Anyone who has been to Festo's stand at the Hannover Fair in Hannover, Germany knows to expect an amazing, technological "wow factor" combined with a certain, well, silliness. From pneumatic-powered "moon boots" to a bionic hand with realistic, articulating fingers that you can shake (watch the grip!) to a series of automated mops sweeping furiously like something out of Disney's Fantasia, the show that Festo engineers put on is always entertaining. The company's recent press conference was no exception either. It was the venue for the reprise of the "Airfish," a helium-filled, remote-controlled, dirigible-like flying machine that Festo first introduced a few years ago. Designed by the firm Effekt-Technik, the unmanned, 7.5m-long airfish employs a series of remote-controlled fans that can be oriented accordingly for lift, pitch, yaw, and roll control. In this way, inventor (and engineer) Rainer Mugrauer could control what is essentially a helium-filled balloon with at least a modicum of precision. For effect (or maybe by accident, who could tell?), he sent the airfish into a Kamikaze-like dive onto the stage, prompting Dr. Eberhard Veit, director of product and technology management, to recoil in mock horror at the attack. Festo engineers promise more merriment—and some pretty cool serious stuff as well—at their stand at this year's Hannover Fair (April 11-15, 2005). Check out the show details at www.hannovermesse.de.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
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.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
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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