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Standard parts with signal feedback included

JW Winco standard parts are becoming even more functional -- multifunctional, to be precise. From smart stop bolts that report whether workpieces are precisely positioned in the machining process to cabinet handles with signal lights and fluid level indicators with electronic REED contact signals, intelligent standard parts from JW Winco ensure greater safety, higher efficiency, and increased stability. Many more very useful options available for a wide range of applications.
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Create smarter control systems with relays

Control relays play a pivotal role in the world of automation and control systems. These versatile devices are designed to help you manage electrical circuits, making them indispensable for a wide range of applications. Learn the distinctive benefits of relays, including reliability and durability, versatility, ease of use, and costs. Check out the relays AA Electric has in stock too.
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COMSOL Multiphysics Version 6.2 is here

COMSOL Multiphysics Version 6.2 introduces faster solvers for turbulent fluid flow, electric motors, and room acoustics. It also brings data-driven surrogate model functionality for creating multiphysics-based digital twins and building fast and accurate standalone simulation apps. Get the full details of what's new in the latest version.
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17 ways SOLIDWORKS 2024 helps you work faster

SOLIDWORKS 2024 helps designers and engineers work faster than ever. Learn all about improvements to core 3D CAD modeling features, new 3D modeling techniques, and graphical and software performance boosts that will help you get your parts made and your products developed in record time.
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6 tips to streamline workflow in Mastercam 2024

Mastercam 2024 CAD/CAM software has been intentionally upgraded to make programming fast and easy. It prioritizes streamlining workflow so that the entire machining process -- from design to QC -- is as efficient as possible. Learn how to maximize the benefits of Mastercam 2024, including special toolpaths, easier hole-making operations, wireframe shortcuts, and more.
Read this informative Mastercam blog.

Leak detection sensor for multiple HVAC refrigerants

Sensata Technologies has launched the Sensata Resonix RGD sensor, the first leak detection sensor with UL certification for multiple A2L refrigerant gases used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. It supports HVAC manufacturers' transition to refrigerants with a lower global warming impact. Typically mounted near the evaporator coil, the new sensor measures the acoustic resonance of the surrounding air in real time and can trigger mitigation, such as a fan, when A2L gas is detected.
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New electro-pneumatic vacuum regulator

The Type 1005V Electronic Vacuum Regulator is the first electronic vacuum regulator offered by ControlAir. It is used in various industrial and automation applications to precisely control and regulate the flow of air or gases in a system. It has two solenoid valves, a pressure sensor, and an electronic board for precise control to ensure that the vacuum pressure remains steady.
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Real-world applications: FUTEK 100 sensor examples

Get inspired. FUTEK has more than 100 real-world application examples for their load cells, force transducers, torque sensors, pressure sensors, and multi-axis sensors. From a cryogenic load cell on the Mars Curiosity rover to fly-by-wire multi-axis force and torque sensors for aircraft, learn about sensor systems, their specs, and design. Automotive, manufacturing, medical, robotics, and automation are covered too. Fascinating and highly practical.
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Filter fans for enclosures: 70 models in new series

The new 4000 Series from Seifert Systems covers 70 UL-listed filter fan models designed for enclosure applications. They snap in place once a cutout is made in the enclosure. Mounting screws are available with EMC models or as an option. Filter media snaps in place and easily slides out for replacement. When used with a Seifert thermostat, 4000 Series filter fans can be turned on only when needed. Air flow ranges from 7 to 483 cfm.
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What is 3D-MID? Molded parts with integrated electronics from HARTING

3D-MID (three-dimensional mechatronic integrated devices) tech combines electronic and mechanical functionalities into a single, 3D component. It replaces the traditional printed circuit board and opens up many new opportunities. It takes injection-molded parts and uses laser-direct structuring to etch areas of conductor structures, which are filled with a copper plating process to create very precise electronic circuits. HARTING, the technology's developer, says it's "Like a PCB, but 3D." Tons of possibilities.
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Need help with electronics connection design and manufacturing?

