Design Engineering November/December 2012

12 What’s new in Solidworks 2013 22 T-Bots and H-Bots save space and increase performance

36 Canadian engineer lends space suit skills to historic freefall

$10.00 | November/December 2012

Canadian Rovers

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Canadian space robotics expertise produces rover prototype fleet for future space exploration

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Artemis, Jr., designed by the Neptec Rover Team, is one of a half dozen robotic lunar and Mars rover prototypes developed to position Canada as a player in future space exploration missions.

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12-11-23 3:21 PM

Contents | Volume 58, No. 6

IN THE NEWS

8 Mitutoyo appoints

16

new executives

8

ATS reports $8 million profit for Q3

8

General Dynamics secures LAV III upgrade contract

8

Toronto designer wins concept Popemobile contest

10

Kaspersky to develop secure Industrial OS

10

Canadian flying saucer declassified

11

2012 Technology Fast 50 winners announced

11

P&WC Selects Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

Columns 12 CAD Report Solidworks 2013 abounds with time-saving enhancements and handy features 16 Hardwire MotoCzysz engineers speed design of performance electric bikes with 3D mice

Annual Subscription Rate In Canada: $52.95 (1 year) $71.95 (2 year) Outside Canada: $99.95 (1 year) Single Copy In Canada: $10.00 Outside Canada: $22.00 Directory Rates In Canada: $27.00 Outside Canada: $45.00 Reader Service Contact Information ecallaghan@bizinfogroup.ca T: Toronto 416 442 5600 X 3538 Elsewhere -866-543-7888 Mail: Business Information Group Design Engineering Circulation Dept 80 Valleybrook Drive North York, ON M3B 2S9

18

26 Shop Talk DEX Appeal: Design Engineering tabletop show draws enthusiastic engineering crowd 28 Power Transmission Designing the most efficient motor and gearbox pairing takes time but can be simplified by using the right selection process 30 Idea Generator The latest in industrial products including sensors, fluid power and power transmission components

22

26

Features READER SERVICES

5

18 Canadian Rovers Canadian space robotics expertise produces rover prototype fleet for future space exploration.

22 Alpha-Bot Soup T-Bot and H-Bot configurations can save space and increase performance 36 Falling Free Canadian engineer lends spacesuit skills to historic freefall

36 30

Printed in Canada

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November/December | 2012

12-11-23 3:41 PM

6 EditorialViewpoint

Cliff Diving

www.design-engineering.com

A

s the end of the year approaches, manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada aren’t thinking about Christmas or the promise of a New Year. Instead, their focus rests on whether the U.S. will collectively drive off the so-called fiscal cliff, the slew of across-the-board cuts in U.S. government spending coupled with tax increases set to kick in January 1, 2013 if President Obama and U.S. law makers don’t reach a long sought after deal by the December 31 deadline.

It’s not hard to understand their pre-occupation. According to U.S. Congressional Budget Office projections, failing to avert the $109 billion in spending cuts and near ubiquitous tax increases would, it’s widely considered, spark another international recession. In the U.S. alone, the Budget Office says the unemployment rate would rise to 9.1 percent as the economy declined by 0.5 percent in 2013.

Others don’t paint as rosy a picture. A study from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says failing to avert the fiscal cliff would result in the loss of six million jobs, thereby bringing the U.S. unemployment rate to 11 percent. In addition, the NAM report predicts GDP would fall by 12.8 percent while household income would shrink by 10 percent.

As bad as that sounds, the real tragedy would be that the things seemed to be turning around, especially north of the border. In November, for instance, the Conference Board of Canada proclaimed that the Canadian motor vehicle manufacturing industry could expect to post its third consecutive profitable year in 2012. In its Industrial Outlook-Autumn 2012 outlook for Canadian automakers report, the CBOC said that, with a projected $1.35 billion in pre-tax profits for 2012, the industry would enjoy its best bottomline result since 2002.

Across the border, auto sales have experienced double-digit growth for the last three years in a row, culminating in a 15 percent increase in Canadian exports this year, the report says. And, since U.S. sales are still well below pre-recession levels, there’s every expectation that auto sales will continue ramp up in the coming years.

Beyond car sales, Statistics Canada reported in November that Canadian manufacturing sales grew 0.4 percent overall, from August to September, due largely to a rise in the aerospace sector. While modest, the expectation is that the economy will improve by year’s end and into 2013 due to a rebound in U.S. manufacturing sector. This brighter prediction, however, is contingent on measures being taken to avert the harsh measures imposed should the U.S. fall off the fiscal cliff.

If U.S. lawmakers should fail to reach a deal, there’s serious doubt as to whether they would allow the harsh sequestration measures to take effect, opting instead to again “kick the can” to some point in the future. Still, there will be inevitable consequences. What’s regrettable is that Canada’s, and the rest of the world’s, economies may be forced, like lemmings, to go over the cliff with them.

Mike McLeod

@

I enjoy hearing from you so please contact me at MMcLeod@design-engineering.com and your letter could be published in an upcoming issue.

November/December | 2012

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Editor Michael McLeod (416) 442-5600 ext. 3231 mmcleod@design-engineering.com Publisher Alan Macpherson (416) 510-6756 AMacPherson@design-engineering.com Group Editorial Director Lisa Wichmann (416) 510-5101 LWichmann@canadianmanufacturing.com Accounts Manager Laura Gergley (416) 510-5230 lgergley@design-engineering.com Technical Field Editor Pat Jones, P. Eng. Art Director Kathy Smith (416) 442-5600 ext. 3215 KSmith@plant.ca Market Production Manager Jessica Jubb (416) 510-5194 jjubb@bizinfogroup.ca Circulation Manager Cindi Holder (416) 442-5600 ext. 3544 CHolder@bizinfogroup.ca BIG Magazines LP Executive Publisher Tim Dimopoulos Vice-President of Canadian Publishing, Alex Papanou President of Business Information Group, Bruce Creighton Publications Mail Agreement #40069240 ISSN: 0011-9342 (Print), 1929-6452 (Online) Privacy Notice: From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374 Fax: 416-442-2191 E-mail: privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca.

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Contents of this publication are protected by copyright and must not be reprinted in whole or in part without permission of the publisher. DE receives unsolicited features and materials (including letters to the editor) from time to time. DE, its affiliates and assignees may use, reproduce, publish, re-publish, distribute, store and archive such submissions in whole or in part in any form or medium whatsoever, without compensation of any sort. DE accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported or advertised in this issue. DE is indexed in the Canadian Business Index by Micromedia Ltd., Toronto, and is available on-line in the Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.

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8 DesignNews UP FRONT Mitutoyo Appointments

Toronto designer wins concept Popemobile contest

Mitutoyo Canada announced the appointment of Jay Summers as executive vice president of Canadian operations effective November 1, 2012. In addition, Peter Detmers has been named Jay Summers as vice president of sales, overseeing all aspects of Canadian sales and sales support operations. Mitutoyo provides measurement and inspection solutions including CMM, vision, form and finish measuring machines, as well as precision tools & instruments, and metrology data management software. www.mitutoyo.ca

ATS reports $8 million profit for Q3 ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. announced that it earned $8 million in its latest quarter. Excluding discontinued operations, the company earned $9.7 million up from $9.3 million. Revenue totalled $141.4 million, down from $145.9 million. ATS employs approximately 2,400 people at 20 factories in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.

General Dynamics secures LAV III upgrade contract General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada was awarded a contract modification valued at $133.5 million to upgrade an additional 66 LAV III vehicles. This award modifies a contract previously announced in October 2011 to upgrade 550 LAV III vehicles, valued at $1 billion.

Survivability upgrades will include the introduction of double-Vhull technology, as well as add-on armor protection and energy-attenuating seats.

