Design News articles from February 2004

Design News archives from February 2004

Why we need a mission to Mars.(My View)
February 3, 2004... IN JANUARY, PRESIDENT BUSH STOOD UP IN front of the cameras at NASA and proposed an extensive U.S. space initiative that will include a manned mission to Mars. Some critics of the plan say that there are better uses for the billions of...

The wastes of time: travel uncovers technology in the most unlikely places.(Flipside)
February 3, 2004... ATTILA THE HUN LIVES. HE'S A BUS DRIVER in Budapest. I know this for a fact. He drove me around that city. Let me explain. Recently, my wife and I vacationed in Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, all beautiful and very old cities. We were...

G onset overlooked?(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... I read your article on the centrifuge simulator (DN 12.01.03), but I was not convinced. I have spent almost 30 years designing and testing simulators for military fighters and helicopters. I'm also a pilot and have experienced elevated G's in...

Acronymed out.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... While I agree with Consultant Dick Miller oil the uselessness of "new" programs having nothing more to offer than a different name for the same thing (DN RANT 12.01.03), he committed the cardinal sin (in my opinion) of using an acronym (PLM)...

Real ROI is upstream from PLM.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... I applaud Dick Miller's courage for calling PLM a fancy acronym for simple collaboration, and will fail to produce substantive gains. While I do not wish to disparage PLM, my company--Invention Machine Corp.--believes that the real ROI will be...

I'm a CSI fan, too!(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... Just wanted to say that your back page "Calamities" column is the first page I turn to when I get my copy each month. I really enjoy all the colorful stories you present along with the little 'mini science' introductions. Joel Peavy ...

Testers, try this program: despite marketing missteps, the program works.(Slant: insight from insiders)
February 3, 2004... As an expert in software for testing, you have seen a lot of products. Name one of your favorites. That's easy, Visual Basic 6. But test engineers should try Visual Basic.Net. It's the latest version of Microsoft's Visual Basic. But it's...

Don't be a timid manager: the best decisions aren't always the most popular.(Rant: really opinionated people)
February 3, 2004... THE BEST DECISIONS AREN'T ALWAYS THE MOST POPULAR IF YOU'RE AN ENGINEERING MANAGER OR hope to be one someday, take it from a CEO: managing well doesn't always make you popular. If it did, every weekend would be three days long, every...

Core liberator.(B.M.O.C.: research for the real world)
February 3, 2004... Walt Scacchi is discovering when, how, and why open source software development (OSSD) works and whether it truly is a frontier for innovation. PRESENT POSITION: Senior Research Scientist & Research Faculty member, Institute for Software...

Armature-mounted electonics govern brushless motor.(Designer's corner: technology you can use)
February 3, 2004... Rather than a commutator, the patented DynaMotor[TM] electronic brushless repulsion (EBR) motor uses controlling electronic switches on a circuit board on the rotor shaft that turns with the armature. Photo detectors, located on the rotating...

Inserts lower fastening cost.(Designer's corner: technology you can use)
February 3, 2004... Screw inserts for plastics may not seem all that expensive. Unless, that is, your application requires hundreds of thousands or millions of them. For these high-volume jobs, PennEngineering Fastening Technologies has developed a patented insert...

Recovering manufacturers.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Start magazine and SAM-USA (Save American Manufacturing) have organized the two-day Manufacturing and Economic Recovering Conference (MERC) program aimed at solving the economic issues facing American manufacturers today. To be held February 19...

Engineering jobs abound.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)
February 3, 2004... At the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) website, users may now seek out their dream job, their next contract work assignment, or perhaps an entry-level student internship. Job seekers may post a resume, while employee seekers may...

CAD remembers MAC.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Poor Mac users have always been neglected by traditional Windows-based CAD companies. Engineering consulting company, Cyon Research Corp., offers a white paper titled AutoCad, Architecture, and OS X: An Analysis of the AEC CAD Market as It...

