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Electric Car Adoption Will Be Slow, Says Nissan Chief
Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said today that adoption of electric vehicles will be a slow and gradual process, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Ghosn, who has spearheaded Nissan’s effort to go with battery-powered electric vehicles instead of hybrids, said that traditional gasoline-powered cars would continue to do ... More
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Hybrids, electric vehicles and more
DIRAK’s New Electro-Mechanical Outdoor Swinghandles
MATERIALS: DIRAK’s two new Electro-Mechanical 2-102 and 2-126 (RS 105) Swinghandles are designed for applications where security is a concern, specifically in cabinets that are exposed and accessible to the general public and for outdoor applications where cabinets are exposed to weather elements. The 2-102 EL Swinghandle RS 105 is available with a single lock cylinder and the 2-126 ... More
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Highlighting notable new products and company announcements
Virginia Tech Team Steers Blind Drivers
Here’s a cool student engineering project: A team of students at Virginia Tech is leveraging CAD software to help blind people drive using their hands and ears to navigate instead of their eyes. The Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge team is working with SolidWorks to create a roulette-style click wheel and other components for their specially-equipped, semi-autonomous dune bu ... More
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Where you\'ll find the latest news and trends in the areas of CAD/CAM software, PLM, innovation, and product development.
U.S. RoHS bill causing controversy
A bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 2024) proposes to ban the same six substances banned in the European Union RoHS. But the exceptions are far different from the European bill, which is causing controversy among trade associations in the electronics industry. An article in EDN, a sister publication to Design News, presents comments from major players behind the bill, includ ... More
About this blog
Hi, this is Design News contributing editor, Rob Spiegel. Welcome to my Lead-Free Zone blog. This is your opportunity (and mine) to discuss RoHS and other environmental issues. Green regulations have produced waves of industry confusion, and I do not expect things to clear up quickly. So use this blog to inform us of your opinions, to instruct us all on what you\'re doing about this initiative, or just to blow off some steam.
MCU Family Cuts Power, Expands LCD Drive Capability
I had a conversation with David Niewolny, a Freescale product marketing manager, about the company’s new “LL64″ processor, a member of the MC9S08 family, and thus properly called the MC9S08LL64. David explained Freescale developed this microcontroller (MCU) primarily for portable and industrial devices that can benefit from low power consumption and the capability to drive as ... More
About this blog
Interpreting trends, analyzing tools and techniques and exploring cross-discipline skills for electronic, mechanical and system designers.
Opel, BASF Unveil All-Plastic Car Seat
Opel is in the news almost weekly for financial reasons. But the German-based subsidiary of General Motors is also making some technical news. Opel joined with Recaro, a Tier II seat maker, and BASF to develop an all plastic car seat that eliminates the requirement for a steel frame. The seats are low weight while offering high mechanical strength, good ergonomic properties and a sporty look. The ... More
About this blog
Engineering materials is a discussion led by Design News Contributing Materials Editor Doug Smock on important new developments and applications that affect mechanical design.
El Cheapo Flashlight Doubles as Paper Clip Holder
Brit John Goldsmith sent in this example of an el cheapo shake-to-light flashlight he purchased at a filling station - it was a discounted offer if you bought enough petrol. Well, he got what he paid for, though given the price of petrol in the UK, the station probably could have given away a Surefire flashlight. “As the closeup photo shows, the power comes from a magnet and coil, being st ... More
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Products that somehow slipped by the QC Cops - Email us your examples at kfield@reedbusiness.com!
The Adventure of the Plus-Size Ghost
When a truck scale exhibits a mysterious and inexplicable “weight gain,” workers begin to wonder if the place is haunted By Contributing Writer Phil Ouellette Years ago I used to repair truck scales. In those days, truck scales were mechanical with levers and pivots located in a pit under the scale platform. One customer had a recurring problem with a scale that wouldn’t hold ... More
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Famous investigations into the most diabolical real-world cases involving materials and mechanical designs
The Case of the Errant Electrons
What caused a crane operator to become a high-voltage conductor By Myron J. Boyajian, Contributing Editor A chilly and wet fall day saw a crew of workers unloading roofing shingles at a luxury home on a wooded job site by using a truck-mounted, articulated-boom (knuckle-boom) crane. The crane was mounted on a large flatbed truck between the cab and the flat cargo deck that held the bundles of shin ... More
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Famous investigations into the most diabolical real-world cases in engineering
Reflow Soldering on the Cheap
What a great time to be an electronics hobbyist! Who could have imagined 10 years ago the cool parts that are available for experimentation and projects today: Triple axis accelerometers Compact GPS receivers 32 bit superscalar microcontrollers at hundreds of MHz RGB LEDs LCD panels touchscreens Standard interfaces like I2C, SPI, CAN, etc. to easily hook all of the above together. PC ... More
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Fun and entertaining projects for the gadget freaks among us
Designed for Disaster: The DC-10 Airliner
Four Part Series Examines Design Problems with the DC-10 Airliner. In 1966, American and United Airlines were looking for a wide body airliner able to operate from the shorter runways found in tier two cities. The objective was to transport large payloads - more passengers and cargo - to and from those smaller cities. Airline management felt one key to success was to give passengers a feeling of ... More
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An insider's look at the wondrous but unforgiving world of aviation and aerospace design
What is the coolest and most practical math equation?