The upgrades represent armored vehicle technologies developed by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada’s engineers and its Canada-wide supplier base. Significant work will be performed at General Dynamics’ facilities in London, Ontario, and Edmonton, Alberta, as well as the company’s nationwide network of over 500 Canadian suppliers. www.gdcanada.com November/December | 2012

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talian auto parts OEM Berman S.p.A and the organizers of the 2012 Autostyle Design Competition recently named Toronto native Eric Leong and classmate Han Yong-fei of Sweden’s Umea Institute of Design, as the winners of the annual automotive design competition. The pair won for their concept design of a new Popemobile to potentially replace the Pontiff’s more traditional Mercedes with a more modern and eco-friendly set of wheels.

The new design, based on a modified hybrid Volkswagen Cross Coupé, incorporates high tech touches beyond the standard bulletproof glass, including spider silk infused with titanium and spray-on lithium-ion battery technology as well as bullet-proof Kevlar-belted wheels and a solar panel on the roof.

Leong, an industrial design graduate of Humber College, and Yong-fei were chosen from 70 international contenders invited to Mantua, Italy in October by competition sponsor Berman. The competition’s judges panel included design directors from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Fiat, Ford, Ferrari and Toyota. www.berman.it

MDA selected for DARPA Phoenix program MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. announced that it has been selected to participate in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Phoenix Program. MDA will provide a variety of servicing technologies and capabilities to the program, under multiple contracts to DARPA and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).

The goal of the DARPA Phoenix Program is to salvage viable components from nonworking satellites and create new space systems.

The mission will use a robotic on-orbit servicer and components launched alongside commercial satellites.

A core element of the program is two primary robotic manipulator arms, which MDA will provide, in conjunction with the Naval Research Laboratory via DARPA. The company says this sole-sourced element of the program could add up to no more than $27.2 million for MDA. Beyond the robotic arms themselves, MDA has also been awarded two separate contracts from DARPA to develop advanced robotic www.design-engineering.com

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10

DesignNews Kaspersky to develop secure Industrial OS

tools, cameras, tool caddies and advanced designs for a hyper-dexterous robot.

An important element of the mission concept is the ability to launch components into space, frequently and cost effectively, by piggybacking their launch onto a regular commercial satellite launch. MDA is under contract from DARPA to design and prototype the delivery system in which the components are sent to orbit (called PODS).

Phase 1 of the program is under contract now and MDA’s scope (not including the sole-sourced robotics arms) is approximately $2.6 million, which is expected to grow when Phase 2 gets underway next year. www.mdacorporation.com

Kaspersky Lab Chairman and CEO, Eugene Kaspersky, has confirmed that the company is currently developing a natively secure industrial operating system to protect SCADA and ICS systems from cyber attack.

The impetus behind the move, he says, is that industrial systems are difficult to secure. Since they prioritize constant, “always on” operation, Kaspersky says industrial systems are rarely, if ever, updated, thereby leaving well-known vulnerabilities in place for years. In addition, he says developers aren’t interested in source code analysis or patching security holes until after exploits have been developed and successfully infected target systems.

While short on details, Kaspersky says the company’s secure OS will be inherently secure since it is being developed to address one narrowly specific task and won’t allow any third-party code or unauthorized applications to run. www.kaspersky.ca

Canadian flying saucer declassified It’s long been known by aerospace enthusiasts in Canada, but recently declassified documents from the U.S. Air Force confirm that it partnered with Canada’s Avro Aircraft to build essentially a flying saucer in 1956. According to the National Archives blog, the initiative—called Project 1794— was intended to build a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle with a top speed between Mach 3 to Mach 4 and a altitude ceiling above 100,000 ft.

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According to the documents, the USAF contracted Avro to build prototypes (which became the Avrocar) for approximately $3 million. While the Avrocar did manage to fly, the small craft quickly became unstable above a few feet above the ground. Referred to as “hubcapping” by Avro’s engineers, the craft experienced uncontrollable rolling during flight tests above three feet and couldn’t go faster than 35 mph. Inevitably, the U.S. military officially abandoned the project in 1961. http://blogs.archives.gov

November/December | 2012

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DesignNews 11 2012 Technology Fast 50 winners announced Deloitte Canada announced the winners of its 15th annual Technology Fast 50 program. Vancouver-based Avigilon Corporation, a Vancouver-based company, which designs and manufactures high-definition surveillance equipment, topped the ranking with a revenue growth rate of 29,917 percent over the last five years.

Behind Avigilon Corporation, second and third spots went to EcoSynthetix Inc. (25,327 percent), a Burlingtonbased renewable chemicals company, and Real Matters (8,961 percent) a Markham-based property solutions manager.

Rounding out the top five are Hamilton-based VIZIYA Corp.

(3,816 percent) and Toronto-based NexJ Systems Inc. (3,153 percent). www.deloitte.ca

P&WC Selects Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE Platform Dassault Systèmes announced that Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), has selected started “Phase One” of implementing Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform to run its enterprise integrated product management process.

According to Dassault, P&WC benchmarked 3DEXPERI-

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ENCE platform and its associated ENOVIA applications against various other solutions and competitors. The enterprise platform and its openness to Pratt & Whitney Canada’s existing SAP and Microsoft Dynamics, featured highly in the final decision, as well as Pratt & Whitney Canada’s working partnership with Dassault Systèmes.

In parallel with Phase One, P&WC has been working to define a blueprint for the next phase of PLM in a true enterprise-wide business transformation.

“We’re excited to be part of P&WC’s successful deployment of Phase One. But that’s just Phase One. We are committed to ensuring the success of ALL future phases in P&WC’s strategic integrated product management process evolution,” said Sylvain Laurent, Executive Vice President, Business Transformation, Dassault Systèmes. www.pwc.ca www.3ds.com

November/December | 2012

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12 CADReport

What’s New in SolidWorks 2013 Latest version of the popular 3D modeller abounds with time-saving enhancements and handy features.

Solidworks 2013 view orientation box provides a quick way to change the view angle of a model.

By Ben Eadie

S

with “curvy” stuff. Now, arc measurement has been enhanced to include new conditions such as edge-to-center and centerto-center, as well as minimums and maximums.

Center of a face-to-face and edge-to-edge has been added as well with the ability to choose arbitrary points on faces as well in point-to-point mode. As I stated above, you could do these things as workarounds but, in the end, these enhancements are big time savers for the Q.A. types.

My favorite of the measure tool enhancements is the ability to input settings such as having the default of circle-to-circle measurements be maximum distance versus the old default of center-to-center. Last, but not least, the tool now includes a measurement history dialog with a list of the recent measurements taken in the current session of SolidWorks.

olidWorks 2013 is officially out and there is some great new functionality in this release. I still believe the CAD industry has matured to a point that there isn’t much that can be done on a development point of view. However, things are picking up with the development of the SolidWorks product with a more an enhancement-paradigm taking place.

Considering that we haven’t seen any real solid enhancements or even development on the product since 2007, this is a welcome change. The pushback from the “cloud” and the “V6” talk over the last couple years seem to have re-focused the company on its core product.

But, after five years of stagnating, it’s not hard to look good.

Still, Solidworks has finally picked up on some things the user base has been asking for many, many years. Here is a list of my favorite enhancements and some are huge time savers for all of us here in the trenches: Measure Tool What might be most compelling about Solidworks 2013 aren’t any bold new features but handy enhancements to the commands we use everyday. For example, the measure tool now includes measure to midpoint of an edge or a line to another midpoint or point. Virtual intersections can be measured to as well. You could originally do this by creating a drawing or sketch and creating points at virtual intersections but this obviously saves multiple steps to get the measurement.

