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December 24, 2013Volume 09 Issue 48


Image - Molded Nylon Special Standard Round Spacers
Molded Nylon Special Standard Round Spacers
Micro Plastics announces a new product line of Special Standard Round Spacers. The new line of molded nylon round spacers includes over 250 sizes, with diameters of 1/8" through 1 1/2" and lengths from 1/8" to 2 3/4". These tough, resilient spacers can be used in a variety of assemblies. Useful in electronic and electrical applications, they may also be used as bushings, bearings, rollers, gliders, and bumpers. They are resistant to vibration, abrasion, and corrosion; are electrically insulating; and have a high strength-to-weight ratio.
Click here to learn more.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Wheels: World's smallest production V8
  • Wheels (and wings): World's largest jet engine
  • Fuel cells: New frontier of electricity generation?
  • New coating makes super glass
  • Wheels: Army's tactical vehicle showdown
  • Rupture discs bust 'Breaking Bad' stunt
  • Wheels: New process joins aluminum and steel
  • Picking the pattern for a stealth antenna
  • Wheels: 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck design
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Designing a tattoo machine
  • Top Mike Likes: World's first wireless 3D mouse
  • Top Mike Likes: Parallel mount kit from GAM Gear
  • Top Mike Likes: Super-clever foldable development board
  • Top Cool Tools: USB 200x microscope/magnifier
  • Top Product: LED for automotive headlights
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • One-wheeled motorcycle-like scooter
    • Five favorite no-cost engineering tools
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion, Special: Software
    Cover Image: Exa PowerFLOW aerodynamic simulation of Peugeot Sport's winning 208 T16 Pikes Peak racecar

News

Magnetic switches may end era of computer transistors, require 10,000 times less power

Super strange material: Q-glasses could be a new class of solids

Boeing 747 jet engine-based gas turbines power world's fastest ship

After PowerFLOW simulations, funky Peugeot Sport racecar sets world record time at Pikes Peak



Image - MICROMO Launches Universal DC Motor Calculator App Called 'Motion'
MICROMO Launches Universal DC Motor Calculator App Called 'Motion'
MICROMO introduces a universal DC motor calculator app for use with both iPhone and Android devices. The "Motion" mobile app is designed to help engineers calculate DC motor performance data by providing speed, torque, voltage and other catalog data. The app will also facilitate easy connection between customers and FAULHABER Group products by integrating a contact form.
Explore MICROMO's "MOTION" App Today at the Google Play Store!
Go to the iTunes "MOTION" App page!

Feature articles

Image - Wheels: <br>World's smallest production V8 optimized with precision honing
Wheels:
World's smallest production V8 optimized with precision honing

Gary Conley's 30-year quest to manufacture a true production V8 engine in quarter-scale almost went up in smoke twice: once in 2001 when a foundry fire claimed all his critical molds, and later when oil smoke proved a stubborn problem during run-offs of the engine. Conley overcame the first setback with years of sheer determination. The second issue required a Sunnen MB 1660 honing machine, abrasives, and some Sunnen know-how.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels (and wings): <br>World's largest jet engine gets bigger -- and better
Wheels (and wings):
World's largest jet engine gets bigger -- and better

The GE90 is already the largest and most powerful jet engine ever built. But that doesn't mean that GE engineers have stopped trying to make it bigger, better, and leaner.
Read the full article.

Image - Fuel cells: Is this the new frontier of electricity generation?
Fuel cells: Is this the new frontier of electricity generation?
Redox Power Systems LLC and University of Maryland researchers have partnered to deliver breakthrough fuel cell technologies for providing always-on electricity to businesses, homes, and eventually automobiles, at about one-tenth the cost and one-tenth the size of current commercial fuel cell systems.
Read the full article.

Image - New coating turns ordinary glass into super glass
New coating turns ordinary glass into super glass
A new transparent, bioinspired coating created by Harvard researchers makes ordinary glass tough, self-cleaning, and incredibly slippery.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels: <br>3-way showdown -- Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototypes testing begins
Wheels:
3-way showdown -- Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle prototypes testing begins

Oshkosh Defense, Lockheed Martin, and AM General are going head to head in the Army's full-scope testing of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) prototypes. Each of the three vendors delivered 22 vehicles and six trailers for testing to three sites: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Yuma, Ariz.; and Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Read the full article.

Image - Oseco rupture discs featured on 'MythBusters' 'Breaking Bad' episode
Oseco rupture discs featured on 'MythBusters' 'Breaking Bad' episode
Oseco's rupture discs have again been put to the test on "MythBusters," this time as part of a special dedicated to the award-winning "Breaking Bad" TV show. The pressure-relief manufacturer made its sixth appearance on the hit show when the "MythBusters" crew tested the explosive capabilities of a chemical composition.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels: <br>BYU's friction bit joining process aims to help automakers lighten up
Wheels:
BYU's friction bit joining process aims to help automakers lighten up

Researchers at Brigham Young University and their commercial partner have found a way to successfully create an extremely strong bond between lightweight aluminum and ultra high-strength steel. It's called friction bit joining, and it may be the breakthrough the automotive industry is looking for.
Read the full article.

