Design News articles from July 2006

Design News archives from July 2006

Industry's heavy hitters roll out new sensing technology.
July 17, 2006... Staff Despite rising interest rates and a general sense of wariness about the economy, engineers crowded the aisles at Sensors Expo, held in Rosemont, IL, from June 5-7. The trade show and technical conference drew more than 3,000...

Programmable gyro extends its reach.
July 17, 2006... Staff At the show, Analog Devices rolled out the first-ever programmable MEMS gyroscope. Part of Analog Devices' i Sensor family, the new programmable sensor contains all of the embedded calibration, tuning and control functionality needed...

Don't open that cylinder.
July 17, 2006... Staff ASM Sensors Inc. unveiled a new magnetostrictive position sensor that eliminates the need for users of hydraulics to open a cylinder in order to replace the sensor. Known as the PCST25, the new sensor is installed directly into a...

Prox sensor detects carbon fiber composites.
July 17, 2006... Staff Also at the show, Astyx Inc. (formerly known as Microwave Technology and Sensors) showed a proximity sensor that detects the distance of near-field (about half an inch) targets, including carbon fiber composites, as well as all types...

The Case of the Class-Action Capers.
July 17, 2006... Ken Russell, Professor emeritus, MIT, Cambridge, MA The previous column discussed how the Daubert Supreme Court decision led to higher standards for scientific testimony and to a diminution in the amount of junk science admitted as...

Turn, Turn, Turn.(Industrial Equipments Uses)
July 17, 2006... Staff CNC Swiss-style lathes are far more versatile than you might think Engineers who have designed small precision parts may already know something about Swiss-Turn Machines. Unlike most lathes, which feature a fixed headstock,...

Low TCR Calibration Resistor.
July 17, 2006... Staff Standard semiconductor circuitry and MEMS processing provide a highly stable, trimmable resistor Precision systems require a minimum impact of temperature variations on offset and gain adjustments. Unfortunately, the resistors...

Zettler's XMCO 50 and 63-Amp Definite Purpose Contactors.
July 17, 2006... Staff Built for heavy-load switching These are UL approved 50 and 63-Amp versions of Zettler's current HVAC/R definite purpose contactors. They are made to switch heavy loads in elevators, cranes, hoists, and other products. They have...

Proximity sensor line.
July 17, 2006... Staff Flexible and durable sensor line These inductive and capacitive proximity sensors are made for severe industrial environments. They have nickel-plated, stainless steel, and non-metallic cylindrical and rectangular housings rated...

Illuminated Knob Figure Dials.
July 17, 2006... Staff Brand-new products, familiar product line These systems are an expansion off Elma Electronic's line of knob figure dials. They feature SMD LEDs on a flexible PCB strip inside a figure dial made out of special lightguide material,...

STP50XC LED Light Strips.
July 17, 2006... Staff Multi-purpose, efficient strip lighting LEDtronics' newest super-white, interconnectable 5 mm light strips can be used alone, or connected together, making them ideal for channel, reverse-channel letter, sign, displays,...

EAO Series 14 products.
July 17, 2006... Staff Rugged and attractive line of switches Designed for visual aesthetics, the Series 14 includes a range of raised and flush-mount pushbuttons, indicators, switches, selector switches and key switches, and come in 22.5 and 30.5 mm...

SU320KTX-1.7 RT Shortwave Infrared Camera.
July 17, 2006... Staff Highly sensitive camera, even in low light Made for military and commercial use, this camera is designed for low-light-level imaging applications such as covert surveillance, imaging spectroscopy, astronomy, emission microscopy,...

Type W and Type W-2 replacement switches.
July 17, 2006... Staff Replacement panel switches These replacement switches are made for the power industry, and promise to be a perfect match to panel-mount instrument or control switches. Type W switches have silver-plated and self-swiping...

