Joseph Hufnagel, senior vice president at Imperial Schrade. "They especially like its feel and non-slip characteristics in humid or wet environments."

Machine vision comes to the masses

Long Beach, CA-If its growth rate is any indication, machine vision is finding a home in a variety of factory floor applications where it was considered too expensive and difficult to employ in the past.

Machine vision systems are used to locate and position work, track the flow of parts, and inspect for quality and consistency. These systems do what human eyes can no longer do given the speed of production and small tolerances in today's manufacturing environment.

The semiconductor and electronics industries are the biggest users of machine vision systems, with automotive, plastics, machine tools, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, printing and wood products industries demanding the technology more than ever before.

Sales of machine vision systems that cost less than $5,000 and can be configured by the user not a technical expert, increased by 13.2% to $218 million between 1996 and 1997. This market alone will expand at a rate of 16% a year, says the Automated Imaging Association.

High-end machine vision systems, typically composed of lighting, lens, camera equipment and software, and ranging from $13,000 to over $50,000, have found success with manufacturing customers whose dedicated technical staffs understand complex vision concepts and terminology, programming, setup and maintenance. But many vision systems are too complex and too costly to be widely adopted for plant floor applications.

  As manufacturing quality requirements increase, the needs of plant floor personnel are driving machine vision producers to take a serious look at ease of use, pricing, communications, and feedback issues that prevented plant floor use in the past.

Omron Electronic's (Schaumburg, IL) F10 machine vision "sensor" is one of a group of new products designed to fill this industry niche. The F10 system contains a controller and sensor head with built in light source and CCD array, which requires no programming and offers "true" grey-scale recognition. Because the F10 detects patterns rather than spots as photoelectric sensors do, it enables a wide range of applications over and above determining absence or presence, including pattern matching, accurate label placement, printing verification and conformity checks. The image processing time is between 3 and 10 milliseconds.

"We tried other high-end photoelectric sensors for 100% parts inspection, but we were not getting the results we wanted," says Joel Johnson, Senior Electrical Engineer with Federal Mogul Ignition Products, manufacturer of Champion spark plugs based in Burlington, Iowa. "When Omron came out with the F-10 vision system, it exceeded our expectations for inspection verification of part integrity and proper component assembly."

Users simply "teach" the F10 to recognize a pattern by focusing a visible light guide on the object. After pressing a "teach" button to register the pattern in the sensor, users run a sample test and adjust threshold levels as needed.

In Federal Mogul's manufacturing environment, where up to 100 different spark plugs are produced for automotive, marine, lawn equipment and other engine applications, the sensor system recognizes and compares a "known good" spark plug to each manufactured piece by searching for presence and position of internal components.

The $1,300 price tag for the Omron F-10 was an attractive feature and provided immediate return on investment for Federal Mogul through reduced scrap rate, Johnson says. "The vision system has proved highly accurate and does not require laborious set-up, yet we find it competitive with intelligent laser measurement systems and photosensor devices."

Federal Mogul found that with smart photo-eye-type sensors, parts could be taught for one production run, but when a line was switched to another product, technicians had to go through the teaching process again, which caused extra downtime. 'Our machine operators can set the F10 up themselves, instead of waiting for a skilled technician,' says Johnson.

  Omron also produces an F30 complete vision system with an integrated camera and processor, lens and light source, for presence/absence detection. The system is priced at $2,500, and is for detection of glossy objects, such as labels. The higher end Omron F150 system costs $4,300, includes a camera, processor and keypad, and can store up to 23 good or bad images in memory.

A manufacturer of traditional high-end vision systems, Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA) also focuses on the lower-end manufacturing niche with its Checkpoint 900S product. "Two good things are happening for the industrial customer, performance is up and price has come down," says Ed DaCosta, Director of Engineering with Cognex. "Users don't have to choose between high price or low performance anymore."

Cognex Checkpoint systems display acquired images through easy-to-use, Windows-based "point and click" menus. Dialog boxes and menus guide the user through the development of the vision program, from acquiring images through creation of custom operator control panels to interface the vision system with factory automation equipment. A video setup wizard guides the user through the choices of cameras, video formats, and triggering mechanisms. Checkpoint enables users to create customized operator interfaces using Visual Basic and Visual C++.

The vision industry is now able to take advantage of lower CPU prices and faster processing speeds. "I attribute lower priced vision systems to two companies Microsoft and Intel," says DaCosta. "Windows and the Pentium chip put pcs on the factory floor replacing custom, proprietary VME-based systems for process control. Intel's MMX technology has also opened the door to lower prices and real-world vision applications that do not require custom hardware."

