CGI Sponsors Youth Robotics Competition
CGI, Inc announces their pledge towards becoming the main event sponsor for the Northern Nevada FTC® Championship Tournament February 24-25 at Carson City High School, Carson City, NV.Founded by Dean Kamen in 1992, FIRST’s mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills. FIRST focuses on innovation and fosters well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership.Mike Madison, president of CGI, Inc. noted that he is proud to participate in FIRST as the main event sponsor for Northern Nevada FTC Championship. "As a ...
Mechatronics and Economic Recovery
Mechatronics is a major driver in economic recovery. That may sound like an extreme claim, but it is something I experience with some regularity. Every time someone comes up with a better solution for a process or new way to make a piece of machinery, there is economic recovery.Mechatronics doesn't get the attention of the President of the United States. Maybe it should. But the American economy is affected every time someone develops a new process or machine. It just doesn't make the headlines every time.When companies compete for and wind marketsthare based on sales of machinery that others use ...
The Next Industrial Revolution
Modern manufacturing is largely the result of Henry Ford’s innovation, assembly line mass production. The goal of which was primarily to make cars available to large numbers of people due to significantly lowered costs. No other single innovation has contributed as much to increase the quality of living conditions throughout the world. Mass production has made more goods available to more people in more places than any other system in the history of mankind.The electric light, for example, which was coveted 100 years ago as the great solution to night time darkness, making obsolete the candle or gas lamp. Mass ...
ABB adds midrange robot for the 12 to 20 kg payload class
ABB Robotics introduced the IRB 2600, the latest model in its medium capacity range of multipurpose robots. This robot is compact but with an ultra-wide working range and a payload capacity up to 20 kg. It also offers the best accuracy and speed in its class, improving productivity through increased output, faster cycle times and lower scrap rates. It is suited for arc welding, machine tending, material handling and a variety of process applications.The IRB 2600 is the second introduction from ABB’s fourth-generation of midrange industrial robots, a structured portfolio redesign that began with the 2009 introduction of the IRB ...
Landcrawler Robot Wobbles But Doesn’t Fall
This funny lookin’ fella weighs just 27 pounds, has 12 legs, and can carry you around on its back if you let it.The Land Crawler xTreme robot offers its master a ride on top of its square platform top, provided you don’t weigh more than 175 pounds. As it ambles around, it definitely doesn’t look like the smoothest or speediest way to get around the place, but it sure has got plenty of style doing it.Funny thing is the maker of the robot says he made the Land Crawler eXtreme as a toy for his 2-year old ...
Mechatronic Commentary
Reliability, Testing and Wind PowerThe end point of design is testing. Prototypes must be built and their ability...
Inventing the FutureDo we decide to invent the future? Is the future of technology decided by a government...
SolutionsTesla and Edison were both right. The “war of the currents” was really...
Click Here for more Mechatronic CommentaryMechatronic Automation
The New Generation of Motor DesignMotors keep changing. Faraday’s laws haven’t been broken. Rather,...
New Product Development is New AgainNew product development is what stimulates commerce. And nothing succeeds like...
Medicine and MechatronicsMy wife had surgery recently. We were told the surgery would be done robotically...
Read More on Mechatronic AutomationManufacturing Trends
Reliability, Testing and Wind PowerThe end point of design is testing. Prototypes must be built and their ability...
Energy and PolicyEnergy is in the news every day. Gasoline prices are only part of the picture,...
Read More on Manufacturing TrendsRobotics
CGI Sponsors Youth Robotics CompetitionCGI, Inc announces their pledge towards becoming the main event sponsor for the Northern...
Motion, Measurement and ControlMotion control is all about control. But you cannot control what you cannot measure....
Japan, Nuclear Power, Real ChallengesThe earthquake in Japan brings us face to face with another challenge to the engineering...
Read More on RoboticsGreen Engineering
Inventing the FutureDo we decide to invent the future? Is the future of technology decided by a government...
SolutionsTesla and Edison were both right. The “war of the currents” was really...
Read More on Green EngineeringElectronics
Reliability, Testing and Wind PowerThe end point of design is testing. Prototypes must be built and their ability...
Minarik Drives and American Control Electronics Gain ISO CertificationHegel Holdings, parent company for both the Minarik Drives & American Control...
The New Generation of Motor DesignMotors keep changing. Faraday’s laws haven’t been broken. Rather,...
Read More on ElectronicsMotion Controls
Minarik Drives and American Control Electronics Gain ISO CertificationHegel Holdings, parent company for both the Minarik Drives & American Control Electronics brands, announced that they have earned ISO9001:2008 Certification for the design and manufacture of electronics control solutions for industrial and commercial applications. ISO 9001:2008 certification is granted to organizations that adhere to international... [Read more]
The New Generation of Motor DesignMotors keep changing. Faraday’s laws haven’t been broken. Rather, we keep inventing new solutions to the fundamental question; how do I achieve lowest cost performance. The primary attribute driving a new motor design can be any of a long list of things. Usually there is a minimum speed and torque. Then there are starting and stopping... [Read more]
The Future of Motion ControlI read comments from other authors in motion control with considerable interest. There are some upcoming webcasts on the”the future of motion control”. Predicting the future is always a problem. There are so many things to consider. Short term economic trends for manufacturers are pretty easy. Costs are going up. Outsourcing continues.... [Read more]
Operating in a VacuumSemiconductor machinery poses some of the biggest challenges in the entire field of motion control. Typical requirements in semiconductor machinery applications start with nanometer accuracy which is daunting for most forms of motion controls and actuators. Add to that, operation at 10 to the -9 torr hard vacuum, and you have some of the exotic... [Read more]
Medicine and MechatronicsMy wife had surgery recently. We were told the surgery would be done robotically with a DaVinci surgical system. Fortunately, the condition for which she is being treated appears to be resolved by the surgery. But the events give me pause to contemplate the role of mechatronics in modern medicine. I remember reading for many years about the development... [Read more]
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