EAO Custom-Built Series 70 Membrane Switch Solutions.
July 17, 2006... Staff Multi-color, customizable interfaces The company uses its own PCB-mounted Series 70 switches instead of ordinary metal dome membrane switches in its custom-built interfaces. The switches have a reactive click that is easy for the...

Subminiature Pressure Regulator.
July 17, 2006... Staff Pressure regulation in a small package This regulator is the same size as the company's 10-32 threaded needle valves. Its inlet port is a 10-32 external thread with an O-ring face seal, and has an outlet port with adjustable...

FDT100 Series Flowmeters.
July 17, 2006... Staff Measuring flow with ultrasonic signalsThese battery-powered flowmeters have no moving parts, using transit-time ultrasonic technology, where two flow sensors alternately transmit and receive a signal and "time of flight" measures...

EXAIR's Super Air Nozzle Clusters.
July 17, 2006... Staff Safer and more efficient These clusters use EXAIR's Super Air Nozzles maximize entrained airflow and force and reduce compressed air use and noise. They are made to replace open pipes and hoses known to be inefficient,...

SKF Series HMS5, HMSA10 Radial Metric Shaft Seals.
July 17, 2006... Staff Unique design offers better seals These seals are made out of a nitrile rubber compound to make for better sealing and compatibility with synthetic oils. Their design has a beaded rubber outside diameter to prevent spring back...

Belden Stainless Steel Universal Joints.
July 17, 2006... Staff Steel construction wards off corrosion These joints are highly resistant to corrosion, with 316L stainless steel yokes. PTFE coating on the yokes' contact surfaces improve friction properties and prevent galling in the joints....

Advantech's MIC-3316 3U CompactPCI Controller.
July 17, 2006... Staff Compact, efficient, no cooling fan required This fanless board uses an ultra-low-power onboard Intel Celeron processor at 650 MHz. It uses up to 348 mb of SDRAM, optional rear I/O support, battery backup RAM, and two onboard...

2250 USB MPEG Capture Device Analog-to-video flexibility.
July 17, 2006... Staff Sensoray's newest video capture product can convert analog NTSC or PAL color video/audio into MPEG1, MPEG2 (MP@ML) or MPEG4(SP@L3) formats. Users can select for a range of supported bitrates for a needed size/quality ratio. SDK for...

Kwik-Lok(TM) Lifting Pins.
July 17, 2006... Staff Strong and easy to connect These new lifting pins use a positive-locking pin, push button release design, and have a 5 to 1 strength factor. They resist corrosion, even in harsh environments, made out of 100 percent stainless...

MACtac acrylic MACdots Pressure Sensitive Adhesive.
July 17, 2006... Staff An alternative to rubber adhesives This acrylic form of the MACdots pressure-sensitive adhesive tape is designed to be used in medical applications where rubber adhesives can't be. Like the rubber-adhesive version, the acrylic...

MMK-Series enclosed switching power supplies.
July 17, 2006... Staff New series for medical industry Built for low-to-moderate power medical systems applications, the MMK-Series of high-density enclosed switching power supplies have outputs ranging from 40-300W. There are 15 models with single...

Easyfit(TM) EF45-GM Slip-On Structural Pipe Fitting.
July 17, 2006... Staff New fitting for tubular pipe structures Easyfit's new pipe fitting is adjustable through 170 degrees, and can fit Easyfit Size 25(1-inch), 32(11/4-inch) and 40(11/2-inch) pipe sizes. It is made out of malleable iron and is...

860 High-Temperature, Thermally-Conductive Epoxy.
July 17, 2006... Staff Two-part epoxy made for heat sink bonding Aremco's newest epoxy, made for bonding applications to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius), is a two-part, aluminum-nitride-filled epoxy that bonds well to high-temperature...

Northwire DataCELL(TM) MVC-800 FireWire cable.
July 17, 2006... Staff Designed for machine vision applications This flexible 1394b FireWire 800 AWM-style cable is UL recognized and CSA approved. It has a 22AWG PVC-insulated power pair, with two 26AWG data pairs insulated with foamed polyethylene....