A manufacturer of plastic radio faceplates needed to cost-effectively inspect the LED segment on its product, the laser marked characters and icons on the faceplate and its control buttons. After unsuccessfully trying a vision system that could not tolerate normal variations in ambient lighting, the customer turned to the Cognex Checkpoint system. The system has reduced inspection costs and tolerated real-world lighting variations of high reliability inspections, says DaCosta.

DVT Corp.'s (Norcross, GA) Series 600 product enables communication through digital I/O, Ethernet or serial port to allow interconnection of vision systems throughout the manufacturing process for collecting data and process control. "Machine vision was application specific with custom code," says DVT engineer Roger Whyte, "in DVT's product, the software is very intuitive so that engineers and operators on the plant floor find it comfortable to work with."

Typical applications:

• Lead inspection

• Circuit board alignment

• Accurate label placement

• Printing verification

• Checking date and lot codes

• Checking proper logo placement

Why use low-cost machine vision?

• Perform 100 percent inspection

• Enhance quality

• Reduce scrap rate

• Automate data collection

• Conduct trending analyses

• Avoid repetitive and monotonous tasks

• Reduce errors due to operator fatigue

Space exploration center here on earth

San Diego, CA-The next space booster rocket could well be built at a CAD development center. With ideas like this in mind, SDRC, developers of I-DEAS and Metaphase Enterprise software, opened the Aerospace Center of Excellence at the company's facility here.

According to SDRC, the design, assembly, testing, and product simulation of commercial aircraft, defense systems, satellites, and launch vehicles are complex, requiring product development teams and outside suppliers to work together. The Aerospace Center of Excellence focuses on building a series of documented "best practices" that capture and reuse the volumes of data evolved from aerospace product-development processes. The ultimate goal: offer customers a product development process that is more efficient, productive, and reliable. The center employs more than 30 engineers having expertise in design, analysis, test, and information management of aerospace products.

"As the world of commercial aerospace development becomes more competitive, the latest engineering-analysis technology must be applied to maintain a market advantage," said Dick Kohrs, chief engineer at Kistler Aerospace Corp. "Through the Aerospace Center of Excellence, SDRC will be better positioned to address the unique design development requirements of the Kistler program. This is a great commitment to our industry, and we are looking forward to the ongoing value that this center will providenot only to Kistler, but to the aerospace market as a whole." Kistler is privately developing a reusable booster.

SDRC will announce similar center openings throughout the year, focusing on other industries. "The center of excellence concept goes beyond a tangible site," said Bill Weyand, chairman, president, and CEO of SDRC. "The centers provide expertise in mechanical design as well as product data management, and are being established as a focal point for supportingthe core competencies of companies in specific industry sectors."

The center is only one of several initiatives implemented by the company to move it toward a more information-centered business. "SDRC has a very strong and mature verticalization strategy," stated Jack Conaway, analyst, International Data Corp. (Framingham, MA). "Throughout its more than 30-year history, the company has maintained its consulting and professional services role. This has resultedin a wealth of knowledgeand expertise within thecompany to understand and support the requirements of vertical markets."

Copolymer 'spit guards' survive police-car test

Kingsport, TN-Anyone who watches TV cop thrillers has no doubt seen violent criminals try to get at patrol-car officers from caged backseats. If the protective barriers are made only of heavy-gauge wire, sometimes they are successful. Kingsport police officers should not have to face such a dangerous scenario in future, thanks to so-called "spit guards" made from a glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PET) copolymer.

The spit guard mounts within the security screen behind the driver's head. Side shields mount around the opening between the front and back seats.

"Spit guards keep prisoners from attacking officers or throwing things at them and from doing what the name impliesspitting on them," notes Kingsport Police Chief Jim Keesling. "Side shields provide officers added protection by preventing a prisoner from reaching around the seat and grabbing their pistols."

What's new about the Kingsport shields is the material from which they are made. After performing initial market research, Tim Sanders, technical service and development technician at the Eastman Chemical Co., also headquartered in Kingsport, felt a sheet of the company's Spectar^® copolymer would make an excellent material to replace the acrylic and polycarbonate sheet used in some police cruisers. He cites several advantages:

"The copolymer sheet is much tougher than acrylic sheet, which is brittle and can shatter on impact," Sanders explains. "Not only is it chemical resistant, but it's significantly less expensive than polycarbonate sheet (see table)."

Ease of fabrication gave the Kingsport police an added incentive to try the copolymer sheet. Gary Hackney, a member of the Kingsport Fleet Maintenance Dept. was particularly impressed by the sheet's ability to adapt to police-car use.

