Design Engineering articles from January 2001

Design Engineering archives from January 2001

Low Cost displays.(from Electroacoustic Components)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2001... Electroacoustic Components has announced the availability of a new range of low cost programmable single or multiline message display boards. Each customised display is available with 1640 characters per line with a character height of...

Watching your widgets on the web.(Lantronix UDS-10B embedded Device Server)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2001... California based Lantronix, a pioneer of Device Server Technology, claims that its new UDS-10B embedded Device Server enables nearly any device to communicate over a network; allowing remote monitoring and control via a standard Web browser....

Tell me - Is it safe?(Rohde & Schwarz introduces SITMinisafe)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Data transmission via modem on telephone lines or in mobile-radio networks is an everyday thing, and corporate networks are generally protected in a number of ways. However, modem links through public networks are often neglected, far too...

Working with two wet media.
January 1, 2001... Wasco's Hall effect Differential series of pressure and vacuum switches can work with two wet media, either field adjustable, pre-set or both, and are believed to be the first of their kind in the world. Pressure settings range from 70mb...

BSL supply true stepper.
January 1, 2001... The Parker DIN Rail Stepper Range of drives from BSL Engineering are believed to be the first motion control systems to employ stackable docking stations that mount on a standard DIN rail, with plug-in drive modules. Each DIN Rail...

Human Machine Interface.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Matsushita is offering the new GT10 Human Machine Interface and award winning FPO PLC with all programming accessories price of [pound]470. The GT10 unit incorporates a close LCD that can display messages and graphics. Information...

Conveyor to keep on movin'.(Okura Fine Conveyor Series)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2001... The Okura Fine Conveyor Series is said to offer the widest range of conveyors for small, lightweight and precision items available anywhere in the UK. The Fine Conveyor range is said to be ideally suited for specialist applications...

Simplicity is in-built.
January 1, 2001... European Drives has developed what the believes to be a high performance machine control package comprising a micro served drive with the in-built motion controller and increased up a new servo motor range and a simple operator interface. ...

Freestyler on a card.(Animatics RTC 3000 freestanding controller amplifier)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Animatics creator of the SmartMotor has produced the RTC 3000 a treestanding controller amplifier that uncorporate highly incorporate highly integrated and minaturised motion control, technology. Measuring 3.68xl, 8.5x0.35 inches the RTC-3000...

Design for manufacture.(version 9.0 of Design for Assembly)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2001... Version 9.0 of Design for Assembly (DFA) from Boothroyd Dewhurst features many added fools to help engineers estimate assembly times and costs, investigate new design ideas, and select the best product design from the alternatives considered....

Reverse modelling.
January 1, 2001... Minolta has released a Windows-based software package for high-accuracy processing of 3D scan data. The software enables rapid prototyping, and is most suitable for use with a Minolta 3D scanner. RapidForm2000 accepts all standard formats...

Feel it in the air.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Solid state sensors have been produced since the 1970's but manufacturers have used silicon in integrated circuit technology to utilise its properties as a semiconductor whilst ignoring silicon's mechanical properties. Druck Limited, the...

Lotus secrets.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Lotus Engineering has made available several of its own simulation tools for power train and vehicle analysis. CARPS is a vehicle simulation tool that enables the engineer to assess the effect of any vehicle or powertrain characteristics...

Magic prototypes.
January 1, 2001... Materialise, developer of applications for rapid prototyping, has released Magics RP 6.0. Materialise considers this as a major upgrade containing many new features. These include parts in any colour you like, export to PLY format, labeling,...

Bye Bye losers.(strategies of British design engineering companies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... According to Plimsoll publishing, over a quarter of all UK desing engineering companies will not see out 2001 in their present shape. The Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis, describes four types of company strategy. The 'winners' have low borrowings...

Getting to grips with ASPs.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... While 3 in 10 UK CAD/CAM users think they know what the term ASP means, only 4% can define it correctly, only 2% have ever used one, and only a fifth say that they ever would. This is according to research published in the 'CAD Spaghetti'...

