We're at the halfway point in the year, and the number of stories/topics Design News has covered to date has been astounding. But that's not to say we're going to rest on our laurels. I figured this would be a good time to fill you in on what you can expect to see from our editors in the second half of the year. It'll also allow you to chime in through the comments section below and let us know if there's something you'd like to see. (You certainly haven't been shy about doing that.)
We've covered a lot of the auto industry, and we will continue to do so, as this segment is experiencing its biggest metamorphosis in a century. Electric cars and plug-in hybrids are proliferating with three new pure EVs (Ford, Mitsubishi, and Toyota) already reaching production this year and a fourth, the Tesla Model S, poised to roll out late this summer.
However, alternative power trains aren't the only big change. Automakers are preparing for the autonomous car -- Google has already put more than 150,000 miles on its version -- and are rolling out new features (adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping, collision avoidance, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications) that serve as pieces of the autonomous puzzle. Utilities are moving hand-in-hand with those trends, pushing renewables to the forefront and finding ways to store grid energy.
In the automation and control segment, the focus will be on energy-efficient designs, high-performance machine control, and the impact of automation on alternative-energy technologies. With fluid power accounting for 2 to 3 percent of US energy use, efficiency is a major design goal for mobile hydraulics applications such as excavators that use $48,000 in fuel per year.
A second goal is the continuing quest to apply Moore's Law more effectively for machine control applications, including high-performance servo control and new mechatronic designs used in robotics. A Design News reader survey in the fall will look at the future of machine controllers and what users are looking for in next-generation platforms for machine control.
Finally, coverage in this area will look at how automation and motion control are key elements for emerging alternative energy technologies, powering the latest innovations in wind turbines and solar power manufacturing.
We haven't done flat out reviews of different design tool packages, but we can certainly inject some guidance and detailed specification information into our coverage to help guide in decision making. There are also a number of simulation experts that might help, and I recently moderated a DN radio show on simulation with CIMdata's resident simulation expert Keith Meintjes. Check it out if you haven't already.
Beth, I'm interested in comparison/contrast of capabilities with other simulation vendors from a non-biased 3rd party. Thanks for your response to my inquiry!
@notarboca: Design News covers simulation pretty regularly and COMSOL is definitely one of the important vendors in this space. What specific coverage are you looking for and what are your particular areas of interest/concerns as it relates to CAE software?
I am particularly interested in the simulation physics of COMSOL; do any of our folks have expertise in this particular genre, or is this a topic for a whole different blog? :-)
Charles. You are so right and many have no idea for what is in store for us. Many present jobs, industries will disappear and new ones much smaller, more nimble serving closer to home most everything an area needs.
Most accounting, teaching, financing, banking, stock market, etc will all be done at little profit by computers reaching down to every level.
Transpotation will have many fuels other than oil based including many made in homes, small businesses which instead of buying energy/fuels, sells them taking down the oil/energy industry in 15-20 yrs as people have enough of high prices watching their neighbors get paid instead of paying.
Many more will work at home on their own businesses cutting office, transport, etc needs.
Health care will be univerial because it's the only way we can afford it cutting many insurance, medical accounting jobs. Another cost savings of UHC is far fewer lawsuits as no medical costs to sue for and far cheaper car, home, business insurance as no medical costs to sue for.
Changes like this will run through every industry for probably 20 yrs before we get off oil and fire all the parasites sucking our money away and things settle down. Going to be one wild ride!!
Thanks for that input, Dave. You may recall that I did an article recently on the DoE's renewal of funding for its vehicle lightweighting program http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=242652 And your columns on galvanic corrosion and failure analysis have been good reads.
@Ann: Thanks for mentioning metals. There is a lot more to materials than just plastics and composites. The lightweighting goals of the Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Program depend on increased use of magnesium, aluminum, and high strength steel more than plastics and composites, although plastics and composites play an important role. There is also a lot of important work going on in the world of corrosion resistant coatings, particularly with regard to replacing traditional coatings such as cadmium and hexavalent chromium with safer and more environmentally-friendly alternatives. (As I recall, you had a good article on multifunctional coatings a few months ago).
Yes, welcome, Rich! It's a great time for materials & assembly, too. The amount of R&D dollars and consortia going into new metals and composites, bioplastics and other sustainable materials and fuels, and additive manufacturing processes and materials, to name only a few, is amazing.
Thanks everyone for your notes. Chuck, I agree that it's a great time to be part of the Design News team. The biggest question I seem to be faced with is what NOT to cover.
Jerry, your comments are noted and taken very seriously. I'm a firm believer in that our number one job is to simplfy the job of our reader. Providing puff pieces does just the opposite, and I'll do my bext to see that it doesn't happen on Design News. And please call me out if you see anything that doesn't belong.
Welcome, Rich. It's a good time to join Design News. I believe when we look back in about 30 years, we'll identify this as a period of revolution in technology -- the auto industry is making its biggest change in 100 years, robots are leaving the factory and the process of design is changing in ways that no one ever imagined. We're lucky at Design News in that we get to cover these topics and a lot more.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
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.
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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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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