Design News articles from September 2003

Design News archives from September 2003

Fifteen minutes of fame.(My View)(value system of home-schooled student questioned)(Column)
September 8, 2003... ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY FEW to receive an acceptance letter from Harvard University, Blair Hornstine won't be among the entering freshmen at the Ivy League School this fall. She's the home-schooled student who made national news (and...

The incomplete angler: fishing requires a certain "feel." I'm working on it.(Flipside)(fishing tackle is key to sensing a catch)
September 8, 2003... THERE AREN'T TOO MANY FEELINGS THIS side of the law as exhilarating as the tug of a fish on a fishing line. Whether you're trolling, dry or wet fly casting, or just letting your line dangle in the water, that tug brings a rush of...

Check this kit out.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... I enjoyed your article evaluating microcontroller development kits (DN 07.07.03). I'm an EE familiar with the systems Jon Titus wrote about. He pretty much nailed it down. There is one other system he left off. Check out the Cygnal...

And these kits too ...(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... You left out some other important kits for the PIC series. Best value I've found: http://talking-electronics.tripod.com/cgi-bin/Buy-Pic_Lab-1-Kit.html. For those that like Basic language, some excellent tutorial kits can be found at...

Service matters.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... Thanks for writing the article on development kits (DN 07.07.03). I have used most 8-bit micros, but I will use PIC development packages and micros. I think customer service and technical support sets Microchip apart from any other company....

Water, water, everywhere.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... Larry Zirkle's amusing piece about floating cars, "The Case of the Amphibious Avalon" (DN 07.07.03), should serve once again to remind those sporting swimming pools not to empty them casually--at least not in wet weather (or, for Florida...

Too soft on standards.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... I'm afraid that I don't share your dismay at the "abuse" of the weed-out courses (DN 06.16.03). You imply that "diversity" is harmed by such tactics. In this country we have allowed the desire to include (probably better to insert "inject")...

Man wins over machine.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... I found a lot of truth in your article, "Trust Yourself, Not Computers" (DN 08.04.03). We use modeling software at our company to properly size automation equipment. During training we stress the caveat that the software is not fool proof and...

Words not to live by.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... Regarding your Flipside, "Down With Wordy Instruction Manuals' (DN 08.04.03), in my experience pictorial instructions are often equally uninspired and incomprehensible. But your reference to "traditional UNstructions" sure sums it up for most...

Blame the law.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... I enjoyed your commentary on manuals (DN 08.04.03), and as one who is sometimes forced to actually create them, I agree wholeheartedly. I don't mean to pass the buck here, but much of the blame in this area has to land at the feet of regulatory...

Give tech writers some credit.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... Although you make some valid points in your article, "Down with Wordy Instruction Manuals" (DN 08.04.03), it makes no mention of others. First of all, instruction manuals are primarily written to protect a company from liability of misuse of...

Not to be, that is the answer.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... In the 07.07.03 issue of Design News, I saw two particularly interesting editorials that [proverbially] caught my eye(s). In the first, Karen Field discussed the frequently quoted [variation of the] Million Monkey Hypotheses, about their...

Cruisin' for kicks.(Mail: readers sound off)(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... I really enjoyed your Flipside on the Aston Martin (DN07.07.03). A fun read. Steve Leibson SANTA CLARA, CA

Sense appeal: yes, products need to work, but they need to attract first.(Slant: insight from insiders)(Interview)
September 8, 2003... In the playing field of product design, form and function are-often seen by some as rivals. But according to Chris Collins, when mechanical engineers and industrial designers communicate early on and understand each other's intent, they can...

Don't gripe about math scores; boost them! Engineers should take the lead in education.(Rant: really opinionated people)(Column)
September 8, 2003... THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK LATELY ABOUT lack of math and science acumen among our high school and college graduates. Largely, all that talk is right. So, we should stop talking and do something about it, and engineers should take the lead. ...

Material girl: material engineering professor Deborah Chung is betting on carbon, black in a new thermal paste (patent pending) that she says oven outperforms solder.(B.M.O.C.: research for the real world)(Interview)(Biography)
September 8, 2003... PRESENT POSITION: Niagara Mohawk Endowed Chair Professor of Materials Research, State University of NY at Buffalo DEGREES: B.S. and M.S., Caltech; S.M. and Ph.D. in Materials Science, MIT RESEARCH INTERESTS: Materials science and...

