Boss wins the race
The final event for the Darpa Urban Challenge took place November 3, 2007 with Carnegie Mellon's, Boss, taking the $2 million grand prize. The Challenge is a robotic vehicle R&D program that hopes to expand technologies that will keep soldiers off the battlefield. The Challenge features unmanned cars and trucks maneuvering in a mock city environment, executing simulated military supply missions while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles. Click here to watch the video of Boss, Carnegie Mellon's unmanned vehicle, on the obstacle course and winning the race. The race was also covered in an episode of Engineering TV. Check out the videos and tell us what you think!

Newest forest firefighter: Predator UAV
The firefighting team bat t l ing the recent California wildfires got a helping hand from Ikhana, a Predator B UAV from General Atomics in San Diego (www.ga.com) and modified by NASA with an IR imager. Launched and controlled from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, the unmanned drone flew 22,000 ft over major blazes as its IR imager peered through smoke and haze, detecting hot spots and determining ground temperatures to within 0.5°C. That image data was processed then relayed through a communications satellite to NASA’s Ames Center near San Jose where it was overlaid on Google Earth maps and sent to the interagency fire center in Boise, Idaho.
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Machine Design Editor Leland Teschler: MPG follies
You might think the Big Three would be the only automakers trying to buck regulations mandating fuel efficiency. Detroit, after all, is synonymous with "gas guzzler." Guess again. Toyota took time off from making Prius hybrids recently to criticize an energy bill passed by the Senate that boosts mile-per-gallon targets for new cars. The Japanese automaker isn’t the only one griping about the Senate bill. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, called it the “dumbest legislation of the year (so far).” The bill would force automakers to boost the average fuel economy of new cars, SUVs, and light trucks sold in the U.S. to 35 mpg by 2020.
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A makeover for transport aircraft?
From the earliest days of aviation, transport aircraft, along with most others, have relied on a single type of design, tube (or fuselage), and wing. It has served well and engineers at Airbus and Boeing are still wringing more efficiency and performance from it. But about 20 years ago, NASA engineers, worried about crowded airports and fuel efficiency, asked airframe companies to redesign the large transport plane (more than 150 passengers), starting with a blank sheet of paper and no bias towards well-established approaches. One concept that came out of the request was the blended-wing body (BWB) from Robert Liebeck at McDonnell Douglas Corp. (now part of Boeing Co.). It features a wide curved fuselage and a thick delta wing, both of which generate lift and carry cargo.
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NI LabVIEW 8.5 - Harness Multicore Performance for Mechatronics Systems Unlock multicore and FPGA technologies for faster machine design and prototyping. Designed specifically for engineers, National Instruments LabVIEW 8.5 software includes built-in I/O connectivity, extensive control IP, and the ability to target embedded systems, which helps you complete machine automation projects in a fraction of the time it takes with traditional tools. View demos and try LabVIEW 8.5 online

More-forgiving headgear
The NFL will adopt a high-tech helmet to head off career-ending head injuries. Few people who watched Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett go down after a helmet-to-helmet hit will forget the image of the motionless player laying on a backboard and being carried off the field. Everett’s injury in September was only the most recent example of what can happen when two NFL players traveling full speed meet head on. Now, the League is getting ready to do something about head, neck, and spine injuries that can result when helmets collide. Players next season will have the option to don a high-tech helmet designed specifically to thwart head injuries.
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Graphical Design Software - Student Edition
The student edition of this graphical design software includes multi-core processing and hybriding programming. The software teaches students to optimize and engineer algorithms for multiple cores and deploy threads for control, test, and embedded system development. The software lets students use hybrid programming with LabVIEW MathScript to combine multiple models of computation or methods of programming. LabVIEW 8.5 student edition has Install options that give universities the ability to distribute the software to the student body. The software is available in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
More Information:
National Instruments

Murata Power Solutions Murata Power Solutions has introduced five new, bobbin format, surface-mount power inductors. The 4500, 4600, 4700S, 4800S and 4900S series offer a range of inductance values from 0.28mH to 1.0mH, and top end current ratings from 8A to 11.8A. All feature integral ferrite shields to reduce EMI, are fully RoHS compliant, and meet UL94V-0 and J-STD-020-C. www.murata-ps.com

Advance Thermal Encoder
A new controller with a full-color touch-screen comes standard on the SmartDate 5 advance. Icon-driven menus guide users through set-up while clearly displaying selected images to avoid errors and ensure correct coding in production from beginning to end. Remote code management is another option. SmartDate 5 comes configurable between intermittent and continuous mode between left-and-right handed operations. A new top speed of 1000 mm per second delivers a 25% increase in performance in the combined printer model. The coder is capable of printing consistenly at speeds as low as 5 mm per second. A ribbon-saving feature shrinks the gap between prints to just 0.5 mm.
More Information:
Markem Corp.

