Electrical Equipment
Eco aircraft to paint California skies green
September 21, 2011 8:08 am | News | CommentsVying for a $1.65 million purse, the largest aviation prize ever offered, competitors in the Green Flight Centennial Challenge will take to the air this weekend. To qualify, the electric, biofuel, and hybrid-powered planes must exceed 200 passenger miles per gallon, about double what even the best large commercial jets now achieve.
Novel superconductor fibers carry 40 times more electricity
September 7, 2011 8:11 am | News | CommentsA team from Tel Aviv University has developed superconducting wires using fibers made of single crystals of sapphire to be used in high powered cables. Factoring in temperature requirements, each tiny wire can carry approximately 40 times more electricity than a copper wire of the same size.
Ford and Toyota to collaborate on new hybrid system
August 22, 2011 12:11 pm | News | CommentsTwo of the world’s top automakers have teamed up as equal partners to develop a hybrid drive system for rear-wheel-drive light trucks and SUVs.They will independently integrate the new hybrid system in their future vehicles separately.
Wanted: 2011's Top Technologies
August 15, 2011 6:12 am | Blogs | CommentsThe editors of R&D Magazine have opened the nominations for the 2012 R&D 100 Awards competition, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awards. If your organization introduced a new product this year, or is planning to, you can begin the entry process now.
New simulator checks and calibrates all thermocouple instruments
August 4, 2011 9:39 am | Product Releases | CommentsOmega’s new CL540ZA thermocouple simulator can be used to calibrate a thermocouple input instrument and can be used for measuring temperature in a manufacturing facility.
NASA, SwRI going green with solar-powered Jupiter probe
August 2, 2011 10:24 am | by Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsOn Friday, NASA will launch the most distant probe ever powered by the sun. Equipped with three tractor-trailer-sized solar panels to supply 400 W at the terminus of its 2 billion-mile journey, Juno was designed not out of concern for the environment, but for entirely practical considerations.
Advanced sensors underpin Japan’s caregiver robot
August 2, 2011 10:07 am | News | CommentsWith one of the fastest-aging populations in the world, Japan is using robotics to provide automated care solutions. The latest effort at RIKEN, a robot able to lift a human, relies on the first capacitance-type tactile sensors made entirely of rubber to provide the necessary soft touch.
Electronic tongue expertly samples cava wines
July 28, 2011 8:45 am | News | CommentsEarlier this week, R&D Daily featured efforts by scientists in Scotland to ferret out fake whisky with spectrometry techniques. In Spain, chemists are going a different route to identify types of cava, a sparkling wine similar to champagne.
OLED lighting falls short
July 26, 2011 10:05 am | News | CommentsOrganic light emitting diode (OLED) lighting has the potential to create cheap, pleasing light in unique, flexible form factors. However, the technology is immature and costly. Lux Research reports that OLED lighting costs will drop by more than an order of magnitude over the course of this decade. But the technology will still remain uncompetitive with other lighting options, and amount to a mere $58 million market in 2020.
Short, tightly-packed turbines may be the key to wind energy efficiency
July 13, 2011 11:06 am | News | CommentsCaltech researchers have revisited some of the fundamental assumptions that guided the wind industry for the past 30 years, and now believe that a new approach to wind farm design—one that places wind turbines close together instead of far apart—may provide significant efficiency gains.
World-record 25-tesla 'split magnet' makes its debut
July 13, 2011 10:43 am | News | CommentsA $2.5 million magnet that generates 500,000 times the force of the Earth’s magnetic field has recently debuted at Florida State University’s magnetics lab. The “split” design overcomes the structural limitations associated with resistive magnets. Four large elliptical ports allow researchers to access the magnet’s core without disrupting the magnetic field.
PEI-Genesis and Deutsch Aerospace sign global distribution agreement
June 20, 2011 6:47 am | News | CommentsPEI-Genesis, Inc., an assembler of precision connectors and power supplies, announced that they have signed a global distribution agreement with Deutsch Aerospace, a manufacturer of electrical connectors for the industrial vehicle, mil aero, transportation, and oil and gas markets, to assemble their Mil and Civil Aeroconnector products.
Lab-industry partnership to launch deep sea offshore wind demo
June 10, 2011 11:23 am | by Anne M Stark | News | CommentsLivermore Lab has signed a memorandum of understanding with SWAY, a renewable energy company, that has developed floating towers for wind turbines located in deep water. Though California has not yet approved offshore wind turbines, SWAY will launch a 1/5 scale prototype of the technology off the coast of Norway on June 10 to demonstrate how the system could work in the Pacific Ocean.
