The right hardware boosts the performance of CAD applications. NVIDIA's ROI calculator lets users easily find out how many hours they will save on each project or see how short the payback period is on upgrades. For example, say you are a design engineer making $55,000 a year and you use your Dell workstation about 50% of your time on the job, which is 240 days a year and 8 hours a day. Assume that the workstation will be upgraded in three years and that you mostly design large assemblies. The existing GPU is a Quadro FX 4600 (high end), but you decide to update to a Quadro 5000, which brings your total workstation cost to $4,950. Results show: Percentage time saving — 24%; Annual man-hour saving (hours) — 235; Payback period (days) — 175; ROI — 412% and Returns per user over workstation lifespan — $20,194, among other data.

A common question is why should I choose a professional graphics card such as NVIDIA Quadro over gaming cards such as GeForce? For one thing, professional users such as CAD designers and engineers have more stringent hardware requirements than those of average users or gamers. The primary concern of workstation professionals is stability and reliability. Professional graphics, such as NVIDIA Quadro, are designed to meet those needs by working closely with the software companies such as Autodesk, Dassault Systems, PTC and Siemens PLM to certify that both the Quadro hardware and drivers are optimized specifically for those applications and can handle the workload. For the CAD user, this can mean greater performance and, more importantly, rock solid stability. Because, as we all know, sitting in front of a non-responsive screen can be very frustrating.

Professional cards can often also expand the range of options available within applications. For example, in SolildWorks, gaming cards do not offer the ability to enable a high performance ultra-realistic viewing mode called RealView. This allows designers to view models with detailed shadows and reflections to show a more realistic representation of the design. Additional advantages of using a professional card in SolidWorks include expanded full scene anti-aliasing (FSAA) modes and performance, and enhanced performance displaying solid models with visible edges (Shaded with Edges).

Unlike consumer gaming cards which are designed by a wide range of board vendors, all Quadro graphics products are manufactured exclusively by NVIDIA and have a planned product availability of at least 18 months. This allows companies who standardize on a Quadro solution to be comfortable with the knowledge that units will continue to be available for an extended time period. Since NVIDIA controls both the board design and production as well as the drivers, it simplifies product support inquiries should they ever be necessary.

Additionally, Quadro boards support all the same functions available on consumer gaming products. While Quadro boards are designed for demanding professional applications, they are equally capable of providing afterhours fun by allowing users to play today’s top PC games.

How would it impact design if it were possible to completely eliminate off-lining rendering to a centralized cluster or an outsourced-company? NVIDIA Maximus lets users design and simulate or render at the same time on the same workstation. The technology features intelligent GPU job allocation; a single unified driver; full independent software vendor (ISV) application certification; and it works with a range of OEM workstations, including Dell. The technology uses the 3D graphics capability of NVIDIA Quadro® GPUs combined with the high-performance computing power of NVIDIA® Telsa™ GPUs The Telsa co-processors automatically perform the heavy lifting of rendering or CAE computations, freeing the Quadro GPUs to enable interactive graphics.

In this scenario, designers will have the capacity to work with and interact with components and assemblies with real-time feedback on the structural dynamics acting on the components or assemblies. Consider this: An automotive stylist can make important decisions based on how things look but traditionally they have not been able to understand the impact the decisions will have on the airflow over or around the car and what the resulting drag or wind noise results will be until much later in the vehicle development. In contrast, Maximus computational horsepower lets accurate fluid dynamics simulation be calculated and visualized in real time. This lets designers make educated decisions that affect the look of the vehicle and its performance in an intuitive, visual way. In addition, Maximus is enabling reality based design with its powered interactive raytracing. Users of CAD applications like SolidWorks or Inventor can remain interactive while performing photorealistic renders on the same system. And applications such as Dassault's CATIA V6 with its integrated GPU-powered Live Rendering feature provide interactive raytracing that lets users work through design revisions and drive to a final design in less time, so core engineering can begin sooner.

