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September 27, 2016Volume 12 Issue 36


Image - The aliens have landed. Lock 'em up.
The aliens have landed. Lock 'em up.
It looks "alien," but it's the ultimate in box-security fasteners. In fact, the Alien Lock from Micro Plastics is the first and only dedicated box fastener. It is a much less expensive solution than banding or taping your boxes, and it keeps them more secure, too. It's easy and fast to insert, and it's incredibly strong. It cannot be pulled out without it being obvious that the box was tampered with -- it must be cut off. This is a 1-step fastener: Push Alien Lock through the lock port, and the locking process is finished.
Click here to learn more.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Special voice coil actuator on asteroid mission
  • New surface treatment can bond all types of metals
  • Water-propelled satellite shoots for the moon
  • Wheels: World's fastest electric vehicle
  • Cool Tools: Proto Labs Design Cube
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Army flare with parachute
  • MakerBot launches Replicator+ and Mini+ 3D printers
  • Interactive slewing ring bearing selector
  • Palm-size XY/XYZ motorized stage
  • Bio-based plastics made from castor beans
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • GoPro unveils Karma Drone
    • Meet YuMi, the two-armed collaborative robot
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Good vibrations: New ultrasonic dryers
    • Military electric UAV design is plane + copter
    • Army's next-gen hand grenade
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Venturi VBB-3 is the world's fastest electric vehicle

News

Western Digital demonstrates prototype of world's first 1-terabyte SD card

Just say no to labels: New Xerox Direct to Object Inkjet Printer prints on objects in minutes

Researchers work out novel way to make electric vehicles that actually reduce carbon

MICROMO launches powerful new e-commerce offering: Motion System Selector



Image - Are You Spending Too Much On Metal Bellows?
Are You Spending Too Much On Metal Bellows?
Making an error when choosing the right material for your application's performance requirements could be one reason a project is over or under budget. Finding the right material at the right price doesn't have to be difficult. BellowsTech edge welded bellows are available in a wide variety of materials with a range of media compatibilities. Our newly developed one-page "Material Selection Guide" quickly and easily helps you compare leak rates, temperature ranges, tensile strengths, and more of various typical applications.
View infographic.

Feature articles
Specialized voice coil actuator onboard NASA spacecraft to asteroid
A customized moving magnet voice coil actuator from BEI Kimco is part of NASA's first asteroid sampling mission that could revolutionize our understanding of the early solar system. The special VCA was designed to meet the harsh requirements for a spectrometer moving-mirror application on the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft.
Read the full article.
Image -
20 years of hexapod experience & 100 different models.


Image - New surface prep treatment can help bond all types of metals
New surface prep treatment can help bond all types of metals
Metals such as aluminum, titanium, or zinc can permanently be joined using adhesives with nearly all other metals thanks to a new process developed by a research team at Kiel University in Germany. Using an electrochemical etching process (like the tightly controlled one used to make semiconductors) to roughen the surface of a metal does the trick. The process also facilitates joining metal to plastic using heat only, and can also make surfaces water repellent.
Read the full article.

Image - Water-propelled satellite shoots for the moon
Water-propelled satellite shoots for the moon
A team of Cornell University students guided by a former senior official at NASA is attempting to boldly go where no CubeSat team has gone before: around the moon. And not only is the group attempting to make a first-ever moon orbit with a satellite no bigger than a cereal box, it's doing so with propellant that you can obtain simply by turning on a faucet.
Read the full article.

Image - 15,000 Stock Metric Gears
15,000 Stock Metric Gears
KHK USA Inc offers the largest selection of stock metric gears in North America. With over 175 types, in more than 15,000 configurations, KHK USA offers the broadest selection of spur gears, helical gears, internal ring gears, gear racks, bevel gears, worms and wormwheels, and other gear types.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Wheels:<br>All-electric Venturi Buckeye Bullet 3 sets new landspeed record
Wheels:
All-electric Venturi Buckeye Bullet 3 sets new landspeed record

After three years of battling difficult weather conditions at the Wendover, UT, Bonneville Salt Flats track, the Ohio State University's Venturi Buckeye Bullet 3 student team and driver Roger Schroer rallied to push their electric streamline vehicle to a world-record two-way average top speed of 341.4 mph on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.
Read the full article.

Image - Cool Tools: Proto Labs Design Cube
Cool Tools: Proto Labs Design Cube
The Proto Labs Design Cube illustrates important considerations when designing plastic injection molded parts. It showcases a range of available surface finishes and examples of bosses, gussets, and ribs. It also demonstrates the impact on part quality of overly thick or thin sections, as well as ways to incorporate holes and their potential effect on resin flow.
Get a free Design Cube today!

Image - Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Pressure Monitoring
Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Pressure Monitoring
Pressure monitoring is a critical feature in the design, testing, and operation of Hybrid Rocket Engines. With gaseous or liquid components, rapid pressure spikes in the system can cause catastrophic failure. With monitoring systems in place, complex actions can be taken before failure or activation of pressure relief systems, preserving the system and the mission. Typical pressure sensors on the market are limited to a 1 kHz natural frequency, whereas the FUTEK PFT510 features natural frequencies between 6 kHz and 100 kHz.
Check out this application!

