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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.
Learn more.

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.
Learn more.

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.

Solutions for weighing and force measurement

Automation-Direct now offers Sensy 2172L series single point, 5510 series shear beam, and 2782 series tension/compression load cells that deliver flexible solutions for weighing and force measurement. They are ideal for applications ranging from small packaging scales to rugged industrial tanks and conveyor systems. Built from aircraft-grade aluminum or stainless steel, these models feature built-in overload protection, accuracies down to 0.03% of full scale, protection ratings up to IP67, and capacities up to 2,000 kg.
Learn more.

Top Product: Future-proof enclosure cooling

Seifert's new SLIMLINE NEO ushers in next-generation industrial cooling with natural refrigerant R290 (GWP 0.02) and high-efficiency inverter technology. It cuts energy costs with EER up to 3.6, reduces refrigerant charge by 75%, and extends electronics life. A fully redesigned, lighter, smaller enclosure delivers lower vibration, better component protection, and easier handling. Available in two elegant surfaces: stainless steel and mild steel, powder coated.
Learn more.

Coin cell supercapacitors: High capacity, quick release

Coin cell supercapa-citors are compact, high-capacity energy storage devices that rapidly charge and discharge and endure far more cycles than rechargeable batteries. They're ideal for high switching loads such as real-time clock and battery back-up power, battery-swap ride-through, and LED or audible alarms. SCHURTER's latest versions support up to 5.5 V and 100 to 1,500 mF.
Learn more.

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 will probably learn something even if you don't use this software.
Read the Onshape blog.

Digital Engineering: How a private jet gets a high-end refurb

Ever wonder how private jets get overhauled from standard OEM layouts to exotic, artful interiors? It takes engineering expertise, specialty design skills, and true craftspeople. Increasingly, it also takes automation provided by middleware to weave a digital thread through CAD, BOM, ERP, and PDM software.
Read the full article.

How AI is quietly transforming simulation

Is AI really useful, or is it just a passing trend? Balavignesh Vemparala, an R&D Engineer II at ANSYS, lays out a compelling case for how artificial intelligence is already hard at work in the simulation world with real results for users. From faster solves to accelerated workflows, improved quality and traceability, generative models, and more, discover what you might be overlooking when it comes to real-world AI application. Worth the read.
Read this informative ANSYS blog.

All about photoelectric sensors

From counting boxes on a conveyor and ensuring precise packaging and labeling to the automatic doors you walk through daily, learn all about photoelectric sensors and the options available from AutomationDirect. Did you know there are four main types? Familiarize yourself with their constructions, capabilities, and their main pros and cons. A good basic primer or refresh.
View the AutomationDirect video.

Demand for quantum dots projected to increase 20-fold over next decade

By Dr. Guillaume Chansin, Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechEx

Ever since Sony launched the first television with quantum dots in 2013, these highly engineered materials have been in the spotlight. In the new report "Quantum Dots 2016-2026: Applications, Markets, Manufacturers," IDTechEx Research forecasts that shipment of quantum dots will increase significantly in the next 10 years.

Quantum dots are nanocrystals of semiconductor. What makes them so attractive is that their optical properties can be tailored for various applications. Inside a TV, they help deliver colors that are more faithful to the original image.

It took a long time for quantum dots to reach large-scale commercialization. The first startup, Quantum Dot Corporation, was founded in 1998 to develop new bio-molecular markers. The idea was to use quantum dots to replace the fluorescent tags often used in life science. When the company was acquired in 2005 by Invitrogen (which is now part of Thermo Fisher), it looked as if quantum dots were ready for the big time. However, they never became mainstream in life science, due in part to the fact that they were very expensive. Today, quantum dots are used in research labs to develop advanced sample imaging.

Other companies believed quantum dots were the ideal materials to improve colors in display and lighting. In 2009, Nexxus Lighting commercialized the first LED light bulb with quantum dots. But the world was not ready to switch to LED lighting, and the product was quickly discontinued. The future of quantum dots looked uncertain, so when Sony adopted the technology in their LCD TV it gave a strong confidence boost to the industry.

There are now several models of TVs and monitors based on quantum dots on the market. Most notably, Samsung has bet big on quantum dots to compete against the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs from rival LG.

Fig 1. Samsung is heavily promoting a range of top-end TVs made with quantum dots. [Photo source: G. Chansin].

 

 

Applications in display panels are now driving the sales of quantum dot materials. According to the IDTechEx forecast, demand for quantum dots will grow from less than 100 kg in 2015 to over 2 metric tons in 2026, which is more than a 20-fold increase. Components for LCDs will remain the biggest market segment, but other applications will emerge, such as quantum dot LED (QLED), photovoltaic, and sensors.

QLED is a promising technology that uses quantum dots as electroluminescent materials, in much the same way as OLED. However, it will take several years for this technology to be commercialized. Applications in image sensors may come to market much faster. A company called InVisage has developed a way to deposit quantum dots on a silicon chip to make hybrid CMOS image sensors. The start-up company recently announced their first product, a 13-megapixel image sensor for mobile devices.

The difference between OLED and quantum dot (QD) technology
According to LG, "Since LCD cannot emit light itself, it needs a light source such as the backlight. An LCD with an LED backlight uses RGB colors (red, green, and blue) to produce white. The latest-technology LED LCD uses blue LEDs, coated with a yellow phosphor, to create white light.

"Quantum dot (QD) TV is an improved version of this. Instead of using blue LEDs with yellow phosphor, it uses QD particles to create white. Quantum dot technology absorbs blue light and transfers it to red and green to create white color. Through this process, it can produce accurate colors.

"An OLED display is a display comprised of an organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current. Each pixel can emit light itself, so it does not have a problem of light from the backlight leaking through the display. Hence, OLED is very different from QD."

More insights
In "Quantum Dots 2016-2026: Applications, Markets, Manufacturers," IDTechEx Research finds that the market for quantum dot devices and components will grow to over $11 billion by 2026.

Fig 2. Quantum dots will enable a market worth $11 billion by 2026. Source: IDTechEx Research report www.IDTechEx.com/qd.

 

 

For comprehensive analysis of quantum dots, their applications, industry players, and market forecasts, see www.IDTechEx.com/qd.

Source: IDTechEx

Published December 2015

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