Also, measuring arcs and curves has historically been a bit of a pain and SolidWorks in particular has been a bear

Insert Multiple Components In Solidworks 2013, you can now select multiple components and insert them in succession without having to return to the insert dialog command. This is one that should have been implemented at day one of the software.

To use this, you CTRL select components on the open dialog.

Then, there are two ways to insert components. The first inserts all components at once, on the assembly’s origin which can then be moved later. Note, the assembly origin has to be visible to do this and you have to double click the origin to activate this insert method. All parts are fixed at this point and you have to un-fix via the right click menu to move them around.

I think this should be a user choice and, in my opinion, all parts should be able to be set to float for those of us who move things around. That said, it’s a great start to the enhancement. The second option allows users to open multiple components and click in the interface to drop all the selected components one at a time.

The enhanced Measure tool includes a history of recently made measurements among many other improvements.

Vary Patterns The new Vary Pattern enhancement comes in handy when patterns are not really true patterns. We all have encountered this at one

November/December | 2012

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14 CADReport time or another—where holes may change shape or size in the pattern or spacing between instances changes. You can now vary the spacing between instances and have this measurement increment a specific value in each new instance. For example, you may

Automatically Add Dimensions You can automatically add dimensions to sketch entities if you type a dimension value while sketching the entity in the graphics area. In the past, you could do this with auto-dimension, but you had to always enter a dimension for each element. Now, if you don’t choose to add a dimension value, it just skips adding a dimension to that element and lets you carry on drawing.

Derived Components When mirroring and deriving new components, you can finally include properties such as sketches and model dims from a seed component. This is a big time saver when you need to do detail drawings of the mirrored components. Items that can be brought into the derived component include: solid bodies; surface bodies; axes; planes; cosmetic threads; absorbed sketches; unabsorbed sketches; custom properties; coordinate systems; model dimensions; hole wizard data.

Solidworks 2013 now allows for pattern size, shape and/or spacing to be varied incrementally for each instance.

have holes that space 1", then 2" then 3", etc.

You could do this before using a descriptive geometry sketch and sketch pattern, but this saves a monstrous amount of time in complex patterns. One last thing that really caught my eye was the fact that you can change individual instances in the pattern as well. If only one instance of a pattern is different than the others, you can isolate that instance and change only it, or in conjunction with incremental values.

Conics The Conic tool now lets you sketch conic curves driven by endpoints and Rho value. Depending on the Rho value, the curve can be elliptical, parabolic or hyperbolic. This is great since the only way to do this in the past was to use splines.

Even then, if you didn’t define the spline perfectly, you could get inflection points. Inflection points are where there is a wave or kink in the surface. This was a nightmare for anyone doing any sleek curvy design.

View Selector With Solidworks 2013’s new view orientation box, you can re-orient the views of a model. I have tried macros that do this over the years that work well but having the functionality baked into the software with a clean visual interface is great. Everyone could use a reverse orthogonal view of a part or assembly and now you can get it very easily with a great UI Release Interoperability On first blush, being able to view and edit files from previous releases and then use that model again in the previous release without re-saving it in the new version format is a welcomed addition. However, digging deeper shows it’s very limited; only models from 2013 to 2012 R5 are possible currently.

It has been said that this functionality will only be implemented between one major version of the software to the next.

So, in the end, it’s a good idea, but misses the point SolidWorks customers have been asking for.

Center of Mass You can now add a center of mass point in assemblies and drawings. It remains associative during model changes in true parametric form. Great to have but why has it taken so long for SolidWorks to get to this? I see this as core functionality that should have been there from the start.

SW on a Tablet?

Beyond the tweaks and new features in Solidworks 2013, the company recently hinted it may have plans to develop SW for the Windows tablet platform. But, as good as this sounds, how well will Solidworks work on tablets? Will it be sluggish or a seriously stripped down version that has limited functionality? We will have to wait and see.

DE www.Solidworks.com

Solidworks 2013’s Conic tool helps overcome the challenge of sketching precise curves by basing the geometry on endpoints and Rho value.

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Ben Eadie is an Aeronautical Engineering Technologist, as well as a prolific CAD blogger, developer, and trainer. www.design-engineering.com

12-11-23 2:19 PM

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18

CoverStory

Canadian Rovers

Canadian space robotics expertise produces rover fleet for future space exploration.

By Mike McLeod

I

n the international space exploration community, Canada is known for doing one thing exceptionally well – space robotics. While the Canadian space program, and the agency that shapes it, has been historically small in comparison to the likes of NASA or the European Space Agency (ESA), high profile projects like Canadarm and Dextre helped cement Canada’s commercial space companies as not only dependable partners but masters in this niche but critical segment.

That’s a good reputation to have, says Jean Claude Piedboeuf, the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) director general of space exploration, especially given NASA’s long-term goal of putting an astronaut on Mars.

“From a scientific point of view, Mars is interesting for the search for life and the next destination for human exploration,” he says. “From a Canadian point of view, we are also targeting the moon. When we established [the CSA] exploration plan in 2007, developing rovers was seen as the next step for Canada to contribute.”

Toward that end, the federal government allocated $110 million over three years as part of the 2009 budget’s Economic Action Plan. Of that, $60 million was dedicated to the Exploration Mobility project, a CSA initiative to develop prototypes for lunar exploration rovers and Mars science rovers.

Now, three years later, that investment has begun to pay off.

In October, the CSA rolled out a series prototype rovers developed by leading Canadian commercial space companies in line with the requirements of anticipated U.S. or European led lunar and Mars missions.

Before astronauts can set foot on Mars, engineers and scientists will first have to return to the moon to learn how explorers could live and work there for extended periods, says Brad Jones, director of mobility and mission systems for Kanata-based November/December | 2012

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Top: Originally designed for the ExoMars mission, MacDonald Dettwiler’s REX Mars rover features a unique drive system that allows it to traverse steep slopes and uneven terrain. Above: Designed by Neptec’s Rover Design Team, the Juno lunar rover prototype serves as a test bed for its more sophisticated sibling, Artemis, Jr.

spaceflight engineering company Neptec.

The reason is that launching a manned mission directly from Earth would be impractical given the travel distance. Factor in the difficulty of breaking Earth’s gravitational field with enough fuel, oxygen and provisions for a Mars exploration crew to make the round trip and the moon becomes a more advantageous launching point. Of course, an extended stay on the moon would require exploiting resources locally. According to Jones, robotic lunar rovers will play a key role.

“As part of the RESOLVE program, NASA has spent considerable time developing technology that can manipulate and process regolith—that loose layer of soil on the surface of the moon—and pull from it whatever volatiles might be bound into it, whether that be water ice or oxygen and hydrogen molecules bound to other minerals,” he says.

As one of the large prime contractors commissioned by the CSA to develop terrestrial rover prototypes, Neptec and its Rover Team—which includes Ontario Drive and Gear Ltd., COM DEV Canada, McGill University, Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT) and NGC Aerospace – have developed two lunar rovers: Juno and Artemis, Jr. Neptec’s early prototype, Juno is the smaller of the pair but is www.design-engineering.com

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| EK11-07USA |

20 CoverStory narrow beam sections are not good; you want a deep box for strength. It was a big trade-off between how low we could get that floorboard versus how strong the overall structure had to be to handle the large payload masses and all the terrain variations.”

Like the Curiosity Rover presently on Mars, additional rovers will be needed to investigate the Red Planet, especially if Curiosity finds a surprise or two during its mission. Toward that goal, MDA has developed two rovers, both designed to perform geologic surveys.

Originally earmarked for the ESA ExoMars mission, MDA’s Robot Explorer (REX) is designed to simulate rock and soil sample collection on Mars. To transport its scientific payload, REX has a unique drive system that allows it to clear obstacles up 15cm high.

