Actually it is probably the same in most endeavors, Scott. I am also a horsewoman and I frequently bring guests to ride my horse so that they can enjoy the experience of being on a horse and relax in a country setting. It amazes me how many people think you just get on and kick and the horse will respond - that it too is easy to come by. They have no idea how much time and effort it takes to create a relationship of mutual trust and respect with a horse and the training involved - they just see cowboys jump on and gallop off and they think they can do the same. Media has distorted so many areas of our lives - not just electronics...
Sometimes I pause and just wonder in amazement when I am using my oscilloscope. That I can actually see an electrical signal visually and measure it in nanosecond resolution - WOW! Something so simple - we forget how incredible that is when we use our equipment everyday...
Nancy. How true. It's amazing to me how quickly consumer electronics as a class of technology has created a sense that technological development "just happens". On the one hand it makes incredible electronic tools available while on the other hand it creates a sense that these engineering marvels are easy to come by and will continue to be.
Which is also a bit ironic - the American public is somewhat desensitized to the wonders of the engineering behind this type of technology because of their exposure to media creations such as the transformers - most won't have an understanding of the engineering marvel behind the design...
This is a neat development. Once again the toy/cartoon/movie/entertainment complex points us toward the future. At least there is probably already a significant market demand for this product when they are ready to release it.
I agree - that video was just a blast to watch! Whatever else - it is a great way to get kids excited about engineering. It will be interesting to see how this transformer evolves over the next few years.
Absolutely outstanding demonstration of creativity, imagination and engineering. The complexity of synchronizing all those servo motors together is exceptional. To make a robot walk is challenging enough, but to create a design that can easily transition from both a car to walking robot is very tricky. Great job.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
PTC will offer a virtual desktop environment for its Creo product design applications, potentially freeing engineers to run them from remote desktops on a variety of operating systems and mobile devices.
The push to achieving more intelligent, integrated manufacturing is putting a strong focus on networking and connectivity as key enabling technologies.
Now that solar and wind harvesting technologies are a thriving market, researchers are seeking other environmentally related energy sources for which they can create harvesting devices.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
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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