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Thermal imaging on the quality control line

On a high-speed food and beverage line, what you can see is not always what is happening. Thermal imaging adds a different layer of control. Instead of relying on surface appearance, it measures heat distribution as seals are formed and products move through the line, providing continuous, 100% in-line inspection instead of just sampling.
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Built for the test bench, ready for the field

FUTEK's IDC150 Signal Conditioner packages high-performance signal conditioning in a rugged aluminum enclosure. Built for engineers needing accurate, synchronized data from strain gauge sensors, it fits prototyping and lab environments. The device connects seamlessly to existing setups and pairs with SENSIT software and Python APIs. It is ideal for compact, high-performance digital sensor evaluation.
Learn more.

Automotive lighting systems simplified, optimized

The new MLX81119 from Melexis is an 18-channel LIN RGB LED controller with an integrated DC/DC converter, designed to simplify and optimize automotive lighting systems. By generating the LED supply voltage locally on chip, this unit significantly reduces power dissipation, external components, and space requirements in increasingly dense vehicle applications such as door panels, dashboards, and charge-port lighting.
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How healthy is your machine? Moisture-in-Oil Sensor

iST's Moisture-in-Oil Sensor is a compact, digital RH/T module that accurately and continuously monitors the water content in oils and fuels. This sensor does not simply measure the absolute water content -- it measures the relative saturation level in % RH or water activity aw in %. This means you get a direct picture of the current oil quality and can react in time. Applications include: marine engines and gearboxes, commercial and rail vehicles, wind turbines and generators, drilling and paper machines, and more. Eval kit available.
Learn more.

World's first native color lidar sensors

Ouster Rev8 features the world's first patented native color lidar sensors. For the first time, a single lidar sensor can understand road signs, interpret brake lights, or simply capture the richness of planet Earth in survey-grade, colorized maps. Based on patented Ouster Silicon with embedded Fujifilm color science, the L4 chip boasts 42.9 GMACs of processing power, detection of up to 20 trillion photons per sec, and a 40-kHz measurement rate with picosecond timing precision. Sees up to 200 m.
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Real-world applications: 3D camera ensures precise aircraft cabin drilling

In modern aircraft production, precision is everything. In this application article, learn how an Ensenso 3D camera integrated into an automated process chain ensures accurate detection and alignment of drilling positions in aircraft cabin assembly using the CAD data of the aircraft frame.
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What are Onshape Custom Features?

Certified Onshape Professional Too Tall Toby explains how to supercharge your workflow using community-created tools. In this insightful tutorial, he dives into the world of FeatureScript -- the powerful coding language behind Onshape. Learn where to find new scripts and how to use them. Save time. Learn new skills, shortcuts, and maybe even better ways to do things. Incorporate Custom Features into your everyday work. Very useful.
View the video.

What can you do with touchless magnetic angle sensors?

Novotechnik has put together an informative video highlighting real-world applications for their RFC, RFE, and RSA Series touchless magnetic angle sensors. You may be surprised at the variety of off-highway, marine, material handling, and industrial uses. You'll learn how they work (using a Hall effect microprocessor to detect position) and their key advantages, including eliminated wear and tear on these non-mechanical components. We love when manufacturers provide such useful examples.
View the video.

What can the new Autodesk Inventor AI Assistant do for you?

Autodesk Assistant brings industry-specific context to help execute tasks and orchestrate actions across your 3D models -- not just answer questions. Designed to understand your workflows, Assistant appears as a dockable panel alongside your Inventor workspace and includes the ability to perform complex tasks or gather information from your designs without writing a single line of code. Find out what this new AI "colleague" can do for you.
Watch this informative Autodesk video.

Useful! Snap-together LED enclosure lighting

Seifert StripLite SL 4000 Series LED enclosure lighting provides bright illumination to 700 lumens. On/off switch and motion sensor models are available. Easily daisy chain up to 16 light strips. Magnetic or clip mounting. See video/info on website or contact Bristol Instruments for more information.
Learn about snap-together lighting.

Next-gen multi-touch panels

Beckhoff's Next line of multi-touch control panels and panel PCs is engineered for demanding human-machine interface and control tasks. These panels offer convenient operation with advanced multi-touch technology, a high-quality look and feel, anti-glare and anti-ghosting effects, and a wide choice of formats (from 7 to 23.8 in.) and options. A main draw is the line's attractive pricing.
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Most powerful handheld 3D laser scanner on the market

Creaform, a business of AMETEK, has launched HandySCAN 3D|EVO Series, the most powerful handheld 3D laser scanning solution on the market. This innovative series features a built-in touchscreen display and an integrated high-res 12-MP photo camera, incorporating augmented reality (AR) and advanced on-scanner visualization. Users can streamline repetitive inspections and enhance quality control processes using the new auto-alignment feature. Powered by 46 blue laser lines with accuracy of 0.020 mm. The Creaform Metrology Suite includes four application software modules: Scan-to-CAD, Inspection, Automation, and Dynamic Tracking. So many more features.
Learn more.