For example, the left and right front wheels are connected by a walking beam suspension, as are the rear left and right wheels across the back of the vehicle, allowing all of them to stay in contact with the ground under a variety of conditions. In addition, REX incorporates 16 motors total; each of its six wheels have individual drive and steering motors as well as a “walking” motor.

“This allows the front left leg to walk forward followed by the right front leg, then middle legs and finally the back legs before the rover stands itself back up,” he explains. “This moves the rover forward about 20cm but is done in a way that REX doesn’t climb, but steps up a hill. That allows it go up much steeper slopes and over much higher obstacles.”

Like REX, MDA’s Mars Exploration Science Rover (MESR) has six wheels and similar suspension but doesn’t have REX’s walking feature. Solar-powered, MESR is twice the weight of REX but can carry 70kg of scientific equipment. Most importantly, though, MESR has been designed as a whole, with its payload and locomotion sub-systems developed in tandem.

“This integration makes it easier on all fronts,” McCoubrey says. “From a mechanical perspective, you can make sure your robotic arm has enough reach because you know where it’s going to be mounted and from an electrical perspective you know you’ll have enough power to deal with the payload.”

While NASA has field tested these Canadian built vehicles, as yet, says the CSA’s Piedboeuf, the Exploration Mobility project rovers are purely terrestrial prototypes, rough sketch test platforms that may someday be chosen for further refinement.

“If we want to go to the moon or Mars, we need to develop the planning and operation capabilities, and then integrate all that together and prove the systems work,” he says. “At the same time, we need to identify potential missions and make sure our technologies are ready. The important part, for now, is to learn everything we can from these rovers.”

DE

Solar-powered, MDA’s Mars Exploration Science Rover features a stereo-imaging system to help it navigate extraterrestial terrain autonomously.

actually composed of a family of similar rovers that share a common U-shaped chassis with skid-steering, four-wheel drive and a walking beam suspension, similar to that on large utility trucks.

Roughly a meter square and weighing 300kg, Juno can carry science payloads of 275kg at up to speeds of 13 km/h.

In addition, the rover can be operated remotely but has a limited on-board processor and navigating capability, Jones says, since Juno serves more as basic platform for testing sensors and other components without the need to tie them into more complicated robotic systems.

“In contrast, Artemis, Jr. has a sophisticated processor with the software to go with it,” he says. “It’s remotely controllable, but also has semi-autonomous capabilities. It can navigate from waypoint to waypoint without human intervention by creating terrain maps and avoiding obstacles as it goes.”

While lighter and considerably slower than Juno, Artemis Jr. can operate for longer on its power supply and also integrates a solar panel to power on-board science payloads. It’s two electric motors, one for each side, provide the rover’s four-wheel drive and tank-like skid steering.

“We take the view that simpler is better,” Jones explains. “For instance, it takes a bit more power to skid steer a vehicle than articulated steering, but it also takes fewer motors and simpler electronics. If you can meet all your mission objectives with a less complex vehicle, we would argue that it will be around for longer and better suited to a wider set of mission objectives.”

Like Neptec Design Group’s rovers, MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates’ Lunar Exploration Light Rover (LELR) can act autonomously or be tele-operated but is also designed to act as an astronaut transport vehicle. As such, it’s the fastest (15km/h) and heaviest (900kg) of the Exploration Mobility project rovers and can carry up to a 300kg payload. According to Ryan McCoubrey, a lead rover engineer at MDA, special consideration had to be paid to make LELR human-centric.

“To accommodate a human, we needed to have a low footwell so astronauts could step into it easily,” he says. “Of course, November/December | 2012

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www.neptec.com www.mdacorporation.com www.design-engineering.com

12-11-23 3:18 PM

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12-11-23 3:18 PM

22 MotionControl

Alpha-Bot Soup T-Bot and H-Bot configurations can save space and increase performance.

By Alexa Loiskandl, Myostat Motion Control

T

raditionally system designers looking to create multi axis XY or XZ systems purchase ball or lead screw actuators and bracketry combining the two actuators into a single system. T-Bot and H-Bot systems are available as ready-made, complete system alternatives that can save space and increase productivity.

T-Bot and H-Bot structures are examples of application specific designs that place more emphasis on model-based design and system integration. Used extensively in pick-andplace, sorting, gluing and inspection applications, these structures (named for the shape of their construction) are built around the belt drive components and employ two motors mounted to two pulleys driving one belt.

T-Bot and H-Bots work in a similar fashion to an Etch-ASketch. When the motors rotate at the same rate in the same direction, you have a linear motion along the X-axis. Moving the motors in opposing directions produces movement along the Y-axis. If one motor remains stationery and one motor is moving the motion will run 45 degrees across the XY plain.

X-Y orthogonal actuator configurations utilize standard Cartesian co-ordinates, which allows for each motor’s position to be easily mapped to the linear distance along the actuator or the axis of motion. T-Bot and H-Bots also move in the same physical Cartesian plain; however, the motor position coordinates are transformed as shown in the diagrams below.

The motion profi le of the T-Bot (Figure 1) illustrates the desired motion that we would like to achieve in real space. This profi le has been chosen to represent a simple pick-and-place routine. The distance is representative of a linear move by a single motor, seen in pulses or steps.

When the two motors on a T-Bot move together, independently or alternate, a different motion is achieved. The equations that produce the required motion of the T-bot are seen below—X and Y representing the points on the desired T-Bot motion profile: Motor 1 = -X +Y Motor 2 = -X – Y

Figure 1: The motion profile of a T-Bot performing a simple pick-and-place routine. The distance is representative of a linear move by a single motor.

This is in contrast to standard XY configurations, which are constructed with two individual linear actuators where one actuator carries the other. In this standard configuration, the first actuator moves all the mass of the second actuator. In T-Bot and H-Bot configurations, the motors are stationery and, therefore, less mass is moved. Also, the space requirements are reduced as one axis can be minimized.

The resulting increase in performance, along with ease of manufacturing and the ability to fit into a smaller space envelope, make these structures attractive to machine builders; however, it’s important to note that motion control programming can be a challenge. When programming the machine, both position and timing must be addressed if accurate linear motion is required.

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The moves that each individual motor must make to achieve the desired motion can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2: To produce a linear motion, acceleration/deceleration rates and speeds of the T-Bot motors must match to minimize deviation at the start or end of the move. www.design-engineering.com

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MotionControl Here, the graph represents the distance each motor moves individually to achieve the rectangular move. This is based on equations that relate back to the way the single belt of the T-Bot functions.

Accurate synchronization of the two motors is required to produce a linear move, with acceleration/deceleration rates and speeds matching to minimize any deviation from the linear move at the start and end of the move. Graph 3 represents the motion profile of the two motors working together.

The resulting motion profi le is rotated 135 by degrees and offset from the actual motion that the T-Bot accomplishes. Due to the way that the single belt of the actuator functions, this movement of the motors produces the simple pick-and-place routine commonly used in manufacturing industries.

With the wide variety of motion controllers available on the market, providing specific guidance on the implementation for these systems is difficult. However, with an understanding of the basic coordinate and speed transformations, engineers should be able to implement one of these configurations and take advantage of the unique mechanical advantages offered by T-Bot and H-Bot systems.

DE www.myostat.ca

Graph 3: The motion profile of a T-Bot’s motors working in tandem to produce a common routine in manufacturing industries.

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Alexa Loiskandl is a sales engineer with Myostat Motion Control and a recent graduate of Carleton University with a B.Eng Biomedical and Electrical Engineering.

www.design-engineering.com

12-11-23 2:23 PM

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12-11-23 2:23 PM

26 ShopTalk

Appeal Design Engineering tabletop show draws enthusiastic engineering crowd.

