Click this link if you cannot read the issue below: Designfax - Tech for OEM Design Engineers
November 13, 2012Volume 08 Issue 42


Image - New Full Line Catalog -- Full of New Fasteners
New Full Line Catalog -- Full of New Fasteners
Micro Plastics introduces its new catalog #39. With 290 pages of nylon fastener items, 12 new product lines, and over 500 new items added. Contents include: standard and metric machine screws, cap screws, nuts, washers, spacers, insulators, grommets, bushings, rivets, hole plugs, clamps, printed circuit board accessories, suspended ceiling hooks, and wire routing kits. FREE samples are available upon request.

Click here for more information.


In this issue of Designfax

  • Lean leadership: What your coach says
  • Army refines airburst technology
  • Surface design improves condensers
  • Wheels (and wings): Jets chase FaINT sonic booms
  • Mike Likes: High-temp instant adhesives
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Non-contact accurate motion
  • Connect more devices in less space
  • Adaptive 2-finger gripper
  • Super-quiet DC brush motors
  • GrafiCalc eLearning on the house
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • Hurricane-monitoring dropsonde
    • All about SpaceClaim 2012+
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Wheels (and wings): 3D printing a military UAV
    • DARPA tests UAV-to-UAV refueling
    • Color, superhydrophobicity of butterfly wings
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion, Special: Software
    Cover Image: NASA does sonic boom research over Mojave, CA. [Photo credit: NASA/Jim Ross]

News

TRW launching integrated stability control and electric park brake system

New tire labels roll into European shops, but will they make it to the U.S.?

Drill, baby, drill: Astrobotic unveils working prototype of lunar water-prospecting robot

Autodesk introduces industry's first cloud-based, pay-as-you-go simulation solution for designers



Image - Humanoid joints simplify robot design
Humanoid joints simplify robot design
igus has applied its plastics expertise to develop multiple-axis robot joints. No more sourcing complex custom solutions -- robolink® is a simple, easy-to-use system. The corrosion-resistant joints are controlled by cable tension -- just as the human body guides bones and tendons. Data cables are routed through the jointed arms, which act as the robot's skeleton. These same cables convey images, acoustics and forces -- the artificial senses of humanoid robots.

Find out more.


Feature articles

Image - Lean leadership: <br>Lean coach says, 'What do you think?'
Lean leadership:
Lean coach says, 'What do you think?'

You've reduced costs, improved profitability, satisfied your customers, and even made your employees happier. So what? By John Shook, chairman and CEO, Lean Enterprise Institute.
Read the full article.

Image - Army refines airburst technology, calls XM25 'The Punisher'
Army refines airburst technology, calls XM25 'The Punisher'
The U.S. Army is preparing to conduct a second Forward Operational Assessment of its XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement airburst weapon system. The hand-held weapon fires a high-explosive airburst round capable of detonating at a specific, pre-determined point in space near an enemy target hidden or otherwise obscured by terrain or other obstacles.
Read the full story.
It's all about texture:
New surface design could improve condenser performance

MIT researchers have found that lubricated, nanotextured surfaces improve the performance of condensers in power and desalination plants. With this new treatment, "drops can glide on the surface," floating like pucks on an air-hockey table and looking like hovering UFOs.
Read the full story.
Wheels (and wings):
NASA Dryden jets chase FaINT sonic booms

NASA's Supersonics Project embarked on its latest effort to soften sonic booms recently when a NASA F/A-18 aircraft took to the air in a project called Farfield Investigation of No Boom Threshold, or FaINT.
Read the full story.

Image - Mike Likes: <br> High-temp instant adhesives rival epoxies and acrylics
Mike Likes:
High-temp instant adhesives rival epoxies and acrylics

The newest Loctite Instant Adhesives from Henkel maintain their bond strength in operating temps as high as 250 degrees F, yet they fix in just 15 sec or less. Loctite 401, 406, 495, and 454 surface-insensitive instant adhesives are designed to meet the needs of high-speed assembly processes. They cure rapidly on dry or acidic surfaces and in low-humidity environments, and they bond reliably to a wide variety of substrates including steel, aluminum, ABS, PVC, polycarbonate, nitrile rubber, chromate-plated parts, paper, balsa wood, and more.
Click here to learn more.
Engineer's Toolbox:
The evolution of non-contact accurate motion

Steven Gauthier, P.E., Dexter Magnetic Technologies, explains how non-contact linear and rotary position measurement is attainable with robust multipole magnets.
Read the full story.

