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March 17, 2020Volume 16 Issue 11


Image - Reduce component failure with the HELI-CAL Flexure
Reduce component failure with the HELI-CAL Flexure
Discover how to eliminate vibrating failure, prevent premature component wear, prevent motor seizure, and stop bearing failure by incorporating Helical Products' flexure technology into your machinery components.
Learn more by downloading our white paper.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Gremlin drones will be launched, retrieved mid-air
  • New cobot-powered fulfillment solutions
  • Electronic devices without cords, batteries
  • Boeing unveils Army FARA attack copter design
  • Top Tech Tip: Wave springs save space, weight
  • Toolbox: The necessity of bolt preload auditing
  • Engineer's Guide: Motor calculations for brush DC motors
  • Maximize automation efforts: 3-finger gripper
  • Swept elbow backshells: Cable termination
  • Cart, adapter, top module for MiR250 Mobile Robot
  • Shape-memory alloys and other next-gen materials
  • High-power-density outer-rotor brushless motor
  • Good Reads: Can flickering light help fight Alzheimer's?
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • 3 essential injection molding design principles
    • Torque automation with an electric fastener system
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Satellite design applied to superyacht
    • Ultrasound device improves lithium-metal batteries
    • Most expensive new Bentley doesn't have a roof
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Boeing FARA Army attack helicopter concept

News

Study shows industry-standard fast-charging cycles can ruin an electric car's batteries

NIST identifies potential driver of premature solar panel failures

Can nuclear power be portable? DOD awards contracts for development of a mobile microreactor

How Blockchain provides security and traceability for smart manufacturing



Image - Super Ion Air Knife
Super Ion Air Knife
Static electricity causes lots of problems including dust attraction, jamming, tearing, and painful shocks. EXAIR's Super Ion Air Knife cleans and neutralizes static up to 20' away! The laminar sheet of air sweeps surfaces clean of static, particulates, dust and dirt.
Website offers detailed information, video.

Feature articles
Gremlin drones will be launched, retrieved mid-air

DARPA has completed the first flight test of its X-61A vehicle, part of its Gremlins program that aims to launch swarms of low-cost, reusable unmanned aerial systems from U.S. military planes and retrieve them mid-air. Gremlins could fill an advantageous design-and-use space between existing models of missiles and conventional aircraft.
Read the full article.
Image -
Your #1 source for metric and inch standard machine parts and assembly hardware for industry.


Image - Universal Robots debuts new cobot-powered fulfillment solutions
Universal Robots debuts new cobot-powered fulfillment solutions
Universal Robots, the originator of the super-popular collaborative robotics technology, showed attendees at the MODEX 2020 supply chain expo in early March how cobots can automate hard-to-staff palletizing and piece-picking tasks with new applications from partners MDCI Automation, RightHand Robotics, and Cross Automation. Learn all about the latest in cobot tech and capabilities.
Read the full article.

Image - Electronic devices without cords, batteries being developed for military
Electronic devices without cords, batteries being developed for military
Researchers at MIT and the U.S. Army have been collaborating on an antenna that can absorb Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular signals and efficiently turn them into usable electrical energy to power sensors and devices. At the heart of the technology is a new material that is only a few atoms thick.
Read the full article.

Image - Boeing unveils Army FARA attack copter design
Boeing unveils Army FARA attack copter design
Boeing revealed its U.S. Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) design on March 3, the fourth company to put its helicopter plans in the running for a new military contract. Boeing envisions a thrust compounded single main rotor helicopter that boasts a six-bladed rotor system, tandem seating, a modular state-of-the-art cockpit, and more.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Tech Tip: Save space and weight with Wave Springs from Smalley
Top Tech Tip: Save space and weight with Wave Springs from Smalley
Crest-to-Crest® Wave Springs can take up to 50% less space than a traditional coil spring. Formed using flat wire, this results in a more compact spring that takes less material to produce and can reduce the overall weight of the spring and assembly.
Learn more. Samples available.

Image - Toolbox: The necessity of bolt preload auditing for standard, gasket, and shear joint bolting applications
Toolbox: The necessity of bolt preload auditing for standard, gasket, and shear joint bolting applications
Bolt loading can vary greatly during product testing and operational conditions, enabling premature and unexpected structural failures to occur. This makes measuring and verifying bolt preloading essential to compensate for the unloading that naturally occurs over time. Sensor expert FUTEK runs through why verification of bolt preload and load change is critical and shows how to perform the testing.
Read the full article.

Image - Engineer's Guide: Motor calculations and formulas for brush DC motors
Engineer's Guide: Motor calculations and formulas for brush DC motors
When selecting a DC motor for an application or when developing a powered prototype, there are numerous considerations for producing a well-functioning, sufficiently powered, and safe device. Faulhaber's technical guide provides important formulas and calculation details to help engineers determine mechanical power requirements of a DC motor, calculate torque, and determine the steady-state temperature increase of a motor.
Get this informative Faulhaber guide (no registration required).

