TechBlog

Test engineers in industries ranging from aerospace and defense to consumer electronics are facing the challenge of testing increasingly complicated designs with shrinking timelines and budgets. To address these issues, engineers and scientists are incorporating new test and measurement technologies that are capable of meeting complex design requirements without raising costs. National Instruments (NI) has identified five trends it anticipates will significantly influence the test and measurement industry over the next three years.”Companies are turning to the latest technologies including PXI, FPGAs and multicore processors to develop high-performance test systems that can meet consumer demand for higher-quality products,” said Eric Starkloff, National Instruments director of test product marketing.

“Fortunately, more technology vendors are developing industry-standard tools capable of solving problems that previously depended on expensive, dedicated test systems.”

Continue reading ‘Test And Measurement Industry Trends Toward Software-Defined Instrumentation’ »

Robotic transporters are key when you want to automate welding of extremely large, heavy parts.  The maximum work envelope radius of an extended-reach robot is about 3-meters (9.84’).  If the parts you are welding require more reach than that, you need to find ways to move the robot to the part to provide optimal torch access to the welds.  A variety of robot transporters are available, and each type lends itself to a particular type of work flow.  How do you decide whether your application is best-suited for a linear floor- or wall-mounted track, linear overhead gantry or radial transport beam solution? 

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Robotic Transporter

Continue reading ‘Robotic Transporters for Large Weldments’ »

The all new MEMS G50Z High Performance Single Axis Gyro is a MEMS Rate Sensor with both excellent bias over temperature and low noise. Designed for commercial stabilization and aircraft applications, the unit utilizes standard +5V DC power and has a voltage output. The -200 model features a +/- VSG compatible signal.

Continue reading ‘G50Z High Performance MEMS Gyro’ »

The all new A30 MEMS High Performance Single Axis Accelerometer offers excellent bias with a small light weight form factor and low power. Designed for commercial stabilization and aircraft applications, the unit utilizes standard +5V DC power and has a voltage output.

• Low Cost & High Performance MEMS Single Axis Accelerometer
• Excellent Bias ? 1mg
• Bias Repeatability ? 2.5mg
• Axis Alignment <15mrad
• Low Power < 5 mA Typical
• Light Weight < 10 grams
• Low Voltage +5V (single sided power)
• Bandwidth 40Hz / 100Hz
• Voltage Output
• Reference Voltage
• Internal Temperature Sensor
• Self Test
• Shock Resistant 500g
• Long Life

Continue reading ‘A30 High Performance MEMS Accelerometer’ »

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’ »

Researchers at Northwestern University and Princeton University have created a new kind of polymer that, because of its extraordinary thermal and mechanical properties, could be used in everything from airplanes to solar cells.

The polymer, a nanocomposite that incorporates functionalized, exfoliated graphene sheets, even conducts electricity, and researchers hope to use that property to eventually create thermally stable, optically transparent conducting polymers.

Continue reading ‘By Adding Graphene, Researchers Create Superior Polymer’ »

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’ »

Gnat-sized robots, microscopic gyroscopes, television beamed directly onto your retina. This may sound like a grocery list for a crazed sci-fi visionary. But all these projects are in the works today, thanks to an emerging chip technology known as microelectromechanical systems. While magical microbots may still be a few years away, MEMS are already a multibillion-dollar business in the car, printer, and display-projection industries.

Traditional chips are flat, static structures. MEMS, by contrast, are silicon wafers packed with kinetic, three-dimensional gizmos: laboratories, laser-guided mirrors, canals flowing with chemicals. An offshoot of the semiconductor industry, MEMS benefit from the well-known peculiarities of the silicon universe - every year chips get tinier, cheaper, and faster.

Continue reading ‘As the MEMS Revolution Takes Off, Small Is Getting Bigger Every Day’ »

Background

Boron nitride is a synthetic material, which although discovered in the early 19^th century was not developed as a commercial material until the latter half of the 20^th century. Boron and nitrogen are neighbours of carbon in the periodic table - in combination boron and nitrogen have the same number of outer shell electrons - the atomic radii of boron and nitrogen are similar to that of carbon. It is not surprising therefore that boron nitride and carbon exhibit similarity in their crystal structure.

In the same way that carbon exists as graphite and diamond, boron nitride can be synthesised in hexagonal and cubic forms.

Continue reading ‘Ceramic - Boron nitride’ »

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.