August means itβs time for the National Fluid Power Associationβs annual Industry & Economic Outlook Conference. I enjoy the opportunity to listen to the variety of economists discuss what will be happening, both in the U.S. and abroad, over the coming years. The news for manufacturers is reasonably good right now. In fact, Alan Beaulieu, […]
ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟ
ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟs give Cedar Point’s Power Tower riders a choice to free fall or skyrocket 240 ft.
Sending riders skyrocketing up 240 ft or dropping them in a free-fall the same distance was a challenge that only pneumatics could solve for ride designers of Cedar Pointβs Power Tower. For the third installment in Design Worldβs Summer Tech Vacation video series, Editorial Director Paul Heney speaks with Monty Jasper, Corporate Vice President for […]
CCEFP update: Additive manufacturing creates MRI-compatible pneumatic actuators
For some 2.2 million patients in the United States suffering from a treatment-resistant neurological disease, needle-based interventions have the potential to provide a minimally-invasive surgical cure. For safety and accuracy, these procedures require visualization of the needle relative to the target and adjacent untreated tissue. This visualization is typically done using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). […]
ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟs and electrics in harmony
Sound Machines 2.0 was developed to use automation for an artistic endeavorβto make music. ΊΪΑΟ³ΤΉΟ cylinders make strings vibrate, while electric drives determine the harmony. Sound Machines 2.0 comprises five self-playing stringed instruments that combine to produce an intelligent, robot-controlled sound installation. It records any melody played to it, uses it to compose a new […]
NFPA launches giving society to support education, research
In more exciting news this week, The National Fluid Power Association’sΒ Education and Technology Foundation announced that it has launched a new annual giving society to increase support for fluid power education and research. Named after Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist and inventor whose famous law describes the fundamental principle that gives fluid power its […]
The simple but necessary pressure gauge
By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor A pressure gauge is a fluid intensity measurement device, without which, the amplitude of hydraulic or pneumatic energy would be guesswork. Pressure gauges are required for the set-up and tuning of fluid power machines, and are also indispensable in troubleshooting them. Without pressure gauges, fluid power systems would be both […]
Reservoirs help airbags inflate at the push of a button
Airbags usually fill with air at lightning speed on impactβwithin 20 to 50 milliseconds. Volkswagen equipped a Golf GTI with an airbag demonstrator to show what an airbag looks like inflated and how it worksβwithout the accident. Festo developed the required compressed-air system that inflates the protective airbags at the press of a button. In […]
Compressed air fail: Using high pressure for low pressure applications
A newspaper printing plant had several printing presses that used low pressure air to help direct and manipulate the web of paper being printed. After years of operation, the small vane blowers that generated the low pressure air wore out. To save money on maintenance, rather than repairing the vane pumps, the maintenance personnel simply […]
Compressed air fail: Smart controller confusion drains profits
A health supplements manufacturer had just improved its compressed air system by adding a variable speed drive compressor to its system of fixed speed load/unload units. The VSD was sized so that it would carry the plant loading in all but the highest peak load conditions. If its capacity was exceeded, a fixed speed compressor […]
The 8 crazy animal robots you have to see to believe
Whether they use pneumatics, hydraulics, or some other type of motion control, robots are increasingly being modeled after the greatest designer of allβMother Nature. Here’s a look at some of the most amazing designs you’ll see engineers working on today. 1. German robotic ape The focus of this project, from the German Research Center for […]