Continental develops first sensor to measure heat in EV motors

Global automotive supplier Continental has developed a new sensor technology that measures the temperature inside permanently excited synchronous motors in electric vehicles directly on the rotor for the first time.
Read the full article.

LEDs with highest output power available

The new OCI-460 SWIR LED series from EPIGAP OSA Photonics features markedly improved output power compared to the company's previous OCI-480 package and all competitive SMD SWIR LED devices. For example, model OCI-460 ID1550-XS operates at 1,550 nm and features drive current up to 1.5A to deliver approximately 13% higher output efficiency over EPIGAP's OCI-480 package. This impressive advancement features 96% higher output power compared to any other SWIR SMD LED currently on the market. Ideal for use in sensing, machine vision, and more.
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AI and collaboration in SOLIDWORKS

Discover AURA, the new AI assistant built into SOLID-WORKS, in this informative video from TriMech Group. What can AURA do for you? It can streamline workflows and make collaborating on and tracking projects even easier, for starters. Other top features of SOLIDWORKS Design 2026 are also covered. Some good tips here.
View the TriMech Group video.

Temperature-sensitive prosthetic limb improves amputee dexterity and feelings of human connection

A sensory-motor hand prosthesis with integrated thermal feedback. [Credit: EPFL/Caillet]

 

 

Sensory feedback is important for amputees to be able to explore and interact with their environment. Now, researchers have developed a device that allows amputees to sense and respond to temperature by delivering thermal information from the prosthesis' fingertip to the amputee's residual limb.

The "MiniTouch" device, presented Feb. 9, 2024, in the journal Med, was built using off-the-shelf electronics, can be integrated into commercially available prosthetic limbs, and does not require surgery. Using the thermally sensitive prosthetic hand, a 57-year-old transradial amputee was able to discriminate between, and manually sort, objects of different temperatures and sense bodily contact with other humans.

"This is a very simple idea that can be easily integrated into commercial prostheses," says senior author Silvestro Micera of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy). "Temperature is one of the last frontiers to restoring sensation to robotic hands. For the first time, we're really close to restoring the full palette of sensations to amputees."

The team previously showed that their thermosensitive technology could restore passive thermosensation in 17 of 27 amputees. In the new study, they show that the MiniTouch can be easily integrated into commercial prosthetic limbs, and that it enables active thermosensation during tasks that require feedback between sensory and motor neurons.

Beyond the functional importance of being able to sense hot and cold, thermal information could also improve amputees' sense of embodiment and their ability to experience affective touch. "Adding temperature information makes the touch more human-like," says senior author Solaiman Shokur of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. "We think having the ability to sense temperature will improve amputees' embodiment -- the feeling that 'this hand is mine.'"

To do this, they integrated the MiniTouch into the personal prosthesis of a 57-year-old male who had undergone a transradial amputation 37 years earlier by linking the device to a point on the participant's residual limb that elicited thermal sensations in his phantom index finger. Then, they tested his ability to distinguish between objects of different temperatures and objects made of different materials.

Using the MiniTouch, the participant was able to discriminate between three visually indistinguishable bottles containing either cold (12 C), cool (24 C), or hot (40 C) water with 100% accuracy, whereas without the device, his accuracy was only 33%. The MiniTouch device also improved his ability to quickly and accurately sort metal cubes of different temperatures.

"When you reach a certain level of dexterity with robotic hands, you really need to have sensory feedback to be able to use the robotic hand to its full potential," says Shokur.

Finally, the MiniTouch device improved the participant's ability to differentiate between human and prosthetic arms while blindfolded -- from 60% accuracy without the device to 80% with the device. However, his ability to sense human touch via his prosthesis was still limited compared to his uninjured arm, and the researchers speculate that this was due to limitations in other non-thermal sensory inputs such as skin softness and texture. Other technologies are available to enable these other sensory inputs, and the next step is to begin integrating those technologies into a single prosthetic limb.

"Our goal now is to develop a multimodal system that integrates touch, proprioception [kinesthesia], and temperature sensations," says Shokur. "With that type of system, people will be able to tell you 'this is soft and hot,' or 'this is hard and cold.'"

The researchers say their technology is ready for use from a technical point of view, but more safety tests are needed before it reaches the clinic, and they have plans to further improve the device so that it can be more easily fitted. Future models could also build upon the Minitouch to integrate thermal information from multiple points on an amputee's phantom limb -- for example, allowing people to differentiate thermal and tactile sensations on their finger and thumb might help them grasp a hot beverage, while enabling sensation in the back of the hand might improve the feeling of human connection by allowing amputees to sense when another person touches their hand.

Source: Cell Press

Published February 2024

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