| March 09, 2021 | Volume 17 Issue 10 |
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 | Create a robust, built-to-order gantry
Off-the-shelf gantry systems may not meet your specific requirements for weight, force or size. Learn how you can create a bigger, stronger and high duty cycle solution from our comprehensive line of configurable rodless and rod style actuators. Integrate with existing systems with "Your Motor Here®" and flexible mounting. Maximize flexibility, speed, efficiency and throughput.
Learn more about Tolomatic's turnkey solutions. |
| | Feature articles | Porsche still betting on combustion engine for future
Some major automakers have committed to providing only all-electric vehicles (EVs) in the future, but Porsche isn't one of them. Sure, it already has successful EVs like the Taycan, but Porsche, through a pilot project with Siemens Energy, is developing synthetic climate-neutral fuels (eFuels) to try and keep combustion engines humming.
Read the full article. |
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 | How a novel rocket fuel spawned the ferrofluid industry
In February 1982, NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board presented Stephen Papell with a $15,000 check (its highest monetary award at the time) for inventing magnetic fluids (or ferrofluids) in the early 1960s. While this technology was originally intended for rocket fuels, Papell's invention has gone on to impact applications in electronics, chemical energy processing, medical advances, and many other industries.
Read the full article. |
 | World's most powerful electric vacuum gripper now available from OnRobot
Who needs an unwieldy and costly pneumatic material-handling system when OnRobot has just launched the VGP20 electric vacuum gripper? The easy-to-deploy new grasper can handle payloads up to 20 kg (44 lb), making it a great fit for a wide range of applications. The VGP20 comes complete with everything needed for fast, easy deployment with any leading robot. It's full of advanced features too.
Read the full article. |
 | Lucid Air 500-mile EV rolling off assembly lines this spring
Are you ready for an all-electric car that goes 500 miles on a single charge? Well newcomer Lucid Motors is with their first -- and exclusive -- high-end EV called the Lucid Air Dream Edition, which will be rolling off the assembly line in late spring. The Dream sedan boasts 1,080 hp, DC fast charge, and lots of technical goodies to rival Tesla and other EV automakers.
Read the full article. |
 | Researchers investigate atomic-level workings of combustion engines
In the quest for advanced vehicles with higher energy efficiency and ultra-low emissions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are accelerating a research engine that gives scientists and engineers an unprecedented view inside the atomic-level workings of combustion engines in real time. Their latest capability is an engine built specifically to run inside a neutron beam line.
Read the full article. |
 | Engineer's go-to guide for rings and springs:
New Smalley catalog
Find your next wave spring, retaining ring, or constant section ring in Smalley's newest Catalog and Design Guide release. As the inventor of the edgewound wave spring with over 100 years of manufacturing excellence, Smalley has helped thousands of engineers and professionals create application-specific solutions across every industry. Since they manufacture 12 product types in 400 sizes with over 10,000 parts in stock, Smalley's Catalog is an essential resource containing easy-to-follow product charts with detailed specifications. Available in print or as an online interactive resource.
Get your Smalley Catalog today. |
 | Mini actuator with built-in servo drive
The FHA-C Mini Series of extremely compact actuators from Harmonic Drive delivers high torque with exceptional accuracy and repeatability. An integrated servo drive version utilizing CANopen communication is now available. This product eliminates the need for an external drive and greatly improves wiring while retaining high-positional accuracy and torsional stiffness in a compact housing. Dual absolute encoders included. This new mini actuator is ideal for use in robotics.
Learn more. |
 | Mechatronic solution packages from Bosch Rexroth
The Smart Function Kit is a new Smart MechatroniX solution platform from Bosch Rexroth that offers quick and intuitive commissioning and configuration for a range of processes such as joining, pressing, and handling. This modular toolbox consists of an electromechanical cylinder, a force sensor, a motor, a servo drive, and a motion controller, plus a software package that enables easy commissioning and operation as well as comprehensive process analysis. Available soon is a Smart Function Kit for handling tasks and a Smart Flex Effector, which is a compensation module with an active measuring function in six degrees of freedom.
Learn more. |
 | High-flow plastics for medical and healthcare markets
The Polyplastics Group has expanded its DURACON polyoxymethylene (POM) PM series portfolio with the development of a new high-flow grade for drug contact and delivery applications for the medical and healthcare market. The new grade, DURACON PM27S01N, offers reduced wall thickness, miniaturization, and lower weight for various medical devices that are becoming increasingly complicated and highly functional. This product delivers global medical and food regulatory compliance.
Learn more. |
 | Ultramid Advanced grades now available with carbon-fiber reinforcement
BASF has expanded its polyphthalamide (PPA) portfolio of Ultramid Advanced with carbon-fiber reinforced grades. With fillings of 20%, 30%, and 40% carbon fiber, these new materials make extremely lightweight parts, safely replace aluminum and magnesium without loss in stiffness and strength, and are electrically conductive. They can be used to manufacture automotive structural parts for body, chassis, and powertrain; for pumps, fans, gears, and compressors in industrial applications; and as stable and ultra-lightweight components in consumer electronics.
Learn more. |
 | Good reads: How the world ran out of semiconductors
There's a global shortage in semiconductors, and it's becoming increasingly serious. The automotive sector has been worst affected by the drought, in an era where microchips now form the backbone of most cars. Ford is predicting a 20% slump in production and Tesla shut down its model 3 assembly line for two weeks. In the UK, Honda was forced to temporarily shut its plant as well. By Hamza Mudassir, Visiting Fellow in Strategy, Cambridge Judge Business School [Image: Samsung]
Read the full article in The Conversation. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Far-out space concepts selected by NASA for study
You gotta think big to make big things happen. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program is awarding grants to more than a dozen individuals for early-stage research into some futuristic and far-out space ideas. Concepts include a lunar levitation track system, a light-bending lunar power system, and a method for making soil from asteroid material.
Read the full article. |
 | DOD outlines latest hypersonics development strategy
The Defense Department has identified hypersonics as one of the highest priority modernization areas, as Russia and China develop their own capable systems. Hypersonic systems are able to travel on extended flights within the upper atmosphere -- 80,000 to 200,000 ft -- at speeds near and above Mach 5, and they're able to maneuver in ways that are hard for defenders to predict.
Read the full article. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action |
Extreme-force electric actuator: 50,000 lbf
Tolomatic's expanded extreme-force electric actuator family now includes the RSX128 model, rated up to 50,000 lb of force (222.4 kN). Ideal for replacing hydraulic cylinders and designed for 100% duty cycle, the RSX actuator features Tolomatic's precision-ground planetary roller screws for long, consistent operating life in challenging environments. Applications include assembly, metal fabrication (pressing, punching, clamping), automotive manufacturing, timber processing, motion simulators, and more.
See all the RSX actuator has to offer. |
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