By Jim MortonSeveral years ago four of us rented a Pontiac Montana while touring the Pacific Northwest. The RH sliding door was motorized, with an electric motor pulling on wire cables. The doors also self-locked as the vehicle started to move.
Being an automotive product planner from another company, one day while riding in the second row RH seat, I decided to see what happened when you commanded the door to open while the vehicle was moving (slowly). I heard the door motor run and then stop but the door stayed closed because it was locked. Later when stopped I pushed the button to open the door, the latch released, and the door exploded open like an arrow shot from a bow, powered by the cable that was already fully tensioned. Only monkeys would let the door motor run when the door was locked.
Ask me about Montana’s the parking-brake foot pedal that won’t release unless you push on the service brake and with the other foot push on the parking brake pedal again. If you are not familiar with that trick you can hold up a whole load of cars when the ferry reaches Vancouver Island.
When your lab is only one scope, one meter, and one homebrew function generator and power supply, the scope is stage center. But this one wasn't working right.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
14 