Blue Blade Steel's Tempered Steel Line.
July 17, 2006... Staff Flexible and strong materials The company offers specialized performance characteristics, using a highly-controlled hardening and tempering process to selectively modify the internal steel structure. The pre-tempered material is...

RedEye RPM's FullCure(TM) Tango modeling materials.
July 17, 2006... Staff Materials with a rubber-like consistency This new line of photo-polymer materials are soft and pliable, and come in two durometers. Geared toward tires, toys, shoes, gaskets, keypads, over-molding and flexible automotive trim...

Aremco-Bond(TM) 2150 Epoxy Compound.
July 17, 2006... Staff Epoxy for abrasion, erosion environments This is a vibration-resistant, ceramic-filled, fast-setting epoxy that is perfect for bonding with ceramic wear tiles such as the ones used to line chutes, ducts, centrifuges and other...

Schunk PZV Four-Finger Concentric Gripper.
July 17, 2006... Staff A more versatile gripper This gripper series works in industrial and automation handling tasks where two and three-finger grippers won't work, such as cylindrical workpieces palletized in a grid. In addition, clamping two...

DIRAK's SNAP-LINE Swinghandles.
July 17, 2006... Staff Install quick and easy, with no tools These swinghandles are made for data center enclosures or cabinets in the telecommunications and electronics industries, working with all sheet metal thicknesses. With a panel prepared with a...

IEC Terminal Blocks.
July 17, 2006... Staff Block line has a wider variety These blocks are built and tested to meet UL CSA and IEC standards, and are rated for Code 1, factory wiring only, and Code 2, for both factory and field wiring. Screw clamp is available from...

Premix PRE-ELEC<EMPHASIS TYPE="SUPERSCRIPT">[R]</EMPHASIS> EMI Shielding Compounds.
July 17, 2006... Staff Electrically-conductive EMI shielding Designed for electronics enclosure, this compound line comes in just about any thermoplastic resin system, using stainless steel fibers, carbon fibers, or nickel-coated carbon fibers. They...

Shortwave Infrared Camera.
July 17, 2006... Staff High-speed, high-resolution camera This high-speed indium gallium arsenide camera is designed for applications including machine vision, pulsed laser beam profiling, high-speed motion analysis and other image-tracking tasks. Its...

Uni-Form Epoxy Preforms.
July 17, 2006... Staff An alternative to liquid epoxy Multi-seals' new one-part epoxy resin preforms are made for high-volume sealing applications. At room temperature, they are stored in solid form, and melt and cure when heated to seal off components...

Corr-Paint(TM) CP2020 Paint.
July 17, 2006... Staff Corrosion resistance at high temperatures Made for coating large structures and components such as motor housings, bag houses, cyclones, hoppers, pipelines and precipitators, this single-part, gray, low-viscosity, polymeric...

EP17 One-Component Adhesive/Sealant.
July 17, 2006... Staff Durable and easy-to-use The EP17 adhesive/sealant has an operating range from -300 to 600F. It cures in 60-90 minutes at temperatures between 300 and 350F. It resists chemicals such as fuels, acids, bases, oils and solvents,...

Helical Machined Springs.
July 17, 2006... Staff More precise than ordinary springs These springs are made to help integrate components such as flanges, squares, hexes, rounds, bearing sets, gears, splines, bellcrank arms, threads and other machinable shapes into one piece. The...

LM76's Speed Guides(TM) Linear Guide Systems.
July 17, 2006... Staff Moving heavy loads at high speeds These guide systems are made for high speed and low cost. The Speed Demon OSG type and Speed Demon SG type systems run up to 10m per second (32.8 ft/sec), accelerate at up to 50 m/sec squared,...

