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hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite

OPEN MIND Technologies has introduced its latest hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite, which includes a range of powerful enhancements to its core toolpath capabilities, as well as new functionality for increased NC programming efficiency in applications ranging from 2.5D machining to 5-axis milling. New and enhanced capabilities include: Optimized Deep Hole Drilling, a new algorithm for 3- and 5-axis Rest Machining, an enhanced path layout for the 3D Plane Machining cycle, better error detection, and much more.
Learn more.

One-part epoxy changes from red to clear under UV

Master Bond UV15RCL is a low-viscosity, cationic-type UV-curing system with a special color-changing feature. The red material changes to clear once exposed to UV light, indicating that there is UV light access across the adhesive material. Although this change in color from red to clear does not indicate a full cure, it does confirm that the UV light has reached the polymer. This epoxy is an excellent electrical insulator. UV15RCL adheres well to metals, glass, ceramics, and many plastics, including acrylics and polycarbonates.
Learn more.

SPIROL Press-N-Lok™ Pin for plastic housings

The Press-N-Lok™ Pin was designed to permanently retain two plastic components to each other. As the pin is inserted, the plastic backfills into the area around the two opposing barbs, resulting in maximum retention. Assembly time is quicker, and it requires lower assembly equipment costs compared to screws and adhesives -- just Press-N-Lok™!
Learn more about the new Press-N-Lok™ Pin.

Why hybrid bearings are becoming the new industry standard

A combination of steel outer and inner rings with ceramic balls or rollers is giving hybrid bearings unique properties, making them suitable for use in a wide range of modern applications. SKF hybrid bearings make use of silicon nitride (twice as hard as bearing steel) rolling elements and are available as ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, and in custom designs. From electric erosion prevention to friction reduction and extended maintenance intervals, learn all about next-gen hybrid bearings.
Read the SKF technical article.

3M and Ansys train engineers on simulating adhesives

Ansys and 3M have created an advanced simulation training program enabling engineers to enhance the design and sustainability of their products when using tapes and adhesives as part of the design. Simulation enables engineers to validate engineering decisions when analyzing advanced polymeric materials -- especially when bonding components made of different materials. Understand the behavior of adhesives under real-world conditions for accurate modeling and design.
Read this informative Ansys blog.

New FATH T-slotted rail components in black from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added a wide assortment of black-colored FATH T-slotted hardware components to match their SureFrame black anodized T-slotted rails, including: cube connectors (2D and 3D) and angle connectors, joining plates of many types, brackets, and pivot joints. Also included are foot consoles, linear bearings in silver and black, cam lever brakes, and L-handle brakes. FATH T-slotted hardware components are easy to install, allow for numerous T-slotted structure configurations, and have a 1-year warranty against defects.
Learn more.

Weird stuff: Moon dust simulant for 3D printing

Crafted from a lunar regolith simulant, Basalt Moon Dust Filamet™ (not a typo) available from The Virtual Foundry closely mirrors the makeup of lunar regolith found in mare regions of the Moon. It enables users with standard fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers to print with unparalleled realism. Try out your ideas before you go for that big space contract, or help your kid get an A on that special science project.
Learn more.

Break the mold with custom injection molding by Rogan

With 90 years of industry experience, Rogan Corporation possesses the expertise to deliver custom injection molding solutions that set businesses apart. As a low-cost, high-volume solution, injection molding is the most widely used plastics manufacturing process. Rogan processes include single-shot, two-shot, overmolding, and assembly. Elevate your parts with secondary operations: drilling and tapping, hot stamping, special finishes, punch press, gluing, painting, and more.
Learn more.

World's first current-carrying fastening technology

PEM^® eConnect™ current-carrying pins from Penn-Engineering provide superior electrical connections in applications that demand high performance from internal components, such as automotive electronics. This first-to-market tech provides repeatable, consistent electrical joints and superior installation unmatched by traditional fastening methods. Features include quick and secure automated installation, no hot spots or poor conductivity, and captivation options that include self-clinching and broaching styles.
Learn more about eConnect pins.