VoIPS poised to pop: Pacific rim clamoring for chips.(Buzz: heard on the street)(voice-over-Internet phones to grow exponentially by 2006)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... According to semiconductor market watcher, iSuppli Corp. of El Segundo, CA (www.isuppli.com), chips carrying voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) technology are about to demonstrate hockey-stick growth. Worldwide shipments of IP phones hit a...

Faster encoders: all-digital interface on horizon.(Buzz: heard on the street)
September 8, 2003... Amidst speculation in the motion control community, Heidenhain Corp., the German-based encoder company, confirms that it is closing in on a U.S. launch date for a new line of products featuring an all-digital, bi-directional serial interface....

Bull market for used test equipment: engineers even buying it on eBay.(Buzz: heard on the street)
September 8, 2003... Recently, a major phone manufacturer went belly-up in Scotland. Within two months, the company's test equipment was refurbished in the U.S. and installed at a contract manufacturer's facility in Asia. Deals like these are all in a day's work...

USB with a twist.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... IDEATIVE Product Ventures PlexUSB[TM]. Ever plug in a direct-mount USB device only to find it covers an adjacent port? Or else nearby objects prevent connection? The FlexUSB adapter's two axes of movement get around the problem. Inventor Tavis...

Sun in the morning, leds at night.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... LEDtronics SolarLED Lantern. This lantern will stay lit for up to 24 hours on one NiMH battery charge, about four times longer than a 6W fluorescent model. But Lei Vinoya, R&D supervisor notes the design engineers had to make sure light from...

Palm-powered laptop.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... AlphaSmart Dana[TM]. In designing this easy-to-use loptop for the K-12 education market, engineers focused on reliability, notes Dave Gallatin, VP of engineering. Thus designers selected the proven Palm OS with its wide number of applications...

Wireless sampling.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... MusiKube Vista Service. Now music shoppers can sample any of 3+ million tracks as they shop for compact discs. By using the barcode scanner on a customized Hewlett-Packard iPAQ PDA at subscribing stores, users are WiFi-linked to the...

Tailless mouse.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... Fellowes Cordless Micro Trac Mouse. This handheld wireless mouse frees users to point-and click up to 6 ft away from its 27 M Hz receiver. Senior Product Engineer John Herbst says, "It is elegantly simple, one of those unique designs that fell...

AC adapters are out.(Flash: new and notable product design)
September 8, 2003... APC USB Handheld Charger and Sync Cables. Carrying ac adapters when traveling may soon be a thing of the past. These cables can charge hand held devices via the USB port on any computer. With PDAs, the cables also allow synchronizing data...

GPS times DAQ system.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... Symmetric Research Data Acquisition with GPS. Going beyond positioning, this system's G PS module time stamps and correlates the data streaming into its A/D module. Satellite-clock-based timing accuracy is within 10 microseconds with zero...

Springs ensure probe's touch.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... Agilent Technologies Soft Touch Probe. Capacitive loading can be deadly, degrading speed when measuring high-frequency signals. This probe not only requires no adapter/connector to probe targets on a printed circuit board, but it also reduces...

Optically based length gauge.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... Heidenhain Corporation SPECTO Gauge. Unlike conventional electrically based LVDT (linear displacement velocity transducer) length gauges, these optics-based devices require no calibration. The reason: The internal chromium marked glass scale...

Platform leverages integration.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... National Instruments 100 Msamples/sec PXI Instruments. For maximum usefulness of NI's analysis tools, developers tightly integrated several additions to the PXI instrument family and LabVIEW 7 Express analysis and development software,...

Isolation boosts DAQ reliability.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... Yokogawa MX100 PC-Based DAQ. Reliability was the driver for engineers designing this platform, which competes with PLC-based systems in harsh-environment process monitoring, notes Data Acquisition Product Manager Joseph Ting. They developed a...

