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What are single-loop process controllers?

PLCs are powerful, but complex control isn't always necessary. For standalone processes requiring single-variable monitoring -- like temperature, pressure, or flow -- a single-loop controller is ideal. See how single-loop controllers can streamline your next project.
Read the AutomationDirect tech tip.

Great Resources: Flexible circuit design guide

Tech-Etch uses advanced techniques to manufacture flex and rigid-flex circuits to exacting customer specs. Special processes include selective plating a single circuit with two different finishes, contoured circuits with variable metal thickness, semi-additive and subtractive techniques, open window or cantilevered contact leads, plus SMT for component assembly. Tech-Etch specializes in flexible circuits for medical, telecommunications, aerospace, semiconductor, and other high-reliability electronic applications.
Learn about flex circuits and get the guide (no registration required).

EMI Investigations: New immunity development system

Saelig Company announces the Langer E1 Immunity Development System for EMI investigations. This compact, affordable kit simulates burst and ESD interference to pinpoint layout weak spots down to IC pins. By eliminating "black box" guesswork early in development, engineers can efficiently identify coupling mechanisms, test measures, and resolve immunity issues before compliance failure.
Learn more and see it in action.

Battery packs for unmanned aerial vehicles

Re:Build Manufacturing has launched U.S.-assembled, NDAA-compliant lithium-ion battery packs for commercial, public safety, and defense UAV applications. Available in Core, Power, and Performance series, the packs use non-FEOC cells and are produced at Re:Build's advanced facility in New Kensington, PA. Re:Build also offers custom pack and battery management system development.
Learn more.

Easy-to-use precision measurement system

Optical Gaging Products has announced the StarLite S1, a compact, semi-automatic 3-axis video measurement system. It combines fully automatic video measurements with manual stage motion and features an IntelliCentric-S optical system for high-resolution images. Powered by Measure-X software, this system delivers fast, repeatable, high-accuracy results, making it ideal for both shop-floor and quality-control applications.
Learn more.

Why a soccer kick bends the ball path: SOLIDWORKS simulation

With SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, you can virtually test a ball's flight path and see the science behind its amazing trajectory. Visualize anything you want to test, including the physics that make a ball curve and dip, to optimize performance and reduce physical testing. See the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation study setup and learn about the Magnus effect where a spinning object moving through a fluid curves away from its straight path. [Credit: Screenshot courtesy of SOLIDWORKS]
View the video.

Lightning-fast in-line verification, high-performance barcode reading

The Omron VHV5 Barcode Reader now combines high-performance barcode reading and calibrated ISO verification in one device. Replacing offline sample checks, it delivers 100% inline verification at production speeds up to 1,200 parts per minute. With flexible lighting, the VHV5 easily inspects labels and Direct Part Marks, even on challenging curved or irregular surfaces.
Learn more.

How to choose the right industrial Ethernet switch

Antaira Technologies breaks down 10 mission-critical capabilities separating industrial-grade switches from commercial compromises. Even if you aren't in IT engineering, you will find valuable networking knowledge in this guide to protect vital infrastructure.
Read the full article.

New CAM software cuts robotic machining deployment

At Automate (Booth #4476), RoboDK will showcase RoboDK CAM, which generates robotic machining programs directly from CAD files. Designed for easy deployment, it cuts setup time by up to 40%. Live demonstrations will show users how to create collision-free robot motion straight from CAD data, eliminating manual line-by-line coding.
Learn more about RoboDK CAM.

AI Tools You Can Use: What is OpenClaw? How do I get it and use it?

OpenClaw is trending big time right now, but what is it? The YouTubers over at Create a Pro Website run through the basics of what you need to know and how to implement it. Basically, OpenClaw is a next-gen 24/7 AI assistant that lives on your computer and can perform actions for you. You talk to it through a chat app. You can set it up to do real work such as alert you to important emails, answer emails for you, manage your calendar and travel, and so much more. There is a great intro video here and also a longer, very thorough step-by-step video to setting up OpenClaw.
View the OpenClaw intro video.
View the OpenClaw setup video.

New! 6-digit programmable display/controller

Bristol Instruments has released the OM 403UNI Series displays/ controllers, allowing users to monitor two or three simultaneous functions. Configured via OM Link software or front-panel buttons, they feature four- or six-digit displays with +/-0.05% of f.s. range accuracy. They function as numeric/bar-graph displays, controllers, data recorders, or accumulators. Additionally, they detect and alert users to error conditions like broken sensor wires.
Learn more.

Mini edge AI systems for vision, generative AI

As enterprises transition from PoC to real-world edge AI deployment, Aetina has launched its Mini Series Edge AI systems. Powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano and NX modules, these compact, fanless systems deliver high-performance vision and generative AI inference. Engineered for demanding industrial environments, they offer flexible camera connectivity, space-saving designs, and long-term reliability to accelerate smart infrastructure.
Learn more.

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.
Read the full article.

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.
Learn more.

New lensless camera creates detailed 3D images from a single 2D image

Berkeley researchers have developed an easy-to-build camera that produces 3D images from a single 2D image without any lenses. In an initial application of the technology, the researchers plan to use the new camera, which they call DiffuserCam, to watch microscopic neuron activity in living mice without a microscope. Ultimately, it could prove useful for a wide range of applications involving 3D capture.

The camera is compact and inexpensive to construct because it consists of only a diffuser -- essentially a bumpy piece of plastic -- placed on top of an image sensor. Although the hardware is simple, the software it uses to reconstruct high-resolution 3D images is very complex.