Automation Systems Catalog
This 165-page catalog features information on automations systems, including the IndraLogic open PLC system and the IndraMotion systems. Also included is information on Rexroth control components including IndraControl L rack-based controls, IndraControl V HMIs and industrial PCs, Inline cabinet-mounted I/O (IP20), Fieldline machine-mounted I/O (IP67), and IndraWorks engineering framework software.
More Information:
Bosch Rexroth AG

High Performance, Robust, Electrical Enclosures New state-of-the-art ARCA enclosures, from Fibox, offer a new era in enclosure technology. Manufactured using injection molded polycarbonate, a high performance plastic, these stylized electrical enclosures offer ease of customization, robustness, superior chemical resistance, and wide temperature range. Available UL and NEMA 4X rated with screw or hinged covers plus latch options. Mounting plates plus fixed and hinged inner panels are available. Standard interior enclosure sizes range from 6.00 x 6.00 x 4.00 D up to 14.00 x 12.00 x 7.00"D. More information: Fibox Enclosures

Automation Software Suite
This automation software suite includes control programming, HMI development, OPC connectivity, and enterprise database integration. It offers an architecture where control function like analog scaling, digital counting, and PID loop control are distributed to I/O processors. New functions include frequency measurement for determining the frequency of digital states and used to read the speed of rotating machinery, velocity encoders, etc., period measurement for determining how long a digital point remains on or off, analog totalization for sampling and totaling analog input readings at predetermined intervals, and digital totalization for determining on-or-off time of a digital input.

Upgrades to the HMI development and runtime portion include a security feature for user login and logout captures operator actions during runtime, new runtime features show the origins of controller and I/O data, new multimedia alarming capablities associate and play unique sound files with individual alarm notifications, and support for 64-bit integer tables exchanges large data arrays with the PAC controller.
More Information:
Opto 22

Experience National Instruments Technologies From the Comfort of Your Own Computer!
With more than 200 on-demand webcasts, videos, interactive tutorials and demos available for users of any experience level, it is easier than ever to learn about the newest products and features available from National Instruments.
Begin your search here with a collection of webcasts specifically chosen for design and automation engineers.

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UPCOMING WEBCASTS

Maximize Uptime: Tips and Tricks For Extending the Life of Pneumatics
Sponsored by Bimba
DATE: November 28th, 2007
TIME: 2:00pm ET

There are several factors to consider when maximizing the life of your pneumatic solutions including the operating environment, the mounting type, the load, the proper cylinder size, velocity, air pressure, and the air quality. Bimba Engineers will offer best practices, tips and tricks for designing in the most efficient solutions, given your application requirements.

Get ideas from a forward-thinking innovator of actuation technology, specializing in providing cutting-edge solutions to engineering challenges. Hear how industry-leading air cylinders, rotary actuators, linear thrusters, rodless cylinders, flow controls and position-sensing cylinders work in various applications for an expanding variety of industries.

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Discovering Direct Digital Manufacturing: Impact and Opportunity
Sponsored by RedEye RPM
DATE: December 12, 2007
TIME: 2:00pm ET

Designers face difficult design challenges every day and each issue has different technological options for a solution, but no one technology works every where, every time. RedEye RPM, a business unit of Stratasys, Inc. has invited Todd Grimm, a well known rapid prototyping consultant, to discuss different technologies, leading to a closer look at where DDM (Direct Digital Manufacturing) technology works and why. The presentation will cut through the confusion to provide designers and manufacturing engineers the data they need to move in the right direction for their projects.

Click here to register!

ARCHIVED WEBCASTS AVAILABLE FOR FREE VIEWING

Camera Detector
Ever wonder if someone is secretly watching you? Well, wonder no more. Secret camera detectors quickly and easily sweep homes, offices, or hotel rooms to locate hidden wireless cameras. Just point the compact camera towards walls and ceilings and an alarms will sounds when a frequency of 50 MHz to 3 GHz is detected. Advanced circuitry eliminates background noise to minimize false alarms while an adjustable sensitivity tuner lets you scan variable distances and check multiple channels. The scanner is the size of a cigarette lighter so it can be stored and transported easily.
More information:
Edmund Scientific

TV Remote Keychain
The development of the remote control has made many of us forget that there are actually buttons on the TV itself. Whether you believe this invention to make people even lazier or, think of it as a modern technological convenience, a new universal remote could come in handy in a variety of places like waiting rooms. This tiny, universal remote works on a variety of TVs including Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, Sanyo, Aiwa, Mitsubishi, Philips, JVC, Sharp, etc. It lets users control volume, channel, mute, and on/off. It takes on CR2032 battery (included) and even works on most European TVs.
More information:
Think Geek

Autodesk University Seminar
Nov. 27-30 — Four specialists from Master- Graphics Inc. have been invited to present at Autodesk University 2007, a learning and networking event that includes hands-on training seminars for software design professionals. The training seminars will be held at the Venetian Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.
More information:
Autodesk University

Omron STI 2007 Machine Safeguarding Design Guide
This 2-volume set includes over 200 pages of engineering and regulation data. The balance of the 1400 pages includes product specifications and selection guides for the following safety products: Light Curtains, Laser Scanners, Mats, Interlocks, Relays, Network Controllers, Contact Strips, Edges, Two Hand Controls, and Enabling Switches. Get the catalog

Guide features incremental and absolute encoders
Stegmann has a free Encoder Selection and Application Resource Guide. It has product specifications and selection guidelines on its family of encoders and servomotor feedback systems. Information is included about the company's CoreTech encoders, with two to three-day delivery on most line counts or resolutions. Get the guide

Is that hard-guard adequately protecting your machine operators?
Based on revised anthropometric data, the 'Gotcha Stick' from STI is a three-segment safe-distance scale used to verify openings in machine hard-guards will not allow the point-of-operation to be accessed by the operator. Register to receive a free 'Gotcha Stick': Get the stick

What Every Engineer Needs to Know About Making Threaded Connections
This guide is chock full of useful information for everyone testing threaded parts. This quality reference material covers flow and pressure rates, thread characteristics, formulas, case studies and much more.
www.fastestinc.com

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