Tight timing paces mid-price analyzer.(Flash: test and measurement)
September 8, 2003... Tektronix TLA 5000 Logic Analyzer. With digital electronics pushing data rates upwards of 400 Mbit/sec, timing can be everything in test and measurement. To measure signal timing on fast digital signals, as well as slow signals with fast rising...

High pressure, quick connection.(Flash: fluid power)
September 8, 2003... Snap-Tite Series CP74 Coupling. High residual or thermally generated pressure, often found in circuits of construction and utility equipment, can prevent mating of standard quick-connect couplings. The connect-under-pressure (CP) feature of...

Safe air venting.(Flash: fluid power)
September 8, 2003... Parker Tool-Mate PES and PBS Series Exhaust Couplers. Because they are thermoplastic, these couplings are lightweight and won't scratch surfaces, such as auto windows, painted panels, and furniture, if inadvertantly dragged over them during...

Coupling speeds lube change.(Flash: fluid power)
September 8, 2003... Aeroquip FD14 Drain Coupling. Changing gallons of truck engine oil can be time consuming, messy work. This coupling speeds the task. But making the short (only 1/4 inch longer than an oil pan plug) engine-mounted male coupling and its female...

Free trial.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)
September 8, 2003... A new version of the programmable analog EDA tool AnadigmDesigner2 is now free to try. Trial users are given full access to all software features including constructing circuits using pro-qualified, drag-and-drop CAMs for which the user can set...

Blast from the earth.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)(spacecraft equipped with surface acoustic wave devices has been launched)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... A spacecraft equipped with NDK (www.ndk-j.co.jp/english) surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices has been launched into space for its journey to asteroid "1986SF36" between Mars and Jupiter to collect samples and return them to earth. When it...

Drive in the wind.(News: trends breakthroughs developments)(two aeroacoustic wind tunnels have been inaugurated by Renault )(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Two aeroacoustic wind tunnels have been inaugurated by Renault (www. renault.com), Peugeot Citroen (www.peugeot.com), and the French Institute of Engineering Studies in Saint-Cyr l'Ecole in France, to investigate on the reduction of the...

UAVs: poised to fly in civilian skies: but first engineers must develop technologies for integration into air traffic system.(Aerospace)(design of unmanned aerial vehicles must include safe navigation capability)
September 8, 2003... In five years, commuting could be eased by drive-time "eye in the sky" traffic reports coming from the "vision" of pilotless airplanes. And growers of high value crops, such as coffee and wine grapes, using such Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs),...

Samsung, Sony employ WOW.(News: Electronics)(WOW audio enhancement technology to be used with LCD panels)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Samsung is the latest company to employ technology from SRS Labs Inc. (www.srslabs.com)to boost performance of small speakers. Samsung will use the WOW audio enhancement technology from SRS in a 17-inch LCD TV. Flat panel TVs have high...

IBM signs chip agreements.(Electronics)(agreements signed with Chartered Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies and Raytheon)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... IBM (www.ibm.com) executives have gone through many pens in recent weeks. Joint agreements with Chartered Semiconductor (www.charteredsemi.com) and Infineon Technologies (www.infineon.com) will let the three companies work together to make...

Mouse carries files.(Electronics)
September 8, 2003... "Have Mouse, Will Travel" may soon be on the business card of those who make remote presentations. IOGear Inc. (www.iogear.com) has squeezed 32 Mbytes of flash memory into a mouse, letting it hold PowerPoint presentations or other files....

Prospects brighten for fiber to the home: dropping component costs sparks market.(Telecommunications)
September 8, 2003... As broadband users debate the benefits of DSL versus cable modems, there's slow but steady growth in fiber optic cabling that goes the last mile, bringing almost unlimited bandwidth to homes and businesses. Fiber has been considered too...

Electronic metering shrinks to one chip: parts count drops by 80%.(Packaging)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Hoping to convert the electronic energy metering market from an electromechanical to electronic technology, Texas Instruments has unveiled a single-chip microcontroller that may cut time-to market and cost in half. The device trims part counts...

Symphony gains more players: Motorola partnerships broaden digital radio capabilities.(Consumer)(Motorola's Symphony radio technology developed to add interactivity)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Digital radio hasn't really taken off, but Motorola (www.motorola.com/ semiconductors) is moving quickly to give users the clarity and other benefits of digital technology. The Semiconductor Products Sector has teamed up with two partners who...

