Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, together with engineers from Cybersonics, Inc., Erie, PA, have developed a
small, lightweight ultrasonic device that can drill and core into very hard rocks. The
drill is driven by piezoelectric actuators, which have only two moving parts but no gears
or motors. The drill can be adapted easily to operations in a range of temperatures from
extremely cold to very hot. Unlike conventional rotary drills, the device can core even
the hardest rocks, such as granite and basalt, without significant weight applied to the
drilling bit. The current demo unit weighs roughly 0.7 kilograms, which is sufficient to
bore 12-millimeter holes in granite using less than 10 watts of power. The unit's bit does
not require sharpening and its drilling speed does not decrease over time. The drill bit
does not rotate, so there is no drill chatter or "walking" on start-up. The bit
can be guided by hand safely during operation. The device can core holes with different
cross-sections, such as square, round or hexagon. Future space missions for this
technology could include drilling for samples using robotic arms mounted on lightweight
landers or small rovers roaming the surface of an asteroid or planet. There are also
potential medical uses that could include extracting pacemaker leads, and the drilling
necessary during surgical or diagnostic procedures involving the human skeleton.
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An automatic singulator prototype caught a lot
of attention at the NA 2000 Material Handling Show this past April. Developed by Siemens,
Arlington, TX, the VisiCon takes an incoming flow of parcels, sacks and bundles, and
converts it into a stream sorted by selected size parameters, with controlled spacing
between the objects. Two single-board Pentium-class computers handle the
"thinking" for the prototype -- one takes data from the CCD camera that scans
the objects, then determines how to sort the objects to best meet the specified program.
The second computer controls the servo motor-driven rows of transport belts, while sending
signals to controllers operating pneumatic cylinders that raise and lower support pins
between the belts, lifting certain objects off the transport belt while others pass by.
Each ProfiBus-based control module operates two rows of supports -- in the prototype shown
each row has 24 supports. Each module and its support pins form an assembly, making
maintenance a matter of a simple exchange. The modular design also permits the VisiCon to
be as wide as needed, by adding or removing assemblies. The design handles packages with a
maximum weight of 150 lbs. and dimensions of 36- x 36- x 36-in. -- minimum package
dimensions are 4- x 4- x 0.25-in. Estimated maximum throughput for 8- x 8-in. parcels is
12,000 per hour.
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, together with engineers from Cybersonics, Inc., Erie, PA, have developed a
small, lightweight ultrasonic device that can drill and core into very hard rocks. The
drill is driven by piezoelectric actuators, which have only two moving parts but no gears
or motors. The drill can be adapted easily to operations in a range of temperatures from
extremely cold to very hot. Unlike conventional rotary drills, the device can core even
the hardest rocks, such as granite and basalt, without significant weight applied to the
drilling bit. The current demo unit weighs roughly 0.7 kilograms, which is sufficient to
bore 12-millimeter holes in granite using less than 10 watts of power. The unit's bit does
not require sharpening and its drilling speed does not decrease over time. The drill bit
does not rotate, so there is no drill chatter or "walking" on start-up. The bit
can be guided by hand safely during operation. The device can core holes with different
cross-sections, such as square, round or hexagon. Future space missions for this
technology could include drilling for samples using robotic arms mounted on lightweight
landers or small rovers roaming the surface of an asteroid or planet. There are also
potential medical uses that could include extracting pacemaker leads, and the drilling
necessary during surgical or diagnostic procedures involving the human skeleton.
An automatic singulator prototype caught a lot
of attention at the NA 2000 Material Handling Show this past April. Developed by Siemens,
Arlington, TX, the VisiCon takes an incoming flow of parcels, sacks and bundles, and
converts it into a stream sorted by selected size parameters, with controlled spacing
between the objects. Two single-board Pentium-class computers handle the
"thinking" for the prototype -- one takes data from the CCD camera that scans
the objects, then determines how to sort the objects to best meet the specified program.
The second computer controls the servo motor-driven rows of transport belts, while sending
signals to controllers operating pneumatic cylinders that raise and lower support pins
between the belts, lifting certain objects off the transport belt while others pass by.
Each ProfiBus-based control module operates two rows of supports -- in the prototype shown
each row has 24 supports. Each module and its support pins form an assembly, making
maintenance a matter of a simple exchange. The modular design also permits the VisiCon to
be as wide as needed, by adding or removing assemblies. The design handles packages with a
maximum weight of 150 lbs. and dimensions of 36- x 36- x 36-in. -- minimum package
dimensions are 4- x 4- x 0.25-in. Estimated maximum throughput for 8- x 8-in. parcels is
12,000 per hour.