Silver still rules the road--but for how long? Darker grays and high-chroma colors that create a sense of richness have taken over a bigger share of the automotive color palette.(Automotive)
February 3, 2004... This should come as no surprise to anyone who ever goes for a drive, but silver for the second year in a row ranked as the most popular automotive color in the annual DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report (www.automotive.dupont.com). But...

Streetwise composite bonding: widespread use of automotive composites depends on good joining techniques to reduce stress concentration and fatigue.(Composite Components)
February 3, 2004... It's no secret that well-designed composite components can shave weight from cars without giving up an ounce of structural performance. And at the right production volumes, composites can cost less too. Yet composite components have a downside...

Soft autos.(Electronics)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Software is a bigger factor in automotive design than steel or glass, exceeding more than a third of total auto production costs, according to a survey by VDC (www.vdccorp.com/embedded/press/03/ pr03-82.html). Software development costs now...

Sharp toys.(Electronics)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Fisher-Price has put sharp Microelectronics' Blue Streak Arm 7 processor line on its road map for some electronic toys. An Arm CPU from Sharp (www.sharpsma.com/ sma/products/MCUSoC.htm) is used in the Pixter Color Digital Creativity System...

Make a TV.(Electronics)
February 3, 2004... An advanced project funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (http://rbi.ims.ca/ 3844-536) aims to create ASICs using printers and organic substrates. If the work being done by Motorola, Dow, and Xerox, pays off, large area...

Data.(Electronics)
February 3, 2004... 2 Million Apple iPods sold through Jan. 8, 2003 Source: Apple 132 Robots (in thousands) currently installed in U.S. factories, placing the U.S. second to Japan in robotics use Source: Robotic Industries Association

Buses speed up: new architectures should make an impact this year, helping embedded systems run faster and easier.(Embedded Systems)
February 3, 2004... PCI Express, the new high-speed version of the venerable PCI personal computer bus, is coming on line in the embedded systems world as it makes inroads in PCs. At the same time, a pair of competing high-speed architectures, Infiniband and Rapid...

VME boards march forward: military continues to be a driving market for venerable bus boards.(Bus Technology)(Virtual Machine Environment )
February 3, 2004... The VME board architecture has been around since the early 1980s, but it continues to hold a solid position in military markets. Boardmakers and other vendors are pushing performance upward. Their goal was accomplished by increasing digital...

Will the ethernet bring peace?(Motion Control + Power Transmission)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Roland Bent, senior VP of Phoenix Contact (www.phoenixcontact. com)--the company that created Interbus and, for many years, was the fiercest rival of Siemens-backed Profibus--says his company will now "direct its efforts consistently towards...

Combining motion and logic.(Motion Control + Power Transmission)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... In launching its new generation of "IndraMotion" motion control products Bosch Rexroth (www. boschrexroth.com) decided it needed a new controller and ended up developing a small DIN-rail mounted box it calls "IndraControl." What's unusual about...

Schneider consolidates automation technologies: PLCs, software target integrated applications.(Processors)(programmable logic controllers)
February 3, 2004... BRUSSELS -- Power and control giant Schneider Electric (www.schneiderelectric.com) brought 2,000 of its European customers, wholesalers, and distributors to a private trade fair called Initi@tive during the first week of December. In...

Become a beta tester.(Software + Hardware)
February 3, 2004... Interested in giving your input on the latest software products from Autodesk before they're even available? Go to http://betaprograms. autodesk.com/to fill out an enrollment form. Once selected for a particular program, beta testers will have...

Business innovation is a winner.(Software + Hardware)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... ALGOR Inc. (www.algor.com) has been chosen as one of InfoWorld's top 100 companies, clue to its business system innovations that use the Internet and high-tech communications to sell its products for a lower cost. Among the tools used: *...

