August 17, 1998 Design News
Technology Bulletin
Late developments that shape
engineering
Laurie Peach, Associate Editor
'What'cha gonna do' police vest tracks
criminal activity
Criminals beware. By the end of this year, law enforcement
officers of TV's "What'cha gonna do" fame
will have another tool to track you down. The Team Leader
vest integrates digital video, still camera, voice recorder,
barcode scanner, and specialized sensors into a rugged,
weatherproof unit. This system, originally developed
for the U.S. Department of Energy for immigration, captures
and uses satellite images, terrain features, architectural
drawings, site plans, as well as other information to
investigate a crime scene. Incorporating an IBM-compatible
personal computer, the vest serves as a portable library
with access to maps, facility floor plans, data bases,
reports, forms investigation protocols, and scientific
technical and legal reference materials. Information
gathered at the scenes can be disseminated instantly
via fax, e-mail, or wireless LAN lines to a base station.
Up to eight Team Leaders can exchange information and
communications simultaneously. "If Team Leader
were deployed at a murder site, for example, investigators
could use the unit to track their routes and create
a detailed map of the scene," says Dan Irwin, Team
Leader project manager at Pacific Northwest Laboratory.
"Upon discovery of the murder weapon, investigators
could link the evidence to its geographical position
with laser measurements and positional data, capture
still and video images, and record detailed audio and
text notes. The digitized evidence would be transferred
immediately to an evidence custodian and could be recalled
months or years later during a trial through its assigned
barcode." FAX: (509) 375-2242,
Roll-on toward spherical semiconductors
Ball Semiconductor Inc. (Allen, TX) has moved four
steps closer to producing spherical semiconductors.
The company claims these silicon spheres have the potential
to reduce the cost of integrated circuit manufacturing
by 90% through the use of hermetically sealed tubes
in place of clean rooms, and cut the processing cycle
times to days instead of months. Ball recently proved
the initial processes necessary for manufacturing the
round semiconductors: 1. diffusion; 2. deposition; 3.
ultra-high temperature processing; and 4. floating--the
chips' ability to travel within hermetically sealed
tubes without touching the sides. The company conducted
characterization testing of a metal-oxide semiconductor
diode and a P/N junction diode built on the surface
of a sphere. The company's next step: building transistors
and integrated circuits on a 1-mm sphere. FAX: (972)
359-2410
Report cites benefits of polyethylene
regrind
Regrind (flake/chips) from cross-linked, rotationally
molded parts can be successfully added to injection
molding resins. That's the word according to a recent
study sponsored by the Association of Rotational Molders
(ARM, Oak Brook, IL). Researchers looked at combinations
of flake or powder in two typical polyethylene resins,
HDPE and LMDPE. Regrind content varied from 15 to 75%.
Some of the findings: Although the amount of shrinkage
depended on the base polyethylene, shrinkage decreased
as recycle content increased. In HDPE, there was a decrease
in tensile modulus, but an increase in flex modulus
of almost one-third. LMDPE showed a significant increase
in both the tensile and flexural moduli. Also, a 50%
regrind flake in HDPE resulted in 10-to-30 fold Izod
improvement. In LMDPE, no breaks occurred. Elongation
at yield did not change significantly with regrind in
HDPE, but decreased sharply with at least 15% regrind
in LMDPE. For most applications, representatives of
ARM say, it should now be possible to select the important
properties from the study and determine the appropriate
blend with which to begin trials for potential products.
Users are cautioned to note that this study was conducted
using post-industrial scrap, i.e. the regrind came from
molded parts not shipped to the marketplace. The report
costs $25. Call: (630) 571-0611, www.rotomolding.org
on the Internet
Old helicopter gets a facelift
Problem: take an old, three-person helicopter and transform
it into a two-person, state-of-the-art aircraft. That
is the challenge faced by Kaman Aerospace and its partner,
Litton Guidance and Control (Northridge, CA), as they
redesign a dozen Kaman SH-2 Seasprite helicopters for
the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The key to the new
helicopter, says Dr. Dennis Folds, lead scientist at
the Georgia Institute of Technology, is getting the
controls where people can access them. Modifying the
cockpit of an existing aircraft is more difficult than
designing a new cockpit, Folds says, because one has
to work around existing instruments. The new system,
similar to the advanced systems on the new Boeing 777,
replaces the mechanical gauges and other devices with
four computer display screens and advanced electronics.