New interactive digital catalog from EXAIR

EXAIR's latest catalog offers readers an incredible source of innovative solutions for common industrial problems like conveying, cooling, cleaning, blowoff, drying, coating, and static buildup. This fully digital and interactive version of Catalog 35 is designed for easy browsing and added accessibility. Customers can view, download, print, and save either the full catalog or specific pages and sections. EXAIR products are designed to conserve compressed air and increase personnel safety in the process. Loaded with useful information.
Check out EXAIR's online catalog.

5 cost-saving design tips for CNC machining

Make sure your parts meet expectations the first time around. Xometry's director of application engineering, Greg Paulsen, presents five expert tips for cutting costs when designing custom CNC machined parts. This video covers corners and radii, designing for deep pockets, thread depths, thin walls, and more. Always excellent info from Paulsen at Xometry.
View the video.

What can you secure with a retaining ring? 20 examples

From the watch dial on your wrist to a wind turbine, no application is too small or too big for a Smalley retaining ring to secure. Light to heavy-duty loads? Carbon steel to exotic materials? No problem. See how retaining rings are used in slip clutches, bike locks, hip replacements, and even the Louvre Pyramid.
See the Smalley design applications.

Load fasteners with integrated RFID

A crane, rope, or chain may be required when something needs lifting -- plus anchoring points on the load. JW Winco offers a wide range of solutions to fasten the load securely, including: lifting eye bolts and rings (with or without rotation), eye rings with ball bearings, threaded lifting pins, shackles, lifting points for welding, and more. Some, such as the GN 581 Safety Swivel Lifting Eye Bolts, even have integrated RFID tags to clearly identify specific lifting points during wear and safety inspections and manage them digitally and without system interruption.
Learn more.

Couplings solve misalignments more precisely with targeted center designs

ALS Couplings from Miki Pulley feature a simplistic, three-piece construction and are available in three different types for more precisely handling parallel, angular, or axial misalignment applications. The key feature of this coupling design is its center element. Each of the three models has a center member that has a unique and durable material and shape. Also called a "spider," the center is designed to address and resolve the type of misalignment targeted. Ideal for unidirectional continuous movement or rapid bidirectional motion.
Learn more.

What is 3D-MID? Molded parts with integrated electronics from HARTING

3D-MID (three-dimensional mechatronic integrated devices) technology 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.
View the video.

DARPA pushing open systems to boost U.S. airpower superiority

By Cheryl Pellerin, Department of Defense

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is unveiling a new program to boost U.S. air superiority by separating payloads such as weapons and sensors from the main air platform, and using open-system architectures to seamlessly integrate plug-and-fly modules into any kind of platform.

The program, called System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation (SoSITE), aims to develop and demonstrate concepts for flying combinations of aircraft, weapons, sensors, and mission systems that distribute air-warfare capabilities across interoperable manned and unmanned platforms.

The DARPA vision is to integrate new technologies and airborne systems with existing systems faster and at a lower cost than advanced adversaries can counter them, says Dr. Nils Sandell Jr., the director of DARPA's Strategic Technology Office.

"We feel that the (Defense) Department is facing some significant technical challenges," he says.

Threatened technological lead
"I talk to my friends and neighbors, and they take it for granted that (the United States) has air superiority and that we can impose our ability to project power anywhere we want to," Sandell says, adding that high-end potential adversaries have been systematically developing their own equipment and systems.

"Our technological lead is definitely threatened," he says. "The threats are not only external but also self-inflicted by the extreme degree of complexity being crammed onto massive military platforms.

"Our systems are becoming so complex, so time-consuming to produce, that we can't keep pace with commercial technology and we can't keep pace with the threat," the director says.

Because fielding or upgrading advanced airborne systems can take decades and cost billions of dollars, he adds, it has not been possible to modernize subsystems in the complex platforms apace with rapid advances in commercial technology.

System of systems
"A system-of-systems approach could help overcome (the) inherent issue with high-cost, monolithic, multifunction platforms," Sandell says.

Distributed air warfare platforms have other advantages.

"What we would like to enable is a future scenario in which a smaller number of manned aircraft would combine with unmanned aircraft to do (a) total job," the director says. "They would be networked together, and the unmanned aircraft could venture into the more dangerous territory, providing some degree of risk avoidance for the pilots."

