| April 19, 2011 | Volume 7 Issue 15 |
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HIGH-PRECISION GEARS
FOR DEMANDING INDUSTRIES WORLDWIDE
Forest City Gear uses the latest technology for gearmaking, as we constantly reinvest to stay ahead of the pack. Customers who need the very best gears for medical devices, instruments, avionics, aerospace (we’re on the Mars Rover) and even high-performance consumer products (we helped the America’s Cup winner cross the finish line) look to us for top quality and innovative engineering support. Click here for more information.
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| Feature articles | New generation of hexapods gets ultra-precise
With the integration of advances in technologies like piezo actuators, virtual programmable pivot points, and system simulation, hexapod performance has taken a significant leap forward, to the extent that electromechanical and piezoelectric hexapods are now viewed as more efficient and accurate systems compared to serial linkage and hydraulic kinematic positioning systems, including those commonly used on robotic arms.
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| Modernizing your facility to increase productivity and grow
A mid-size gear manufacturer espouses some old-fashioned ideas to confront the challenges of today’s economic environment and world market conditions.
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| Researcher transmits data/power wirelessly through submarine hulls
Steel walls are no match for Tristan Lawry. The doctoral student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed and demonstrated an innovative new system that uses ultrasound to simultaneously transmit large quantities of data and power wirelessly through thick metal walls, like the hulls of ships and submarines.
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| Wheels:
U.S. Army develops all-terrain-vehicle ambulance specifically for Afghanistan
New ambulances designed to negotiate Afghanistan's rough, narrow roads, kits that quickly convert standard combat vehicles for casualty evacuation, and state-of-the-art field medical packages are improving battlefield medicine and saving lives
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| Engineer’s Toolbox:
Designer’s success buoyed by prototype delivery at tradeshow
At a recent National Manufacturing Week tradeshow, one attendee produced a challenge for the ZoomRP.com booth. The company promises a next-day delivery of prototypes accepted and approved by a 5:00 pm EST deadline.
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| Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action |
| NEW! Super-educational LCD monitor teardown |
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Self-proclaimed “Engineer Guy” Bill Hammack loves to explore and explain how technologies work. In this video, Bill takes apart an LCD monitor and demystifies the razzle-dazzle of light magic, explaining how it uses liquid crystals, thin-film transistors, and polarizers to display information. It’s hard not to learn a thing or 10 from this guy, even for hardcore engineers.
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| Multi-material 3D printed flute |
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The 3D printed flute research project was carried out by the MIT Media Lab. The goal was to produce an instrument that was comparable both accoustically and ergonomically to a referenced real flute. After computer modeling, the flute was printed on an Objet Connex500 machine in four parts. The parts were printed in three different materials simultaneously, and the whole additive manufacturing process took 15 hours. It may not be perfect, but this flute is a great demonstrator for 3D multi-material printing capabilities. What new kinds of instruments will the wizards at MIT Media Lab create next?
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| Volvo designers crash-test inboard boat engine |
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Late last year, Volvo Penta crash-tested a new system that separates its high-end Inboard Performance System (IPS) drive (featuring forward-facing propellers and installed in a hole through the hull) cleanly and safely from the hull of a boat should the vessel run aground or the drive smashes into something underwater. To ensure that the calculated simulations were correct, engineers conducted tests on the same kind of crash track used to test cars and trucks. The part of the boat with the IPS drive was fitted on a 10-ton vehicle that was driven into an obstacle at 30 km/h (17 mph). The tests were filmed using a high-speed camera, the collision forces were measured, and the smash-up proved that the designers’ computer simulations were an almost exact match for the results of the physical crash tests. Wham.
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