| April 09, 2019 | Volume 15 Issue 14 |
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 | THK World-Class KR Actuators -- Rigid, Accurate and Compact
The LM guide actuator model KR from THK provides high-rigidity, high-precision functionality and space saving. It is achieved by a nut block designed in a structure that integrates an LM rail having a highly rigid U-shaped cross-sectional form with the LM guide section.
The KR features a four-way equal load rating. The LM guide actuator can be operated in any position, which makes it ideal for loading in directions that are not fixed.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Feature articles | New kind of shape-shifting airplane wing
A team of MIT and NASA engineers has built and tested a radically new kind of airplane wing, assembled from hundreds of tiny identical pieces. The wing can change shape to control the plane's flight, and could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight, and maintenance efficiency.
Read the full article. |
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 | Titanium Springs from Atlantic Spring
Titanium springs from Atlantic Spring-MW Industries offer improved resistance to corrosion, lower torsion modulus, shorter free length, greater strength, and significant weight reduction over steel springs. These attributes make titanium springs ideal for various aircraft, space, military, and defense applications. Atlantic Spring offers rapid prototyping services. Prototypes can be available within 3 to 5 days dependent upon design complexity and material availability. ISO9100D certified and ITAR registered.
Download capabilities flyer. |
 | 2019 Acura RDX named 'Best Luxury Compact SUV for Families'
What's the "Best Luxury Compact SUV for Families"? According to experts at U.S. News and World Report, it's the 2019 Acura RDX, boasting loads of comfort, room, and power for those town-and-country jaunts. The all-new Acura RDX provides next-level driving enjoyment and all-weather confidence with its 272-hp turbocharged VTEC engine and available Acura Super-Handling All Wheel Drive technology. U.S. News and World Report also named this vehicle "2019 Best Luxury Compact SUV for the Money."
Read the full article. |
 | First-ever 3D-printed football helmet liner -- Neat!
Riddell and Carbon have partnered to bring customized, digital design innovation to sports-gear head protection. The 3D-printed lattice liner is digitally manufactured using Carbon's proprietary Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology on Carbon's new L1 printer, producing parts from a highly damping resin and light. The technology is initially available in the Riddell SpeedFlex Precision Diamond helmet model, which features Riddell's Precision-Fit head scanning and helmet-fitting process. Each helmet is made up of more than 140,000 individual struts, carefully orchestrated into patterns for attenuating impact forces while providing excellent comfort and a customized fit.
Watch the video to see this impressive technology. |
 | Toolbox: Design software transforms how commercial jetliners are built
In the late 1990s, as computers were becoming vastly more powerful, Stuart Rogers from NASA's Ames Research Center began working on Pegasus 5 -- a preprocessor for overset-grid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Every once in a while, Rogers releases a new version and sends it to NASA users, Boeing, and other companies. The code has been distributed to more than 470 organizations in industry, academia, and the U.S. Department of Defense, and it won the NASA Software of the Year Award in 2016.
Read the full article. |
 | Top Tech Tip: Specifying self-lubricating bearings for linear motion systems
Self-lubricating ball bushing bearings have experienced an increase in use among motion system designers thanks to their ability to significantly reduce cost of ownership, improve performance, and deliver virtually maintenance-free operation. However, these bearings may not reach their full potential without being properly specified, installed, and evaluated for compatibility with their intended environment. Learn how to specify them for long-lasting use in your motion system applications.
Read this informative Thomson article. |
 | Xometry receives ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certifications
Xometry, the world's largest digital manufacturing marketplace, recently announced that it has received ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certifications. These certifications are among the industry's most rigorous and reflect the company's commitment to quality. ISO 9001 is the world's most widely recognized quality management standard and helps organizations to meet the expectations and needs of their customers. The AS9100 standard goes beyond the requirements of ISO 9001 to meet the rigorous demands of the aerospace and defense industries.
Learn more. |
 | Top Roller conveyor for mobile industrial robots
Real efficiency in logistics automation is achieved when the entire workflow is handled by robotics solutions that communicate smoothly with each other. That's the vision behind ROEQ's new TR500 Top Roller unit that automates load and unload operations of the MiR500, the largest and most powerful autonomous mobile robot from Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). Danish company ROEQ is launching the Top Roller at the Automate 2019 show in Chicago this week, along with a host of other add-ons for MiR. The TR500 accommodates U.S. pallets and can be delivered with a fully automated lifter functionality for pick-up and delivery of goods.
Learn more. |
 | Powerhouse gripper for collaborative applications
The SCHUNK Co-act EGL-C long-stroke gripper is a milestone on the way to a comprehensive human/robot collaboration (HRC): It is the world's first long-stroke gripper developed for collaborative operation. It achieves high gripping forces up to 450 N (handling weights beyond small parts assembly) and combines them with a long stroke of 42.5 mm per finger. The intelligent 24-V unit is suitable for handling workpiece weights up to 2.25 kg and can be flexibly used in a wide range of applications. The SCHUNK developers are particularly focused on the automotive-related supply industry, carmakers, and machine building, where powerful grippers may be able to achieve rapid success in HRC applications.
Learn more. |
 | Solvay develops sustainable Halar ECTFE anti-corrosion coating system
Solvay's new waterborne Halar ECTFE coating system broadens metal corrosion-prevention applications for the chemical processing industry. The coating system is comprised of a high-adhesion primer and topcoat and is easily applied using standard liquid spray equipment. Solvay's Halar ECTFE powder coatings have been used for corrosion prevention for over 40 years for equipment in a range of industries including acids, mining, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and semiconductor, among others. The new waterborne Halar ECTFE liquid coating tech expands the range of end-use applications to those that are difficult or impossible to powder coat. This includes complex shapes, uneven surfaces, oversized vessels, pipe interiors, and tanks and containers. Moreover, it provides engineers an alternative protective metal coating option to corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs).
Learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Boston Dynamics shows off radical warehouse robot
Looking something like a beefy robotic ostrich on wheels, Boston Dynamics' latest version of its Handle "mobile manipulation robot" concept autonomously performs mixed-SKU stacking and unstacking. The Handle on-board vision system tracks the marked pallets for navigation and finds individual boxes for grasping and placing. The bot's creators say the boxes used in this video weigh about 11 lb, but the robot is designed to handle boxes up to 33 lb. Impressive and strange design all in one.
View the video. |
 | X Gamer tries out Harley-Davidson scooter
X Games host Jack Mitrani was the first person ever to ride Harley-Davidson's new lightweight electric scooter concept in public this past January. Mitrani especially loved the quick responsiveness of the electric direct drive as he whizzed around Aspen. Harley says it has designed the battery to be removable, so riders can "single-hand-carry (it) back to an apartment or office space to charge using a charging dock that plugs into any standard household power outlet." The company is really planning to make these -- not a late April Fool's joke.
View the video. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | |
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