Goppingen, Germany-Think about going from 0 to 60 mph in less than two seconds. That's just what an 18-inch long locomotive called the "Faulhaber Flash" did to take 1st place honors from among many other industrial companies, including Porsche, in the World Model Train Racing Championship sponsored by Marklin & Cie GmbH. MicroMo Electronics (Clearwater, FL) and its Germany-based sister company Faulhaber GmbH built the Faulhaber Flash that raced along a straight, 50m length of track with a catch bucket at the end of the line.
Accelerating with a 20% traction-control tolerance achieves maximum speed in approximately 25m, then reversing motor poles, using the same amount of wheel slip, stops train in roughly 10m.
"It zipped right by," says Steve O'Neil, VP of Advanced Research and Planning at MicroMo Electronics Inc., describing the Flash's race-winning run. "Zero to 60 in 1.5 seconds, scaled up is almost 2,000 mph."
Faulhaber estimates it took the nine-member team 150 hours to complete the project. "In actual competition we ran an astonishing 3,682W/94A/60V," says O'Neil. "When I consider the current and voltage going through the brushes, I can hardly believe it. That's almost 5 hp from a 1.5-inch diameter motor."
"Our train was the only one that didn't end up in the catch bucket," says O'Neil. "And to show off our programming skills, we backed the train right back to its starting point."
Check out the world's fastest electric model locomotive on display in Design News' booth at the 2000 National Design Engineering Show in Chicago this March.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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