Maestro Multi-Axis Supervisor.
July 17, 2006... Staff New firmware for protocol support and CAN network integration This supervisor offers full multi-axis motion control when combined with intelligent servo drivers. It offers new firmware supporting DS305 configuration, DS402 motion...

Trust Automation's TA330 Linear Drive.
July 17, 2006... Staff High resolution with little electrical noise The latest in the Trust Automation drive line, the TA330 offers configuration for three-phase dc brushless servo motors using Hall Effect sensors, three-phase ac brushless motors with...

MDrive42AC Plus.
July 17, 2006... Staff Integrated design makes for stability Made for applications in packaging, robotics, medical instruments, assembly, semiconductor manufacturing, engraving, inspection and pick-and-place, IMS' newest NEMA 42 high torque brushless...

PCL6143 Four-Axes Single IC Motion Processor.
July 17, 2006... Staff Flexibility and simplicity at a lower cost Built for the medical, scientific and general automation fields, this processor is part of NPA's PCL61x3 line, made for controlling stepper and digital servomotors. It runs on a host...

DENSO RC7M Robot Controller.
July 17, 2006... Staff Newest model runs five times as fast The company's newest robot controller, the RC7M, can process programs five times as fast as the previous RC5 model. It is only 440 x 425 x 157.5 mm, and weighs less than 50 lb. It works on 100...

Safety Banana Plug.
July 17, 2006... Staff For the "do-it-yourself" technician The Model CT3276-# FlexPlug is a 4 mm solderless safety banana plug, part of Cal Test's "Do It Yourself" safety plug and jack line, and is made for tasks such as fixing test leads or building...

High-Resolution Fiber Optic Rotary Encoder.
July 17, 2006... Staff High resolution in harsh environments This encoder has a passive design and runs at temperatures from -60 to 150C, runs farther than copper encoder links by up to 1,000m, is immune to lightning and high-voltage static or plasma...

Motor and Driver Packages.
July 17, 2006... Staff Low vibration and noise These packages combine a 5-phase stepping motor with a microstepping driver. There is less vibration, speed fluctuations and audible noise due to a new, smooth drive function. The driver offers 25 preset...

Voice Coil Stages.
July 17, 2006... Staff Smooth operation at high resolution Made for motion control applications such as scanning, lens grinding, and laser and mirror polishing, these stages have up to 50.8 mm (2 inches) of travel, with no force or velocity ripple....

Smart Power Modules.
July 17, 2006... Staff Reliable, efficient, and compact Built for full-switching power factor correction in 3-6 kW-power range motor drive applications, these devices include two fast-recovery diodes, two freewheeling diodes, two IGBTs, a gate-driver...

Gallium Nitride-on-Diamond<EMPHASIS TYPE="SUPERSCRIPT">[R]</EMPHASIS> Semiconductor Wafer.
July 17, 2006... Staff Atomic construction cuts heat build-up This 10 x 10 mm wafer uses Group4 Labs' own technology to atomically attach a single gallium nitride layer to a 25-micron-thick synthetic diamond substrate. The exterior has an atomically...

Bosch Rexroth Corporation eLINE Ball Rail<EMPHASIS TYPE="SUPERSCRIPT">[R]</EMPHASIS> System.
July 17, 2006... Staff Built to handle heavier payloads This rail system offers low weight, high corrosion resistance, compact design and equal load capacity in four directions, using an aluminum design with roller bearing steel ball raceways. It can...

Corporate Website.
July 17, 2006... Staff New site enhances older features Sensor Systems Solutions' new site shows expanded product and service offerings in the company's sensor system solutions, automotive sensors, and sensor component divisions. It also has a...

Online Purchasing Site.
July 17, 2006... Staff Expanding the web-based store Norgren has expanded its online store to make it easier to use and offer more for visitors. A new tab-style menu and quick links make navigation simpler, and the online catalog has been redesigned to...

