Design News articles from May 2009

Design News archives from May 2009

Fail Fast, Fail Early.(Lockheed Martin Corp)
May 1, 2009... By Geoffrey C. Orsak Lessons from the Skunk Works'[R] Frank Cappuccio Failure is not an option -- so the famous NASA saying goes. But is it really the right perspective for us today? Just look around. We are starting to see the...

The Case of the Lethal Lamp.
May 1, 2009... By Myron J. Boyajian, President, Engineering Consultants An unfortunate forklift driver becomes part of a lethal circuit Improper installation of equipment can result in serious injury or worse, but other evidence may hide an accident's...

Best of the Engineering Marketplace.(briefs)(Protek Test and Measurement)
May 1, 2009... Compiled by Elizabeth M. Taurasi and Sasha Brown-Worsham Signal Transformer's New Catalog Elizabeth M. Taurasi, Sasha Brown-Worsham Features power transformers, magnets The 56-page, four-color literature offers photos and...

Make Your Own Shoes.
May 1, 2009... By Doug Smock, Contributing Editor, Materials and Fastening New developments in CAD, digital manufacturing and materials could create a huge breadth of design opportunities Someday a jogger may walk into a shoe store, pick out a style,...

Shock Absorbers?(Technical report)
May 1, 2009... By Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics Hydraulic system turns bumps in the road into energy at every wheel Shakeel Avadhany was driving his car over some reflectors atop an asphalt road in 2007, when an unlikely...

Have You Built a Better Mousetrap?
May 1, 2009... By Karen Field, Editor-in-Chief, kfield@reedbusiness.com The editors here at Design News are busily covering the latest technologies in their beats all year round. But we especially like the month of May. The sun is shining. The birds...

Snowboarding Made Simpler.(Microsport Airtime Sensor)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor Ski jumps and half-pipe alley-oops are getting easier. Or at least measuring them is. Microsport's Airtime Sensor measures the quantity and duration of snowboarders' and skiers' jumps. An elastic strap...

Making TV Viewing Easier.(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor Searching for the TV remote may become a thing of the past. Hitachi is promoting a prototype television that can be controlled by open-air hand gestures. A rapid wave will power up the set and a...

Bringing accordions into the 20th century.(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Terry Costlow, Contributing Editor Accordion players can now get all the flexibility of an electronic instrument without sacrificing acoustic accordion sounds. Roland Corp.'s V-Accordion reproduces accordion tones with sensors and...

Case# 140: Security Robot Roams, Shrieks at Intruders.(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Design News Staff Here's a robot that will roam your home or office seeking intruders. The Searching Security Robot was designed by Ian Smith and his fellow students in a mechatronics' course at Colorado State University. It sits on...

2010 Mazda Is an Eco-Car.(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Rob Spiegel, contributing editor Mazda Motor Corp. of Irvine, CA recently debuted the 2010 Mazda3, a five-door sedan that offers high gas mileage and numerous environmental features. The four-speed automatic transmission was switched to...

Haan Floor Sanitizer Is Chemical Free.(Haan FS-20)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Rob Spiegel, contributing editor The Haan Corp. of Lancaster, PA has released its FS-20 Steam Cleaning Floor Sanitizer, which was designed to use only steam -- no chemicals -- to destroy germs and allergens. The sanitizer can be used on...

China's Sun Group Develops Li-Ion Battery.(Sun Group High-Tech Co.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... By Rob Spiegel, contributing editor The China-based Sun Group High-Tech Co. has developed a new product, lithium iron phosphate, which was designed to be used as an anode material for the production of new-generation lithium-ion (Li-ion)...

Readers Sound Off.
May 1, 2009... By Design News Staff When Old is New Again I had to chuckle when I read the "Case of the Shorted Rotor Turns," relayed in your editorial in the April 2009 issue of Design News , "Design Engineering Detectives," (DN 04.09,...

Moisture Causes Lithium-Ion Battery Bloat.
May 1, 2009... Karen Field Soon after reading my editorial on a pregnant iPod in the April issue of Design News , reader Richard Sheryll came across his old Palm m500 in a pile of discarded devices. "The front casing was ripped off," he wrote, "and the...

Festo's Robotic Penguins Swim, Fly.
May 1, 2009... By Karen Auguston Field, editor-in-chief Flexible moves inspire new pick-and-place technology As two giant electric-powered penguins glided gracefully by overhead, Marcus Fischer explained to me that the design group he heads up at...