Image - Connect more devices in less space
Connect more devices in less space
Pepperl+Fuchs introduces G11 passive splitters to its family of G11 Series AS-Interface I/O Modules. Available in flat cable or M12 male connector versions, these splitters are sealed to keep out contaminants. They are also ECOLAB certified and IP67 rated for reliable operation in wet environments. In addition to AS-Interface, they are well suited for any power or network distribution requirement.
Click here to learn more.

Image - New eBook on flexible, adaptive 2-finger gripper
New eBook on flexible, adaptive 2-finger gripper
ROBOTIQ has a new eBook out that answers frequently asked questions about its incredibly cool 2-Finger Adaptive Gripper. Learn about how to control the gripper, create a faster cycle time, use gripper feedback, and verify the gripper contact during a process. There's a good video on this site, too.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Super-quiet DC brush motors
Super-quiet DC brush motors
Crouzet has introduced the whisper-quiet (literally!) DCmind Brush range of direct current brush motors. The new product range includes 15-, 25-, and 55-W motors with a 42-mm diameter, and 55- and 104-W motors with a 63-mm diameter. DCmind Brush motors support 12-, 24-, and 48-V power supplies and offer exceptional efficiencies even under full load, long service life, and a wide range of gearboxes and accessories. This series is particularly well suited to applications in medical, laboratory, industrial, and high-performance printing industries. They can also be used in a variety of other applications such as pumps and valves, railways, and aeronautics.
Click here to learn more.

Image - GrafiCalc eLearning on the house
GrafiCalc eLearning on the house
GEOMATE has added 3 hours of no-cost eLearning materials to its website to enable users to learn to apply GrafiCalc for solving product innovation challenges. GrafiCalc is a mechanical design calculation software that seamlessly combines the disciplines of sketching, calculations, motion simulation, backsolving, data collection, and statistical tolerance analysis in a single application. The training is divided into 21 clips, and users can learn to automate design calculations, goalseek geometry, solve linkages and mechanism design challenges, analyze tolerances, validate producibility, and a whole lot more. Look for the eLearning tab at the top of the GEOMATE website.
Click here to learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - Wheels (and wings): <br>3D printing radically reduces time, cost  for developing military UAV
Wheels (and wings):
3D printing radically reduces time, cost for developing military UAV

When designing the RDASS 4 helicopter UAV for the military, Leptron engineers faced the challenge of developing eight variations of complex fuselage components in a short period of time to beat potential competitors to market.
Read the full article.
DARPA tests UAV-to-UAV refueling at 45,000 ft
DARPA completes close-proximity flight tests of two modified RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles to demonstrate technology enabling autonomous aerial refueling.
Read the full article.
Penn researchers find way to mimic the color, superhydrophobicity of butterfly wings
A group of researchers at Penn's School of Engineering has discovered a new way of combining the structural color and superhydrophobicity found in butterfly wings. Real-world applications abound.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
What's inside a hurricane-monitoring dropsonde?
Inside a cylinder that is about the size of a roll of paper towels lives a circuit board filled with sensors. It's called a dropsonde, or "sonde" for short. It's a workhorse of hurricane forecasting, dropping out of "hurricane hunter" airplanes right into raging storms. As the sonde falls through the air, its sensors gather data about the atmosphere to help us better understand climate and other atmospheric conditions. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has been designing, building, and improving dropsonde technology for more than 30 years.
View the video.

Video Image
All about SpaceClaim 2012+
Are your engineers using the right tools for 3D? SpaceClaim 2012+ introduces significant new capabilities for manufacturing, simulation, concept development, and mesh remodeling. These enhancements will help all engineers work more effectively in 3D, without the high cost and complexity of traditional CAD. SpaceClaim wants every engineer to work in 3D without having to be a CAD expert.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
View Products…
Mechanical
View Products…
Motion
View Products…
Software
View Products…


Subscribe to DesignFax

For advertising opportunities contact:

John Holmes

jholmes@nelsonpub.com
(847) 364-7441

Dan Beck

danbeck58@gmail.com
(518) 852-9624

Questions or comments about the eMagazine or articles? Contact us at: Designfax

www.designfax.net
PO Box 424, Alto, MI 49302

webteam@designfax.net
Privacy Statement