Meeting the world.(Software + Hardware)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... ICEM Ltd., developers of surface modeling, analysis, and visualization software for the automotive industry, will hold the first of three 2004 ICEM Surf Users' Meetings on March 17, 2004 in Dearborn, MI. The meeting will provide in sight into...

Battle rages for modeling reality to save money: some CAE companies use stochastic simulation for uncertainty.(CAE Simulation)
February 3, 2004... Jacek Marczyk, chief scientist of stochastic simulation for MSC.Software, has a theory when it comes to design: "Failure is an option," he says. "It's part of physics." When a car crashes into a wall, for example, the automaker may have...

Ask the Search Engineer: the Search Engineer finds solutions to all your questions, problems, and dilemmas. Occasionally, he could be wrong. But he doubts it.
February 3, 2004... Mold wear... Sticky stainless... Cylinder crimping... Dear Search Engineer: I have a 120-cavity mold that produces small parts, each with a dome with a 0.5-mm radius in the bottom of a tapered recess. I need to check all 120 parts from...

The misunderstood material: just because a property is listed on a data sheet doesn't mean it's useful.(Engineering Thermoplastics)(Cover Story)
February 3, 2004... Picking the right plastic for a new product really is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. There are at least 50,000 grades of commercial plastics on the market right And even a single materials family can consist of hundreds...

A leap forward in portable data entry.(Data Entry)
February 3, 2004... ENTERING LOTS OF DATA INTO PDAS AND EMBEDDED DEVICES POSES A PROBLEM FOR THOSE WHOSE fingers are too large for miniaturized keyboards. A Texas startup is hoping that users will find full-sized keys packaged into a small keyboard that can be...

Instrument systems: drivers needed: drivers forge the link between instruments and applications.(Innovative Ideas From The Test Experts)
February 3, 2004... Engineers take it for granted that add-in instrument and I/O boards for a PC will come with driver software--the instructions that link an application to specific board-control operations. Even stand-alone instruments that furnish Ethernet,...

Innovation amidst a mature industry.(Test Experts Editorial Series)
February 3, 2004... PC instrument control and automation has been helping scientists' and engineers' productivity for more than 25 years. This industry has already recognized and solved many challenging instrument control issues. However, National instruments'...

Real-time analyzer offers continuous capture, frequency triggering: deep memory and software key spectrum analysis options.(Test And Measurement)
February 3, 2004... The real-time signal analyses possible" with Tektronix's latest spectrum analyzers give engineers a new toolbox for developing radio frequency (RF) applications. Thanks to an internal memory of up to 256 Mbytes, the RSA series can continuously...

Safety valves: lift lever and soft seat configurations.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... The Series 211 and Series 632 safety valves for air, gas, steam, and liquid applications are designed to provide reliable overpressure protection in system components. They feature a dual-ring construction to offer reportedly easy adjustment,...

Amplifying nozzles: reduces air consumption.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... The Energy Saver air nozzles and jets are designed to significantly reduce compressed air consumption by amplifying the air output. Its design forces the air through a 0.002-inch annular orifice, accelerating airflow and entraining surrounding...

Progressing cavity pumps: with long life.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... L-Frame progressing cavity pumps are designed for handling clean, chemical feed applications, and viscous, abrasive, solids-laden slurries and sludge. They feature non-pulsating and metered flow, low product shear, capacities to 450 gpm,...

Valve: with stainless steel cap.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Designed for trouble-free use in applications requiring minimal maintenance and maximum lifetime, the VICI Mini Diaphragm valve is ideal for the process industry, automated lab analyzers, and continuous-monitoring environmental analyses. Three...

Flexhose: standard length of 25 ft.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... With a reinforced construction that is designed for long life, the AHPLUS flexhose can withstand a temperature range from -60 to 275F. It is featured in a royal blue color so it may be easily visible in both small and industrial settings. It is...

Valve terminal series: miniaturized sizes.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Offering versatility, high speed and flow rates, and compact sizes, CPV-SC and CPA-SC "smart cubic" valve terminals are available with various valve functions. The SPV-SC is plate mounted and offers a choice of 4, 8, 12, or 16 valve positions....