Conta-Clip combines electronics hardware and software development and production under one roof. Their comprehensive services range from simple-but-effective interface converters to complex control systems with touch displays and Ethernet connections. The company develops competitive connection solutions (including account costing) and closely cooperates with customers from needs analysis to prototype development, functional testing, series production, and even certification.
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Rugged sensor measures surface temperatures

TDK's tiny new T850 SMT NTC sensor measures surface temperatures for applications such as heat sinks of power modules and monitoring of industrial processes. It combines high humidity resistance with fast response time due to excellent thermal coupling to the target. The sensor is suitable for harsh environments with temps from -40 C to 150 C and is waterproof to 500 hrs.
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Inflatable EMI shielded RF enclosures

Saelig Company has introduced the Select Fabricators Series 700 EMI Enclosures -- reliable, portable, and lightweight RF and EMI shielding enclosures in standard sizes with a fast-up inflatable frame, ready for operation in less than 60 sec. No more aluminum tents. The Series 700 applies the same level of RF security obtained with previous RF/EMI shielded enclosures but is now made even more portable. Great for military operations, secure communications, mobile testing, emergency response, and more.
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Haptic feedback prototyping kit from TDK

Get your customers to feel the difference your products make. TDK has just released a development starter kit for fast haptics prototyping. It gives mechanical designers and engineers first impressions of the haptic feedback using PowerHap piezo actuators, shows how the mechanical integration works, and provides a reference design. Applications include automotive, displays and tablets, household appliances, vending machines, game controllers, industrial equipment, and medical devices.
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Position sensor real-world applications: Automotive and mobile equipment

From firetruck nozzle positioning and race car steering to accelerator control and wheel vector sensing, learn how position sensors from Novotechnik are used in real-world applications. Sensor types include non-contacting rotary sensors, angle sensors, and magnetic encoders. We love when manufacturers provide examples of their products in action.
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'Standard quantum limit' smashed; could mean better fiber-optic communications

Communicating with light may soon get a lot easier, hints recent research* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland's Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), where scientists have potentially found a way to overcome a longstanding barrier to cleaner signals.

The findings, which demonstrate for the first time an error rate far below the "standard quantum limit" for a wide range of light levels, could increase the efficiency of fiber-optic systems by reducing both the power needed to send a signal and the number of errors the receiver makes.

Light waves traveling through a fiber-optic cable often carry digital information encoded as differences in phase between one wave and another. The crests of two waves that are "in phase" pass a point at the same time, while if the two waves are 180 degrees out of phase, one crest passes while the other's trough does. Receivers can be designed to detect more than just two phase angles -- 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees, for example -- and the more phases they can detect, the more information can be packed into a signal, increasing the rate of data transmission.

However, a constant problem is that phase states slightly overlap one another, meaning that there is a chance a state with 180-degree phase will be mistaken for a 0-, 90-, or 270-degree phase state. To minimize these errors, engineers must use more optical signal power -- which amps up the cost as well. A potential solution would be an improved receiver that does a better job distinguishing among the different phase states. But designers have struggled for decades to get past a barrier they call the standard quantum limit, which is the best performance an ideal conventional receiver could ever attain.

The research team, though, found a clever way to get past the standard quantum limit using off-the-shelf technology to construct a receiver in an innovative way. Their solution is to make several measurements instead of a single one, and set them up so that each measures a portion of the input light's phase state successively. The key to this "staged" approach is that the receiver makes a partial measurement of the input phase state, and then uses the information obtained from this first partial measurement to adapt itself before making the next one. None of the individual partial measurements is perfect, but the adaptive technology allows a dramatically better final result.

"With a receiver implementing only a few adaptive measurements, we've managed to achieve error rates four times lower than the standard quantum limit," says Francisco Elohim Becerra, a NIST/JQI postdoctoral fellow who is acknowledged by his co-authors as having done the brunt of the work and originated the design.

While the innovation may not make its way into a fiber-optic system near you for some time, Becerra's coauthor Alan Migdall says better phase measurement could lead to more efficient technologies that harness quantum effects, as well as improved data encryption systems.

* F.E. Becerra, J. Fan, G. Baumgartner, J. Goldhar, J.T. Kosloski and A. Migdall. Experimental demonstration of a receiver beating the standard quantum limit for multiple nonorthogonal state discrimination. Nature Photonics, Jan. 6, 2013, doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.316.

Source: NIST

Published January 2013

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