November 20, 2008

Machine vision industry focus: The return of neural networks, engineers get creative with portable spectrometers, machine damping for dummies, Pneumatics Reference Guide, how to use air actuators, systems run silent, run clean,

November 20, 2008

Digital

Features

Leland Teschler's Editorial: The Digital World Could Have Been a Different Place

Headlines these days are devoted to travails of U.S. companies that once dominated markets they serve. I despair about most these days is Eastman Kodak.

Manufacturing is a High Note for Aluminum Guitar Maker

Normandy envisioned the guitar having front and back panels, internal supports, and an edge piece.

Machine Vision Industry Focus: New Way to Look at Machine Vision

Neural methods advancements let vision systems recognize parts and handle situations. Image preprocessing isn't different with the Cure system than with a conventional machine-vision setup.

Machine Vision Industry Focus: Putting Light to Work

Special fiber optics now let spectroscopy into inhospitable environments. CeramOptec uses hard plastic rather than silica for the fiber cladding and for mid-IR solutions, silver-halide fibers are appropriate.

A Better Way to Damp Machine Vibrations

Most commercial vibration isolators have much lower horizontal stiffness than vertical stiffness. Constant-natural frequency isolators cost less than active damping systems and outperform conventional mounts.

Soft Actuators Tackle Hard Jobs

Air actuators remove contamination that destroy traditional cylinders. Air actuators have no piston rods and cylinder barrels and differ from metal pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders .

Making Air Systems Clean & Quiet

Coalescing mufflers help pneumatics meet government guidelines. Oil reduces friction between sliding surfaces, which improves efficiency and permits higher operating speeds. It also reduces wear, which ultimately means longer component life and less maintenance.

News

Sustainable Engineering: Brouhaha Brewing Over Energy Star Ratings

TIA claims that cordless telephones, answering systems, and combination units are never in standby/No-Load mode because they continuously monitor telephone networks for incoming telephone calls and/or monitor radio links to cordless handsets.

Lords of the Ring

Ladish Forging, a firm with over century of experience forging big parts for demanding applications, had to do some serious planning when it took on task of ring rolling and forging 21.5-ft diameter kiln tire out of a 12-ft-wide, 225,000-lb carbon-steel donut.

Sign Builder Sticks with Adhesives

Tooling Research Inc. (TRI) primarily designs and builds custom electrical, mechanical, and pneumatic equipment and controls as well as machining metal and plastic components.

New Engineering Textbooks

Springer Handbook of Mechanical Engineering, Model-Based Predictive Control: A Practical Approach, Design for Environmental Sustainability, Variable Speed Drives: Principles and Applications for Energy Cost Savings, 3rd Edition

Auto Review: 2009 Vibe 1.8 liter

The Pontiac Vibe carries a 32/26-mpg rating, and you can boost that further by going retro: Eliminate the A/C and power locks/windowscruise control, both of which come as $950 options.

Career Profile: Jose Luis Rojas Calderon

Jose Luis Rojas Calderon is the winner of Freescale’s “green” design contest talks about starting his own company in Latin America and the need for efficient water management.

Editorial Comment

Berke On Safety: Which is better: Death by falling or by fire?

Readers occasionally contact me in response to these columns. I recently corresponded with Michael Fischer of the Kellen Co. about the window-screen problem.

Scanning the Field

Scanning for Ideas: Encoder Takes on Drift

The frictionless, interferential-type linear encoder has gratings set up in two dimensions and can use up to three scanners to continually check for drift

Scanning for Ideas: Spring Keeps Seal Working Despite Wear and Tear

The key to the line of canted-coil Bal- Springs from Bal Seal Engineering Co. Inc. is the spring (or energizer) that surrounds the lip of the seal.

Scanning for Ideas: Taking Temperatures the Easy Way

The Estik from Tempil, South Plainfield, N.J. makes it simple to take surface-temperature readings.

Scanning for Ideas: Unmanned Trimaran Smart Enough to Trim Its own Sails

HWT X-1, an unmanned sailingvessel prototype designed and built by Harbor Wing Technologies, Seattle

Software Review

Software Review: FEA for Electric Motors

FEA for Electric Motors. Software works by presenting a high-level frontend to an electromagnetic FE-based modeler, via dialog screens.

November 20, 2008

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