Motion Control System Includes Solid-State, Embedded PC
Siemens announced that an embedded PC is now available for its Simotion® P320-3 motion control applications. Providing maintenance-free controls, the Simotion P320-3 brings the power and simplicity of a PC to motion control. The embedded PC, which features a DDR3 memory and an Intel Core2 processor, is free of wear from moving parts, such as hard disks and fans. This compact motion control system provides maximum flexibility and accommodates centralized or decentralized machine concepts for PC-based applications or for applications that require a compact size. It is designed for many different motion control applications with ...
Top 5 Electrical Considerations for Mechanical Engineers
Previously, we covered mechanical considerations for electrical engineers. Now, we give the other side a chance to speak. Here are five targeted pieces of advice for mechanical engineers responsible for electromechanical systems, from the perspective of an electrical engineer. Mechatronics systems intelligently integrate mechanical and electrical elements to perform increasingly complex and demanding functions. When designing electromechanical systems, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers may tend to emphasize the technologies, components, and design principles from their single area of expertise—which can lead to ...
Mechatronics and Economics
Recently, I did some industry analysis on jobs and revenue. How many dollars of sales are required to "create or save" a job in a given industry. I only looked at a couple of industries and found that it ranged from $219,000 to $275,000 in sales for certain types of processed materials to employ a worker in that industry. Obviously, this type of metric will vary wildly depending on how highly automated a particular industry is. The beverage industry is highly automated and doesn't have a large employee staff to generate finished products. But interestingly, the companies that build machinery for ...
Caterpillar’s Crawl May Hold Clues To Future Robotics
Caterpillars have a unique "two-body" system of movement that may have implications for robotics and human biomechanics, U.S. researchers say. The scientists found that the gut of the crawling hawkmoth caterpillar moves forward independently of and in advance of the surrounding body wall and legs, instead of moving with them. This is the first time this type of movement has been reported in an animal, the study authors noted. "Understanding this novel motion system may help efforts to design soft-bodied robots. It may also prompt re-examination of the potential role soft tissues play ...
U.S. Army Developing Snake Robotics
Development of snake-like technology underway at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory is moving the military toward sending more autonomous systems instead of Soldiers on search-and-rescue missions, a top priority in the most dangerous mission areas. Army researchers call it the Robotic Tentacle Manipulator, a developmental project that expands on snake robotics research introduced at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, an ARL-funded effort through its robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance initiative. This new work has resulted in the arrangement of the bases of several snakes in a circular array that functions like a team using multiple ...
Mechatronic Commentary
New Jobs and New Math
The job market seems to be the #1 subject on people’s minds. And government...
Robots and the Future – Part 2
Robotics researchers have been pushing the envelope for the last 30 years since the...
Robots and the Future
In the field of Robotics, where is the line between between remote control, software...
Click Here for more Mechatronic CommentaryMechatronic Automation
Robotic Machining Cuts Part Lead-Time From Months To Days
Subtractive processes, often referred to as CNC machining, have not stood still in...
Robots and the Future
In the field of Robotics, where is the line between between remote control, software...
Mechatronics and Economics
Recently, I did some industry analysis on jobs and revenue. How many dollars of...
Read More on Mechatronic AutomationManufacturing Trends
New Jobs and New Math
The job market seems to be the #1 subject on people’s minds. And government...
Robotic Machining Cuts Part Lead-Time From Months To Days
Subtractive processes, often referred to as CNC machining, have not stood still in...
Read More on Manufacturing TrendsRobotics
Superior Feedback Performance in Telerobotics
WITTENSTEIN has perfected its control loading products to provide realistic force...
Robots and the Future – Part 2
Robotics researchers have been pushing the envelope for the last 30 years since the...
Robotic Machining Cuts Part Lead-Time From Months To Days
Subtractive processes, often referred to as CNC machining, have not stood still in...
Read More on RoboticsGreen Engineering
Electric Car Prequel
The electric car, hybrid or plug in, continues to be an elusive goal. One model sports...
$2 Bil more for Solar
The President announced $2 billion dollars will be given to fund solar projects in...
Read More on Green EngineeringElectronics
TUALATIN, OR – CUI Inc’s power line, V-Infinity, announced the addition of 10...
Linear Actuators
Linear Actuators are a class of mechatronic systems with some unique design constraints....
The Next Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution was a period of unprecedented expansion of technology that...
Read More on ElectronicsMotion Controls
Motion Control System Includes Solid-State, Embedded PC
Siemens announced that an embedded PC is now available for its Simotion® P320-3 motion control applications. Providing maintenance-free controls, the Simotion P320-3 brings the power and simplicity of a PC to motion control. The embedded PC, which features a DDR3 memory and an Intel Core2 processor, is free of wear from moving parts, such as hard... [Read more]
Superior Feedback Performance in Telerobotics
WITTENSTEIN has perfected its control loading products to provide realistic force feedback for the telerobotics market. Utilizing compact design and unique electronic linking, sidestick systems from WITTENSTEIN offer revolutionary reliability and realism for operators. WITTENSTEIN Aerospace & Simulation has been the control loading leader in... [Read more]
Robots and the Future – Part 2
Robotics researchers have been pushing the envelope for the last 30 years since the inception of “artificial intelligence”. The basics of artificial intelligence programming is the modeling of human expertise and mimicking human behavior in a variety of circumstances. One aspect of artificial intelligence gave rise to expert systems. Complex... [Read more]
Robots and the Future
In the field of Robotics, where is the line between between remote control, software control and autonomous control? (No, I’m not going after the consciousness thing, it’s way too complicated) Part of the problem may have to do with our use of the word “intelligence”. We talk about the increasing “intelligence”... [Read more]
Semicon 2010
This year’s semiconductor industry gathering, Semicon 2010 is over. And it was a good show with a lot of technical content targeted at the ongoing effort to achieve ever higher density parts. The forecast for 2010 and 2011 is for the highest growth levels in a decade. Certainly, at $295 Billion in projected sales for calendar year 2010,... [Read more]
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