Complete Housing Solutions and Components from Elma
Lee Teschler of Machine Design magazine talks with Justin Moll, Mark Thorsell and Lukas Furrer at Elma Electronics about complete electronic housing solutions and housing components.

In overhauling the rickety wooden Texas Giant roller coaster in Six Flags Over Texas amusement park, Arlington, Tex., Six Flags Chief Engineer Larry Chickola wanted to design a coaster that had exceedingly tall crests and sharp turns, and make riders hold on for their very lives. The high forces and extreme speeds he envisioned necessitated stronger and smoother rails than traditional wood or tubular metal tracks. He turned to roller-coaster manufacturer Rocky Mountain Construction in Hayden, Idaho, which had just designed an entirely new kind of steel track. The ride’s scaffolding would still be wood to retain the coaster’s old-time look, but the new rails would safely support the loads and accelerations necessary to provide the most thrilling ride possible.

“The rail technology is different from previous roller coasters in that it is a box-beam, square metal track,” says Rocky Mountain Construction Design Engineer Alan Schilke. “An older track-fabrication method — still in use today — is to build up tracks by laminating pieces of lumber together. Trouble is, today’s coasters hold such heavy loads and undergo such extreme forces that wooden track can no longer withstand the forces without frequent repair. We have laid traditional wood track, but I thought there must be a better method.”

The result was the box-beam track, says Schilke. “With this approach, we cut large, flat sheets of mild steel plate on large plasma cutters. We weld the flat shapes longitudinally with typical wire-feed equipment to produce a three-dimensional rail.” Automated buggies carry welding equipment and lay down the welds. The welds are cleaned and then inspected using magnetic particle testing for cracks, deviations, and pockets. Finished 3D lengths run from 40 to 50-ft long.

Traditional tubular steel tracks are really just pipe that has been measured, bent, and shaped. “Both the tubular steel tracks and the new box-beam rails can endure the same amount of force, which is much larger than wooden tracks can handle,” adds Rocky Mountain Technical Designer Jake Kilcup. “But the box-beam tracks arguably provide the smoothest ride. That’s because we build the track to engineered specs on high-tech CNC machines.”

In Rocky Mountain Construction’s method, bends in the track are cut directly in the flat metal. “Heat of welding causes the metal to slightly change shape. But the company’s patented technique restores the shape to the original engineering specs. In the field, bolted-connection plates attach the lengths together.

Says Kilcup, the design does include bolts that stick up on the outside of the rails. “However, the coaster wheels themselves only run on a smooth path. In general, roller coasters stay on their tracks with the help of a three-wheel locking configuration consisting of side wheels, a top running wheel, and an uplift wheel.”

“Of the products we have installed, there has been no maintenance work needed on the box-beam tracks,” says Kilcup. “In the future, we intend to help develop roller coasters where the cars run upside-down on box tracks.”

© 2012 Penton Media, Inc.

E-volvo, a German firm, has totally redesigned the helicopter. Its multicopter boasts 16 electrically powered propellers divided into four groups of four. Power for up to 20 min of flight comes from a lithium battery pack.

The 175-lb manned prototype measures about 16 × 16 ft and can carry a payload equal to its own weight. Unlike conventional helicopters, the multicopter rotors are permanently positioned. They do not move or change pitch, which should greatly reduce wear compared to conventional helicopter rotors. Instead, each set of rotors has its own motor and the amount of lift each rotor generates depends on how much electricity it receives. Several onboard computers take pilot inputs from a throttle and joystick to calculate power signals for each of the 16 rotors that, in turn, change their speed to carry out the commands. The computers also continually strive to keep the copter upright. This relieves the pilot of having to think about minimum speed, stalling, gas mixtures, pitch control, and the other issues that complicate helicopter flight.