"The material was easier to cut and bend than materials previously used," Hackney says. "As a result, it didn't take long to install and seemed to hold its shape better in the cars."

How well did it work? "After the test period, the only sign of wear on the Spectar sheet was a few scratches,'' says Sanders. "And a heat gun can be used to remove those."

The City of Kingsport was sold. "In the future, we will use the copolymer sheet to replace the spit guards and side shields in our cruisers," says Chief Keesling.

Copolymer beats competition
	Spectar Copolymer	General- Purpose	Multi- Polymer1	Impact- Modified	Poly- carbonate
Impact resistance	VG	P	P	F	E
Thermoforming ease	E	G	G	G	G
Die-cutting	G	P	F	F	VG
Cold-bending	VG	P	P	P	VG
Heat bending	E	VG	G-VG2	G-VG	G
Machining	VG	G	G	G	VG
Ease of bonding	G	VG	VG	VG	G
Flammability	G	P	P	P	VG
Chemical resistance	VG	P	F	P	G
Outdoor performance	P-VG3	VG	P	G-VG	G-VG3
Optical properties	G	E	VG	VG-E	G
Surface hardness	F4	VG	F	F-G	G
Low odor during fabrication	E	P	P	P	E
1Cyrolite HP multipolymer
2Varying amounts of whitening occur during heating process but can be removed with additional fabrication steps.
3First rating is for unprotected sheet; second is for UV-protected sheet.
4Scuffs/scratches may be repaired with heat guns.
Source: Eastman Chemica
E = Excellent VG = Very good G = Good F = Fair P = Poor
Table shows property differences among commonly used heavy-gauge sheet materials used for police-crusier applications. Variable values for impact-modified acrylics in some categories are due to the large number of products that fall into these categories and the differences in the actual values for each product.

Rotational molders unveil achievement awards

Barcelona, Spain-It cuts assembly time and costs in half. It consumes 10 tons of recycled material a month. It lowers distribution and transportation costs. And it lets the user see the contents of a container.

These product credentials won for their designers top honors in The Association of Rotational Molders Achievement Awards Competition. The awards took place during the group's 23rd annual spring meeting.

Gregstrom Corp. (Woburn, MA) walked off with the Conversion category award for its rock-drill muffler. The one-piece muffler, rotational molded using an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) material, replaces an injection-molded, two-piece counterpart that cost more to assemble and produce. The muffler's hardware is molded-in during manufacturing, enabling the part to be shipped when it comes out of the oven. The design's acceptance led Gregstrom to development two other mufflers from EVA and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) now being used in its rock drills worldwide.

Stacking underground-ducting junction boxes produced by Rototek Ltd. (Newark Nottinghamshire, UK) for running street lighting, traffic signal, telephone, and TV cables won the Recycled category award. The boxes, made of 50% post-consumer regrind LDPE, feature a tapered joint that prevents sand or concrete backfill from leaking into the chamber. They also incorporate knockouts on all sides that remove easily with a pocket knife or hammer to route the wiring.

The Large Product category award went to Plashapes Ltd. (Banbridge, Northern Ireland, UK) for its EuroLeader recycling bank made from LDPE. Now used throughout Europe, the banks satisfy the large demand for convenient collection points that offer flexibility for different types of recycling operations. The design, created by the Plastics Development Centre, includes an insert panel that changes easily to identify what recycled material goes in the container. The new, stackable design enables 120 of the units to occupy the same truck space as 18 of the old units, lowering distribution and transportation costs.

Caccia Engineering (Samarate, Italy) won the Innovative State-of-the-Art award for its container that incorporates a vision strip. The two-color container, made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), features a translucent patternon its wall. The pattern, which canbe made in any shape or size, allows the user to easily see container content levelfor more efficient filling and inventory control.

Caccia Engineering and Plashapes Ltd. both received Best of Show distinctions for their respective parts. The competition is open to members of the Association of Rotational Molders.

'Most open' MRI enters the OR

By Jean Gonzalez, Western Technical Editor

Cleveland-Magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs) are usually confined to imaging centers far from hospital surgical suites. Now an interventional MRI system with open bay architecture can be placed right in the operating room to give surgeons increased flexibility (See Design News 6/8/98, p.84).

