News

BAE Systems begins production of Typhoon helmet-mounted display

First all-composite Humvee-like military vehicle saves weight, but can it save lives?

Electromotive coil design is key to motor that drives natural-motion robotic leg

3D software, scanning, and printing make for more than "shop class" in public school
In this issue:

Feature Articles

Tactile feedback for the touchscreen interface
Touchscreens are gaining in popularity, becoming the user interface of choice for many types of devices in many industries. But at the same time, users say they like to use systems that provide tactile response. Immersion Corporation, a leader in tactile feedback technology, has developed TouchSense technology and components that can be integrated into the touchscreen interface to supply confirming responses to touchscreen presses.
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Temp control: Will adaptive tuning address your control needs?
A leading manufacturer of trailer-mounted portable decontamination systems, including heated showers, needed precise boiler temperature control for water used to quickly decontaminate large numbers of people in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The company developed three- and four-boiler trailers to increase decontamination capacity, but control of this number of boilers proved to be difficult. A multi-loop temperature controller with an adaptive algorithm was able to tune the loops automatically, minimizing setup time and effort. This article explores adaptive tuning's importance, features, and considerations.
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Easily configurable components: 20-hour design time reduced to 20 minutes
Traditionally, designers at Dial Tool Industries' Automation Division would draw up the proposed machine, spec out as many standard parts as possible, and then proceed to the design and production of the custom parts needed — a process that included attendant expense, time, and higher associated machine maintenance cost, plus less modularity in the utilization of custom parts on other machine builds. But one supplier, Misumi USA, has fundamentally changed the paradigm at DTI with its array of configurable components for factory automation.
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Research boosts wireless data transfer
New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make wired computers and peripherals obsolete. Scientists at the Georgia Electronic Design Center are investigating the use of extremely high radio frequencies to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances. Within three years, this "multi-gigabit wireless" approach could result in a bevy of personal area network (PAN) applications, including next-generation home multimedia and wireless data connections able to transfer an entire DVD in seconds.
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Wheels: Electrically conductive copolymer averts static charge build-up
Siemens VDO has adopted Hostafor EC140XF acetal copolymer (POM) from Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, to dissipate electrostatic charge in the fuel supply unit of the diesel versions of the 2007 Ford Transit in Europe. This POM is an extended-use, conductive-grade developed for auto fuel systems, especially those that handle aggressive fuel blends at elevated temperature.
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Geared up
Share your opinions and ideas on designs and pressing industry topics
This week: A poisonous Big Bird/China’s consumer confidence challenge
In a rapidly deteriorating what-else-is-new storyline on par with doping in cycling, toy-maker Fisher-Price's parent company, Mattel, announced a recall of products made in China. The 967,000 plastic pre-school toys (83 types), including Big Bird, Elmo, and Dora the Explorer models, are suspected of containing toxic levels of lead paint, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Where did the breakdown occur?
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New Products

Electrical/Electronic
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Motion Control
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Guides

Literature, guides, catalogs, and other great free stuff: Always more than 50 new resources

  • Industrial supply master catalog —  E&R Industrial Sales
  • New feed and idler roller catalog —
    • SDP/SI
  • Master LED and LCD design guide —
    • Lumex

View guides …

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