09/01/2020 The world’s first truly universal torque wrench calibration machine Traditionally, torque wrench calibration machines have been intended for specific manufacturers’ products. For laboratories and OEMs this can be a real nuisance, requiring several different machines ...
03/12/2019 Remote condition monitoring advances are having positive impacts on industry Remote condition monitoring represents one of the most game-changing technologies to have entered the industrial sphere in recent years. By removing the need for time-consuming and costly checks by ...
07/11/2019 I spy with my UVeye An Israeli start-up has taken a system for detecting explosives underneath vehicles and re-designed it for the automotive quality assurance market.
07/10/2019 Predictive maintenance processes are easy to implement With food manufacturers being continually squeezed on price by retailers and asked to fulfil orders for supply that can seem, at best, challenging and at worst highly unrealistic, improving ...
03/10/2019 2000-year-old Herculaneum Scrolls to be decoded using UK synchrotron Researchers led by Professor Brent Seales, will be using Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility in Oxfordshire, to examine and virtually unwrap two complete scrolls and ...
09/09/2019 Ensuring stability and safety: drives must comply with EMC requirements In many industrial environments, ensuring the stability of drive controllers is sometimes overlooked. However, according to Mark Checkley, sales and managing manager, KEB Automation, an EMC-compliant ...
31/07/2019 Flexible, low-cost translation of diagnostic assays to a simple, easy-to-use device In which applications could a simple, low-cost robotic system that performs on-site, precise fluid mixing and manipulation be used? They could include: diagnostic testing, testing of food and drink ...
09/05/2019 ‘Testing to destruction’ is a term that takes on a very literal meaning at Cranfield Ordnance, Test and Evaluation Centre When he describes what happens at his site, Trevor Lawrence, the operations director of Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC) reflects: “Now I think about it, it doesn’t sound like a ...
03/04/2019 Detecting tumours with optical imaging Near-infrared technology from MIT pinpoints fluorescent probes within living tissue, at a depth approaching that of CT and MRI but at a higher resolution and could be used to detect cancer earlier.
29/03/2019 Soft robots can work side-by-side with humans or as pipe inspection tools Whether it’s grabbing, holding or turning, touching, typing or pressing – in everyday life, we use our hands as a matter of course for the most diverse tasks. In that regard, the human hand, with its ...
05/11/2018 Inspection in the age of smart manufacturing Metrology is often an overlooked process in manufacturing, when it actually plays an essential role. In particular, inspection helps ensure that component parts fit together accurately and ensures ...
27/09/2018 Defining autonomous machine vision – A new category “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” These are the words of Buckminster Fuller, an architect, ...
05/09/2018 Re-tiling a fusion reactor The inside of fusion reactors can reach temperatures hotter than the core of the sun. To keep this energy sealed within the reactor the tiles lining it have had to be painstakingly positioned ...
06/07/2018 Futureproofing aerospace connectivity To capitalise on the growing trend of providing reliable connectivity on commercial and military aeroplanes, one global company standardised its entire test division to be more flexible and improve ...
02/07/2018 Software to shorten development times At NIWeek 2018 in Austin, National Instruments (NI) announced a suite of products for designing for the ‘megatrends’ of highly-connected and intelligent systems in shorter times and by smaller ...
11/06/2018 Affordable sensing for motors The use of retrofittable sensors to monitor motor performance could prove an easy way into Industry 4.0.
05/06/2018 Factors to consider when selecting confocal displacement sensors Although most engineers are familiar with non-contact laser triangulation sensors, many are not aware of confocal measurement technology and the benefits this measuring principle can offer for both ...
04/06/2018 Condition Monitoring: a key part of I4.0 and the ‘Dark Factory’ While Condition Monitoring (CM) systems are continuing to prove their value in industrial applications, many companies are still unsure how CM should fit into their Industry 4.0 strategy and the ...
02/05/2018 An IoT approach to condition monitoring in compressed air equipment could lead to efficient, autonomous cyber physical systems The term Internet of Things (IoT) has become ubiquitous in recent years and is now seemingly being applied to any instance in which a device is connected, communicative and data-driven. However, it ... 1 comment
05/12/2017 Seat stowing system creates flexible spaces for cargo and passengers We’ve all done it. But accidentally leaving your laptop or coat on the train could become a thing of the past thanks to the development of a low cost ‘presence detection’ sensor.
06/11/2017 Energy chain materials and structures should be developed symbiotically The ‘energy chain’ is the umbilical cord of a machine – nourishing it with vital energy, data and media. The degree of movement of these chains can range from simple linear strokes, such as those ...
06/11/2017 PCs for hazardous areas In hazardous environments, a single spark from a faulty wire can be deadly. So, what do companies need to consider when choosing a PC for such an area?
02/10/2017 Improving additive manufacturing processes with a flash of light 10 billion times brighter than the sun Additive manufacturing has transformed the way components are made, allowing for the design of organic geometries and internal features that would be impossible to produce with traditional casting or ...
04/09/2017 What to know about the EU's new automotive Radio Equipment Directive As of 13th June 2017, the new European Union Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU completely replaced the old Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTE). This is ...
06/07/2017 Relying on high precision displacement measurement systems to build the world’s largest mirror telescope The construction of the largest, optical and near-infrared telescope in the world is progressing, with completion planned for 2024. The revolutionary European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is a ...
06/11/2017