Unlike traditional closed, tunnel-like MRI designs, the open bay makes the IMRI look more like an x-ray machine. As developed by Picker International, the Outlook Proview system achieves high-gradient image performance with a 16 milli Tesla/meter peak amplitude and rapid 25 Tesla/meter/ sec. ramp rate. The 18-inch patient gap and small magnet overhead makes the Outlook Proview the most open system available, according to the company. The system combines side-first patient entry and a detachable patient couch, for ease of patient handling in an operating suite. An optional second table with vertical motion allows the operator to prepare the patient and position the RF coil prior to bringing the patient into the scan suite. Clinicians can perform magnetic resonance angiography studies and imaging techniques associated with high-field systems.

An infrared camera tracks diodes on a biopsy tool and registers a reference frame to a magnet reference frame, locating coordinates of the biopsy-tool needle tip in the IMRI image.

Picker International says Outlook Proview is the only open magnet to offer phased array RF coils as standard. Because the design receives and reconstructs signals from each channel separately, the highest possible signal-to-noise from each coil is used throughout the imaging volume. This feature results in better image quality than available with non-phased array quadrature RF coils.

Applications. Neurosurgeons can use the new equipment for breast, neck and head, and liver biopsies, and to perform brain tumor resections. During a breast biopsy, for example, the IMRI guides the surgeon, allowing the biopsy needle to be inserted directly to its target. With a flexible arm and optical tracking, the needle guide can be removed during the procedure.

An infrared camera tracks diodes on the biopsy tool handle. The position of the biopsy needle is known relative to the diodes. Combined with a calibration procedure that registers the infrared camera reference frame to a magnet reference frame, the needle tip coordinates and trajectory can be exported to the scanner computer, where it is shown on the Outlook's display. The system employs a multi-tasking workstation operating at 433 MHz with Windows NT, to allow for rapid user interaction and sub-second reconstruction, providing fast through-put and operating convenience.

At the Long Beach (CA) Memorial Medical Center, a recent brain tumor removal was aided by images from the low-field, open magnetic resonance imager. The patient was scanned before, during, and after surgery to locate and determine the extent of a highly malignant, 5-cm brain tumor.

As neurosurgeon Ivar Szper removed as much of the tumor as possible, brain tissue shifted to fill the space of the evacuated tumor. "Often, in these cases, residual tumor tissue is obscured by normal appearing brain tissue and no longer visible to the naked eye. In the past a surgeon had to decide whether to risk compromising brain tissue with further exploration, or stop, possibly leaving tumor behind."

"When we image the patient during surgery, we can determine much more effectively if a tumor has been completely removed," says William Bradley, Director of MRI at Long Beach Memorial. He points out that 30% of the time neurosurgeons think they have completely resected a low grade brain tumor, when in fact, some is left behind. "Intraoperative MRI reduces this figure significantly," Bradley says. "In a couple of cases, we found a second tumor based upon the open MRI imaging, and were able to go back in, finish the surgery, and give that patient a better chance of recovery." The IMRI's nearly instant imaging also shows neurosurgeons precisely which brain tissue to treat, enabling removal of tumors previously considered inoperable

As these new imaging systems advance, surgeons hope to employ them along with a new class of neuroprotective drugs to detect and treat strokes early on.

Geopolymer composites target commercial aircraft

By Katherine Tyrka, France

Saint-Quentin, France-Carbon-fabric-reinforced Geopolymer crossply resins may soon find use in commercial aircraft applications where fire hazard is an important design consideration. The material is especially promising due to the general absence of affordable and processable fire-resistant resins.

Dispersing individual, nanometer-sized, layered silicates in a molten polymer creates a clay-plastic nanocomposite, good for molded parts. Because the clay particles are about the same size as the polymer molecules, they become intimately mixed and chemically bonded.

Produced at low temperatures, yet able to withstand high temperatures once formed, the Geopolymer is a two-part, water-based, liquid inorganic resin. When used as the matrix for carbon-fiber-reinforced composites, it offers the strength of phenolic laminates currently used in aircraft interiors. Unlike phenolic laminates, Geopolymer composites do not ignite, burn, or release heat and smokeeven after extended exposure to high heat flux.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been testing the carbon-Geopolymer composite. "This is an unusually good material for fire-resistant applications," says Richard Lyon, manager of fire research. His research team has made laminates, liners, and interior aircraft panels with the composite.

In addition to fire resistant aircraft panels, Geopolymerswhether used pure, with fillers, or reinforcedhave numerous potential applications throughout industry. Nuclear power plants in France and England, for example, have used Geopolymer composites for air filters which remain stable up to 500C with no resulting heat expansion.

For more information on Geopolymer materials, processor, and applications, including GEOPOLYMER '99, which took place in June at INSSET, University of Picardie, Saint-Quentin, you can visit www. geopolymer.com.