Image - Engineer's Toolbox: <br>Army flare with parachute is greatly improved thanks to bright idea
Engineer's Toolbox:
Army flare with parachute is greatly improved thanks to bright idea

Members of Picatinny Arsenal's Pyrotechnics Division recently focused on improving the chemical composition of the M127A1 White Star Parachute Handheld Signal, so that it burns brighter and covers more area with effective illumination than its predecessor. Their solution proved the age-old adage that sometimes, in the world of chemistry, at least, size really does matter.
Read the full article.

Image - MakerBot launches Replicator+ and Mini+ 3D printers
MakerBot launches Replicator+ and Mini+ 3D printers
The MakerBot Replicator+ ($1,999 special) is 30 percent faster, has a 25 percent larger build volume (11.6 x 7.6 x 6.5 in.), and is 27 percent quieter than its 5th-gen predecessor. The MakerBot Replicator Mini+ ($999 special) is 10 percent faster, has a 28 percent larger build volume (4 x 5 x 5 in.), and is 58 percent quieter. Both machines feature improved print precision, surface appearance, and reduced warping and curling. Both come with the swappable MakerBot Smart Extruder+. MakerBot is also launching a new Slate Gray Tough PLA Filament Bundle designed to create durable, high-impact-strength prototypes and fixtures that save time and money in testing. Special pricing until Oct. 31.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Expanded Die Spring Line Available
Expanded Die Spring Line Available
HEFTY™ Die Springs are heavy-duty metal compression springs manufactured using round wire, specifically designed to be used as Die Springs or as heavy-duty coil springs in any heavy-stress, heavy-load application. Lee Spring's HEFTY™ Die Series has expanded in 2016. Find more choice throughout the range of sizes, including more Free Length options over 6" (152.40 mm). HEFTY™ Die Springs are available in five load types and are shot peened for extended life.

Click here to learn more.


Image - New interactive slewing ring bearing selector
New interactive slewing ring bearing selector
Kaydon Bearings has added an interactive slewing ring bearing selector to its website. The selector makes it easy for engineers and designers to search the Kaydon slewing ring bearings catalog 390 by part number, bearing type, internal and external dimensions, application, gear type, axis of rotation, static load, speed, and tangential force per drive requirements. Search results include load charts and 3D-drawing downloads that make the user's bearing selection process easier. The selector includes four-point contact, eight-point contact, cross roller, and three-row roller slewing ring bearings.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Palm-size XY/XYZ motorized stage is fast and precise
Palm-size XY/XYZ motorized stage is fast and precise
PI (Physik Instrumente), a top provider of precision motion control and positioning solutions for more than four decades, has released the low-profile M-122 motorized positioning stage. This stage has a very small footprint of 60 mm x 86 mm and a travel range of 25 mm, best suiting it for research and industrial applications, including fiber alignment, metrology, quality assurance testing, photonics packaging, test equipment, and micromachining.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Bio-based plastics made from castor beans
Bio-based plastics made from castor beans
Royal DSM has extended its range of high-temp-resistant bio-based polymers with the introduction of new high-performance polyamide 4T materials, partially produced from renewable resources, called ForTii Eco. These materials fit with the growing need of faster, thinner, and more sustainable devices in the electronics, lighting, automotive, white goods, industrial, and aerospace industries. The polymer in the new grades is 30 percent to 60 percent derived from renewable resources. Castor beans provide the basis for the material's C10 chemistry, with a bio-content ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent. ForTii Eco E11, ForTii Eco E61, and ForTii Eco LDS62 provide halogen-free solutions for parts with thinner walls and demonstrate very good flow together with excellent mechanical and dielectrical properties.
Click here to learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - Good vibrations: No heat needed for new ultrasonic dryers
Good vibrations: No heat needed for new ultrasonic dryers
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee aim to change the way Americans do laundry -- using vibrations instead of heat to dry their clothes. This new technology, called the ultrasonic clothes dryer, is expected to dry clothes in half the time and use 70 percent less energy than today's products, saving American consumers money on their energy bills.
Read the full article.

Image - Military electric UAV design is plane + copter
Military electric UAV design is plane + copter
An unorthodox unmanned aircraft under development by the U.S. military would push the limits of technology to combine plane-like speed and helicopter-like agility into one full-size breakthrough vehicle that's about the size of a Bell Super Huey.
Read the full article.

Image - Army's next-gen hand grenade comes with options -- just hit the switch
Army's next-gen hand grenade comes with options -- just hit the switch
Engineers at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey are working on the first new type of lethal hand grenade in more than 40 years, which is designed to give greater flexibility to the warfighter. Once fielded, Soldiers will be able to select and use a hand grenade with different effects simply by flipping a switch.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
GoPro unveils Karma Drone with removable grip stabilizer (CNET News)
If you haven't seen it yet, you might as well get onboard. GoPro has announced its long-awaited Karma Drone, and it will likely be one of the hottest things come gift-giving season. The new $799 drone is compact, foldable, and comes with a removable stabilizer.
View the CNET video.

Video Image
Meet YuMi, the two-armed collaborative robot
YuMi (short for "you and me") is what its maker, ABB Robotics, calls a truly collaborative, two-armed, small-parts-assembly robot. Unexpectedly endearing for a piece of industrial machinery, YuMi's mission is nothing less than to make manufacturers worldwide more fond of robotics and help them tackle low productivity. Not ready for full-on automation at your facility? No problem. YuMi is there to provide a helping hand -- or two -- when needed.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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