Pneumatics is a fluid power technology similar to hydraulics in that it transmits force through a pressurized medium to create useful work. However, pneumatic technology differs from hydraulics in every critical fashion — compressibility. To be fair, hydraulic oil compresses as well, but only 0.4 percent every thousand psi or so. However, in the simplest…
Tech Toolbox: Programmable logic controllers (PLCs)
Programmable logic controllers or PLCs are microprocessor-based components that serve as the programmable smarts for simple or isolated applications. They’re also finding increasing use on integrated machinery and automated installations with extensive IIoT connectivity. In this new Tech Toolbox, the editors of Design World detail how PLCs came to replace relay-based controls as well as…
February 2024 Issue: HMIs in motion control
I love learning about engineering colleagues who are innovating in new ways. Take the current issues with renewable energy. While strides have been made in solar and wind, the variability of these technologies often doesn’t match up with when power is most needed. That’s created much research over the years into ways to store power…
Tech Toolbox: Machine design for food automation
Motion system designs run millions of automated food-manufacturing designs worldwide — including those in employed in grain milling, pasta making, and baking; fish and poultry processing; beer, wine, and spirit production; slaughtering and meatpacking; fruit, vegetable, and baby-food packaging, canning, jarring, and freezing; candy making; dairy and cheese making; and oils and fat extraction and…
January 2024 Issue: 2024 Leadership in Engineering
Keeping a focus on engineering leadership Within each January issue of the magazine, we focus on the topic of leadership in engineering. And while that’s usually focused on the leadership qualities of manufacturers as well as individual engineers, I’m proud to announce here that our parent company, WTWH Media, continues to take a leadership role…
JIECANG Linear Actuator Updates Cleaning Robot Automation
Discover how JIECANG is leading the way in the sanitation revolution with cutting-edge linear actuators in upgrading cleaning robot automation.
December 2023 Issue: Custom cables help keep shipping channels clear
Reshoring manufacturing — and the Texas-Mexico connection JCB recently announced that it will build a new factory in North America, creating 1,500 new jobs over the next five years. The British company is a global manufacturer of construction equipment and also builds machinery for the agricultural and waste-handling industries. JCB said this new facility will…
Impacts of 3D IC On The Future
Developers of high-end semiconductor products that face manufacturing limitations with respect to die sizes are investing in 3D stacked die technology. These advanced designs already push current design-for-test (DFT) solutions to the limits: tool run time, on-chip area demand, test pattern count, and test time. The next major step for improving system-in-package technology is 3D…
November 2023 Robotics Handbook
In this special edition: Welding cobot delivers 10X production boost for marine exhaust manufacturer DeAngelo Marine Exhaust has increased weld speed, lowered lead times, and improved quality using its new cobot colleague. Inside the development of Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid The company’s R&D work on exoskeletons and bipedal locomotion for the U.S. government and Department of…
The Flange Bush Primer
The flanged bush eliminates the need for a housing. The flange connects directly to the assembly making the mounting easy. NB’s round, square or two-side cut Flange Slide Bush lines offer the best of both worlds – the benefits of a slide bush with the mounting ease of a flange. When your application calls for…
November 2023 Special Edition: Applications Casebook
UP WITH DEMOCRATIZATION IN ENGINEERING Recently our office received an article by electrical engineer Bernard Ang of Keysight Technologies (previously Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies) about new ways software tools are helping to advance engineering education for design engineers. If you want to get specifics on Keysight’s tools, visit 3dcadworld.com and search Bernard Ang. It’s one…
November 2023 Issue: Putting power-off brakes on a self-driving robot
Engineering … illustrated I write a lot in this space about the need to get more young people from all backgrounds to consider engineering as a career. We rarely end up as a sexy occupation on television. That’s relegated to doctors, lawyers, and heck, even crime scene investigators and morticians. (I don’t think we can…
Linear-Motion Solutions for the Design Engineer Tech Tips
Recirculating Slide Guides Recirculating slide guides excel in three areas: applications needing longer strokes, designs with space constraints and configurations where cost is a primary concern. Because of the unique design, travels are only limited by the maximum rail length of each profile size.