Recirculating chillers: with readouts and alarms.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Incorporating such features as a digital pressure/flow rate display and user-settable temperature, pressure, and flow rate alarms, the company's recirculating chillers are designed to provide reliable cooling for a variety of industrial,...

Vacuum pump inlet traps: range of configurations.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Available for processes with flows up to 2,500 cfm at 1 Torr, the MV Vacuum Pump Inlet Traps can reportedly protect systems from fluid contamination, failures, and downtime. They range from the 4-inch diameter PosiTrap [R] to the three-stage...

Valve: with ideal sealing material.(Fluid Power)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... The 32-port custom valve solution is based upon a standard inert rotary valve that features a stainless steel rotor and a PTFE body that reportedly is virtually inert to all chemicals and stable up to 200C. It features internal 4-mm diameter...

3D air filter models: accelerates product development cycle.(Fluid Power)
February 3, 2004... The SolidWorks 3D models of the company's customized air filters are designed to help speed up the product development cycle. Accessing the products simplifies the process of users identifying products that will integrate seamlessly with their...

Industrial pumps: self-priming, smooth operation.(Fluid Power)
February 3, 2004... Hydra-Cell D35 Series industrial pumps, available with an oil level monitor, are designed to detect dramatic oil level changes in the pump. The positive displacement pumps incorporate five Hydra-Cells into a pentaplex design, reportedly...

Disposable filters: reduces costly warranty calls.(Fluid Power)
February 3, 2004... Balston brand disposable filter units are available in sizes ranging from 1 to 5 inches long and in gas filtration efficiency up to 99.999+% at 0.01 micron. They are ideal for OEM and reseller applications. Vapor adsorption models are...

Diaphragm check valve: not dependent on gravity.(Fluid Power)
February 3, 2004... Designed for use with highly aggressive or ultra-pure liquid applications, the Series CKM diaphragm check valves reportedly maintain bubble-tight seals in whatever position they are mounted. Its patented diaphragm is intended to automatically...

Amplifier: enhanced system integration.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The MSA66 is a full bridge, 4-quadrant PWM amplifier that is reportedly capable of driving dc brush motors in the 1/3 hp range and smaller. It is designed to operate with ground referenced inputs that swing from -10 to + 10V, matching the...

Adjustable linear drive assemblies: remote control knobs.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Using optional remote control knobs located outside of the pillow block end supports, the drive head stroke length on the Model RG liner drive assemblies may now be adjusted. The end stops can be moved together or apart by turning the knobs;...

Modular hybrid step motor: high resolution.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The 3609Z is a miniature size 14 modular hybrid step motor that is designed to be integrated into a wide range of interchangeable "press-on" size 14 or 17 housings, allowing users to easily customize the motor's mounting configuration for their...

Pushbutton solution: compact, rugged.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Designed as the perfect pushbutton solution, the FDN20-4S-4XSG-E is compact and rugged and has a built-in DeviceNet[TM] eurofast[R] connector. The device powers its input and outputs from DeviceNet[TM], so no other cables are needed. It has an...

AC motor speed controllers: offers range of functions.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The ES01/ES02 series of compact ac motor speed controllers accepts input power of 110/115V (ES01) and 200/230V (ES02) to control ac motors and gearmotors over a range of 90 to 1400 rpm and 90 to 1,600 rpm. They can be used with the company's...

Block style I/O modules: for automation systems.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Inline Block I/O modules are a family of block style I/O modules that include 16 and 32 channel digital block modules. They are compatible with a variety of fieldbus protocols and the compact design (a height of 2 inches) allows them to be...

On-board PLC: adds intelligent, precise control.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The 3G3MV-P10CDT-E on-board PLC is designed to install directly on the company's 3G3MV inverter, offering the benefits era fully-featured CPM2C-S PLC embedded in the inverter. It measures 68 x 128 x 38 mm and reportedly eliminates the costs and...