Image - Maximize automation efforts for machine tending applications with OnRobot's 3FG15
Maximize automation efforts for machine tending applications with OnRobot's 3FG15
See how the three-finger gripper is ideal for gripping a wide range of cylindrical objects in machine-tending applications such as CNC lathe machines. Its design automatically centers workpieces, resulting in fast deployment with a strong, stable grip and precise placement. The 3FG15 offers seamless integration with the robots of your choice.
Learn more and see it in action.

Image - Swept elbow backshells: Cable termination
Swept elbow backshells: Cable termination
TE Connectivity has introduced its new swept elbow backshells for electrical and fiber cables in a wide range of military and aerospace applications. They can provide strain relief and cable support to help reduce bending or overflexing, while also offering up to 20 percent weight savings. The backshells are designed to allow for uncoupling during repairs, which helps reduce damage to the boot, resulting in a simple and fast termination option. They are available in a band strap (BT) termination style, with more options to follow.
Learn more.

Image - Cart, adapter, top module for new MiR250 Mobile Robot
Cart, adapter, top module for new MiR250 Mobile Robot
Denmark-based robotics company ROEQ has just launched three new products simultaneously with the reveal of Mobile Industrial Robots' new MiR250 mobile robot. The Shelf-Cart 300 is a vehicle for carrying up to 300 kg (661 lb) that the MiR250 can pick up and deliver anywhere in the workplace, even without a docking station. The new Adapter Module 250 enables the use of three of the existing ROEQ top modules on the new MiR250 robot. The Shelf Carrier 300 Extended is an extended top module specifically designed for the MiR250 robot, making it long enough to carry Euro pallets without compromising safety.
Learn more about these and other ROEQ products.

Image - Shape-memory alloys and other next-gen materials
Shape-memory alloys and other next-gen materials
Goodfellow and German technology company Acquandas have formed a partnership to offer micro-patterned, 2D, and 2.5D integrated multifunction miniaturized components and coatings with superior performance properties. Materials available include nitinol (NiTi) and other superelastic or shape-memory alloys, bioresorbable alloys, magnetic materials, and electrical alloys and insulators. In healthcare, this tech can be used to manufacture next-gen self-expanding, biocompatible, and bioresorbable implant devices and intelligent med instruments. In defense, aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing automation, the technology finds application in shape-memory-alloy-based electrical actuators for robotic applications, and for the latest MEMS technology to manufacture miniaturized electronic relays, position-sensing linear actuators, micro relays, micro valves, and micro pumps.
Learn more.

Image - High-power-density outer-rotor brushless motor
High-power-density outer-rotor brushless motor
Allied Motion Technologies has released the new KinetiMax High Power Density (HPD) motor series. This outer-rotor brushless motor is designed for high-torque, low-cogging applications like robotics, AGVs, and handheld power tools. With an efficiency rating of over 85 percent and a high power-to-weight ratio, it's an ideal motor choice for any application where weight and battery life are critical. They are available in six frame sizes, with three stack lengths per size and three windings per stack length.
Learn more.

Image - Good Reads: Can flickering light help fight Alzheimer's?
Good Reads: Can flickering light help fight Alzheimer's?
For over a century, Alzheimer's disease has confounded all attempts to treat it, but in recent years perplexing experiments using flickering light have shown promise. Now, researchers have tapped into how the flicker may work. They discovered in the lab that the exposure to light pulsing at 40 hertz (40 beats per sec) causes brains to release a surge of signaling chemicals that may help fight the disease.
Read this fascinating update from Georgia Tech.

Most popular last issue

Image - Satellite design applied to largest aluminum sailing superyacht
Satellite design applied to largest aluminum sailing superyacht
Dutch shipbuilder Royal Huisman has applied the same concurrent engineering process developed by the European Space Agency for space missions to design the superyacht Sea Eagle II, ditching traditional "over-the-wall" engineering in favor of a quicker, more collaborative approach.
Read the full article.

Image - Ultrasound device improves charge time and run time in lithium-metal batteries
Ultrasound device improves charge time and run time in lithium-metal batteries
Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed an ultrasound-emitting device that creates a circulating current in the electrolyte liquid found between the anode and cathode, preventing the formation of damaging and dangerous dendrites.
Read the full article.

Image - Most expensive new Bentley ever doesn't have a roof
Most expensive new Bentley ever doesn't have a roof
Two million dollars will get you the most exclusive and expensive new Bentley ever, but don't expect a roof to come with it -- the racy Bacalar doesn't have one. It's a 650-hp sexy two-seater meticulously handcrafted for sun and fun, and only 12 will be made.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
3 essential injection molding design principles
In this Quick Tips video, Xometry's Director of Application Engineering, Greg Paulsen, goes over the three essential design principles of injection molding. Plus, he has some quick tips and tricks to make sure your designs come out of the mold perfect -- from the first part to the 5,000th. Solid, useful info.
View the video.
Torque automation with a DC electric fastening system
The new MD-Series DC torque control system by Mountz is a high-performance fastening system that allows manufacturers to optimize the assembly area, reduce labor costs, enhance quality, and increase productivity. It features a programmable digital torque setting with memory for 15 preset torque values. The electric screwdrivers feature the Swiss Maxon DC servo motor technology engineered for high-production environments. Built for critical tightening applications, Mountz offers various handheld and robotic models that range from 0.08 to 434 in.-lb.
Learn more.

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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