Growing Pains.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... After an Atlantic abandonment of the radical Team Philips catamaran during sea trials, the UK's only other hope of winning The Race is still in the starting blocks. 1200 miles behind the current leader Club Med, Team Legato payed the 48...

Cold rush.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Q: It may sound odd, but have you ever noticed how some cars seem to perform better in the cold winter months, despite what your better judgement might tell you? Certainly, damp contacts and run down batteries can contribute to sluggishness,...

www.ericsson.com/microelectronics.
January 1, 2001... This new site from Ericsson includes a number of interactive calculation tools to assist electronics designers and engineers. The tools currently available are designed to help accelerate the task of optimising the design of power...

www.moonestates.com.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... 20 years ago a Mr. Dennis M. Hope filed a declaration of ownership with the US government concerning the moon, to ensure that a legal basis for the ownership of property sold there can be claimed. The sale of lunar property has now been...

www.cis.upenn.edu/[sim]bcpierce/unison.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... With an explosion in the number of people juggling multiple computers, the need has never been greater for software that's capable of maintaining consistency between copies of files on different computers' hard drives. University of...

http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/.
January 1, 2001... Microsoft and Cambridge University recently announced the availability of the Hidden Markov Model Toolkit (HTK). Designed for building speech recognition systems, the software is available free to developers via the university's engineering...

Patently clear.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Are you using patents? I don't mean are you patenting your technology. Arguably more important is: are you looking at the competition's patents? If you believe in New Year resolutions this is one I recommend and here's why. There is...

Inner space in outer space.
January 1, 2001... Working together in perfect harmony, Just ten thin layers of high tech materials shield the modern astronaut's 'inner space' from the ultimate hostile environment. It was back in 1865 that the visionary French novelist, Jules Verne,...

Have a Peek.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Victrex is offering Peek, a polymer recently chosen by US company Bourns, for the housing and rotor/gear components models because of its heat resistance flame retardance and mechanical properties Peek is also said to provide rigidity and...

Solid models.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... 3D Systems Europe limited is launching Thermojet solid object printer. The new material is said to combine flexibility with durability and according to 3D Systems expands the scope of application for the Thermojet printer which converts 3D...

Stick to the job.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Modern engineering substrates are used increasingly across a broad industry base but traditional mechanical fixing methods are often undesirable or not possible, and joining solutions, appropriate to individual and varied substrates, must be...

How to stem the flow.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Everyone knows that liquids spread on any surface where the surface energy is higher than the surface tension of a fluid, and I'm confident many of you have fond memories of discovering this in the school science lab. Defying the laws of...

Tribological needs solved.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Dixon Resine has designed its range of VALFLON F materials with tribological application needs in mind. The VALFLON F materials are said to be high performance compounds based on polytetrafluoroethylene. PTFE is said to be the best...

Chips with everything.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Advances in FEA simulation are accelerating advances in FEA simulation. Are computers really designing compters? DR ANDREAS HIEKE explains this bootstrapping exercise. Increasingly complex and realistic 3D simulations of physical...

David Clift Technical Manager Parallel Systems Limited writes.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... With the ever-increasing size of programmable logic devices, the move towards HDL centric design methodologies for these devices is becoming ever more pressing. I doubt if anyone today would seriously even consider designing a 100Kgate device...

One chip wonder.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Ericsson is claiming a first with the introduction of a single chip low-power analogue front end for ADSL/SHDL transceiver solutions. Ericsson claims that the PBM 39707 SURESEIC-CO offers a low power solution that requires a minimum number of...

Brushing up on the eye.
January 1, 2001... An engineer at Mitsubishi Precision, Japan's leading manufacturer of flight simulation technology, has created a simulator that enables eye surgeons to practice their craft. Takafumi Terada has used his expertise in simulator technology in...