IGBTS: improves performance.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The company's 600V 50A non-punch-through diescrete IGBTs for motor drive applications in [D.sup.2]Pak and TO-220 feature a "square" reverse bias safe operating area. They are also designed with a 10 microsecond short-circuit capability,...

Speed sensor: speed switch functionality.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Designed to operate in demanding, hazardous, and industrial environments, the SpeedTalker DN sensor is reportedly the first DeviceNet-enabled speed sensor with speed switch functionality. It incorporates sensing and shaft speed analysis for...

PCB mount receptacles: reduces set-up time.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Created for use with power and signal transfers to factory automation equipment in the pharmaceutical, electronics, and semiconductor industries, the M8 picofast[R] PCB mount receptacles come in 3-, 4-, and 6-pin designs. The receptacles are...

Linux port: saves costs.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The MPI is an ANSI standard C/C++ suite of robust motion libraries, designed to accommodate the most advanced motion control applications. Now with a Linux port, the product is fully compatible with SynqNet[TM] performance motion network...

Flexible distributed controllers: performs coordinated motion.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Designed for machines requiring multi axis controllers operating in a distributed network, the DMC-31x3 series is able to free the host computer from the complex task of motion coordination. Designed as a low-cost, effective communication...

Linear actuator: with anti-rotation mechanism.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The latest addition to the company's hybrid motor line is the Size 11 captive linear actuator. Designed to provide options for equipment designers who require performance and endurance in a compact package, the actuators are built for a life of...

Springs: multiple functionality.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The company's "machined" springs are designed to provide desired and predictable elastic performance in compression, extension, torsion, lateral bending, and lateral translation modes. By using the company's "flexure" technology, the products...

Speed flux vector drive: high performance design.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... Able to perform like a dc drive, the SECO[TM] SV3000 ac adjustable speed flux vector drive can also be used in machines driven by conventional ac drives. It is available from 1 to 350 hp, in open- and closed loop models. The device features...

Digital drive: new 60V dc model.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
February 3, 2004... The HARmonica product family now has a 60V dc digital drive model additions. According to the company, they are available in 5, 8, and 12A 60V de models and reportedly provide advanced motion control capabilities. In addition, some reported...

Vote for your favorite gadget freak.(Design News Special)
February 3, 2004... With the publication of this issue, Design News celebrates the first anniversary of the Gadget Freak Files. This popular column, sponsored by Allied Electronics, profiles the often useful, always entertaining inventions that Design News readers...

Matt resolved to end the morning madness.(Design News Special)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... TIRED OF A WAKEUP CALL at the crack of dawn, Matt Decided to train his roosters to be less vocal. So he built a kind of Skinner Box that makes the coop dark when his birds exceed a certain volume. His crow sensor features a microphone and...

The case of the leaky loo.(Calamities: true stories)
February 3, 2004... PRESSURIZED, TANKLESS COMMODES ARE A RELIEF IN THESE DAYS of low-flow toilets. The latter are so infamously ineffective as to be the topic of a recent and very humorous Dave Barry column. The present case involved a pressure commode in a...

Design segues.(Fact)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Dean Kamen's idea for the Segway came out of his efforts to develop a highly maneuverable wheelchair that can climb stairs. He hoped to reduce the cost of his wheelchair technology by coming up with a high-volume application.

Birds on the brain.(brainstorming)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Some engineering teams are raving about the brainstorming aspects of 3P (production, preparation, process). A spin-off of the Toyota Production Process that extends to engineering, it involves getting inspiration from nature. A bird's claw, for...

Big backlog.(Fact)(Patent and trademark Office is struggling with a backlog of 500,000 patent applications)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Patent applications are on the rise. So much so that the U.S. Patent and trademark Office is struggling under a current backlog of 500,000 applications.