"The DiffuserCam can, in a single shot, capture 3D information in a large volume with high resolution," said the research team leader Laura Waller, University of California, Berkeley. "We think the camera could be useful for self-driving cars, where the 3D information can offer a sense of scale, or it could be used with machine learning algorithms to perform face detection, track people, or automatically classify objects."

In Optica, The Optical Society's journal for high-impact research, the researchers show that the DiffuserCam can be used to reconstruct 100 million voxels, or 3D pixels, from a 1.3-megapixel (1.3 million pixels) image without any scanning. For comparison, the iPhone X camera takes 12-megapixel photos. The researchers used the camera to capture the 3D structure of leaves from a small plant.

The lensless DiffuserCam consists of a diffuser placed in front of a sensor (bumps on the diffuser are exaggerated for illustration). The system turns a 3D scene into a 2D image on the sensor. After a one-time calibration, an algorithm is used to reconstruct 3D images computationally. The result is a 3D image reconstructed from a single 2D measurement. [Image Credit: Laura Waller, University of California, Berkeley]

 

 

 

 

"Our new camera is a great example of what can be accomplished with computational imaging -- an approach that examines how hardware and software can be used together to design imaging systems," said Waller. "We made a concerted effort to keep the hardware extremely simple and inexpensive. Although the software is very complicated, it can also be easily replicated or distributed, allowing others to create this type of camera at home."

A DiffuserCam can be created using any type of image sensor and can image objects that range from microscopic in scale all the way up to the size of a person. It offers a resolution in the tens of microns range when imaging objects close to the sensor. Although the resolution decreases when imaging a scene farther away from the sensor, it is still high enough to distinguish that one person is standing several feet closer to the camera than another person, for example.

A simple approach to complex imaging
The DiffuserCam is a relative of the light field camera, which captures how much light is striking a pixel on the image sensor as well as the angle from which the light hits that pixel. In a typical light field camera, an array of tiny lenses placed in front of the sensor is used to capture the direction of the incoming light, allowing computational approaches to refocus the image and create 3D images without the scanning steps typically required to obtain 3D information.

Until now, light field cameras have been limited in spatial resolution because some spatial information is lost while collecting the directional information. Another drawback of these cameras is that the microlens arrays are expensive and must be customized for a particular camera or optical components used for imaging. "I wanted to see if we could achieve the same imaging capabilities using simple and cheap hardware," said Waller. "If we have better algorithms, could the carefully designed, expensive microlens arrays be replaced with a plastic surface with a random pattern such as a bumpy piece of plastic?"

After experimenting with various types of diffusers and developing the complex algorithms, Nick Antipa and Grace Kuo, students in Waller's lab, discovered that Waller's idea for a simple light field camera was possible. In fact, using random bumps in privacy glass stickers, Scotch tape, or plastic conference badge holders allowed the researchers to improve on traditional light field camera capabilities by using compressed sensing to avoid the typical loss of resolution that comes with microlens arrays.

Although other light field cameras use lens arrays that are precisely designed and aligned, the exact size and shape of the bumps in the new camera's diffuser are unknown. This means that a few images of a moving point of light must be acquired to calibrate the software prior to imaging. The researchers are working on a way to eliminate this calibration step by using the raw data for calibration. They also want to improve the accuracy of the software and make the 3D reconstruction faster.

No microscope required
The new camera will be used in a project at the University of California Berkeley that aims to watch a million individual neurons while stimulating 1,000 of them with single-cell accuracy. The project is funded by DARPA's Neural Engineering System Design program -- part of the federal government's BRAIN Initiative -- to develop implantable, biocompatible neural interfaces that could eventually compensate for visual or hearing deficits.

As a first step, the researchers want to create what they call a cortical modem that will "read" and "write" to the brains of animal models, much like the input-output activity of internet modems. The DiffuserCam will be the heart of the reading device for this project, which will also use special proteins that allow scientists to control neuronal activity with light.

"Using this to watch neurons fire in a mouse brain could in the future help us understand more about sensory perception and provide knowledge that could be used to cure diseases like Alzheimer's or mental disorders," said Waller. Although newly developed imaging techniques can capture hundreds of neurons firing, how the brain works on larger scales is not fully understood. The DiffuserCam has the potential to provide that insight by imaging millions of neurons in one shot. Because the camera is lightweight and requires no microscope or objective lens, it can be attached to a transparent window in a mouse's skull, allowing neuronal activity to be linked with behavior. Several arrays with overlying diffusers could be tiled to image large areas.

A need for interdisciplinary designers
"Our work shows that computational imaging can be a creative process that examines all parts of the optical design and algorithm design to create optical systems that accomplish things that couldn't be done before or to use a simpler approach to something that could be done before," Waller said. "This is a very powerful direction for imaging, but requires designers with optical and physics expertise as well as computational knowledge."

The new Berkeley Center for Computational Imaging, headed by Waller, is working to train more scientists in this interdisciplinary field. Scientists from the center also meet weekly with bioengineers, physicists, and electrical engineers as well as experts in signal processing and machine learning to exchange ideas and to better understand the imaging needs of other fields.

The open source software for the DiffuserCam is available on the project page: DiffuserCam -- Lensless Single-exposure 3D Imaging.

Paper: N. Antipa, G. Kuo, R. Heckel, B. Mildenhall, E. Bostan, R. Ng, L. Waller, "DiffuserCam: Lensless Single-Exposure 3D Imaging," Optica, Volume 5, Issue 1, 1-9 (2018).
DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.5.000001

Source: The Optical Society

Published January 2018

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