Product News 22490Product News 22490

April 6, 1998 Design News

PRODUCT NEWS

Latest and greatest offerings in the engineering marketplace

Digital Vision System

The Passportr Digital Serial Link (DSL^TM) digital vision system employs a two-way digital serial communications network and achieves inspection speed and accuracy. The DSL technology provides a real-time solution for high-speed, noise-free, simultaneous image acquisition and data transfer. Up to 16 DSL 6000 digital cameras can be connected to the processor over long distances using a twisted-pair cable. Other cameras can also be used. DSL uses a remote processor linked to a network of digital serial hubs to facilitate wiring, modification, and expansion. Digital serial technology enables bi-directional communication speeds of 330 Mbps, and allows the DSL to simultaneously operate cameras and remote I/Odevices.
PPT VISION Inc., 10321 W. 70^th St., Minneapolis, MN 55344.

Tool systems

PET1M and PET1.5M cable tie installation tool systems install continuously molded miniature cross-section cable ties in less than a second. The tools are offered with a choice of three electric power options: Ni-Cad battery cartridge with one hour charge times and capable of installing up to 200 ties; rechargeable battery belt with a charge time between four to six hours and capable of installing up to 2,000 ties; and an ac adapter that provides unlimited use.
Panduit Corp., Wiring Components, 17301 Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park, IL 60477, FAX (708) 532-1811.

Bar code scanner

The CLV 410 bar code scanner measures 2.3 x 2.5 x 1.4 inches and is for applications where space is limited. The CLV 410 can process 200 to 800 scans/sec and has a reading range of 2 to 16 inches. The scanner's integrated scanner and decoder give it a high throughput. A bar code scanner-specific reflector is used as a scanning trigger, and this "Reflector Polling" eliminates the need for extra devices such as photoelectric sensors. Applications include automated medical instrumentation products for test-tube tracking and pharmaceutical label/product verification.
SICK Optic-Electronic Inc., 7694 Golden Triangle Dr., Eden Prairie, MN 55344, FAX (612) 941-9287.

Polyurethane

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is for use in athletic equipment applications. The material is used in air bladders for balls and bicycle helmets, in fabric-laminated products such as SCUBA buoyancy compensators, and as a scruff-resistant layer for the bottom of inflatable pontoon-style boats. TPU provides air bladders used in sports equipment with tensile and burst strength, along with elasticity and flexibility.
JPS Elastomerics Corp., Stevens Urethane Div., 9 Sullivan Rd., Holyoke, MA 01040, FAX (413) 552-1195.

Headers

The DIS5 Series of zero-profile micro headers are 0.016-inch square post headers on 0.050-inch pitch and are for cellular phones, pagers, hand-held instruments, and pocket drives. The insulator carrier can be removed and discarded after the pins are soldered, and a low profile of 0.087 inch is created when mated with CLP Series sockets. Mating with a FFSD Series IDC cable achieves a 0.200-inch profile.
Samtec, Box 1147, New Albany, IN 47151, FAX (812) 948-5047.

Milling module

Journeyman computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) milling module is for CADKEYr 97. Journeyman CAM (J-CAM) provides 2- and 2.5-axis milling directly inside CADKEY, a PC-based mechanical CAD system. Standard J-CAM milling operations include profiling, facing, pocketing, and drilling. Profiling features include single or multiple passes, multiple depth cuts, and roughing and finishing. The CAM operator can direct the tool's entry and exit via an arc, arc and line, or line at any angle.
Building Block Software Inc., 49 Waltham St., Lexington, MA 02173, FAX (781) 860-9066.

PC-based product

REALoop^TM PC-based product offers real-time interaction with the real world and transforms the PC, running The MathWorks' MATLABr/SIMULINKr simulation tool, into a real-time simulation system. REALoop runs in real time with SIMULINK under Windows 3.x, 95, or NT under Pentium PCs. REALoop communicates with the real world through ISA-bus boards such as D/A, A/D, and digital I/O. The users see the graphic part of REALoop as a single SIMULINK-Block with a dialogue box that can be dragged into every SIMULINK-Block model.
XANALOG Corp., 212 Main St., North Reading, MA 01864, FAX (978) 276-0662.