Cool carbon.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A carbon-based material developed at the University of Leeds could provide a solution to the problem of thermal management encountered in the electrical and electronic industries. The patented material exploits the high in-plane thermal...

Blade breakthrough.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... General Electric has made a breakthrough in the manufacture of turbine blades that it claims could lead to lower electricity costs and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The turbine blades, made of single-crystal, nickel-based...

Twist of fate?(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... We've all been there, either half way up a ladder or jammed awkwardly behind the refrigerator only to discover that we haven't got the right screwdriver for the job. Well, you can wave goodbye to the world of Slotted, Phillips, PoziDrive...

Planetary design is a star turn.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A patented technology from Thomson Micron is set to alter the way we design with planetary gearboxes. The new line of planetary gearboxes sports a swing link system which, when compared to fixed planet configurations, is claimed to provide up...

It is rocket science.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... While 'the space race' was once tied up with notions of nationalism and global domination, rocket science is no longer the exclusive domain of heavily funded government agencies. Nowadays, sponsorship, plenty of ambition, a few off-the shelf...

BROKEN RAIL DETECTION SYSTEM.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Good news for beleaguered train travellers. US Company GE Harris Railway Electronics has patented a system (US6102340) which could negate the need for manual checking of track for broken rails. The broken rail detector system detects the...

ANTI-FLOOD BARRIER.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... People in Southern England could be forgiven for setting up a neighbourhood Ark Building Committee following the recent floods. A simpler solution is proposed (GB2348666). The anti-flood barrier is fitted to doors, windows and gates for...

SPINE SUPPORT FOR CAR DRIVERS.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... This German patent (DE19910373) could cure your car induced back pain. There is a catch though. The driver spine support requires strapping yourself into a corset-like support strung from the car roof. The height is adjustable and a swivel...

SOLAR GARDEN TABLE.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The solar powered garden table (DE20012411) is the perfect accompaniment for those summer barbecues. The table surface is a solar panel which charges an accumulator in the base. Adjustable lamps emerge from the centre of the table. All you...

A solid surface.
January 1, 2001... Delcam is to launch a significant upgrade of its PowerSHAPE modelling software for the design of products and tooling featuring complex shapes. The system will give users the advantages of both solid and surface modelling approaches to...

Tracecut probes the depths.
January 1, 2001... Tracecut 23, the latest version of Renishaw's digitising software, features a new optional surfacing module TraceSurf. TraceSurf will create true CAD surfaces suitable for export to any CAD system. Version 23 also features new standard...

Open sesame.
January 1, 2001... Cimmetry systems has developed a family of solutions around its Autovue software. Today's IT environment delivers documents in a wide array of formats which you may not be able to view without owning a copy of the authoring application....

There's more.
January 1, 2001... Desktop Engineering has added COSMOS/Works 6.0 to its bulging portfolio of engineering software for sale. The introduction of COSMOS/Works 6.0 brings the latest solving technology from SRAC to the Solid Works 2000 environment. This version...

Hot tyres and hot links.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Running a race team over the web is a tricky business, especially when your offices are thousands of miles apart Penske Cars designs and builds open wheel, single seat racing cars for the US Fed Ex Champ Car Racing series. Designing...

The names verter - CADverter.
January 1, 2001... Impressive evaluation results led world-renowned sports car manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda to select Theorem Solutions' CADverter software to bridge its CAD systems during the development of the new 450 bhp, 190 mph Vl2 Vanquish. ...

Geared up for the millennium.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Credited with inventing the bespoke racing car gearbox, Berkshire-based Hewland Engineering designs and manufactures customised gearboxes for racing and rally transmissions. As well as experiencing data transfer problems with CAD files...

The world was flat.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... So, the primeval soup comprising frustrated engineers and a mix of primitive computing environments was the birth place of computer aided design. Challenged with not just creating new aeroplanes and cars, but also to do this in a way that...