Zetex ZXCT1051 Current Monitor.
July 17, 2006... Staff Built for short-circuit conditions Made for monitoring short-circuit currents, this monitor has a wide common mode sense range of 0V to within 2V of the supply voltage applied. It runs on a dedicated supply pin, and can work on...

Teledyne Relays' PC150 Solid-State Power Controllers.
July 17, 2006... Staff With circuit breaker protection This new series of controllers are made to replace ordinary electromechanical circuit breakers, and can switch, monitor, report status and provide circuit protection for circuits from 2 to 25 amps...

Broadband Attenuator Relays.
July 17, 2006... Staff High repeatability in a tiny package This new series of ultraminiature relays are designed to attenuate RF signals in 50 and 75 systems over a range from dc to 5 GHz. They have a low profile and small grid spacing, measuring .375...

F230 Mount Oscillator.
July 17, 2006... Staff High-performance in small spaces This RoHS-compliant, 3.3V, HCMOS ceramic-surface mount oscillator is made for small spaces inside items such as laptop computers, PDAs, cell phones, DVD players, MP3 players, video and digital...

Sensor Systems Solutions' Model 7400 Pressure Sensor.
July 17, 2006... Staff Versatile and durable Designed for OEM applications in refrigerant handling and recovery, the Model 7400 has a stainless steel diaphragm element with a metal foil strain gauge. It has a sensor isolated from the measured media,...

Modular Miniature Check Valves.
July 17, 2006... Staff Compact to cut down on leakage These valves include a thread-in type, which comes in sizes from 5/16 to 7/16 inches, and a slip-in type in sizes from 1/8 to 3/8 inches. They are small enough to wipe out external leak points found...

Pneumatic and Filter Regulators.
July 17, 2006... Staff Accurate, durable for arctic environments This expansion to ControlAir's line of regulators is compatible with sour gas environments and adapts to offshore environments with fluorocarbon diaphragm construction and 316 stainless...

ThinGap TG2300 Motor Series.
July 17, 2006... Staff Less inertia makes for longer battery life Built for oxygen concentrator compressors, this motor series maintains long battery life and smooth operations, even at slow speeds. It can run on a 24V battery, car accessory socket or...

Working hard for their money.
July 17, 2006... Elizabeth M. Taurasi Today's design engineers are doing far more than ever before Here are the results of our exclusive, annual Design News salary survey. While salaries didn't fluctuate too much from last year, we discovered you guys...

Part Cutters.(Hypertherm Inc. reduces cost and complexity of plasma arc cutter assembly)
July 17, 2006... Joseph Ogando Design for assembly dramatically reduces complexity of a plasma arc cutter. The engineers at Hypertherm Inc., a maker of plasma cutting systems, know a thing or two about cutting metals. They also know how to cut cost....

Easy as XYZ.(Motion control subsystem into a smaller footprint design)
July 17, 2006... Al Presher Custom lead screw and spline shaft rail design economizes space in robotic sample manager An innovative robotic XYZ lead screw mechanism, slotting the motion control subsystem into a smaller footprint design, is a critical...

RoHS Compatabilities.(Reduction Of Hazardous Substances)
July 17, 2006... W. Michael King, Independent systems design advisor RoHS-compliancy is just one of the design issues No matter where you look today, you'll find the increasing familiar "complies with the RoHS" directive symbol in many advertisements,...

MUSIC SYNTHESIZER.
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank Dave Smith Instruments Evolver For a warmer, more natural sound, this monophonic synthesizer (http://rbi.ims.ca/4928-541 ) uses two analog, as well as two digital oscillators. To interface the digital part to the analog,...

SELF-TUNING GUITAR.(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank TransPerformance The Performer The keypad and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) on this guitar are the obvious tip-off to embedded electronics. A closer look reveals that the bridge and tailpiece are quite different, too. The...

iPOD STEREO DOCKING STATION.
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank Apple iPOD HiFi Take out the ear pods and plug the iPOD into a docking station that produces room-filling sound. The sound performance comes from a combination of audio design in the enclosure and digital and analog IC...

iPOD PORTABLE SPEAKERS.
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank Logitech MM50Another option for docking the iPOD employs 3-D sound processing for a broader stereo effect. These portable speakers use three-inch pressure drivers to maximize bass and minimize distortion. Two Texas Instruments'...