Using these screens, and the powerful systems behind
them, a two-person crew can fly the helicopter, conduct
search-and-rescue operations, or fight in combat. Because
of the increased workload--not to mention the intense
environment of flight--the screens must be intuitive--emergencies
are not the time to concentrate on how to use the system,
but on using it. FAX: (404) 894-1826, e-mail: dennis.folds@gtri.gatech.edu
Dating the earth with SHRIMP
Giant shrimp are coming! Giant shrimp are coming! In
this case, the shrimp is not a crustacean, but it is
giant. The $2.5 million, 12-ton Sensitive High Resolution
Ion MicroProbe (SHRIMP) arrived at Stanford University
this spring. This device will determine the age of rocks
and the origins of the solar system by analyzing grains
of earth or interstellar dust for differences in atomic
mass. The SHRIMP fires high-energy oxygen ions at a
sample at speeds of 350-km/sec or nearly 800,000 mph.
The oxygen ions focus into a fine beam about the width
of a single strand of human hair. The ions have a negative
electrical charge. When they hit the sample, positively
charged ions are "kicked" off. The impact
leaves craters on the sample surface. The liberated
ions travel down a tube into a curved magnet about 1m
long. The magnet separates the ions according to their
mass and energy. The lighter and slower ions hug the
inside lane, while the heavier and faster ones accelerate
to the outer lanes. The ions excite the magnet in a
broad beam. They enter an electrostatic compensator,
which reorganizes them according to mass only, removing
the effects of energy difference between ions of the
same mass. Scientists use these masses for radiometric
dating and isotopic fingerprinting. FAX: (415) 725-0247
Direct x-ray technology gets the green
light
Sterling Diagnostic Imaging Inc. (Greenville, SC) has
received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification
for its iiRADTM operator console. This allows
Sterling to market its own line of DirectRayTM
direct-to-digital image x-ray equipment in the U.S.
The digital flat-panel, image-capture technology directly
captures and converts x-ray energy into a digital image,
resulting in a higher resolution x-ray than conventional
methods. Within seconds after exposure, DirectRay digital
images are available for preview and diagnosis. Traditional
screen-film technology often takes 15 minutes or more
to develop and deliver. The iiRAD operator console controls
the capturing and configuring images from the DirectRay
detector array and array controller. The console, designed
for fast, simple operation, serves as the user interface
to x-ray generation equipment that acquires patient
and exam data and routes images and information to printers,
display, and storage devices. Sterling plans to commercialize
two iiRAD x-ray systems in 1998--the iiRAD DR 1000C
dedicated chest system and the iiRAD DR1000 general
radiography system. Other systems are in development.
Visit the company's web site at www.sterlingdi.com.
E-mail: culleyjd@sterlingdi.com
Displays get thinner and thinner
Thinner is better, or so say thin-film display manufacturers.
For this reason, Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) developed
a reflective, low-temperature poly-silicon thin film
transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD). Claiming
an industry first, the company says its prototype offers
low power consumption, increased mechanical reliability,
and high resolution (800 x 600 pixels) in a thin, lightweight
package. Targeted towards mobile applications, such
as the emerging handheld PC market, the reflective TFT
LCD reportedly consumes only 1/4 the power, weighs 1/2
less, and is 1/3 the thickness of a conventional amorphous-silicon
backlit TFT LCD. Toshiba reports that shock and vibration
characteristics are improved because the LCD driver
circuitry is built into the periphery of the glass.
Poly-silicon technology allows a smaller pixel pitch
by patterning driver circuitry directly onto the glass
to support high-resolution levels, alleviating many
of the physical limitations imposed on LCDs requiring
peripheral driver ICs. Toshiba plans to start mass production
of a 8.4-inch reflective TFT LCD panel in the first
quarter of 1999. Call: (800) 879-4963
Faster analysis of implant material
Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, paired with
an alloy of cobalt and chromium, has been the material
of choice for longer-lasting orthopedic implants--such
as joint replacements for hips and knees. But even joints
made from this material last only a decade, prompting
industry to search for better materials. The National
Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg,
MD) along with four companies--Biomet Inc., and Zimmer
Inc. (Warsaw, IN), Johnson & Johnson Professional
Inc. (Raynham, MA), and Osteonics Corp. (Allendale,
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