Microcontroller

The 68HC16Z3 16-bit microcontroller features a RTEC^TM operating system kernel on-chip and is for real-time control applications. A streamlined version of the RTEK kernel fits into the 68HC16Z3's 8 Kbytes of ROM, and provides 94 services to manage program tasks and resources such as the CPU, memory, and time. The kernel also enables real-time data manipulation and provides a common application programming interface (API) for all related tasks. Included with the RTEK developers kit is RTEKgen^TM, a graphical system generation program that simplifies system configuration.
Motorola, Box 13026, Austin, TX 78711.

PC card receptacle

The 68-position PC card receptacle with ground clip features a flexible contact tail forming which offers alternatives for custom applications. The durable contact design withstands repeated card insertions in excess of 10,000 cycles. Materials are compatible with high-temperature soldering processes, and the insulator is a UL 94V-O rated LCP. The contacts and ground clips are made of a copper alloy and have a gold flash with more than 40 microinches of palladium nickel plating on all mating surfaces.
Methode Electronics Inc., Connector Products, 1700 Hicks Rd., Rolling Meadows, IL 60008, FAX (847) 392-9404.

Software

Working Modelr 3-D 3.0 mechanical engineering simulation software offers full associativity with CAD packages and the ability to export fully functioning models to World Wide Web pages for remote design collaboration. The software features Working Model Automatic Load Transfer^TM technology, which enables users to link Working Model with FEA packages to determine if parts will fail. The software also features the ability to post a fully animated simulation to a web page and view it with any web browser.
Working Model Inc., 66 Bovet Rd., Suite 200, San Mateo, CA 94402.

Software library

The PICmicro^TM plug-in software library provides users with a library of callable assembly routines which emulate microcontroller peripherals and specialty functions in software, such as 16-bit math routines, RS-232/I²C^TM/SPI^TM communications, analog-to-digital conversion, zero-crossing detect, and pulse width modulation.
Microchip Technology Inc., 2355 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler, AZ 85224, FAX (602) 899-9210.

Analysis software

DesignWorks is for motion, structure, and thermal analysis fully embedded in SolidWorks. DesignWorks features a family of simulation tools for use in the analysis of parts and assemblies during the design phase. DesignWorks allows users quick access to accurate results and making design improvements immediately by performing motion, structural, and thermal analysis directly in SolidWorks.

CADSI, 2651 Crosspark Rd., Coralville, IA 52241, FAX (319) 626-3488.

Software

SIGMAPLOT scientific graphing and analysis software is for Windows 3.1, 95, and NT. The software's technical graphing flexibility allows the creation of customized presentation style graphs, and all graph attributes can be customized including specifying technical axis scales and distinct colors, sizes, and symbols for each data point. SIGMAPLOT's Graph Wizard leads the user though creating a technical graph step-by-step. Data analysis tools include a built-in mathematical transform language and a curve fitting feature.
OMEGA Engineering, Box 4047, Stamford, CT 06907, FAX (203) 359-7700.

Software

CAS.CADE Object Libraries are a complete set of reusable software components for 2-D and 3-D application development that can be supported on Component Object Model/Distributed Component Object Model (COM/DCOM) architecture. CAS.CADE Object Libraries on the COM/DCOM standard are targeted at Windows developers--both independent software vendors of scientific, technical, and multimedia applications and games and industrial companies or research centers.
Matra Datavision, 1 Tech Dr., Andover Technical Center, Andover, MA 01810, FAX (978) 685-7100.

Analysis software

Analytix high-end mechanism analysis software is a 2-D package that can handle the complex interplay of fixed segments, movable hydraulic cylinders, and rotating masses. Features include constructional variational geometry, an on-screen control panel for extending and retracting actuators such as hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, and a black box feature for customizing actuator forces and reach by entering and storing equations and logical functions such as Boolean operators that also communicate with a calculator feature.
Saltaire Software Inc., 12700 S.W. Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223, FAX (503) 968-1282.

Controller

Mini-PMAC is for single and dual-axis applications and features two analog outputs that can be used as velocity or torque command elements for separate axes or as phase current commands for a single axis commutated by the Mini-PMAC controller. Four incremental encoder interfaces can be selected and used for feedback or master positions. Two interfaces can