W

hile scheduling a trade show to coincide with the largest Atlantic hurricane on record might seem like a recipe for disaster, Hurricane Sandy did little to dampen the spirits of Southern Ontario’s engineering community. Engineers, product developers, machine builders and systems integrators turned out in force for the inaugural Design Engineering Expo (DEX) on October 30th at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

“When the hurricane hit only hours before the doors opened I contemplated a run to Walmart to buy all the life jackets I could get my hands on,” said Design Engineering Magazine Publisher and Show Manager, Alan Macpher-

son. “But I knew our audience would show up and they did in large numbers despite the gloom and doom predictions broadcast on every news channel.”

During the one-day tabletop trade show, DEX’s 70+ exhibitors showcased the latest in design technologies, ranging from powerful 3D design software to the cutting edge in additive manufacturing, reverse engineering, motion control and fluid power products.

Ontario-based Siemens PLM vendor, Designfusion, for example demonstrated the latest version of Solid Edge ST5 with its unique blend of push-pull direct modeling and traditional parametrics. Similarly, Autodesk Canada showcased its 2013 product line-up including its recently released cloud-enabled analysis solution, Simulation 360. The online, on-demand suite allows engineers

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ShopTalk

27

Design Engineering Publisher and DEX Show Manager, Alan Macpherson, (left) presents Skytech Industries’ Sales Engineer, Kenneth Law with the DEX early bird registration prize, a show-branded Xbox 360.

to quickly run multiple FEA, CFD and plastic moulding simulations remotely, thereby freeing local resources for more pressing design work.

For fans of additive manufacturing, Oshawa-based Stratasys vendor Cimetrix provided many their first opportunity to check out the Mojo 3D printer. Stratasys’ recently released desktop unit offers the company’s study FDM technology in a sub-$10,000 package that bundles everything needed to start producing prototypes out of the box.

In addition, Quebec-based Creaform demonstrated its latest 3D scanner, the Go!SCAN 3D. The entry-level handheld

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offers the same portability as its other scanners while its “white light” LED technology simplifies setup and operation.

With compelling technologies like these and more, Show Manager Macpherson said the Design Engineering Expo was a resounding success. According to post-show surveys, more than 80 percent of attendees and exhibitors said they would return next year, to be held October 30 at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Design Engineering would also like to thank DEX 2012 sponsors: Autodesk, SEW-Eurodrive, Designfusion and SKF Canada.

DE www.DEX2012.com

November/December | 2012

3/20/07 12:32:48 PM

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28 PowerTransmission

Selecting a Gearmotor Designing the most efficient motor and gearbox pairing takes time but can be simplified by using the right selection process.

By Seth Hulst and Loren Kamstra

F

or design engineers in the process of selecting components for an application, the motor or gearmotor can be one of the more difficult components to source. There are several key design parameters that should be considered when selecting a motor or gearmotor for a motion control application.

As the motor or gearmotor selection process begins, the designer must gather the relevant technical and commercial requirements. This first step is often overlooked, but it is a critical component in the design process. The gathered design inputs information will then be used in the selection process and will dictate the ideal motor for the application.

Failure to gather the proper inputs can lead the designer down an unintended path. For this reason, it is helpful to use the Application Checklist (Table 2) when developing the motor specification. These parameters, along with some project specific requirements, will be helpful when navigating the selection process.

Table 2: Application Checklist – use this checklist to help formulate the specific requirements to ensure the gearmotor vendor has the critical information necessary to achieve the best match between the gearmotor and the application.

Table 1: Gearmotor Selection Process – complete the following steps to ensure a gearmotor properly matches the application.

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Next, the designer must consider what type of motor technology best suits the intended application. Using the design inputs, the Motors Quick Reference Guide (Table 1) can be used as a selection matrix in the first step of the decision process. This reference guide details four common motor types and provides general information to consider when selecting each motor. Because each application has its own unique characteristics, it is important to determine which of the parameters (e.g. horsepower, efficiency, life, starting torque or noise ratings) are most important to the application in consideration.

During the motor selection process, by looking at the required speed and torque of the application, it should become evident to the designer if the motor chosen requires a gearbox to meet the necessary requirements.

If a gearmotor is necessary for the application, another level of complexity will be added and several additional criteria need to be evaluated.

Conceptually, motors and gearboxes can be mixed and matched as needed to best fit the application, but in the end, the complete www.design-engineering.com

12-11-23 2:25 PM

PowerTransmission

29

(Figure 1) that appear to meet the application needs, it is important to review the design limitations. Look for the following information in the manufacturer’s performance calculations and use it to determine if the chosen gearmotor will cause any issues within the application: Thermal characteristics; full-load gearbox torque; gearbox input speed; gearbox yield strength; and intermittent duty considerations.

Once the gearmotor has been chosen and installed in the application it is critical to perform several test runs in sample environments that best reflect typical operating scenarios. If extreme motor heat, unnatural Table 3: Motors Quick Reference Guide - provides a comparison of common noises or obvious motor stress occurs, repeat the motor parameters used during the motor selection process. selection process or contact the manufacturer. It’s important to take the time and put in the effort to gearmotor is the driving factor. There are a number of properly select a motor because a hasty decision and lack of motors and gearbox types that can be combined; for testing can cause a host of problems with the gearmotor and example, the right angle worm, planetary and parallel shaft could possibly damage the application. gearboxes can be combined with permanent magnet DC, Though the gearmotor selection process can be arduous, AC induction or brushless DC motors. a properly selected gearmotor can last for years and will optiThough there are a vast number of different motors and mize the application to its peak potential and efficiency. From gearboxes combinations available, not just any one will work a company perspective, an optimal gearmotor will also reduce for the application. There will be certain combinations that operating costs and increase plant productivity. DE will be more efficient and cost-effective than others. Knowing the application and having accurate ratings for the motor and Groschopp Engineering Manager, Seth Hulst and Design gearbox is the foundation for successfully integrating the Engineer, Loren Kamstra have more than 25 years of comgearmotor into the system. bined experience in motor, gearmotor and motion system As the designer looks at selecting a gearmotor, there are design for OEM applications. two methods that can be used.

• Method 1: Select motor and gearbox separately and assemble • Method 2: Select a pre-engineered gearmotor While both methods 1 and 2 are effective means of finding the most compatible gearmotor, Method 2 reduces design time and project risk for the designer. When selecting a pre-engineered solution, the manufacturer has done much of the heavy lifting to ensure that the motor and gearbox combination will work properly together. Since performance calculations and testing have been performed by the manufacturer, gearmotor failures caused by miscalculations or improper component matching will be minimized. Due to the complexity of Method 1 this article focuses on Method 2.

Once again, looking back to the gearmotor performance data gathered from the Application Checklist (Table 2), the speed and torque required for the application is critical in selecting the gearmotor combination.

Using the speed and torque measurements the designer can then select the manufacturer’s performance curves that match the application needs. The gearmotor curve (Figure 1) combines the performance of the motor and gearbox by displaying speed, torque and efficiency. If a complete gearmotor assembly is purchased from a manufacturer this curve is provided by the vendor.