Solar inverter breakthrough cuts efficiency losses in half
May 26, 2011 12:22 pm | News | CommentsA researcher at Fraunhofer Institute in Germany had a flash of inspiration in 2002. He realized if he could stop the electromagnetic losses caused by the return of current between the output inductor and the input capacitor, he could reduce efficiency losses substantially. His invention resulted in the HERIC technology, which is now being licensed on a large scale.
Expert: China to lose manufacturing edge by 2016
May 20, 2011 5:56 am | News | CommentsDespite its reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse, China’s dominance in this area appears to be at risk, according to an analyst at the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. Steeply rising wages, a shrinking cost advantage, and a dependence on producing cheaper goods indicate that China may be at less of an advantage than countries like the U.S. and Germany.
Finding reserves on the electrical grid
May 12, 2011 6:15 am | News | CommentsIn stormy conditions, grid capacities are often insufficient to handle the electricity generated by wind turbines. To address this problem in Germany, engineers are experimenting with cylindrical sensor nodes that are clamped around transmission lines. These networked sensors can measure the current flow, temperature, wind, and other factors and relay them quickly through grid to help manage the power.
NIST zeroes in on ice maker energy consumption
April 13, 2011 8:18 am | News | CommentsIn tests of four different types of new refrigerators, NIST researchers found that ice makers, a common added feature, increased rated energy consumption by 12 to 20%. About three-fourths of that additional energy cost is due to the electric heaters used to release the ice bits from the molds, prompting the investigators to suggest several efficiency improvements.
Japan quake stirs unease about global supply chain
March 30, 2011 7:02 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsA shortage of auto parts and other components after Japan's earthquake has stirred unease about two pillars of manufacturing: the country's role as a crucial link in the global supply chain and "just in time" production. The realization that these practices have made companies brittle in the face of natural disasters has some questioning current practices.
New cross-disciplinary approach needed for prevention of major systemic failures
February 1, 2011 3:36 am | News | CommentsA Purdue Univ. researcher is proposing development of a new cross-disciplinary approach for analyzing and preventing systemic failures in complex systems that play a role in calamities ranging from huge power blackouts to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the subprime mortgage crisis.
Records broken in patent totals for 2010
January 10, 2011 12:26 pm | News | Comments2010 patent grants hit an all-time high, 31% over 2009. Once again, IBM tops the list as the first company to break 5,000 patents in a single year, and it did so handily. Other notable filers include Apple, Qualcomm, NEC, and SAP, all of which saw 70+% gains in patents this year.
Apple's absence to be felt at CES gadget show
January 4, 2011 5:07 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsOn Thursday, the largest trade show of any kind will begin in Las Vegas. Apple, typically the elephant in the room at this event, will be absent this year. However, the company’s successful iPad tablet is driving forward a new segment of consumer electronics that in turn is fostering innovation in materials, electronics, and display technology.
Study evaluates measurement uncertainty in analyzers and reflectometers
May 26, 2010 6:37 am | White PapersW. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) has announced results of a study in which they compared the measurement uncertainty between vector network analyzers and time domain reflectometers. They designed an experiment which determined if both instruments possess similar levels of measurement precision.
Solar power supply designed for wireless sensing apps
November 19, 2009 10:41 am | Product Releases | CommentsBanner Engineering's FlexPower Solar Supply, BWA-SOLAR-001, includes an integrated charge controller, rechargeable battery pack, AC wall charger and mounting hardware for powering SureCross Wireless Network devices. The supply can be used in a variety of configurations.
Understanding Contract Labs
October 21, 2009 4:25 am | by Lindsay Hock, Managing Editor | Articles | CommentsWith pressure to get new products to market, companies are faced with meeting rigorous standards and the time consuming development and testing to make their products market ready. Since the development process is time consuming, taking from months, up to years, there is no doubt that outside, unbiased help could be beneficial. When faced with deadlines, companies turn to contract laboratories to meet their needs.
Contract Laboratory Profile: Indesign LLC
October 21, 2009 4:20 am | Articles | CommentsIndesign provides electronic product design services. This includes full turn-key product development starting with concept development, continuing through detailed product design and prototyping, and finishing with production support. Indesign develops products for clients in a wide range of markets: medical, military, consumer, industrial, communications, and computer peripherals.