Image - Picking the pattern for a stealth antenna
Picking the pattern for a stealth antenna
A frequency selective surface that acts as an RF filter and helps reduce the radar cross-section of antennas consists of a pattern of geometrical objects. There are literally thousands of possibilities, and testing each one physically would take enormous amounts of time. With simulation, though, we can find promising candidates in just minutes.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels:<br> Hay farmer heads 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck development
Wheels:
Hay farmer heads 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck development

Mike Sweers is living the dream of every kid who was raised in farm country: He gets paid to create trucks. Sweers, who still runs an active hay farm in Northern Michigan, has used his mechanical engineering degree, and life experiences as a farmer, to aid him as the chief engineer of Toyota pickup trucks.
Read the full article.

Image - Engineer's Toolbox: <br>How to design a new kind of soft-touch tattoo machine
Engineer's Toolbox:
How to design a new kind of soft-touch tattoo machine

Initially inspired by components he got from Radio Shack, Mike Snijders designed a game-changing tattoo machine that marries the nuanced performance of the dual-coil design with the ease of use, minimal maintenance, and long lifetime of DC motors.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Mike Likes: <br>World's first wireless 3D mouse
Top Mike Likes:
World's first wireless 3D mouse

The new 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Wireless provides precise 3D navigation in a sleek, wireless design. This new tool combines 3Dconnexion's 6-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) sensor with 2.4-GHz wireless technology to deliver the reliability of a wired device without the clutter of cords. Gently manipulate the SpaceMouse Wireless' controller cap to simultaneously pan, zoom, and rotate digital models or viewports. You should get about a month's use out of the unit's lithium-ion battery before recharging.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Top Mike Likes: <br>Parallel mount kit from GAM Gear
Top Mike Likes:
Parallel mount kit from GAM Gear

Connecting to linear actuators just got even easier using the PMK (Parallel Mount Kit) from GAM Gear, which enables virtually any motor to be connected in parallel to any linear ball screw actuator, regardless of manufacturer. When there are space constraints on a machine design, the PMK can help save space compared to a typical inline motor mount configuration because the motor is to the side of the actuator. Available in four standard frame sizes from 3 in. to 6 in. (based on effective height), the PMK has maximum output torques from 2.4 Nm to 46 Nm in a 1:1 pulley transmission ratio. All PMKs are designed for universal mounting, which means they can be installed either horizontally or vertically without further specification.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Top Mike Likes: <br> Clever enclosure provides a stow-away workspace for multiple development boards
Top Mike Likes:
Clever enclosure provides a stow-away workspace for multiple development boards

Bud Industries has come up with a really smart solution to the problem of organizing multiple development boards and a maze of wiring. Using a "flat or folded" approach, the patent-pending Board-ganizer enclosure provides a tidy work platform, keeps components of a design project in one place, and makes breadboarded designs easy to store and transport. Popular PC development boards such as the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Freescale Freedom, etc. easily attach to the Board-ganizer using adhesive rubber feet. Up to three development boards and a breadboard may be installed on a single enclosure. The enclosure's hinged design makes it easy to work on a project with the boards located side by side. Fold the project into a compact 5 in. x 5 in. x 3 in. enclosure for storage or transport -- no need to disconnect any wires.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Top Cool Tools: <br>USB microscope/magnifier boasts 200x power
Top Cool Tools:
USB microscope/magnifier boasts 200x power

If you need easy super-magnification at your desktop (and who doesn't?), Saelig's MV200UM is a 2-megapixel USB digital microscope for capturing high-quality magnified images and video for display on a PC using a simple USB 2.0 PC connection. The handy unit can take snapshots and time-lapse sequences. It contains a built-in white LED illumination ring for viewing tiny components and markings, examining traces and solder joints on printed circuit boards, or for detailed product examination and record-taking, inspection, and quality-control purposes. For 60 bucks, a real cool tool or a great thing to pick up for your kid's impending science project.
Learn more about this product.
View a very thorough video review of this product.

Image - Top Product: <br>LED for automotive headlights provides higher performance and SMT capability
Top Product:
LED for automotive headlights provides higher performance and SMT capability

Osram Opto Semiconductors has introduced a new two-chip version of the Oslon Black Flat LED. As with other LEDs from the Oslon Black Flat family, the new version (KW H2L531) features a high level of brightness and is suitable for all headlight functions. The major advantage of the new LED is that, as a surface-mount component, it can be attached directly to the PCB and then processed with other components as part of a standard soldering process. The simplicity of this implementation translates into significant cost and time savings during further processing.
Click here to learn more.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
One-wheeled motorcycle-like scooter
See the RYNO in action, a self-balancing, one-wheeled prototype electric scooter that lets you ride "in between the cracks of urban transportation." Chris Hoffman, RYNO's CEO and chief creator, says the scooter is "regulated in the city at 12.5 mph just like any other mobility scooter," but comes preloaded with way more fun. Although it still hasn't rolled into showrooms, the aim of the latest model is to "pack 4 horsepower into the wheel ... with 2,000 Watts of motor power, this thing will climb a wall." Twin removable, rechargeable battery packs provide an estimated range of 25 miles.
View the video.

Video Image
Five favorite no-cost engineering tools
Jeremy Regnerus, product marketing specialist for SolidWorks, takes a look at his five favorite free tools (not all SolidWorks!) for engineers. Each tool provides valuable time-saving capabilities. Watch and learn how each tool works and where to find it.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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Mechanical
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Motion
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Software
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