The Mechatronics Zone

3D Systems Makes Big Move into the Service Bureau Business

Article | Design News Douglas Smock, October 1, 2009

3D Systems, the company that virtually created the rapid prototyping industry in the 1980s, announced a dramatic shift in business strategy today. More
Swiss Lab Aims to Improve Robot Navigation

Web | Design News October 1, 2009

The CRAB rover scrambles over rough terrain, aided by a passive suspension system that requires no motors to adapt to uneven surfaces. More
Swiss Lab Aims to Improve Robot Navigation

Web | Design News October 1, 2009

Rovers can learn from their interaction with terrains and better intelligence can be gathered about their precise position. More
Swiss Lab Aims to Improve Robot Navigation

Web | Design News October 1, 2009

The CRAB rover scrambles over rough terrain, aided by a passive suspension system that requires no motors to adapt to uneven surfaces. More
Robotic Renaissance

Article | Design News Kevin Craig, October 1, 2009

In order to avoid the problems engineers used to face, the engineers of today must be able to model and understand how different systems interact. More
New Hydraulic Fluids Aimed at Energy Savings

Article | Design News Al Presher, October 1, 2009

A coalition of university researchers and industry suppliers organized through the NSF-sponsored Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) are working together to boost the efficiency of fluid power applications. More
Reviving a 20-Year-Old Robot Using NI LabVIEW

Article | Design News Design News Staff, October 1, 2009

Industrial robots have experienced rapid technological development over the past few decades. Since the 1980s, they have evolved from pick-and-place robots, which were merely able to follow a predefined trajectory with limited accuracy, to systems that feature precisions high enough to find More
Flexible Control Panel Switching Displays

Article | Design News Design News Staff, October 1, 2009

Managing 32 video cameras, videotape machines and a large queue of digital video clips simultaneously when broadcasting live on the air is challenging for any broadcasting company. This can only be done with a powerful production switcher, and it must also be easy to use. Broadcast Pix Inc. is a More
Four Game-Changing Fluid Power Technology Initiatives

Article | Design News Al Presher, October 1, 2009

From a novel hydro-mechanical system for a hybrid car to a compact, free piston engine for pickups, researchers look to broaden fluid power's reach. More
Micro-Dispensing Pump

Article | Design News Al Presher, October 1, 2009

New liquid dispensing pump technology more accurately and reliably delivers fluids for metering applications. More
Virtual Prototyping Comes to Mechatronics Design

Article | Design News Beth Stackpole, October 1, 2009

Seamless integration between LabVIEW and SolidWorks fosters improved collaboration among mechanical and control engineers, allowing them to create control applications and visualize realistic machine behavior on a virtual prototype. More
The Future of Fluid Power

Article | Design News Al Presher, October 1, 2009

The vision of transforming fluid power to be efficient and effective is clearly defined by leading fluid power companies that are working to develop an industry-wide technology road map under the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. More
Pneumatics Extend Reach into Packaging Applications

Article | Design News Al Presher, October 1, 2009

Pneumatics technology delivers modular designs, safety solutions, diagnostic capabilities, and sensing and control functions that reach beyond traditional packaging applications, at a rapid pace. More
Thunderbolt Aerosystems Brings Rocketbelts to the Public

Article | Design News Charles J. Murray, September 28, 2009

Nino Amarena's company, Thunderbolt Aerosystems, designs, builds and sells rocketbelts to the public. More
ARM, NXP Launch Prototyping Tools for 32-bit MCU

Web | Design News September 25, 2009

Mbed Product Manager Simon Ford hopes to get the $5 mbed microcontroller package into the hands of lots of design engineers with application ideas. More
ARM, NXP Launch Prototyping Tools for 32-bit MCU

Web | Design News September 25, 2009

With an mbed microcontroller as its brain, twittering Billy Bass monitors tweets online, then converts the text to voice. More
ARM, NXP Launch Prototyping Tools for 32-bit MCU

Web | Design News September 25, 2009

With an mbed microcontroller as its brain, twittering Billy Bass monitors tweets online, then converts the text to voice. More
ARM, NXP Launch Prototyping Tools for 32-bit MCU

Article | Design News Karen Field, September 25, 2009

The launch of mbed.org, announced at the 2009 Embedded Systems Show held in Boston this week, will help users get off the ground in 60 seconds flat. More
Bosch Rexroth Rolls out Energy-Saving Products

Article | Design News Charles J. Murray, September 23, 2009

Bosch Rexroth demonstrated its 4EE Initiative with new ball rails and electromechanical cylinders at the Design & Manufacturing Show. More
HMI Connects to Any PLC or Fieldbus

Article | Design News Charles J. Murray, September 23, 2009

A new human-machine interface (HMI) eliminates the need for engineers to buy their major motion control components as single package from one vendor. More

Design News Partner Zones

Light Matters: The Unsung Heroes of Modern Health Care
First, let's define "no-compromise." In an ideal configuration, this lamp would use a high-brightness LED (HBLED) that is built into a small, integrated package and is able to produce a large quantity of focused light, operate with a high level of reliability and generate no audible noise. Is this difficult? Yes, but it is possible.
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Design Engineers' Portal for Sensing and Machine Safety
Whatever industry you're in, or whatever product you manufacture, the right sensors to automate your plant, and to improve your overall efficiency, quality and safety are a must. You'll find Banner Engineering to be an amazing resource of products, training and people with expertise.