Click this link if you cannot read the issue below: Designfax - Tech for OEM Design Engineers
February 07, 2012Volume 08 Issue 05


Image - New Smalley Engineering & Parts Catalog
New Smalley Engineering & Parts Catalog
Smalley's new catalog combines existing Spirolox Retaining Ring and Smalley Wave Spring selections with series recently released from Smalley. Now a single catalog includes new: Hoopster Rings, Metric Wave Springs, Constant Section Rings and more. Over 10,000 standard parts in carbon and stainless steel; free samples available. Specials manufactured with No-Tooling-Costs™ from .200" to 120". Newly updated content features 130 pages of part tables, engineering guides, design information and expanded part offerings.
Click here for the New Engineering & Parts Catalog.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Eccospheres used in Mars rover heat shield
  • Accelerometer-laced arrows help archers
  • Self-guided bullet prototype developed
  • Wheels: GM cooks up anti-rusting brake rotors
  • Mike Likes: Complex fluoropolymer parts made easy
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Change drive nut linear pitch easily
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • Geared slewing rings in action
    • Bridgestone debuts airless tires
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Army next-gen helicopter design: Part 2
    • Leaping lizards inspire robot designs
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion, Special: Sensors
    Cover Image: Mars Curiosity rover aeroshell uses Trelleborg glass microspheres

News

RoboCopters summoned by iPad apps are already in the works for U.S. Navy and Marines

Rice University lab uses nanoparticles to increase thermal properties of transformer oil

SpaceX test-fires engine prototype for astronaut escape system

Tiny levers make big moves in piezoelectric sensors



Image - Can you build an all-wheel-drive space rover from standard parts?
Can you build an all-wheel-drive space rover from standard parts?
Yup … at least the drive system. Using low-cost, standard motion-control parts from the FAULHABER Group/MICROMO and controlled with conventional components, the eight-wheel Shrimp Rover climbing concept was built to carry instrumentation for space travel missions and challenging Earth-bound applications such as minesweeping. Read all about creating the off-the-shelf drive system for this rover.
Read the MICROMO article.

Feature articles
Eccospheres aim to prove their heat-shielding mettle on Mars mission
High-performance glass microspheres from Trelleborg Offshore were specified by Lockheed Martin for use in the composite aeroshell system used to protect the car-size Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover launched last November. The aeroshell is a blunt-nosed cone that encapsulates and protects the rover during its deep-space cruise to the red planet.

Read the full article.

MEMS accelerometers help precision archers hit their targets
Your very best shot could get way better if you are into archery. Analog Devices is providing its award-winning iMEMS technology to a first-of-its kind measurement system used in high-precision archery.

Read the full article.

Self-guided bullet prototype can hit target a mile away
Take two Sandia National Laboratories engineers who are hunters, get them talking about the sport, and it shouldn't be surprising when the conversation leads to a patented design for a self-guided bullet that could help war fighters.

Read the full article.

Wheels:
GM cooks up recipe for anti-rusting brake rotors

A General Motors team of global brake experts is helping to make rusty brake rotors history by changing the chemical makeup of the components. The process can also double the life of rotors.
Read the full article.

Image - Mike Likes: High-volume, low-cost complex fluoropolymer parts made easy
Mike Likes: High-volume, low-cost complex fluoropolymer parts made easy
Some engineers think that fluoropolymers like PFX and FEP are difficult to injection mold reliably, efficiently, and cost effectively. But all that has changed. Learn how Performance Plastics' direct gating, which uses a single injection point per piece, makes complex component concepts a reality, with virtually no waste. That means quality parts that are much cheaper to manufacture. And we're all for that.
Learn about direct gating from Performance Plastics.
Engineer's Toolbox:
Change drive nut linear pitch without replacing shafts or adjusting controls

As a design alternative to screw-based linear drive systems, the Amacoil-Uhing Model RS4 drive nut provides backlash-free linear motion and simplifies changes to linear pitch via adjustable, builit-in pitch wedges.

Read the full article.


Most popular last issue
Army developing next-gen helicopter
Part 2: Equipment technology considerations

The Army-led science and technology Joint Multi-Role Demonstrator effort to design a next-generation vertical-lift aircraft by 2030 is heavily focused on leveraging advanced sensors, electronics, avionics, and cutting-edge types of mission and survivability equipment. The goal is to design a vertical-lift aircraft that is faster, more capable, and better equipped than today's fleet.
Read the full article
Leaping lizards inspire robot designs
University of California, Berkeley, biologists and engineers studied how lizards manage to leap successfully even when they slip and stumble. They found that lizards swing their tails upward to prevent them from pitching head-over-heels into a rock. But after the team added a tail to a robotic car named Tailbot, they discovered that counteracting the effect of a slip is not as simple as throwing your tail in the air.
Read the full article

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
Geared slewing rings in action
iglide® geared PRT slewing rings from igus® are extremely cost-effective and can be used in place of expensive ball bearings or rolling elements in many applications. igus®' standard PRT slewing rings use self-lubricating, low-friction polymer sliding elements in place of ball bearings. The geared version uses a belt, rack, or pinion gear to drive the slewing ring. It is available in plastic, aluminum, or stainless steel, with no minimum order requirements.
Click here to watch a geared PRT slewing ring in action.

Video Image
Bridgestone airless tires debut at Tokyo Motor Show
A thermoplastic support structure instead of air is the name of the game for Bridgestone's latest tire concept, demonstrated last December in Japan. But will a 100% recyclable, non-pneumatic wheel really scale from scooters to cars?
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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Mechanical
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Motion
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Sensors
View Products…


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