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Engineer's Toolbox: Critical inspection of airplane parts with a SVS-Vistek 10GigE camera

Manufacturers of aviation engine components are being impacted by Industry 4.0's emphasis on quality control, which is challenging them to rethink outdated processes and to embrace new technologies. A new system developed by researchers in Italy uses a Kuka robot, a SVS-Vistek 61-megapixel 10GigE camera, and AI to detect defects in honeycomb aerospace parts faster and with more accuracy.
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What's new in MATLAB and Simulink?

Release 2024b from MathWorks offers hundreds of new and updated features and functions in MATLAB and Simulink including several major updates -- including 5G Toolbox, Simulink Control Design, System Composer, and more -- that streamline the workflows of engineers and researchers working on wireless communications systems, control systems, and digital signal processing applications.
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COTS-based space-ready orbital systems

Aitech Systems' solutions can meet the growing demands for shorter development times and lower costs among satellite buses, subsystems, and payloads. Using a Space Digital Backbone (DBB) approach, which provides a flexible, scalable communication pathway for the increasing number of Internet of Things technologies being implemented into space missions, the company provides a selection of space-rated subsystems for common space platforms including: Earth observation, communications, power control, navigation, and robotics.
Learn more.

Circuit breakers have magnetic module option

SCHURTER has upgraded its 2-pole classic TA35 and TA36 thermal circuit breaker models with an additional, optional magnetic module. From now on, no additional fuse is required when using a thermal-magnetic type. Depending on the application, the magnetic modules are available either with a slow- or a fast-acting characteristic. Both models are designed for snap-in mounting and with finely graduated rated currents. A variety of colors and lighting options make the designer's choice easier.
Learn more.

All about magnetic rotary encoder

The precision and reliability offered by modern rotary encoders are essential in many product categories. These include robotics, machine tools, printing presses, motion control systems, medical equipment, aerospace, gaming and entertainment, and automotive. Learn all about magnetic rotary encoders -- and important developments in the technology's future.
Read the full Avnet article.

High-res image sensor for automotive ADAS and AD

OMNIVISION has expanded its TheiaCel™ product portfolio with a new OX12A10 12-MP high-res image sensor for automotive cameras. This sensor, with the highest resolution in its line, improves automotive safety by eliminating LED flicker regardless of lighting conditions. It is ideal for high-performance front machine vision cameras for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD).
Learn more.

Durable, full redundant angle sensors for automotive and off-highway

Novotechnik's new RSK-3200 Series angle sensors are designed for harsh automotive and off-highway applications. Measurement range is 0 to 360 degrees, and the temperature range is -40 to 125 C. This unit's built-in coupling accepts D-Shaft, with shaft customization available. The sensors are sealed to IP 67 or IP 69k depending on version. RSK-3200 Series sensors are extremely durable with MTTF of 285 years for each of the two channels! Applications include throttle control and EGR valves, transmission gear position, and accelerator position. Very competitive pricing.
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Great design: Handle with integrated lighting/signaling

Signaling and indicator lights, switches, and buttons -- elements that hardly any machine can do without. The new JW Winco cabinet U-handle EN 6284 integrates all these functions into a single, compact element. The new U-handle is designed to enhance the operation of systems and machines. It features an integrated button and a large, colored, backlit area on the handle. These elements can be used individually or in combination, providing a versatile tool for system control and process monitoring that can be seen from across the room.
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World's most popular 3D multisensor metrology systems get next-gen addition

Offered in two benchtop and two floor-model options to handle nearly any size part, the SmartScope M-Series systems from Optical Gaging Products usher in the next generation of enhancements in image accuracy, optics, and throughput to the world's most popular 3D multisensor video measurement platform. SmartScope M-Series features fixed optics with a 20-megapixel camera and proprietary Virtual Zoom, combined with advanced sensors, illumination, and accessories, to achieve class-leading optical measurement speeds. Lots more features.
Learn more.

SOLIDWORKS Tips: 3 easy ways to focus on your model

SOLIDWORKS Elite Applications Engineer Alin Vargatu demonstrates his top tips for focusing on your model: finding planes the easy way inside your assembly with the Q key, breadcrumbs, and a better way to use the component preview window. Very helpful. Lots more tips on the SOLIDWORKS YouTube channel.
View the video.

Push-pull transformer drivers for automotive power supplies

Nexperia's AEC-Q100 qualified, push-pull transformer drivers (NXF6501-Q100, NXF6505A-Q100, and NXF6505B-Q100) enable the design of small, low-noise, and low-EMI isolated power supplies for a range of automotive applications such as traction inverters and motor control, DC-DC converters, battery management systems, and on-board chargers in EVs. Also suitable for industrial applications such as telecommunications, medical, instrumentation, and automation equipment.
Learn more.