The aircraft also has a few safety features designed in. For example, because there are no overhead rotors, the multicopter can be outfitted with a parachute that could bring a failed multicopter safely to the ground. Plus, the multicopter can safely land with up to four of its rotors totally disabled.

© 2012 Penton Media, Inc.

Students at Brigham Young University have had a good year when it comes to electric vehicles. Two of the engineering school’s class projects recently set speed records, one at the Bonneville Salt Flats, the other on a drag strip at the Mason Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown, Md.

Electric Blue
After seven years of design, development, and testing, BYU students saw their Electric Blue streamliner set a world’s land speed record for vehicles in the E-1 class, which covers electrically powered cars weighing less than 1,100 lb. Power comes from 88 stripped-down battery packs originally designed for DeWalt cordless drills. Each pack holds 10 lithium-ion batteries.

A long, slender, carbon-fiber body encloses all four wheels, making the car light and aerodynamic. The rear wheels are solid aluminum, which lets them handle the high torque and speed, as well as ground conditions on the Utah salt flats.

The car has a 600‑ft turning radius. (An average car’s is 35 ft.) But steering is not an issue when making speed runs at Bonneville.
The car averaged 155.8 mph over two runs conducted on two consecutive days, a requirement for setting a land-speed record, On one run, it clocked 175 mph. (In a shot at the record last year, the BYU car hit 180 mph on the second day, but then hit a rut and rolled before it could complete that second run.)

EV 1
A different team of BYU students converted a 1997 EV-1 donated by General Motors into a dragster powered by ultracapacitors. It set a new record for modified-production/Class A electric vehicles, which is for production cars running on more than 240 V. The BYU entry was the only one in its category, but the team challenged itself to best the record it set two years ago, which was 77 mph, or 15.9 sec in the quarter mile. The new record is 93 mph and 14.08 sec, which the team set on its third run. The team went for a fourth run, trying to top 100 mph and 13.5 sec, but a sheared drive sprocket ended that effort.

One of the changes the team made to the car since the last record-setting run was to switch from a transmission with only one gear to a chain-driven two-speed transmission. The transmission, by the way, is the only component on the car that makes an appreciable amount of noise.

The car runs on 260 ultracapacitors from Maxwell Technologies, San Diego, which initially presented problems. Students designed the car to run on 400 V, but by the end of quarter-mile run, the capacitors would be down to 275 V. The team solved that problem by doubling the number of capacitors. The bank of capacitors is recharged between runs from the team’s specially outfitted truck, a process that takes 15 to 20 min. Some of the benefits of using capacitors instead of batteries include their quick cycle times and longer life.

© 2012 Penton Media, Inc.

The Navy will be testing new software and lighting that could help pilots accurately land on aircraft carrier decks despite rolling seas. If successful, the technology should boost safety, reduce training requirements, and cut maintenance costs by lowering the number of hard landings.

Currently, Navy and Marine pilots constantly adjust speed and altitude to stay on the proper glide path to a touchdown on a carrier’s heaving deck. A Fresnel light tied to a landing system lets approaching pilots know if they are above or below the glide path. Lining up with the angled and moving landing deck takes place with the help of Landing Signal Officers on the rear of the ship observing each approach.

In the new system, what’s called a Bedford Array of lights embedded in the flight deck down the center of the landing area is controlled in part by the ship’s pitch and roll. The brightest light an approaching pilot sees at any time represents a visual target stabilized with respect to the proper glideslope for his or her aircraft. Meanwhile, the pilot’s heads-up display shows a dotted green line. It represents the plane’s future flight path based on real-time inputs from the cockpit’s control stick. The pilot maneuvers the dotted line, along with his plane, to pass over the stabilized target light on the ship’s deck, and the aircraft will do what is necessary to ensure it touches down at the right spot.

© 2012 Penton Media, Inc.