A Boost for Medical Device Developers.(National Instruments Corp.)
May 1, 2009... By Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics National Instruments' program provides $25,000 in software and services for medical innovation Thanks to a renewed grant program from National Instruments (NI), medical device...

Rolled Aluminum Alloy Features Multiple Layers.(Novelis Fusion)
May 1, 2009... By Doug Smock, Contributing Editor, Materials and Fastening BMW uses Novelis Fusion for door inners to achieve a combination of formability, corrosion resistance Aluminum is making significant gains among automotive engineers, who, in...

Smart Football Automates Ref Calls.(referee)
May 1, 2009... By Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor, Design Tools Sensors, wireless protocols, 3-D animation software help track the ball in real time What football fan hasn't, at one time or another, wanted to throw something through the TV screen...

New Platform Speeds Dashboard Design.
May 1, 2009... By Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics QNX CAR simplifies creation of infotainment systems, instrument clusters QNX Software Systems has rolled out a pre-integrated hardware-and-software platform aimed at helping...

Glass Diodes May See the Light -- and Hum.
May 1, 2009... By James Bryant Q. A few months ago you discussed how to prevent the inherent high frequency (HF) noise of a switching supply from escaping into sensitive analog circuits and corrupting them. My op-amp output hums and no amount of supply...

The Adventure of the Insidious Buzz.
May 1, 2009... By John Loughmiller, Contributing Writer Several years ago I worked for a company that manufactured professional grade videotape recorders used by television stations throughout the U.S. The recorders used an arrangement of four heads...

Better Control for LEDs.(light emitting diodes)
May 1, 2009... By Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics New chips endow LEDs with greater efficiency and improved performance Unlike incandescent bulbs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) often need dedicated controllers (MCUs) and power...

High-End Thermoplastic Tackles Toughest Jobs.(briefs)
May 1, 2009... By Doug Smock, Contributing Editor, Materials and Fastening New grades target medical applications PEEK (polyetheretherketone) polymers are carving out niches to replace metals in a variety of applications, particularly medical. A...

Keep an Eye on Vibration Phases.
May 1, 2009... By Jon Titus, Contributing Writer The previous Tips column, "Interpret Acceleration Data Several Ways," (DN 04.09, http://designnews.hotims.com/23105-514 ), provided a brief introduction to accelerometers and how they provide useful...

Semiconductors: The Heart of Next-Generation Medical Devices.
May 1, 2009... By Patrick O'Doherty, Analog Devices Inc. Highly integrated chips are paving the way for smaller, more portable equipment Cutting-edge technology, developed by semiconductor companies, is enabling the design of medical devices that...

Miniaturized HeartLander.
May 1, 2009... By Al Presher, Contributing Editor Mobile robot driven by ultrasonic vibration motors traverses the heart The development and construction of a mobile robot, driven by tiny ultrasonic piezoelectric motors for minimally invasive cardiac...

Growing the Medical Device Industry by Shrinking It.
May 1, 2009... By Luke Volpe, Metrigraphics[R] Div., Dynamics Research Corp. Extreme Resolution Micro Flex Circuits address growing field of medical application devices with unique material, dimensional requirements In the medical device industry,...

Unique Helmet Design Could Reduce Concussions.(Xenith(TM) LLC)
May 1, 2009... By John Williamson, Contributing Writer Xenith(TM)'s shock-absorbing head protection system minimizes impact Anew helmet designed by Massachusetts-based Xenith(TM) LLC is targeting safety through innovation and education, and may, the...

Breaking Down the Sensor Signal Path.
May 1, 2009... By Aaron GL Podbelski, Cypress Semiconductor By understanding the stages of an analog signal path, digital developers can more accurately capture sensor data for a wide variety of applications Embedded systems are using sensors with...

Designed to Handle High Risk Situations.(Technical report)
May 1, 2009... By Randy Frank, Contributing Editor Robots depend on myriad sensor technologies to investigate potentially dangerous scenes In place of first responders, robots are being deployed to scope out dangerous situations and avoid serious...

Industrial Sensors Solve Cost Problems.
May 1, 2009... By Randy Frank, Contributing Editor The right sensor involves more than simply a lower price Just like everything else these days, industrial sensor suppliers and their customers have to cope with the current economic conditions....