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Open enrollment!
Now accepting applicants for the advanced study of mechatronic
design.
It's no exaggeration to say that an article we published in 1990 on mechatronics almost
prophetically described how design would unfold in the next 15 years.
Pick up an electric toothbrush, inspect a modern copy machine, or scope
out a newer car, and you will undoubtedly find traces of the
intellectual DNA -- the offspring of the marriage between mechanical and
electrical engineering -- discussed in that forward-looking article,
linked below for your convenience.
This same thought leadership, by the way, is alive today, calling to
any who will listen and who will dare to create the future. If you want
to be part of this history-making group, you need to begin by signing up
for the Mechatronic Design e-newsletter. This will keep you informed of
all the opportunities to advance your interdisciplinary design skills
going forward.
Don't be a flunky. Sign up now and take your place at the head of the
class.
NOTE: This is the third of four introductory mailings, during which
time you must sign up to continue receiving the newsletter.
Larry Berardinis
Editor
Mechatronic Design
Can
Robots Replace Immigrant Workers On Farms?
The folks on Capitol Hill and in the White House seem determined, one
way or another, to reform immigration. The likely outcome will be
tighter border control and fewer immigrant workers. This leaves farmers
with a rather ugly dilemma: leave some fruit in the field to rot and
raise produce prices-a trend that's happening now and scaring farmers-or
find an alternative harvesting method. Companies like Vision Robotics
Corp. (VRC) are making the latter possible by developing an
"intelligent" duo of robots.
 Delta
robot redesign picks up the pace
Delta robots are the best thing to hit the packaging industry since
the advent of conveyor lines. Recent improvements in planetary gearing
and servomotor technology have made them even faster and more compact.
The packaging industry's most successful rapid transfer robot -- the
Delta robot -- was developed in Switzerland during the early 1980s by
Reymond Clavel. Since then, this lightning-quick, spiderlike mechanism
has spread to factories around the world, proliferating in packaging,
medical, and pharmaceutical applications. Their forte is pick-and-place,
where they are often deployed in pods of up to 20 synchronized systems
that collectively handle 100 to 2,500 products per minute.
 Math
class: Review of Eigenvalues
Though most systems are nonlinear, sometimes quick, basic linear
models about points of interest can tell a lot. These matrices reveal
natural system modes to describe everything from structural dynamics,
stability, and critical inputs, to electron position, energy, and
quantum chemistry.
Packaging
equipment goes mechatronic
As more end-user industries, such as Automotive, Food & Beverage, and
Life Sciences, seek a competitive advantage gained through manufacturing
operations, the pressure has mounted on machine builders to accommodate
greater flexibility in production- line capabilities and improve
information connectivity. To this end, the trend in packagingmachinery
design has been to increase the operational
range of the machine by adding changeover
flexibility for a wider range of tooling, variation in
materials, and continuous design changes in the finished
product. Manufacturing agility and flexibility
have become mandates in a broad range of industries.
To achieve this, manufacturers are increasingly
adopting more machinery with embedded
motion control.
 Actuator for Heavy
Loads
The LinearBeam load actuator uses Rigid Chain technology to deliver a
thrust force to 35,000 lb and is guaranteed for over 1 million cycles at
full load and continuous operation. Benefits of the actuator include
32-ft strokes and higher, and capacities of 1 to 160 kN.
Serapid Inc.
PLM Manages Mechatronics Software
To manage software content in mechatronic products, the combination
of PLM Teamcenter and Telelogic Rhapsody provides a Unified Modeling
Language in the PLM. This brings together product requirements,
life-cycle management, software-systems design, and automated code
development. The combined management software is a way to streamline
software development that ensures requirements match performance,
versions correspond to electromechanical designs, and development and
testing take less time.
UGS PLM Software
 Servomotors, amplifiers
Six Alpha HVi series servo models for use in general machine
automation come with a DSM324i motion controller. They feature a
voltage input range of 400 to 480 Vac; include separately mounted shared
power supply modules. The servos reduce the amount of space needed in
the cabinet and eliminate the need for external power resistors to
dissipate regenerated energy during motor deceleration. All models are
supported by the PACMotion controller.
GE Fanuc Automation
Software
for connector selection
Weidmüller Galaxy Software makes it easy to select rectangular
connectors. Users can find the best match for any application, searching
by text, product number, or with the search assistant, based on
technical criteria including current, voltage, numbers of poles,
connector type and more. Weidmüller's RockStar connector catalog
and over-voltage protection device catalog are both integrated into the
software. Users can also link to additional information such as ordering
info, agency approvals, general product data and dimensions. Selected
products and component assemblies are displayed in 3D, from which users
can print, generate data sheets, and export to 2D and 3D CAD files.
Supported in five languages (English, Spanish, Italian, German, and
French), and Galaxy is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP and
Windows Vista.
Weidmüller
More
motor makers hooking up with LabVIEW
Since 1986, LabVIEW software has been helping engineers and
scientists overcome the challenge of developing data acquisition and
control systems. Now, as the graphical programming language developed by
National Instruments, Austin, Texas, enters its third decade, history is
beginning to repeat itself, but in the more mechanically complex
environment of automated motion control.
LabVIEW, with its innately parallel processing environment and
hierarchical structure, has always been well suited for programmable
automation. It only recently became practical, however, with the advent
of high-speed processors, digital industrial networks, and real-time
kernels.
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