The Exer-station from Powergrid Fitness works like a body-sized joystick with enough resistance to give users an isometric muscle workout while they play games on the PlayStation, Xbox or GameCube. Like a regular joystick, the Exer-station translates directional forces applied by the user into in-game motion. But this 24-inch-tall joystick can require some substantial forces to muscle around. Powergrid Vice President Jason Grimm says forces required to control a game can be adjusted from just a few pounds to as high as 200 lbs. "The workout can range from something like swimming to heavy weightlifting," he says. To translate the force exerted by the user, the Exer-station uses an array of four semiconductor strain gauges to measure forces on two axes. Powergrid packages the strain gauges inside a molded polycarbonate tube that maintains the gauges' orientation within the alloy steel tube that forms the device's vertical structural member. Powergrid first used similar controller technology in the $800-and-up standing models it brought out a couple of years ago. The new Exer-station, sized for sit-down play, costs $199. For more information on Powergrid's technology, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4915-529.
Our LinkedIn systems and product design engineering group discusses if they are happy with their decision of remaining a technical contributor instead of becoming a manager.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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