The unmanned platforms would be simpler and could do individual jobs like carry weapons, electronic warfare systems, or sensors -- the last allowing the manned aircraft to be silent and harder to detect, he says.

Distributed air warfare
"The fundamental idea is to take platforms that today are manned, monolithic, and expensive, and distribute the capability over a much more heterogeneous set of platforms to perform similar functions," Sandell says.

In such a configuration, the pilot becomes a battle manager, deciding what the small aircraft should be doing and how to orchestrate it. DARPA has a suite of programs whose automation is designed to help pilots with the task.

"We've recently come out with (a program) called Distributed Battle Management, and that's exactly to provide the automation and decision aids to enable a pilot to be able to fly his jet and do these future tasks," Sandell says.

It's also important that the pilot is the decision maker, he says.

Communications in Contested Environments program
"We're not talking about a totally robot army or something like that," Sandell says. "The pilot has to be able to exert control (and) to be in communication with these platforms, so we have a communications program called Communications in Contested Environments that's working the issue of getting these platforms to talk to one another."

DARPA's vision is that the combination of robust communications and automation will be sufficient to allow the pilot to do those tasks, he adds.

Sandell wants to be clear that DARPA is not trying to replace air platforms like the F-35A Lightning II jetfighter or the F-22 Raptor, but rather to augment their capabilities.

"(The monolithic platforms) are going to be expensive," he says. "We probably won't be able to buy as many of them as we would like to if history plays out, so we want to be sure that the services, who ultimately make decisions about what to buy, (have) an enriched set of options as they go forward."

Open-architecture approaches
For the SoSITE program, a second focus involves DARPA and the services' engagement in open-architecture efforts to allow platforms to be upgraded with equipment that seamlessly plugs and plays.

Sandell says the legacy approach, which often involves a year-long process to agree on a standard interface, can limit the ability to integrate new technology that doesn't fit within that interface. By contrast, open-architecture tools more easily allow the integration of new technology when it comes along.

The Air Force has an effort called Open Mission Systems, and DARPA is collaborating closely with them, Sandell says. The Navy has an open-architecture effort called Future Avionics Capability Environment that DARPA works with, and they have recently shown impressive accomplishments.

SoSITE program phases
The SoSITE program has two phases, and it is now in the two-year-long first phase, which has two technical areas.

TA1 is architecture analysis, and TA2 is integration technology. The program is less than a quarter of the way through the first phase. In the second phase, the plan is for the two Phase 1 technical areas to come together for the program's experimentation portion.

According to DARPA, the agency has awarded contracts to develop concepts for system-of-systems architectures and tools for rapid integration and testing.

Under those contracts, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are developing and analyzing promising architectures and designing plans for flight experimentation with the architectures.

Apogee Systems, BAE Systems, and Rockwell Collins are developing tools and technologies to enhance open-system architecture approaches.

Robustness against cyberattack
One of the limitations of open architecture is that it provides what Sandell says is known as "an increased attack surface" for cyberattacks.

"What we're doing on our program, in our development of system-of-systems integration technology, is building robustness against cyberattack into the design process, as opposed to putting it in as an afterthought," the director says.

This involves things like building software into the system that is located in random places in memory so an attacker won't know where to go to find it.

"There are techniques of that type we're building into the process," Sandell says.

Of the three contractors who are developing techniques to better integrate system of systems, at least two of them are addressing the cyber problem and coming up with all sorts of techniques, he says.

Looking to the future
"They draw on our (Information Innovation Office) folks here at DARPA, the primary folks who do cyber, so we're not doing research on cyber so much as making sure the state-of-the-art in cyber protection is built into the system-of-systems design process," he adds.

Looking to the future, Sandell says that monolithic but sophisticated platforms like the F-35 probably will continue to have very high value.

"I think they will be part of a family of systems or of a system of systems and not single silver-bullet solutions by themselves," he says. "In particular, we think that any of the future platforms would be designed in much more of an open-architecture fashion, so although the platform may last for a long time and take a while to develop, the electronics in it can be upgraded much more rapidly."

"The F-35 is the last of a kind," says Sandell. "I don't think we'll develop anything that tightly integrated in the future."

Published April 2015

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