March 1, 2010
Features
Linear motors: Leading a new industrial revolution
Linear motors are very quick and precise for positioning, but are also capable of slow, constant-traverse speed for machine heads and slides, as well...
Get with the program
What are the critical factors when choosing a motion programming language? Shah Galil: Many programmers struggle with this question. From the 1950s through...
Articulating motion
Articulate has two meanings formulated with clarity and effectiveness or a design with segments and sockets. Articulating robots are both jointed arms...
Editorial
The World's Smartest Design Engineer
Do you have any idea who the world's smartest design engineer could be? Perhaps it is you. Recently, we at Penton Media's Design Engineering group devised...
Check out these events
Presentation on materials What: Polyurethane Manufacturers Association (PMA) Processing Techniques Seminar When and where: May 8, 2010, Las Vegas Harrah's...
Hope is not enough
Regarding your December 2009 editorial, Hoping for a better 2010, I was incensed by some of the comments quoted within, especially those from David Farr,...
What's New
PTDA celebrates golden anniversary
Fifty years ago, the Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA), Chicago, was founded to “solve problems plaguing manufacturers and distributors through education and communication.”...
Quantum logic clock is world’s best timekeeper
Move over, mercury. Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built an enhanced version of an experimental atomic clock based on a single aluminum atom, making it the world’s most precise clock....
Amish farmers make hay with plastic bearings
Farming is a tough business that requires heartiness and endurance from man and machine alike....
Biz bits
B&R works with Wonderware With its participation in the Powered by Wonderware program, B&R Industrial Automation Corp., Roswell, Ga., has expanded its...
World in Motion
Pet projects go robotic
In many situations, the lowly legs of people and animals are superior to the most sophisticated sets of wheels, especially when it comes to getting around...
Better by Design
Rugged encoder stands up to shock, vibration
One of the most trusted feedback devices is the tried and true rotary encoder. However, shock loads can easily break these delicate devices: The glass...
MSD 101
Two-drive micropositioning
Electronics and medical applications that involve focusing, scanning, adjustment, and inspection often use sub-micrometer positioning. Piezo motors are...
Q&A
Do small-scale designs have typical speed specifications? No. Because of the short distances covered, the key factor in terms of small-scale positioning...
Design by Objective
Running hot and cold
From the searing heat of a blast furnace to the chilly climes of a frozen-food line, manufacturing is full of temperature extremes. When your next system...
Ultracold molecules hold promise for new materials
For the first time ever, physicists at JILA, Boulder, Colo., have observed chemical reactions near absolute zero, demonstrating that chemistry is possible...
Dealing with distributors
Golden triangle: Distributors, system integrators, and you
An innovation network is a web of people, institutions, or companies outside of a firm that helps it solve problems or come up with new ideas. Recently,...
Web Watch
Internet resources for engineers
You are invited to participate in the most exciting competition of 2010: the World's Smartest Design Engineer tournament. Just go to the game website...
Products
Torque transducers
To verify the amount of rotational torque applied by heavy power tools, RTM 2208 and 2209 stationary (non-rotating) transducers accurately confirm static and dynamic torque...
Cable ties and tools
Cable ties, mounts, and installation tools are resistant to oil, grease, solvent, and petroleum and come in 4 to 32-in. lengths...
Pneumatic actuator
A movable housing linear slide spans seven different bore sizes (9/16 to 3 in.) and five guide shaft diameters...
Air velocity and temperature transmitter
The FMA1000 series measures and displays air velocity and air temperature of airflows in ducts and pipes in HVAC applications, research labs, and other manufacturing processes...
Precision enclosure cooling
RTT Wireless Sensor intelligent network transmits cooling-unit data wirelessly to initiate service orders...
Power-dense motor
The RE 50 motor is a high-density 200-W ironless rotor for detent-free running and minimized mass inertia...
Braid-reinforced hose
Flexible Silbrade silicone hose can be used in fluid applications and as protective jacketing...
Air jets
Air Jets come in a range of nozzles, bases, and mounting hardware...
Three-jaw gripper
The PZN-plus Series of three-jaw centric grippers now includes Size 380 for weight to 190 kg...
Damping coupling
Arcusaflex® couplings from Ringfeder Power Transmission USA Corp., Westwood, N.J., are used on machines powered by diesel engines and strong pumps, which run less smoothly than electric motors...