Patent mavens.(Fact)(Top 10 patent recipients for 2003)(Illustration)
February 23, 2004... Top 10 patent recipients for 2003 *: IBM 3,415 Canon 1,992 Hitachi 1,893 Matsushita 1,786 Hewlett Packard 1,759 Micron Technology 1,707 Intel ...

IBM rules.(Fact)(patents )(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... IBM, which tops the list for 2003 in number of patents awarded, has held the number one position for 11 years. This year, though, marks the first time that Intel Corp. made the list. The U.S. government received 879 utility patents in 2003.

Blue-sky thinking.(lift-fan propulsion system )(Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.)
February 23, 2004... SOMETIMES, GOOD ENGINEERING IDEAS COME from the most surprising places. That was definitely the case for the subject of our cover story this month, Paul Bevilaqua, Chief Engineer for Advanced Development Projects at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics...

The web we weave: ease of use critical for websites.
February 23, 2004... YOU THINK YOU LOVE ENGINEERING? Well, here's a guy who can out-geek them all Metro, a Boston area daily paper, reported recently that an electrical engineer in Michigan named his new-born infant son "2.0." Yup. Not "junior," but "2.0." What's...

Lifespan key for bearings: it's the first thing to consider in any application.(metal or plastic bearing)
February 23, 2004... Engineers have a world of choices in bearings. Among their first decisions is whether to go with metal or plastic. Here is some advice on that score from a manufacturer of plastic bearings. How should engineers decide between metal and...

Design for the unexpected: life holds uncertainities. Simulation should address them.(Monte Carlo Simulation)
February 23, 2004... IF THERE IS ONE THING WE ENGINEERS know for certain, it's that nothing at all about engineering is certain. Uncertainty is deeply rooted in the nature of matter and accounts for many of the phenomena we observe in daily life. In the past,...

Bigger is sometimes better: motor with freestanding stator grows in size.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... In 2002, ThinGap Motor Technologies introduced a novel motor that employs a stator fabricated out of rolled copper sheet treated with a polyamide resin and glass fiber. This, in effect, forms a freestanding stator, with no iron components that...

Ergonomics conception: through pregnancy, Ford engineers have learned a few tips on ease-of-use.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... But it wasn't quite the real nine-month maternity experience, clarifies ergonomic engineer Eero Laansoo, although the back pain, sore neck, and restrained mobility felt very real when he and other Ford engineers had put on the Empathy...

Ball screw equations under scrutiny: rethinking conventional load-life calculations.(machine designs )(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Researchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany are investigating whether the load life calculations for ball-screw actuators used routinely by engineers are applicable in machine designs that involve repetitive moves, short strokes,...

Cable management provides long life, saves space.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Problems occur with motion control positioning stages when drive and signal cables chafe or are bent too tightly, or when location of cable connectors makes servicing difficult. External cables are prone to damage by moving equipment or...

Chip encoder offers tight control for high-volume applications.(MicroE Systems)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... By incorporating a laser source and detector array on the same chip, engineers at MicroE Systems have produced an optical digital encoder they claim is the world's smallest (6 mm square by 4 mm high) at a cost that will allow their use in mass...

Connector ground plane lowers signal losses.(circuit boards)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Two of four copper layers within the interface board connectors of the RISE-UP[TM] high-speed interconnect system serve as ground planes, helping reduce signal degradation between widely spaced circuit boards. Such losses manifest themselves in...

Movable shields protect machining center's axes of motion.(A & A Manufacturing Co.)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Hot or abrasive chips and material contaminants can ruin the dimensional accuracy and bearings in a machining center's axes of motion. The "face shield" protective system from A & A Manufacturing Co. protects a CNC machining center against such...

Dual-mode fast imaging.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2004... Cooke Corp. pco. 1200 hs High-Speed Camera. Unlike previous high speed cameras, software-switchable hardware for clocking allows this CMOS camera to capture images in both asynchronous (external trigger) and synchronous (time triggered) modes....