Figure 1: Gearmotor Performance Curves – the Speed/Torque and Finally, after selecting a few performance curves Efficiency/Torque curves for a permanent magnet gearmotor. www.design-engineering.com

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November/December | 2012

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30 IdeaGenerator Electrical Modular Connector HARTING announced its Han-Power T, a modular power bus that supplies power and control to multiple devices from a single cable line. Instead of two different connectors for power and control, a single Han-Power T connector has an internal contact arrangement custom-tailored for both types of wiring. Power and control lines traverse the “top” part of the T as feed-throughs, while drops to individual drive motors exit the connector via the “down leg” of the T. The system is rated for up to 600VAC power service, and up to 250V signal service. Power and signal inserts are available in different configurations for different wire sizes and current-carrying capacity. www.harting.ca

Modular Power Supply SolaHD introduced its next generation of SHP Series heavy-duty power supplies, that can be configured for up to 24 output voltage combinations ranging from 2VDC to 60VDC. In addition,

November/December | 2012

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the supplies feature a maximum of 4,920W of increased power capability per case and modules that can switch between I2C or CANBUS/RS485 communications. Other features include single phase and three phase inputs; voltage adjustment on all outputs and programmable voltage, current limit, inhibit/ enable through I2C. In addition, it also has overload protection on all outputs; power factor correction (.99 typ.) and an end mounted fan. www.solahd.com

Motors AutomationDirect has expanded its line of SureStep motion control products.

Stepping motors in standard NEMA sizes (17, 23, & 34) now include dual-shaft, bipolar models with output torques ranging from 61 oz-in. to 1288 oz-in. The

www.design-engineering.com

12-11-23 2:26 PM

IdeaGenerator

31

motors feature front and rear shafts to allow installation of an encoder, hand crank or a second load onto a motor; a pigtail cable with locking connector allows for easy hook-up. The motors travel 1.8 degrees per step, providing 200 steps per revolution. Backed with a one-year warranty, the stepping motors are CE and RoHS. The SureStep motors can be controlled by SureStep microstepping drives, programmed with SureStep Pro software. www.automationdirect.com

Servo Controller Maxon’s introduced its ESCON 36/3 EC, a 4-quadrant PWM servo controller designed for control of BLDC motors (brushless DC motors, so-called EC motors) with Hall sensors up to approximately 100 Watts. The controller has a speed range of 0 to 150,000 rpm and can be run in various operating modes (speed controller, closed loop), speed controller (open loop, current controller). The unit is controlled by means of an analog set value that can be specified by means of analog voltage, an external or internal potentiometer, a defined value or by means of a PWM signal with variable duty cycle. In addition, the controller requires no additional external filters or motor chokes for operation. www.electromate.com

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TURNING UP

THE HEAT! With temperature resistance up to 250°F, you can keep the strength and fixture time you need in higher heat applications.

Automation Distributed Modular I/O Balluff introduced its next generation of Distributed Modular I/O, which features IP67 protection and industry standard connectors. Utilizing the vendor neutral standard IO-Link, the master block can communicate with up to 4 slave devices and then send their combined data back to the controller over the CC-Link network. In lieu of a backplane, each slave device is connected to the CC-Link IO-Link master by an M12 port, creating an IP67 connection. With the ability to be installed within a 20-meter radius from the master device, slave devices can be easily distributed across the machine without the use of the controls cabinets typically used in CC-Link network architectures. www.balluff.com

Micro Stages Steinmeyer, Inc. announced its MT 196LM series, a line of high precision micro stages, available in two travel options: 100 mm or 200 mm. The MT196LM has a footprint of 110 mm x 196 mm, height of 45 mm and, depending on which stage chosen, weighs 4.1 or 4.7 kgs.

Manufactured from high strength anodized aluminum, the table series offers a positional accuracy of 2 µm; straightness/flatness runout of +/- 5 µm for 100 mm of travel; and +/- 10 µm for 200 mm of travel with repeatability of +/- 0.2 µm. Features include preloaded cross roller bearings, fixed stops, incremental linear encoder with 0.1 µm resolution and a linear piezo motor drive. www.steinmeyer.com www.design-engineering.com

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www.instantsolutions.loctite.com 1.800.lOcTITE (562.8483)

All marks used are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Henkel and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and elsewhere. © Henkel Corporation, 2012. All rights reserved. 9223 (7/12)

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IdeaGenerator AS-I Master Module WAGO Corporation introduced its 750-655 AS-Interface Master Module, which links AS-Interface (AS-I) devices to higher-level systems. The 12mm wide, DIN-rail mount module utilizes AS-I Spec 3.0 (Rev 2) software and common fieldbus protocols to connect AS-I

sub-network devices. Part of the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM, the 750-655 connects with up to 62 AS-I V3.0 slaves for monitoring and controlling up to 248 input and 186 output data channels. The Master Module supports Profibus, Ethernet, CANopen, Lon and DeviceNet protocols. It also enables fieldbus migration to suit changing application requirements. The 750-655 module supports both programmable and nonprogrammable buscouplers. www.wago.us

Vision System Teledyne DALSA announced its GEVA300, a compact, low-cost vision system for multi-camera applications. The fanless system offers six Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) ports and houses a 1.8 GHz Intel dual-core ATOM processor with 2 GB RAM and a 40 GM SSD drive. Internally, the system runs Windows 7 Embedded 64-bit O/S with a write filter to protect the drive image when power is lost. The vision system can also be expanded with an optional PL-USB companion module that offers I/O expansion and integration of up to four Teledyne DALSA Genie cameras. In addition to GigE ports, it includes dedicated display and USB ports for setup and run-time control, and a serial port for factory communication.

Camera triggering, strobe outputs and opto-isolated I/O are interfaced using the companion PL-USB module. www.teledynedalsa.com

Sensors Programmable Linear Position Sensors Novotechnik U.S. introduced its LS1 Series, a line non-contact linear position sensors based on the company’s non-contacting

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www.design-engineering.com

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IdeaGenerator

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inductive technology. The sensors are insensitive to magnetic fields and have no mechanical sensor track. Programming the its end points is achieved using a signal processor integrated into the sensor and two LED programming status indicators. The LS1 Series includes a 25 to 100 mm measurement range for the return spring version and 25 to 200 mm for the rod-only version. Resolution is to 0.05 percent and repeatability to less than 0.05 percent. Four output options are available: 0.1 to 10 V, 4 to 20 mA, 10 to 0.1 V and 20 to 4 mA. Sensor life is >100 million movements. www.novotechnik.com/ls1

HAVE A NEED FOR SPEED? NEW & IMPROVED PREMIUM INSTANT ADHESIVES REPlAcE SlOW fIxTURINg ADHESIVES Get the heat resistance without

Non-Contact Temperature Sensor Omega has released its OS212 series of compact non-contact temperature sensors. The series features a fast response with high stability, 2-wire 4 to 20 mA output proportional to target temperature, optional manual emissivity adjuster with display and stainless steel housing, sealed to IP65. This product is intended for research, industrial applications, HVAC, oil, automotive and beverage industry. Applications include non-contact temperature monitoring associated with liquids, motors, plumbing, food, refrigerated rooms, manufacturing, chemical plans and oil refineries. www.omega.ca

the wait by switching to Loctite® Premium instant Adhesives.

Reach 250ºF resistance & 15-second fixture time on many substrates.

