This is one of the best demonstrations of the principles behind a differential drive and how the system is optimized for performance. Created in 1937 by Chevy. (For the impatient, discussion begins around the 2 minute mark).
Tag: Technology
Design of High-performance Systems
The principles behind the design of these quadcopters apply to the design of any product.
The lesson here is that some high performance tasks are easier than others and understanding the physics of the problem tells you which ones are easy and which are hard.
-Raffaello D’Andrea
Getting Closer to Mind-reading Products
A lamp that changes color based on your facial expression:
Wired cover story this month:
In the Programmable World, All Our Objects Will Act as One
Just announced:
Arduino Yún with on-board WiFi
Vittorio Cuculo took an Arduino, an RGB LED, and an IKEA lamp and programmed the system to recognize your facial expression and change the color of the light based on how it thinks you’re feeling. I’ll say that again. How it thinks you’re feeling. Sure, it’s a simple interaction and it may be easy to argue the utility of such a system, but projects like this represent significant steps into the future of our interactions with the physical objects we own even though the steps may appear, at first blush, to be small.
via Arduino Blog
Fastener Innovation
I’m not even going to bother trying to explain how Rotite‘s helical dovetail works. Just watch the video.
Rotite Technologies from Rotite Technologies on Vimeo.
Licensing:
Rotite is a potentially diverse technology, with a multitude of applications, in a range of industries. Therein there are “Industry Specific” and “Application Specific” and “Geometrically Specific” Licenses available.We can assist you both in the right choice of license and the ideal geometric solution for your application.Rotite Technologies offer a comprehensive support package to all our licensees , ensuring you stay up to date with all “Geometric, Technical and Intellectual Developments “.
We offer a range complimentary support services such as prototyping and detailed structural analysis.This ensures that together, we can optimise your intended application and get your products to market – quicker.
It isn’t often I see something so interesting applied to something as mundane as fasteners. If you’re using this technology in a specific application let me know at design (at) formlovesfunction.com
Mechanical Principles
A beautiful 10 minute film produced in 1930 by Ralph Steiner showing the internal workings of gear mechanisms, cams, indexers, counters, and many others.
Creo – PTC’s New Take on Product Development Tools
Looks like PTC is serious about integrating their somewhat disparate technology holdings with their new “Creo” suite which includes renamed versions of Pro/ENGINEER, CoCreate, and Product View. Using direct modeling tools on a history-based parametric model would be incredibly enabling for Pro/E users. I’m also digging their role-based approach to the offering and I’m looking forward to learning more about how they break out the apps and licensing for different user types.
The intro video:
Click here to watch the intro event.
Develop3D has a good summary of features.
Click here to tell us what you think in the discussion forum.
James Dyson on Building Innovative Culture
When a designer as successful as James Dyson talks about engineering and manufacturing as one of the cornerstones of innovation I tend to listen:
… Mr. Dyson is an adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron on how to accelerate Britain’s development of new technology and build up its manufacturing and export prowess.
Prominent business leaders in America have recently pointed to the same issue — that modern manufacturing, and the scientific and engineering skills that make it possible, are a crucial pillar of a healthy economy. The two most notable and outspoken on this subject have been Andrew S. Grove, the former chairman of Intel, and Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric.Relying on services alone and neglecting manufacturing, they say, is short-sighted and pushes good jobs abroad.
Dyson’s Ingenious Britain, linked in the article, is also an insightful read.
Read the full article at NYT.com: How to Make an Engineering Culture
As always, comments are welcome in the discussion forum.
HD3D – New Technology from Siemens
PLM applications are great for collecting product design data but more often than not, getting useful information out is a painful, non-intuitive process. When I see PLM data easily displayed in the 3D modeling environment I get excited.
Here are some screenshots from the promo video:
From the Siemens PLM website: HD3D – Your Dashboard for Product Development
There’s nothing like a real life demo. As expected, it’s not quite as flashy as the promotional video.
{Hat tip: @dorasmith via Siemens PLM Connection}