Robot races pack 'em in at NI week: competition helps teach programming skills.(Electronics)(National Instruments Corp. trade show features robot building competitions)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... AUSTIN, TX -- The palm-sized Lego rover bounces off the wall and rounds a corner, heading towards a corner without side barriers. A standing-room-only crowd wonders whether the high wheels mean it will take the bumpy shortcut, or whether the...

LabView users showcase extreme apps: engineers push testing, measurement envelope.(Electronics)
September 8, 2003... AUSTIN, TX -- Head-mounted displays and oil rigs may not seem to go together. But both were showcased as extreme examples of how engineers are applying National Instruments' products at a keynote presentation at NI Week 2003 in August, an event...

Smart sensors get a push: virtual TEDS database goes online.(Electronics)(virtual transducer electronics datasheet (TED) available)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... The IEEE 1451.4 smart sensor standard may not be finalized yet, but that hasn't stopped the market from pushing ahead. Sensors companies were out in full force at NI Week in August to showcase their latest plug-and-play offerings. Jeffrey...

New standard.(Fluid Power)(Fluid Controls Institute has released the new FCI Standard 99-2, Regulator Capacity, which spells out guidelines for establishing and reporting regulator capacities)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... The Fluid Controls Institute has released the new FCI Standard 99-2, Regulator Capacity, which spells out guidelines for establishing and reporting regulator capacities for use by manufacturers, users, specifiers, and approval bodies. The goal,...

Resourceful web.(Fluid Power)
September 8, 2003... Parker Hannifan (www.parker.com) has launched www.parofluor.com, which features technical details of the Parofluor[TM] Series Advanced Perfluorinated Elastomer materials in an intuitive format. The website also has a "Design Tool," which...

New valves.(Fluid Power)
September 8, 2003... Danfoss (www.ic.danfoss.com) has introduced AV210, its new externally operated (or air-operated) angle-seat solenoid valves that have no diaphragm or small orifice. Featuring Kv-values from 1,110 to 17,700 gph and operating temperature from -22...

Data 125.(Fluid Power)
September 8, 2003... 125 In million kW: China's hydro-power capacity by 2010 Source: Value World 38 Hybrid vehicles (in thousands) purchased in the U.S. in 2002 Source: J.D. Power and Associates 5.7 Annual growth (in percent) of...

Proportional valve could improve respirators: cutting parts count boosts accuracy, life.(Pneumatics)
September 8, 2003... Designers of ventilators, respirators, and blood pressure monitors could benefit from a new proportional pneumatic valve that reportedly offers greater air flow control accuracy. The new valve, introduced by Clippard Instrument Laboratory,...

Elastomers soften.(Materials + Joining)
September 8, 2003... The latest series of elastomers from Teknor Apex lowers the hardness of thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) to a range normally occupied by styrenic block copolymers and other non-crosslinked thermoplastic elastomers. The company's Uniprene 2000...

PPS flexes.(Materials + Joining)
September 8, 2003... Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. has developed a new family of polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) elastomer alloys. This Xtel XE Series of materials includes two rubber-modified grades of PPS, both of which have been formulated to boost PPS's flexibility...

Molder adds BMC.(Materials + Joining)
September 8, 2003... Western Plastics (www.wplastic.com), a division of the Scott Fetzer Corporation, now offers thermoset injection molding at its Portland, TN plant. The company has purchased two 330-ton Bucher thermoset molding machines, which it will use to...

Thermosets get gassed: polyester bulk molding compound can now benefit from gas-assist molding's cost reduction potential.(Plastics)
September 8, 2003... When the parts get thick, gas-assisted molding really gets going. This thermoplastic injection-molding technology can cut material costs and cycle times by hollowing out parts t a would otherwise have solid cross sections. By reducing cycle...

Nanomotor.(Motion Control + Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... A University of California, Berkeley (www.berkeley.edu) team, headed by physics professor Alex Zetti, has built a 500 nm electric motor--the world's smallest--from carbon nanotubes and silicon. The motor is the first device that allows external...