October 2023 Issue: Spotlight on linear encoders
A soft-ish landing for manufacturers? The National Fluid Power Association’s annual International Economic Outlook Conference, held recently in Chicago, provided an overview of the current economic landscape, exploring both U.S. and global macro trends and the ramifications for fluid power and motion control manufacturers. Here’s a breakdown of some of the main ideas: U.S. dominance:…
October 2023 Issue: Power & Energy Efficiency Handbook
Engineering a green mindset and sustainable future Growing up in the pre-2000s era with a power electronics engineer for a father, my family’s first introduction to power and energy efficiency efforts was primarily analog. The word “vampire” was associated with a TV show called Dark Shadows; it had nothing to do with standby power back…
eBook: Setting The Standard For Precise Alignment
Download the Nippon Bearing eBook NB’s standard TOPBALL® TW type is the forerunner of the TOPBALL Ultimate and it is available in a wide range of sizes. TOPBALL has 3 times the load capacity and 27 times more travel life than conventional bushings. Because it is self-aligning, it speeds manufacturing and assembly. It is a…
September 2023 Issue: Direct-write technology drives additive manufacturing
According to the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2023, electric car sales saw another record year in 2022, despite supply chain disruptions, macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and high commodity and energy prices. The growth took place in the context of globally contracting car markets: total car sales in 2022 dipped by 3% relative to 2021. Electric…
August 2023 Special Edition: Motion Control Handbook
THE BORING TRUTH ABOUT AI You can’t turn anywhere today without hearing about artificial intelligence or AI. Most AI coverage seems to exist on a kind of truncated spectrum with two dominant endpoints. On the one end is absolute AI triumphalism and cheerleading — as in “AI will solve X” with X being any and…
August 2023 Issue: Absolute encoders – facts and misconceptions
Science centers and STEM careers As the father of two sons, I’ve been to more than my share of science museums over the years, from Cleveland to Portland, Ore. and San Francisco to Rochester, N.Y. These institutions have been playing an increased role in recent years in encouraging students to pursue STEM careers — as…
August 2023 Issue: Automotive & Transportation Electronics
In this issue Smarter, safer, cheaper: how Ethernet will enable the car of the future The implementation of Ethernet as a universal standard throughout the automotive industry can optimize vehicle performance by reducing the number of electronic control units (ECUs) and associated wiring, thus enabling a smarter, cheaper, and safer future car. Zonal E/E will…
July 2023 Issue: Single-pair Ethernet: Simplifying Ethernet connectivity
Working toward more inclusive engineering Over the past five years, our editorial staff has produced an extra issue each Fall to examine the challenges facing women in the engineering space, as well as celebrating the achievements being made by female engineers in the industry. We’re proud of the light we’ve shown on these readers, including…
June 2023 Issue: Industrial connectivity and digital transformation trends
Taking the electric leap According to AAPEX, adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the U.S. has increased substantially in recent years — they accounted for 6% of new vehicle registrations in 2022 and are forecast to reach 56% of vehicles sold in 2035 and 81% in 2045. This would translate to 19% of the…
June 2023 Issue: Test & Measurement Handbook
Test goes beyond the bench Many, if not most, design engineers use bench test equipment — oscilloscopes, multimeters, spectrum analyzers, function generators, and so on. Test doesn’t, however, end at your bench; it goes onto the production floor. In production, test is about making sure that the manufacturing process operates within tolerances. That is, if…
May 2023 Issue: 5G, Wireless, & Wireline Communications Handbook
Bigger name, same technical content Welcome to EE World’s 5G, Wireless, and Wired Communications Handbook. What’s this? A longer name compared to 2021 and 2022? In truth, we at EE World have for years covered many forms of electrical communications. It’s time the handbook name better describes what we do. 5G is much more than…
May 2023 Special Edition: Power Transmission Guide
The value of learning…then learning some more Welcome to the 2023 edition of Design World’s special Power Transmission Guide. Each year, the motion editors at Design World prepare four special issues devoted to motion control; one surveying the newest trends in the industry, one spotlighting unique motion applications, and two special issues covering the basics…