Mini linear position sensor for drones, robots, aero, more

H. G. Schaevitz LLC, Alliance Sensors Group is now offering a miniature, lightweight LZ SERIES linear position sensor product line utilizing LVIT Technology™. These sensors are designed for tight spaces that require excellent stroke-to-length ratio. They are contactless devices for use by drones, OEMs, aerospace, robotics, factory automation, or assembly machinery applications where precision in position sensing is crucial.
Learn all the specs.

What is a Heatric Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger?

According to Parker Hannifin, "A Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger is a robust, corrosion-resistant, high-integrity plate-type heat exchanger manufactured using diffusion bonding." Learn about the technology and why Heatric, a Parker brand, "can manufacture a unit up to 85% smaller and lighter than traditional technologies such as shell and tube heat exchangers."
Read this informative Parker blog.

Tech Tip: Mastering sheet metal bend calculations in Onshape

Mastering bend calculations in sheet metal design is a key skill that can impact the accuracy and manufactur-ability of your designs significantly. Explore the various options available to become a pro in this Onshape Tech Tip: K Factor, bend allowance, and bend deduction, with guidance on when each should be used. You may learn something even if you don't use this software.
Read the Onshape blog.

Seifert thermoelectric enclosure coolers from AutomationDirect beat the heat

Automation-Direct has added new high-quality and efficient stainless steel Seifert 340 BTU/H thermoelectric coolers with 120-V and 230-V power options. Thermoelectric coolers from Seifert use the Peltier Effect to create a temperature difference between the internal and ambient heat sinks, making internal air cooler while dissipating heat into the external environment. Fans assist the convective heat transfer from the heat sinks, which are optimized for maximum flow.
Learn more.

Researchers determine optimum pressure to improve the performance of lithium-metal batteries

A team of materials scientists and chemists has determined the proper stack pressure that lithium-metal batteries, or LMBs, need to be subjected to during battery operation in order to produce optimal performance.

The team, which includes researchers from the University of California San Diego, Michigan State University, Idaho National Laboratory, and the General Motors Research and Development Center, presented their findings in the Oct. 18 issue of Nature Energy.

Using lithium metal to replace the graphite for battery anodes is the ultimate goal for part of the battery R&D field; these lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) have the potential to double the capacity of today's best lithium-ion technologies. For example, lithium-metal battery-powered electric vehicles would have twice the range of lithium-ion battery-powered vehicles, for the same battery weight.

Despite this advantage over lithium-ion batteries, LMBs are not considered a viable option to power electric vehicles or electronics right now, because of their short lifespan and potential safety hazards, specifically short circuits caused by lithium dendrite growth. Researchers and technologists had noticed that subjecting LMBs to pressure during battery cycling increases performance and stability, helping to solve this lifespan challenge, but the reasons behind this were not fully understood.

"We not only answered this scientific question, but also identified the optimum pressure needed," said Shirley Meng, a professor in the UC San Diego Department of NanoEngineering and the paper's senior author. "We also proposed new testing protocols for maximum LMB performance."

In the Nature Energy study, researchers used several characterization and imaging techniques to study LMB morphology and quantify performance when the batteries were subjected to different pressures.

They found that higher pressure levels force lithium particles to deposit in neat columns, without any porous spaces in between. The pressure required to achieve this result is 350 kilo Pascal (roughly 3.5 atmospheres). By contrast, batteries subjected to lower levels of pressure are porous, and lithium particles deposit in a disorderly fashion, leaving room for dendrites to grow.

Researchers also showed that the process doesn't affect the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) structure of the batteries' electrolytes.

Top row: Top view and cross-sections of deposited lithium at 70 kilo-Pascal or kPa (less than one atmosphere) Bottom row: Top view and cross-sections of deposited lithium at 350 kPa, or 3.5 atmospheres. The higher pressure causes the lithium particles to deposit in neatly stacked columns, which increases the volume of lithium deposited and prevents porosity.

 

 

 

 

Manufacturing facilities for LMBs would have to be retooled for this new technique to be applied, however.

Another way to boost performance is to not completely discharge the battery while it cycles. Instead, the researchers keep a reservoir of lithium where re-nucleation can occur.

The researchers' findings were validated at the General Motors Research and Development Center in Michigan.

Separately, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory are using molecular dynamics simulations to understand the stack pressure range used in this work, which is much less than that expected based on macroscopic mechanical models. Researchers explained the mechanistic origin of this unique process.

"Research institutions should keep collaborating with national laboratories and industries to solve practical problems in the battery field," said Chengcheng Fang, the paper's first author, who earned her Ph.D. in Meng's research group and is now on faculty at Michigan State University.

See "Pressure-tailored lithium deposition and dissolution in lithium metal batteries" in Nature.

Source: University of California San Diego

Published November 2021

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