TechBlog

A CubeSat is a type of space research picosatellite with dimensions usually of 10×10×10 centimetres (i.e., a volume of exactly one litre), weighing no more than one kilogram, and typically using commercial off-the-shelf electronics components.

Developed through joint efforts, California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University introduced the CubeSat to academia as a way for universities throughout the world to enter the realm of space science and exploration.

Currently, a large number of universities and some companies and other organizations around the world are actively developing CubeSats. One of these companies Clyde-Space, has just developed an ‘off-the-shelf’ website with information and resources for various sized cubesats and their subsystems. Other suppliers such as ISIS and GomSpace are also offering products and services through their websites.
With their relatively small size, CubeSats can be made and launched for an estimated US$65,000–80,000 each (2004 US dollars). This low price tag, as compared to most satellite launches, has made Cubesat a viable option for schools and universities across the world.

Continue reading ‘Researchers And Students To Develop Small CubeSat Satellites, the Size of a Loaf of Bread’ »

The all new LandMark20 MEMS GPS/AHRS is an ultra low power combined digital Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) that provides internally temperature compensated RS485 output of delta velocity, delta theta, heading, pitch and roll angle and altitude information and a 16 channel C/A code GPS receiver with 10Hz position update rate.

A complete turnkey software development kit with advanced features including direct PC interface, data recording, bandwidth and output rate selection is also available.A complete turnkey software development kit with advanced features including direct PC interface, data recording, bandwidth, output rate selection and GPS is also available.

Continue reading ‘MEMS LandMark20 GPS/AHRS - Low Noise AHRS with GPS’ »

Fly-by-Wireless

Every ounce of weight brought to the lunar surface costs 40 to 60 times that in fuel needed at liftoff from the Earth. Part of that weight penalty is due to wires, but the cost of wires is much more than weight. Wired connectivity drives up the price of design from the beginning: it drives the cost of the many systems and structures; it drives inspection, troubleshooting, maintenance, and upgrade costs; as well as the cost of making system changes. Future vehicles that can reduce the effects and limitations of wires will not be without risk or a lot of work, but the effort has begun.

Continue reading ‘Fly-by-Wireless: A Less-Wire and Wireless Revolution for Aerospace Vehicle Architectures’ »

This undated handout photo provided by IBM and the Feature Photo Service shows lead engineer Don Grice of IBM inspecting the world’s fastest computer, nicknamed “Roadrunner”, in the company’s Poughkeepsie, N.Y. plant. Scientists unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer on Monday, June 9, 2008, a $100 million machine that for the first time has performed 1,000 trillion calculations per second in a sustained exercise. The technology breakthrough was accomplished by engineers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the IBM Corp. on a computer to be used primarily on nuclear weapons work, including simulating nuclear explosions. (AP Photo/IBM, Feature Photo Service)

Continue reading ‘Scientists develop fastest computer’ »

Cleveland Botanical Garden and Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute today officially launched a pioneering research project to explore the potential of liquid crystal technology for creating more sustainable, energy-efficient greenhouses.

At an event held on Wade Oval, the Garden and the University unveiled the two greenhouses that will be used in the first phase of the project. One contains liquid crystal panels and the other, a control, has plain glass. A demonstration revealed how the panes “switch” to manage the amount of sunlight that enters the greenhouse.

Continue reading ‘Smart - Greenhouse Research Partnership Unveiled’ »

Nanomotion introduces the new EDGE motor, one of the smallest ceramic servo motors
in the industrial market. The EGDE motor provides 30 grams of thrust with a maximum
operating velocity of 150mm/sec. Capable of driving linear or rotary motion, the EDGE
is well suited for applications in Aerospace & Military, Medical Devices, and Industrial
Automation.

The Edge motor weighs .6 grams and operates at 8 Vrms. It is supported by
Nanomotion’s dual axis ASIC which can function as a drive and control. The Edge
motor is ideal for shutter/aperture control, small medical pumps, grippers, and other
devices.

In industrial applications, a digital-to-analog (D-to-A) interface may be rather straightforward but the analog-to-digital (A-to-D) converter (ADC) can be a challenge. The capacitive input stage of both delta-sigma and successive approximation register (SAR) interfaces used for the ADC requires signal capture within a limited time frame. An improper signal chain can cause ringing and oscillation and result in inaccurate readings. However, this is just one of many factors to consider when selecting an ADC.

Signal Chain

High-performance ADCs convert the output of an analog sensor to a digital format for a microcontroller or digital signal processor. The selection of the ADC must be part of a systems approach. “When somebody starts a design, you start with the sensor, you see what kind of output impedance it has and you choose an amplifier and resistors around the amplifier and you choose that configuration based on your sensor,” says Chuck Sins, applications engineer, National Semiconductor. “Based on the accuracy of your sensor and what you are ultimately trying to achieve, then I choose the resolution of the ADC.”

Continue reading ‘Signal Conditioning Issues’ »

Electromechanical Rod Actuators DNCE

The DNCE electromechanical rod actuator is a screw driven linear actuator with a nonrotating round piston rod. Based on ISO 6430, DNCE is able to be easily integrated into existing applications using DNC pneumatic cylinders. DNCE electromechanical actuators provide high precision and flexibility making them an ideal motion control solution when positioning accuracy is critical. It can be supplied as either a stand-alone mechanical axis to be mounted to a Festo or third party motor or as part of a complete Festo solution integrated with an MTR-DCI intelligent motor and controller.Motor and mounting attachments ordered separately.
Continue reading ‘Electromechanical Rod Actuators DNCE’ »

From Tesla and Marconi’s electric coils and arcs to the youngster’s model car that speeds or stops at the nudge of the controls, we’ve had a fascination with wireless control and communication.

And with the explosion over the last 25 years of wireless from cell phones to Internet, interest in industrial uses has grown. This could easily afflict anyone from refinery or public works managers to manufacturing techs with equipment monitoring and control needs.

Regardless of the potential, early attempts to adapt wireless technology to industrial applications met with limited success.

Continue reading ‘Industrial Wireless Modems Come of Age’ »

In 1981, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back featured a scene in which autonomous robotic surgeons attached a mechanical hand to Luke Skywalker after his climactic battle with Darth Vader. Real-life autonomous robotic surgeons are still just fiction, but a new breed of medical machines is taking advantage of robotic concepts to aide surgeons with complex medical procedures. Combining sophisticated and reliable electronic control systems and high-level design software with advanced mechanical elements has improved procedural safety and patient comfort level.
The improved medical machines are the result of applying a system-level approach to designing electromechanical systems. This system-level approach, called mechatronics, merges mechanical, electrical, control system, and embedded software design. It represents an industry-wide effort to improve the design process by integrating the best-available development practices and technologies to streamline the design, prototype, and deployment stages. By using system-level design software, domain experts, scientists, and doctors, who have expertise in medical procedures but necessarily programming, can develop medical machines themselves. With this approach, they can reliably develop, test, and validate complex robotic control systems. This opens up a new class of safety-critical applications that were previously out of reach of computer technology. The University of Nebraska Medical Center, OptiMedica, and Lebanese University have all developed surgical devices that have benefited from a mechatronics approach to development.

University of Nebraska Medical Center – da Vinci Surgical System

Continue reading ‘Robotic Surgery Moves from Science Fiction to Reality’ »