Lasting dome.(Motion Control + Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... ITI Industries, Cannon (www.ittcannon.com) has introduced a 4-mm diameter dome switch capable of up to 2.5 million operations, compared to the dome life cycle of 250,000 to 500,000 operations typically required for cell phones. The company says...

First standards.(Motion Control + Power Transmission)(The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed three American Society for Testing and Materials International standard test methods for thin films used to make micromachines)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed three ASTM International standard test methods for the thin films used to make micromachines (MEMs). Published in The Annual Book of ASTM International Standards, the test...

Desert Lightning: off-the-shelf motor/drive due to power a missle-shaped electric car to world land speed record.(Racing)
September 8, 2003... With a boost from commercially available power conversion equipment, an odd-looking British car may soon blaze into the record books as the fastest electric vehicle ever. Dubbed e=motion, the missile-shaped vehicle measures 33 feet long...

Fewer parts, higher efficiency: window regulator cuts costs with eased assembly.(Automotive)
September 8, 2003... A former Design News Excellence in Design winner is poised to be manufactured by DURA Automotive System Inc. (www.duraauto.com) as a new electric-powered window regulator that could help cut costs in the auto industry. A dual...

Integrated controller targets cost, reliability: off-the-shelf components and robust operating system bring down cost and boost up-time.(Control Systems)
September 8, 2003... Useful, yet easy to use--such traits can often seem like conflicting requirements. But the engineers who developed the PC based ServoWire Motion & Logic Controller (SMLC) just announced by Rochester, NY-based ORMEC (www.ormec.com) think they...

The truth about compressed air! If you think compressed air is too expensive and noisy--read this. The facts will surprise you!
September 8, 2003... Compare these Blowoffs There are a variety of ways to blow the water from the bottles shown in the photo below, but which method is best? To decide, we ran a comparison test on the same application using four different blowoff methods:...

Wired to help.(Software + Hardware)(HarnessLink[R] wiring software and SIMPLORER[R] are now integrated)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Altair Engineering (www.altair.com) and Ansoft Corporation (www. ansoft.com) have announced that the former's HarnessLink[R] wiring harness and system-design tools will be integrated with the latter's SIMPLORER[R] simulation software. The...

Toy glory.(Software + Hardware)(using SolidWorks CAD software, Rehkemper Invention and Design creates a dental care system)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... Rehkemper Invention and Design, which spends most of its time inventing new toys, has broadened its capabilities and designed a product for the health care market. Using SolidWorks CAD (www.solidworks.com) software, the toy firm created a...

Bus to profitability.(Software + Hardware)
September 8, 2003... What's the key to more revenue? Three motor-coach companies in Oregon say it's the use of CAD software. Specifically, Marathon Coach, Country Coach, and Kwikee Products Company say their use of Autodesk Inventor[R] (www. autodesk.com) is...

CAD vendors wrap it up: packagers find software enables electronic prototyping, fit-check analysis, and collaboration.(Package Deals)
September 8, 2003... In the packaging industry, CAD could just as well stand for Computer-Aided Draping--the use of software to design systems that more efficiently package a range of products. In fact, CAD has become as indispensable in packaging-machinery...

Simulation gets real: new software enables engineers to do more real-world analyses.(Analyze These)
September 8, 2003... Once reserved only for a small group of specialists primarily in aerospace and automotive companies, finite element analysis software has evolved into simulation programs that engineers at all levels in virtually any industry can use to do...

ATV AOK After CAD-driven corrections: large assemblies the key.(New-Age Transit)(all-terrain vehicle improved by use of CAD to refine parts)(Brief Article)
September 8, 2003... 1820. That's not a year--though it might have been a great one. It's the number of parts in the final assembly of the new Renegade ATV (all-terrain vehicle) from Wilderness ATV. And, in the design process for that new vehicle, engineers...

Ask the search engineer.(Letter to the Editor)
September 8, 2003... Hardness conversion... Coherent signals... Sticking heat... Plastic hinges... Dear Search Engineer: Any idea where I can find Brinell, Vickers, and Rockwell hardness conversion tables for ductile cast iron? --G.D. in London ...