A new chain drive promises to improve the efficiency of electric bikes and extend their range. The drive was jointly developed by iwis Drive Systems and Clean Mobile, a firm that makes electric drives for two-wheeled vehicles. Both companies are based in Munich, Germany. The hybrid unit combines electric and human power to reportedly deliver effortless acceleration and excellent range both on and off-road.

Clean Mobile’s designers began with a small, 1,200-W electric motor that delivers 150 N-m of torque. Initial plans were to mount the motor near the pedals and run the motor at high speeds, even at slow riding speeds. It quickly became clear this setup couldn’t transmit power to the rear wheel and meet efficiency targets with conventional reduction gearing.

The company approached engineers at iwis, who recommended splitting the gearing into a primary and secondary transmission. Primary gearing would handle speed reduction at the pedal crank and use standard components for secondary power transmission to the wheel.

The result is the direct dual drive (DDD), which uses three chains and sprockets to connect the pedal crank and adjacent motor shaft, together yielding a 1:38 reduction ratio. Engineers selected chains with the required strength and fatigue life based on forces on the teeth of each sprocket and the resulting overall transmission ratio. The three-chain arrangement reduces motor speed from 3,600 rpm down to pedaling speed. A freewheel hub ensures that force exerted by the rider on the pedals goes only to the wheel, not the motor, should the battery ever fail. A second idle mechanism disengages the pedals from the rear wheel, as on conventional bicycles.

The chains are major contributors to the drive’s overall efficiency, explains Michael Frank, new business development project manager at iwis, because they only transmit tensile forces in the direction of travel. A spur wheel with helical gearing, in contrast, would induce additional, lateral forces and thereby reduce overall efficiency, says Frank.

Tests on the DDD by the Department of Drive, Control, and Actuator Technology at the German armed forces university (Universität der Bundeswehr München) in Neubiberg, near Munich, showed an efficiency of approximately 80% across a broad operating range. In contrast, typical electric bikes have efficiencies ranging from 25 to 50%, according to Clean Mobile officials.

An eSpire bicycle equipped with DDD, built by Munich cycleworks Third Element, won the first official E-bike world championship at last year’s Intermot in Cologne, Germany — the world’s largest bicycle and motorcycle show. Its electronic controls and torque sensors manage energy flow from the Li-ion batteries to the wheel, further enhancing efficiency. It has a top speed of 45 km/hr.

iwis is developing more-powerful units, as well as lower-rated versions that use plastic parts, to satisfy demand from builders of two, three, and four-wheel vehicles, says Frank.

© 2012 Penton Media, Inc.

App is a database of screw and tap information

iEngineer targets engineers, machinists, hobbyists, and anyone who works with screws. For example, tap the "U.S. Screws" tab at the bottom of the window and up pops a chart with four rotatable “columns” that users finger-swipe to see if a certain diameter, thread pitch, head shape, and screw grade is available. Those not available have the head type grayed-out. Other tabs on the bottom of the window include those for metric screws, a drill chart giving metric and decimal sizes, and even a fraction-conversion chart. A handy section gives definitions of terms such as "allowable shear force" and "clamp force."

App gives flight gate number, and more

One of the handiest apps for engineers (or anyone for that matters) who travels on business a lot is FlightBoard. Have you gotten past security only to find you don’t know the gate you are to leave from? First, tap "Airports," and select the airport you are in. You can search flights by destination, flight number, or departure time and the app lists the gate you are to leave from. It often has this information before the data is posted on the airport display boards! The app lets users just proceed to the correct gate and not have to wait around in the main shopping areas of the terminal.

Scan documents "on-the-go"

TurboScan turns your iPhone into a "pocket" scanner. Use the "Camera" button for single-shot scans of your document. To scan more pages, tap the <<+>> icon. To get three shots at one time, press the “SureScan 3×” button. Take three images with the camera. The app then processes the documents. To open an image from the iPhone’s library, tap "Album." The preview screen lets you adjust brightness, rotation, and color mode. Tap the saved document and swipe the screen just like any iPhone app to make the text bigger.