I know that many of you will look at the topic of the blog and give a big “ick” or some other guttural sound that I don’t know how to spell. To you I offer my sympathy. Of course, for the rest of you that choose to read on, you may be wondering what in the world this topic has to do with a wireless blog. For you I confess that my mind has been rejuvenated by ... More
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Strange but true things; tales of what happens without cables and why
USDA Forest Service Tests Voltree Power’s Bio-Energy Harvester
In February 2009, I posted “Voltree Power Harvests Electricity from Trees without Combustion,” describing how Canton, MA based Voltree Power was commercializing a patented technology from MIT to extract energy from trees. Using the pH difference between trees and the soil, a miniscule amount of electricity is produced, which Voltree captures to power wireless mesh networks within for ... More
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This alternative energy and sustainable power blog covers alternative energy and fuel technologies buzzing through the media.
Saturn Demise Might Be Saddest Of All
The demise of Pontiac has grabbed auto industry headlines over the past few days, but little has been said about GM’s abrupt change in plans for its Saturn Corp. Yesterday, the giant automaker said it no longer plans to build Saturns through the end of 2011. Instead, it will phase out Saturn at the end of the 2009 model year. That’s sad. Those who recall the history of Saturn know th ... More
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The latest news and information on analog/digital control, components/hardware, embedded systems, power/thermal management, and sensors for design engineers.
Amazing display of questionable engineering
Here’s some astonishing video of “Gallopin’ Gertie” (the Tacoma Narrows Bridge) from November 7, 1940, just before the bridge was demolished by a gale. ... More
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Looking at the top engineering breakthroughs that came during the 60-year history of Design News.
Google, Harvard's Wissner-Gross debate CO2 from Web Search
Harvard graduate student Alex Wissner-Gross created quite a stir with his claim that every web search creates between 5-10 grams of CO2 from the power required to keep those massive server farms going. Google officials apparently thought he was singling it out, but he later said he was speaking about generally about web searches and had no axe to grind with Google.But who does not equate web searc ... More
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Your Guide to Going Green
Banner’s New Vision System Needs No Computer
Machine vision systems don’t necessarily need lots of extra computing power and complex software to carry out difficult inspection tasks. That’s the guiding principle behind Banner Engineering’s new image sensing system, which is designed to be both simple and smart. Called the iVu Series TG, this self-contained image sensing system features a 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen for fact ... More
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Read about the latest developments in motion control, factory automation, machine tools, and robotics.
Mediocrity in the Design Process: Marinara sauce gone wrong.
An end user should not be using a mediocre product, and let me explain how marinara sauce relates. Before super-mega-markets, I would imagine markets had fewer varieties of many products. Those products were likely produced to try to please as many customers’ taste buds as possible. Let me presume that customers only had different preferences between texture and spice of sauces. The two a ... More
About this blog
In this blog you\'ll find posts about mechatronics, engineering, and engineering education. Stefan Wolpert will discuss various aspects of mechatronics, some of which include computers, control, electronics, mechanics and design. Also, Stefan will explore his engineering education and its integration of mechatronics.
$28 Million Settlement Reached in Death of Woman Killed in Big Dig Collapse
Read more on the Big Dig materials failure and see appalling aftermath photos and diagrams at Design News’ Big Dig coverage page. The family of a woman killed two years ago when the car she was riding in was crushed as a portion of a ceiling collapsed inside a Big Dig tunnel settled a wrongful death suit for more than $28 million last night. In July 2006, 39-year-old Milena Del Valle was ki ... More
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Straight talk about today\'s headlines and how they affect the engineering community.
Chevy Volt, Performance Capabilities Subject to Change
Did I hear that right? A Chevy Volt radio ad this morning concluded with a line like performance capabilities subject to change or may vary. I think it was the former. Should I be surprised given the GM’s rush to get this electric car into production by late 2010? That’s how fluid the battery situation is. The ad touts that you might seldom buy gasoline if you travel 40 miles or less ... More
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Scanning for Fraud
Art and technology have started to come together in an unlikely place–under the gaze of 3D digitizers. The VanDuzen Archives of Dallas has built a growing business around the use of imaging hardware and digital shape sampling software as tools to authenticate and conserve works of art. And in one recent job, the company helped ferret out a forged copy of Picasso’s Tete de Fernande, a ... More
About this blog
News about the technologies you turn to when time isn\'t on your side--everything from rapid prototyping machines and high-speed machining to rapid tooling and rapid manufacturing.
Avnet Tech Games Give Product Ideas a Chance in the Real World
This week Avnet announced the winners from its third annual Avnet Tech Games, an annual competition featuring several multi-disciplinary technology events. The competition, held April 5, presented more than 150 students from colleges and universities in Arizona with several technology challenges. Among the Avnet Tech Games events are “AMD Build the Fastest Computer,” where teams use ... More
About this blog
This blog is your resource for news and updates on the latest developments from design engineering competitions across the globe. Be sure to visit our Design Engineering Competitions and Challenges content package for more coverage, a schedule of upcoming events and entry materials.
When to Embark on a New Engineering Position
Should you move from that company of long standing? Are you waiting patiently for the retirement party and that “gold watch”? Last weekend I sat down for coffee with a design engineer from an industrial lighting products company. With him were two of his twenty-something-year-old kids, helping Dad gather tools for a career move. They were as interested in advice for their own career ... More
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Negotiating your path to success in engineering’s changing work world.
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Test & Measurement World Machine Vision & Inspection Report
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