Fast models, big value: by cutting the number of design iterations and allowing engineers to check component stack-up early in the design process, office modeling helps motorola save time money, and engineering effort.(3-D printers speed product development and save money)
September 8, 2003... FOR ENGINEERS INTERESTED IN FUNCTIONAL prototypes of plastic parts, the models produced on 3D printing machines may not have much to offer at first glance. These rapid prototyping machines create models by depositing successive layers of a...

Wildfire ignites: reviewer does a test run with new software release and rates its features.(Engineering Software)(Pro/Engineer CAD/CAM software improvements meet industry expectations)
September 8, 2003... WHEN A MAJOR DEVELOPER OF CAD-RELATED SOFTWARE GOES TWO YEARS BETWEEN PRODUCT upgrades, users expect a lot of new features when the next generation of that software finally hits their desktops. That's exactly the expectation Needham, MA-based...

Get moving: match motion-control hardware and software to testing tasks. (Measurements in the design flow: a special editorial series sponsored by National Instruments.
September 8, 2003... Test-and-measurement tasks often involve movements that fall into two general forms: moving a product or actuating a product. In the first case, think of a product that is too big to view all at once with an electronic camera. Inspection would...

Successful motion and measurement integration.(National Instruments Promotion)(PXI-7350 motion controller introduced)
September 8, 2003... Successful motion control and measurement integration highly depends on using the right hardware components working together in a single software environment. For high performance integration applications, the new NI PXI-7350 8-axis motion...

Simplified setup for control and DAQ: latest LabVIEW interface eases application start up; PDA, FPGA programmability added.(Motion Control)
September 8, 2003... National Instruments LabVIEW[TM] has always been a powerful data acquisition and instrument control graphical programming language. Now, LabVIEW 7 Express makes it easier for less experienced or first tune users to quickly develop applications....

Intelligent drives: wide range of power options.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... A NEMA 4 enclosure, 3-phase power, and all-in-one solution are features of the VLT[R] decentral FCD 300 drive. Available in 0.25 to 5 hp and with a disconnect switch to avoid drive fusing, the VLT drive requires no separate cabling. Cabinet...

Tough encoder disk: handles extreme shocks.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... An Ultra-Tough encoder disk option for high shock applications handles precise measurement in the most difficult environments, according to reports. The special code disk is made from military vehicle materials and operates from -40 to 105C....

CMOS camera: change resolution on the fly.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... Vision applications are enhanced with faster frame rates and global shuttering using the CDC-200[TM] CMOS-based camera. High-resolution image acquisition moves to higher speed, reportedly with no loss of quality and performance. The machine is...

Airflow allows non-contact lift.(Designer's corner: useful technology for your idea file)
September 8, 2003... Remember the old science class trick of suspending a ping pong ball in the exhaust from a vacuum cleaner? Similarly, engineers applied Bernoulli's Principle in the design of Bosch Rexroth's Non Contact Transfer (NCT) device. The dynamic...

Magnet linear sensor: coil creates two transformers.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... Permanent magnet linear displacement sensors use the electromagnetic induction principle to produce proportional feedback, keeping processes monitored and in line. Linear sensing applications include drives, machinery, automation systems, and...

Accelerometer: use signal conditioners.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... Model 7240C piezoelectric accelerometers provide high-frequency vibration measurement. The device is reportedly lightweight, compact, and rugged. It operates from -67 to 500F and contains a PIEZITE[R] Type P-8 crystal element. Benefits include...

Steel spline shafts: interchange with aluminum shafts.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... A spline shaft series includes steel shafts that are reportedly three times stiffer than aluminum. They are used for heavier loads and rough handling applications. Benefits include longer life and low friction in adjustable rotary drives....

Linear actuators: variety of options available.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... Modular range linear actuators are practical alternatives to multi-component spring lift systems, the company reports. CAT33 electromechanical actuators are used for window lifting systems in armored vehicles. Custom designs use standard parts...

Digital servo-amplifier: RS232 or CANbus.(Motion Control/Power Transmission)
September 8, 2003... Digital, brushless servo amplifiers for velocity and torque control at low speeds require supply voltages of 12-50V. The units are designed for servomotors equipped with Hall effect sensors and digital encoders. Maximum speed, offset, current...