Encoders AutomationDirect has added Koyo inch-size light and medium-duty encoders to its line of positioning and motion control products. The TRDA-2E series light-duty and TRDA-20 series medium-duty encoders have a 0.25-inch diameter 0.375-inch diameter stainless steel solid shaft, respectively, and offer resolutions from 100 to 2,500 pulses per revolution and provides up to 200 kHz response frequency. The TRDA25 series medium-duty encoders have a 0.375-inch diameter stainless steel solid shaft and offer resolutions from 100 to 2,500 pulses per revolution. Fitted with a military-style connector, these encoders also have a removable 2.5-inch round flange. All TRDA encoders feature a reinforced aluminum die cast casing; have an operating temperature range of -10 to +70 degrees C; and have no mounting restrictions. www.automationdirect.com

Color Sensor Balluff introduced its BFS 33M true color sensor, which uses fiber optic cable based optics allowing the placement of the detection optics in very tight spaces. The sensor also provides seven channels and three digital outputs for set-point detection and can use the serial interface to configure the unit and output color data to perform color evaluations. The BFS has a sensing range up to 400mm; a switching frequency of 1.5 kHz and can distinguish between different color shades. As a True Color sensor, it precisely detects every color in the technical color space. www.balluff.com www.design-engineering.com

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www.instantsolutions.loctite.com 1.800.lOcTITE (562.8483)

All marks used are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Henkel and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and elsewhere. © Henkel Corporation, 2012. All rights reserved. 9223 (7/12)

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IdeaGenerator Fluid Power

Pressure Transducers Automation Products Group announced that its PT-400 Heavy Duty Pressure Transducers have received ATEX and IECEx certification, rated EX II 1G Ex ia IIB T4 Ga, for use in hazardous locations. PT-400 pressure transmitters provide a minimum of 10 million operating cycles with high accuracy up to ±0.1% F.S. (B.F.S.L.), in operating temperatures from -40 to 180°F. They cover pressures ranging from 0 up to 20,000 psi, along with high burst pressure to 3x full scale (limited by the process connection) and overpressure to 2x full scale for in-process reliability. The PT-400 is designed for demanding applications in oil drilling, water and wastewater industries as well as for general use in other industries. The ATEX and IECEx certification applies only to 4-20ma units. www.apgsensors.com

Proportional Valve Sauer-Danfoss announced its PVG 16 proportional valve, designed for the low-flow segment. The valve facilitates the integration of load-sensing system design and electro-hydraulic actuator technology. The PVG 16 is rated for a flow of up to 65 l/min (17.2 gpm) and work port pressure of up to 400 bar (5,800 psi). A new actuator – the PVE Series 6 – provides the valve with its electrohydraulic platform. Incorporating a microcontroller for closed loop control, the actuator delivers spool control and built-in fault monitoring. The Sauer-Danfoss PVG valve family also includes the PVG 32, PVG 100 and PVG 120 – providing flow up to 240 l/min [63.4 gal/min]. www.sauer-danfoss.com

DesignSolutions OMEGA Introduces State Data Logger OM-CP-STATE101A Omega’s new state data logger is an advanced, low cost, battery powered data logger that records input transitions or contact closures from external sources such as transducers or state initiators. This CE compliant product offers a 10 year battery life, 4 Hz reading rate, a multiple start/stop function, ultra-high speed download capability, 406,323 reading storage capacity, optional memory wrap, battery life indicator, optional protection and more. Ideal for HVAC, chemical and environmental.

Contact: info@omega.ca Visit us at: www.omega.ca

Clippard Offers Miniature Pneumatic Products Catalog for Scientific/Medical Applications A leader in miniature pneumatics, Clippard provides the scientific/medical industry a variety of products and solutions. The product range is illustrated in a color brochure featuring the most complete line of miniature fluid power products for the medical, pharmaceutical analytical and dental fields. To get your copy today please visit our website at the address printed below.

Contact: sales@clippard.com Visit us at: www.clippard.com/scientific-a

Ideas To Improve Production Efficiency! Look to Seal Master Inflatable Seals.

Sealing is just one of many tasks for custom-built, fabric-reinforced elastomeric inflatable seals. Simple, versatile and with close tolerance capability, they’re ideal for use as actuators, brakes, valves, clutches, wipers and for other innovative applications. Backed by in-depth technical/customer service, they’ll replace cumbersome, hard-to-maintain proccessing and handling components to lessen downtime. Ask about our RSVP Design Assistance program Contact: info@sealmaster.com Visit us at: www.sealmaster.com

To advertise your solution in this section call Alan Macpherson at 416.510.6756 November/December | 2012

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Pneumatic Rod Locks Advanced Machine & Engineering Co., (AME) announced its Amlok RLI, the company’s fourthgeneration power-off rod lock. The rod lock’s standard features include anodized aluminum construction, a heavy-duty clamp system and power-off clamping. The standard seal material is carboxylated nitrile. The unit uses dry-filtered air and has a release pressure ranging from a minimum of 4 bar/60 psi to a maximum of 8 bar/120 psi. The operating temperature ranges from 10°F to 180°F. Maximum rod tolerance is +0.000 in./-0.002 in. The Amlok RLI is available in various sizes for rod diameters of 16mm, 20mm, 25mm, 32mm and 40mm and cylinder and bore diameters from 40mm to 160mm. Holding forces range from 200 lbs/890N to 2,450 lbs/11kN. www.ame.com

INSTANT ADHESIVES ARE

NEW AND IMPROVED!

PREMIUM INSTANT ADHESIVES

ExcEED & OUTPERfORM INDUSTRy STANDARDS improved temperature resistance to 250ºF without sacrificing speed or strength!

HEAT AGING AT 250ºF 110 100 90 80 Strength (%)

IdeaGenerator

Power Transmission

70

Upgraded LOCTITE® Premium Adhesives

60 50 40

Industry Standard Formulation

30 20 10

Linear Rail System

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Aging Time (hrs.)

NOTE: Represents typical results in Laboratory testing across a variety FIXTURE SPEED of substrates. For complete testing data, review the Technical Data Sheet available on instantsolutions.loctite.com

100%

Strength (%)

Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions introduced its BGS08, the latest addition to the company’s BGS linear rail product line. Maximum roll, pitch and yaw moments are 22.5 lb-ft (30.5 Nm), 19.4 lb-ft (26.3 Nm), and 22.3 lb-ft (30.2 Nm) respectively. Maximum horizontal load is 225 lbf (1,000N). Lead screw resolution available for the BGS08 ranges from 0.098-in (2.50mm) to 1.00-in (25.40mm) per revolution. When combined with a 200 step/rev stepper motor, linear positioning resolution ranges from 0.00049-in (0.0125mm) to 0.005-in (0.127mm) per input pulse. Stroke length is 1-in (25mm) to 30-in (760mm). At the heart of the BGS08 is a Haydon size 23 (56.4mm) linear actuator driving a Kerk 303 stainless steel precision lead screw.

Depending on the load requirements, the BGS08 linear rail is available with the size 23 single stack or double stack stepper motor. www.HaydonKerk.com

0

FULL CURE 24 HOURS SIMILAR TEMPERATURE PRODUCTS Upgraded LOCTITE Premium Adhesives Fixture Time: ®

15 SECONDS

SECONDS

MINUTES

Acrylic: 1-minute fixture Epoxy: 5-minute fixture

HOURS Time

NOTE: Represents typical results in Laboratory testing across a variety of substrates. For complete testing data, review the Technical Data Sheet available on instantsolutions.loctite.com

Clamp Style Coupling Zero-Max announced an improved clamp style hub design for its series of ServoClass couplings. According to the company, the new clamp style hubs provide superior shaft engagement and increased clamping strength. Available in 12 sizes in single and double disc models, ServoClass couplings handle torque ratings ranging from 0.5 to 250 Nm. Manufactured of RoHS compliant materials, ServoClass couplings with improved clamp style hubs are designed with 304 stainless steel disc members.

To ensure precise alignment of the assembled components, ISO 4762 CL 12.9 corrosion resistant socket head cap screws are utilized with a carefully controlled assembly process. www.zero-max.com www.design-engineering.com

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Innovat InnovatIon www.instantsolutions.loctite.com 1.800.lOcTITE (562.8483)

All marks used are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Henkel and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and elsewhere. © Henkel Corporation, 2012. All rights reserved. 9223 (7/12)

November/December | 2012

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RSM2800

36 CanadianInnovator

Falling Free Canadian engineer lends spacesuit expertise to historic freefall.

