| May 19, 2015 | Volume 11 Issue 19 |
 | Small motors power bionic hand prosthesis that can help users feel objects
Most hand prostheses can detect muscular movements in the residual limb and enable the bearer to open and close the hand as well as to grasp objects, but they don't provide sensory feedback to the nervous system. The LifeHand 2 prosthetic is equipped with sensors to register tactile sensations and tension in the artificial tendons. The sensors interpret the data and generate electric signals to transmit to electrodes in the user's own arm nerve fibers, so users can "feel" what they are touching.
Read the full article. |
 | Wheels:
Vastly improved high-volume joining process expands use of aluminum in autos
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers have demonstrated a new process for the expanded use of lightweight aluminum in cars and trucks at the speed, scale, quality, and consistency required by the auto industry. The process reduces production time and costs while yielding strong and lightweight parts, for example delivering a car door that is 62 percent lighter and 25 percent cheaper than that produced with today's manufacturing methods.
Read the full article. |
 | Mike Likes:
ID/OD Retaining Ring Lock
Spirolox Retaining Rings can operate in an internal and external groove at the same time. Install the ring in one groove and then compress the ring with the mating component into the second groove. When the grooves meet, the ring snaps into place creating a low-cost, hidden, high-strength, tamper-proof rotating joint. Over 6,000 rings are stocked from 1/4" to 16" diameters in carbon and stainless steel, customs up to 120".
Click here to learn more. |
 | Engineer's Toolbox:
Big gun tests mock nuke bomb
Three years of design, planning, and preparation came down to a split second, a loud boom, and an enormous splash in a successful impact test of hardware in the nose assembly of an unarmed, mock B61-12 nuclear bomb. The Sandia National Laboratories test also captured data that will allow analysts to validate computer models of the bomb, part of Sandia's decade-long effort in the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP). An LEP is a way to extend the life of an aging weapon without adding new military capability.
Read the full article. |
 | Product: Mini trackball features laser tech
APEM's new LT series miniature trackball features advanced laser-tracking technology for precision control, along with IP68 sealing and a completely removable bezel for easy cleaning, ensuring optimal performance in rugged applications such as medical devices, marine systems, industrial consoles, and material handling.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product: Turn ordinary pipe into a conveyor
EXAIR's new aluminum 3/8 NPT and 1/2 NPT Threaded Line Vac Air Operated Conveyors convert ordinary pipe into a powerful conveying system for parts, scrap, trim, and other bulk materials. Their small size makes them perfect for fitting in the cramped spaces and tight confines of many production lines. The Threaded Line Vac is designed to attach to plumbing pipe couplers, making it easy to build a complete system using ordinary pipe and fittings. Threaded Line Vac Conveyors eject a small amount of compressed air to produce a vacuum on one end with high-output flows on the other. Response is instantaneous. Regulating the compressed air pressure provides infinite control of the conveying rate.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product: Custom hybrid linear actuators
Quiet, energy-efficient linear stepper actuators from Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions are excellent replacements for loud and power-hungry solenoid valves for such critical applications as security door actuation systems. With over 200 thread designs and four motor frame sizes below 43 mm available, the modular nature of Haydon Kerk's hybrid linear actuator design allows for easy customization of mounting configuration, wire egress point, stroke length, winding, and more.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Wheels:
Supersonic air blower sweeps train rails clean
Like an SUV towing a trailer in winter, locomotives can lose their grip on slick rails if they're pulling too much behind them. Since the weather in mountainous areas can change quickly, railroads play it safe and usually only run trains long enough to pull through all weather conditions.
But shorter trains can get expensive. That's why GE locomotive engineers developed a software-guided supersonic air blower.
Read the full article. |
|
| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | World's smallest computer rife with possibilities
University of Michigan engineers have taken the lead in constructing millimeter-size fully autonomous computing systems that can perform on many alternating platforms. Dennis Sylvester and David Blaauw, professors of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, have developed the Michigan Micro Mote (M3) units capable of harvesting solar power to utilize wireless communication, pressure, and temperature sensors -- and even still-image and video processing. You can fit 150 of these computers inside a thimble.
View the video. |
 |
|
|