PORTABLE PICTURE STORAGE.
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank Digital Foci Media BuddyBased on a 2.5-inch hard drive with available capacities of 30, 40, 60 and 80 GB, this unit stores a veritable cornucopia of pictures, music and data. The unit's multi-format USB 2.0 memory card reader...

From the Online E2E Forum.
July 17, 2006... Staff Recent postings from the engineering community Q: Rockwell Automation's Motion Analyzer 4.2 and alpha gear's Cymex 3.0 provide easy-to-use design tools for motion control. We investigated both but would like your feedback. ...

Case #87: Jason Was An Honorary Member of the Captain Nemo Fan Club.(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Staff Inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jason built this underwater Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) so he, himself, could explore the depths of his bath tub, swimming pool and beyond. Employing mostly off-the-shelf parts, the ROV is...

Here Comes The Plug-In Hybrid.(Electro Energy Inc.)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Staff Battery-maker, Electro Energy Inc., joined the Plug-In Hybrid Consortium in Washington, D.C. in May to demonstrate the power of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs) to senators and representatives who were meeting to discuss alternative...

Natural Gas Honda Civic Gets Cheap to Own.
July 17, 2006... Staff Running an alternative car may finally pay for itself. In the past, hybrid cars have not paid for their premium prices in saved gasoline costs. Tax credits may help change this situation when it comes to the natural-gas powered Honda...

Most Design Engineers Are Ready For RoHS.(Reduction Of Hazardous Substances)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Staff Recent research from the UK-based Farnell InOne indicates only 12 percent of design engineers, buyers and MRO engineers are fully RoHS compliant in readiness for the July 1, 2006 deadline. While 37 percent revealed they are "close"...

SLIME BUSTER: RoHS is here!
July 17, 2006... Staff Are you fully compliant? Test your knowledge of environmental regulations by playing the Slimebuster game. While you are there, tap into all the available resources on this topic, including the RoHS Legislation and Technical Manual...

Readers Sound Off.(Letter to the editor)
July 17, 2006... Staff Dad should not dictate son's future career Regarding your letter, "Not for My kids," (DN 06.05.06, http://rbi.ims.ca/4928-528 ), "I simply will not have my kids pick careers where their jobs can disappear. Assuming this is...

Evaluate Motion Software Solutions.
July 17, 2006... Staff Easy to use software offers powerful motion control solutions. You can have it both ways. Motion control development software can offer both easy to use tools and powerful application-specific software solutions. But you'll need...

Dating Game for Geeks.(Editorial)
July 17, 2006... Karen Auguston Field, Editor-in-Chief Having been away from the singles scene for the last few decades or so, I was a tad nervous about the blind date that was set up for me last week in London. Although the guy turned out to be tall,...

Embedded Software Offers Field Diagnostics.(Wind River Systems Inc.)
July 17, 2006... Charles J. Murray An alternative to traditional debugging, software allows developers to gather information from a 'live' device Embedded developers who want field access to new products may now have a solution, thanks to a new...

Compact, High-Pressure Pump.(plastic packaging in pumps)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Randy Frank Plastic packaging allows operation in many applications Flojet's Triplex small, positive displacement pump provides a maximum fluid pressure capacity of 150 psi. A unique bypass design gives the pump the ability to adapt to...

Direct Drive Steering.(Electric Direct Drive Steering )
July 17, 2006... Al Presher Direct drive steering overcomes technical challenges in quest to crack four-wheel, counter-balanced lift trucks Introduced late in 2005 with the four-wheel, counterbalanced lift truck clearly in mind, Electric Direct Drive...