Design News articles from December 2006

Design News archives from December 2006

Packaging Control Advances at Pack Expo 2006.
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Pack Expo highlights motion control and automation approaches that will help packaging machines become more sophisticated Packaging machines, especially the smaller ones, sometimes make due without the most...

The Case of the Faulty Flight Director.(Several Logan International Airport)
December 11, 2006... By Kenneth Russell, Professor Emeritus, MIT, Cambridge, MA Several Logan International Airport (Boston) run ways end at the water's edge: Seawalls protect them from the ocean storms. In 1973, a smallish commercial jet airliner approached...

Integrated Coreless Transformer.(Infineon Technologies)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Infineon Technologies develops isolation technique for improved performance Even though semiconductor manufacturers routinely integrate several hundred thousand transistors on an IC, adding a single inductor has...

Humidity sensor offers clear view.(Sensata Technologies)(automatic defogging sensors)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Sensata Technologies improves performance of automatic defogging sensors Improved automotive safety has many aspects but starts with the driver having a clear view of the entire road. To avoid vision-restricting...

Best of the engineering marketplace.(Buyers guide)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff CIT Relay & Switch Automotive A2, A3 Series Relays Design News Staff High performance in two varieties These small, lightweight relays offer contact arrangements of SPST N.O., SPST N.C., SPDT and SPST...

Lean, Mean Six Sigma Machines.(lean six sigma)
December 11, 2006... By Tam Harbert, Contributing Writer, Electronic Business Electronics companies have used Lean Six to trim down, but can it help them pump up? In the depths of the dot-com bust of 2001, the high-tech industry went on a diet -- cutting...

Portable Video Player.
December 11, 2006... By Randy Frank Archos 604 (http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-522 ). The Archos 604 provides video performance across multiple coding standards and has one of the brightest screens in the industry with more than 16 million colors. Texas Instruments'...

2 High-Performance DVR.
December 11, 2006... By Randy Frank Hitachi Wooo D Digital Video Recorder. Featuring up to 1 terabyte (TB) of media storage and the ability to record in Hi-Vision (a Japanese high-definition format), this DVR allows consumers to automatically select and play...

Network Camera.
December 11, 2006... By Randy Frank Toshiba IK-WB15A Network Camera (http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-526 ). Providing an alternative to traditional analog closed-circuit TV cameras for video surveillance, this internet protocol (IP) camera has 1280 x 960 resolution...

Environmental Monitoring.(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... By Randy Frank Winland Electronics EnviroAlert Digital Environmental Monitoring Alarm (http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-525 ). Input from its on-board temperature sensor or remote temperature, humidity and water sensing probes, allows this digital...

Satellite Receiver.
December 11, 2006... By Randy Frank X-Digital's MSL384 Satellite Receiver (http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-527 ). Streaming digital audio to hotels and apartment complexes requires digital processing with high density and low power. By converting digital satellite...

Honda Debuts Gas-Powered Civic GX in NY.(American Honda Motor Co. Inc)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff American Honda Motor Co. Inc. has introduced the natural gas-powered 2007 Honda Civic GX to the New York State market. This is the first time the vehicle is available outside the California market. The Civic GX is the...

Toshiba Introduces Energy-Saving Motor Drivers.
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) has released three high-voltage three-phase motor drivers with built-in power management circuits. The circuits were designed for direct current brushless motors, air...

Wood Fiber Adds More Strength to Plastics.(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Scientists at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry are developing a way to add wood fiber to plastic to make it stronger. The process extracts nanocrystals of cellulose out...

Readers Sound Off.
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff THEY AREN'T ALL BAD I just read with interest, your "My View" column regarding rust and appliances (DN 10.23.06, "Mike's Hard Lemonade, Rust and Bad Product Design" http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-504 ). I hope I won't be...

Making Sense of Intellectual Property.
December 11, 2006... By Terry Costlow More companies now patent technology not for production, but to market the IP It's been decades since Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the way electric guitars are played, but Hendrix recently played a major a role in an...

LVDS Replaces Fiber Optics in Automotive Multimedia.
December 11, 2006... By Charles J. Murray Might help automakers deal with cost and headaches associated with cables and wiring harnesses Intersil Corp. is preparing to roll out a Low-Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) technology that could enable...

BattleJacket Coating Protects Troops in Iraq.
December 11, 2006... By Joseph Ogando A new spray-on, self-sealing polyurethane coating protects military tankers from bullets and bomb fragments With all the bullets and shrapnel flying around Iraq nowadays, driving a military fuel tanker there is a...

