Apr 25 2008 8:26AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Reducing energy consumption is a bit like exercise. People tend to agree it’s a good idea and should do it regularly –– but often times they don’t quite make it to the gym. Yet if energy costs keep rising, engineers won’t be able to sit on the sidelines for much longer and will have to work out new ways to trim the energy consumption of the machines they build.

This growing energy awareness was on display throughout this week’s Hannover Fair, where major suppliers and users of motion control and automation equipment showcased their energy-reduction strategies and technologies. The fair also itself featured brand new energy-efficiency displays, including an “Energy Tunnel” exhibit that highlighted ways to make common industrial processes — like pumping — more efficient.

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Apr 22 2008 5:36AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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The biggest draws at Festo’s recent Hannover Fair exhibits have been biologically-inspired robotic creatures that show off cutting-edge automation technologies. Turning once again to nature for inspiration, the company’s engineers this year came up with robotic jellyfish that either swim or fly.

They may look whimsical, but the waterborne AquaJelly and airborne AirJelly make use of mechatronic design practices, control strategies and actuation methods that could have serious engineering implications. Read about them in my article, Robotic Jellyfish Swim and Fly at Hannover Fair.

Apr 21 2008 8:09AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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 Hannover Fair, the massive industrial technology trade show, opened its doors in Germany today. Actually a collection of ten different shows that run concurrently though the end of the week, this year's fair features more than 5,000 exhibitors and nearly 170,000 square meters of exhibit space. Factory automation technologies usually take center stage at the fair, and this year is no exception. Yet there are a few new twists. Among them is a brand new exhibit dedicated to Mobile Robots & Autonomous Systems. It's just a tiny slice of the robotic technologies scattered around the fair, but the new exhibit does reflect an expected upswing in transport and service robots. This year's fair also spotlights energy efficiency and global climate change. Hundreds if not thousands of displays throughout the fair focus on ways to make the...Read More

Apr 16 2008 1:40PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Engineers who want some face time with the latest Siemens automation technology won't have to travel to distant trade shows or user conferences this year. Starting in July, the company will bring a huge technology road show to cities across North America. Called "exiderdome: World of Automation," this exhibition has little in common with the automation events that take place in unmemorable hotels and convention centers across the country.

Judging from a tour of the exiderdome yesterday in Monterrey, Mexico, this particular exhibition will be pretty hard to forget. It takes place in its own portable building composed of more than 50 shipping containers stacked three stories high. It has a footprint that's nearly half the size of a football field. In its 10,...Read More

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Apr 11 2008 9:43AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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To the growing list of low-cost desktop modeling systems that you might actually be able to buy, add the V-Flash from 3D Systems. The company early this month began shipping this $9,900 machine, bundling it with Alibre Design Software. The V-Flash marks the company’s first use of its new Film Transfer Imaging technology, which you can read about in this earlier post. One promising use for this new technology platform involves the direct digital manufacturing of custom hearing aid shells. Dreve Otoplastik, an earmold manufacturer, this m...Read More