Hunters of technical data, engineers are on a constant prowl for information that will help them solve thorny design problems--information on new materials, new components, new design tools, new ideas. That's why you read engineering magazines.
At Design News, we're constantly hunting for feedback on how well our articles are meeting your information needs. That's why we ask you in every issue to rate the usefulness of the stories we publish. Examining those ratings gives us a pretty good idea of, among other things, the kinds of technology you're most interested in. In 1999, the top three articles you found most useful included two on materials and one on motion control. For those who may have missed them, here they are:
Number one is a story in our Annual Medical Issue, June 7, entitled "Surgical gloves will stop needle sticks," by Senior Editor Charles J. Murray. The focus of the article: SuperFabric, a technique developed by Higher Dimension Research for assembling materials into a hard entity. It involves the use of blocks of material connected by a mesh, and, says the company, it can be used with stainless steel, ceramics, composites, and plastics, among other materials. One graphic showed a hypodermic needle bending as it comes into contact with the gloves, a dramatic illustration of the fact that gloves made with this material process prevent needles from penetrating them and puncturing skin. The same process could also be used for industrial gloves and luggage, among other applications.
Next is "Metals that make a difference" (April 19, 1999), by Senior Editor Gary Chamberlain that describes, among other things, an electrolytic surface conversion and coating process developed by Almag Al Ltd. The hardness of the coating is in the same class as sapphire, claims the company, and the wear resistance is about four times that of hard, anodized aluminum.
Rounding out the top three is an article with the intriguing title, "Man moves 30,000 packages in 4 hours!!" (February 1, 1999), by International Editor David Bak. The report is about a package-handling operation that employs IR scanners from Omnix, motors and drives from Lenze, and PLCs from Mitsubishi. Bak follows a typical package through the system, noting that thanks to the technology it goes from receiving station to a final destination conveyor in 2.5 minutes.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
The push to achieving more intelligent, integrated manufacturing is putting a strong focus on networking and connectivity as key enabling technologies.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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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.
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