Improving Efficiency in Fractional HP Motors.
December 11, 2006... By Al Presher Axial motor structure, dual conical magnet rotor drive efficiency A new permanent magnet motor structure promises to greatly improve the efficiency of appliance and servo motors without increasing overall manufacturing...

Documentation Tools Copy CAD Techniques.(PTC Technology )
December 11, 2006... By Terry Costlow PTC's software tracks changes, updates multiple elements PTC is unveiling an authoring and data management tool that helps engineers and technical writers create documentation for complex design, including those in...

Getting to market faster.(ways to get the manufacturing and design team together in product development process)
December 11, 2006... By Steve Callahan, Radius Product Development Five ways to bring the manufacturing and design teams together early in the product development process It's the day your entire design team has been waiting for: seeing if your hard work...

Linear Regulators Fulfill Automotive Needs.(low-dropout linear voltage regulators)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Low-dropout (LDO) versions find new niche in growing automotive electronics market Today's autos often incorporate dozens of low-dropout (LDO) linear voltage regulators, for applications ranging from instrument...

Polyurethane Foams Get Greener.(using polyurethanes for development of urethane foams )
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Bio-based polyols replace some of the petrochemicals used in urethanes Making plastics "greener" usually involves replacing some of their petrochemical constituents with alternatives derived from sources other...

Precision servo gearheads.(motion control applications for widely used servocontrols)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Gearheads focus on servo performance and precision motion applications With servos becoming more and more widely used, an increasing number of motion control applications are placing a high premium on...

Thermistors by the Numbers.
December 11, 2006... By Jon Titus, Contributing Writer Thermocouples measure temperatures over a broad range and at high temperatures. But when a task calls for precision measurements over a smaller, lower temperature range, somewhere from about -80 to 300C,...

Better Data Aids Elastomer Modeling.
December 11, 2006... By Joseph Ogando, Senior Editor Santoprene has developed a new database that provides dynamic data for elastomer simulations If you take computer simulations of thermoplastic elastomers with a grain of salt, you've probably done the...

Small Particles, Big Challenges.(study of molecular structure with the help of electron microscopes)
December 11, 2006... By Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor Management software helps national lab researchers probe deeper into molecular structure Probing the structure of atoms and unlocking the mysteries of materials are among the lofty goals for...

Simulating Crashworthiness At BMW.(BMW AG)(Abaqus, Inc)
December 11, 2006... By Eric Weybrant, Automotive Manager, ABAQUS Inc. BMW's push to create more accurate models of vehicle impacts spurs new simulation technology at ABAQUS Simulating a vehicle's crashworthiness is one of the most difficult, yet crucial,...

House Calls Make a Comeback.(home medical devices)
December 11, 2006... By Tam Harbert, Contributing Writer, Electronic Business Tech companies see a healthy market in home medical devices The electronics industry thinks it has the right prescription for the world's ailing health care systems: digital...

Case #95: Dick Keeps His Home Fires Burning.(electronic flame flicker)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... By Design News Staff Give your Christmas lighting a country look and make your Nativity scene more realistic with an electronic flame flicker. This device can be used as a lamp dimmer or a flame flicker simulator, and may be switched on...

How to Gorilla-Proof an Enclosure.(bad product design)(Editorial)
December 11, 2006... By Karen Auguston Field, Editor-in-Chief Thanks to the dozens of readers who responded to my editorial on bad product design ("Mike's Hard Lemonade, Rust and Bad Product Design," DN 10.23.06, http://rbi.ims.ca/4943-500 ). To be honest,...

Thermoforming Plays Critical Role in Enhancing Orthotic Devices.(design and manufacture of orthopedic appliances)
December 11, 2006... By Richard Cort, Contributing Writer Restorative Care of America Inc.'s first stride into the design and manufacture of orthotics came decades ago when it launched its patented Multi Podus System[R] . The MPS is a high-performance version...

Robotics in Neurorehabilitation: Locomotor Training.(Hocoma GmbH)
December 11, 2006... By John Williamson, Contributing Writer Locomotor training on a treadmill is a rehabilitation procedure for persons suffering spinal cord injury, stroke or traumatic brain injury. Training usually starts four to six weeks after the causal...

Integrating Technology as a Rehabilitation Tool.(Hocoma AG)
December 11, 2006... By John Williamson, Contributing Writer Motor-driven, computer-control tilt table expands functionality In the early phase of the rehabilitation process for neurological patients or those enduring long bed rests, it is important to...

X-ray Vision, Colors Augment Medical Plastics.(the increasing usage of plastic products)
December 11, 2006... By Fran Alder Versatility opens new doors for plastics How is the market for medical plastics changing? The first uses of plastics in the medical field was disposables. Now we're doing a lot in high-performance materials for...