By Treena Hein

O

n Sunday October 14th, 2012 millions of eyes around the world were glued to screens, watching to see whether or not Felix Baumgartner would successfully complete the highest freefall ever attempted—from 39,000 m back to Earth.

Keep in mind that fighter aircraft fly up to a maximum of 20,000 m and airline jets to 12,000 m.

But no one’s eyes were more intensely watching the feat than the team at Massachusetts-based David Clark Company—the people who had designed Baumgartner’s suit— including Canadian engineer Shane Jacobs.

Jacobs and his colleagues have made Baumgartner the first human to reach supersonic speed outside of a jet or space vehicle. He fell at a speed of Mach 1.24, pushing the freefall record from a previous height of 31,333 m set in 1960 by Air Force test pilot Joe Kittinger (who was, by the way, also sporting a David Clark Company suit).

“We were all ecstatic that the mission went so well,” says Jacobs. “Before and during the event, I was thinking about all of the testing, training and engineering that had gone into this moment.” Two successful freefalls earlier this year (21,640 m in March and 29,566 m in July) gave Jacobs a solid amount of confidence.

“I was comforted by the fact that in a thermal-vacuum chamber test, Felix, the suit and the capsule had been through the entire thermal and pressure profile of this jump – and of course, a ton of other tests,” he says. “The only unknown was what would happen as he passed through Mach 1, but our analysis showed that the air would be very thin when he broke the sound barrier and that he would then slow down gradually as the atmosphere thickened.”

Those at David Clark also drew Canadian design engineer, Shane Jacobs, in a prototype “demonstrator suit” and precursor to Felix Baumgartner’s Mach 1 freefall suit.

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confidence from the famous Bill Weaver incident in 1996.

“He survived the breakup of an SR-71 jet at Mach 3 while wearing a state-of-the-art David Clark pressure suit of the time,” Jacobs explains, “and we’ve made significant improvements since then.”

Jacobs’ journey to the David Clark Company followed his youth in Calgary, a mechanical engineering degree at McGill in Montreal and a stint back on his stomping grounds developing running shoe technology at the University of Calgary’s Human Performance Lab. While at McGill, Jacobs was bitten by the space tech design bug (several of his professors did aerospace-related research) and he soon was enrolled at the University of Maryland to get a PhD in aerospace engineering, focused on space suit design. Upon graduation, he was snapped up by David Clark.

“My career dream is to see astronauts walking on the moon or Mars wearing the suit that I helped design,” he says. “Funding is an issue for this right now, but we continue to work with NASA on related projects, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to fully work on a lunar or Martian suit again.”

When one considers all the different conditions Baumgartner travelled through—extreme temperatures, near-vacuum—and all the potential contingencies that could have occurred—the critical importance of integrated design and teamwork become crystal clear.

“Spacesuit development is such a systems-level discipline,” Jacobs says.

There was some fogging of Felix’s helmet on ascent, involving an issue with a power supply for the visor’s integrated heating circuit, which showed how integrating all of the systems is one of the most difficult challenges. However, Jacobs says the issue also demonstrated the team’s ability to overcome obstacles and work together; switching over from capsule power to chest-pack power www.design-engineering.com

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RSM2800 Ad-DE

12/2/11

10:07 AM

Page 1

The RSM2800 Magnetic Encoder counts turns, measures angles down to the last degree, and remembers shaft positions without power Don’t try this with other encoders: imagine your machine with the RSM2800 inside both lose power and are still turning without power; when power is restored, the RSM2800 reports the correct position including the counts that occurred with no power!

RSM2800 magnetic encoders provide the level of reliability and accuracy sought in demanding applications like: • Material Handling

• Agricultural Machines

• Forklifts

• Cable Extension Transducers

• Overhead Doors

• Medical Equipment

The RSM2800 is based on Novotechnik’s patented non-contact multi-turn for absolute 5,760° (16 turns) measurement.

RSM2800 Specifications:

This new wear-free technology combines advanced capabilities with mechanical simplicity in a very compact and sturdy housing to provide for longer life and lower cost than optical encoders.

✔ Absolute multi-turn ■ ✔ Up to 16 turns ■ ✔ Up to 0.1° resolution ■ ✔ Up to 0.1% ■ independent linearity

✔ Outputs: 0.1 to 10V ■ ✔ ■ ✔ ■ ✔ ■

or 4 to 20 mA or 0.25 to 4.75V Housing OD=30 mm IP rating options: IP54 or IP67 No gears, no optics, no batteries

Contact us for samples or for complete specs, visit www.novotechnik.com/rsm Novotechnik U.S., Inc. • 155 Northboro Road • Southborough, MA 01772 • Tel: 508-485-2244 Fax: 508-485-2430

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CanadianInnovator

Designed by Jacobs and his collegues at David Clark Company, the freefall suit maintains pressure but increases mobility.

solved the problem.

Integration and working together is also critical within Jacobs’ specific area. As softgoods design manager, he leads development of suit parts that employ advanced textiles— working on increasing the pressurized mobility at joints while maximizing comfort and minimizing mass, with other engineers, designers, technicians, modelers and many others. For this suit, they leveraged a proven design from David Clark suits used in the U-2 rocket program.

“It automatically maintains pressure, ensuring that the absolute pressure inside the suit never goes below 3.5 psi” says Jacobs. “It was a unique challenge to design a pressure suit for skydiving, in that the suit had to enable Felix to maintain the delta position while falling and also provide him the pressurized mobility to perform a lot of tasks not typically performed in a pressure suit.”

Jacobs is satisfied with the outcome of Baumgartner’s freefall on several fronts. “We’ve expanded the performance envelope for aerospace crew protective equipment and proven the technology for high-altitude free falls of this height and velocity,” he says. “We’ve also gathered valuable data both for future NASA missions as well as the nascent commercial spaceflight industry.

We’ll continue to build on this accomplishment.”

DE www.davidclark.com

Advertisers Index

November/December | 2012

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Advertiser

Website

Automation Direct

www.automationdirect.com

Page

Baldor Electric Company

www.baldor.com

40

Baumer Electric Inc.

www.baumer.ca

26

Beckhoff Automation

www.beckhoff.ca

21

Bosch Rexroth Canada

www.boschrexroth.ca

19

Clippard Instrument

www.clippard.com

9

Daemar Inc.

www.daemar.com

39

Drive Products Inc.

www.driveproducts.com

24

Encoder Products Co.

www.encoder.com

38

Epson Canada Ltc.

www.epson.ca/printers

Great West Life

www.engineerscanada.ca

Henkel Canada Corp.

www.henkelna.com

Motion Canada

www.motionindustries.com

Myostat Motion Control Inc.

www.myostat.ca

Nord Gear Ltd.

www.nord.com

Novotechnik US Inc.

www.novotechnik.com

Proto Labs Inc.

www.protolabs.com

13

Rittal Systems Ltd.

www.rittal.ca

25

Rosta Inc.

www.rostainc.com

27

RotoPrecision Inc.

www.rotoprecision.ca

30

7

3 15 31, 33, 35 26 11 16, 17 37

Schaeffler Canada Inc.

www.ina.com

4

Schneider Electric Canada

www.schneider-electric.com

2

SCHUNK Intec Corp.

www.ca.schunk.com

10

Swagelok Company

www.swagelok.com

23

Tsubaki of Canada Ltd.

www.tsubaki.ca

32

www.design-engineering.com

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DMR_E

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The Industrial Choice

When it comes to industrial electric motors, power transmission products and drives, no other manufacturer offers more than Baldor...that is why Baldor is The Industrial Choice! Whether your application requires a fractional or 15,000 Hp motor, a variable frequency drive, mounted bearings or gearing, a pulley or sheave or even a standby generator, Baldor is the choice most preferred by industry.

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