A liquid‐crystal elastomer (LCE) iris inspired by the human eye is demonstrated. With integrated polyimide‐based platinum heaters, the LCE material is thermally actuated. The radial contraction ...direction, similar to a mammalian iris, is imprinted to the LCE by a custom‐designed magnetic field. Actuation of the device is reproducible over multiple cycles and controllable at intermediate contraction states.
There are several packages available for creating one's Web sites. Acquiring a working knowledge of it can be done by a trial and error approach of working through the package or by asking others for ...advice. Here, Rix presents a step-by-step instruction on how to create a departmental Web site.
An AS/RS upgrade also presents the opportunity to cut the strings from the OEM. In the past, many AS/RS manufacturers equipped their machines with proprietary devices and software, making the user a ...captive customer. It doesn't have to be that way any more. Today, universal off-the-shelf devices can transform the AS/RS into a machine that is easily changed, reconfigured and reprogrammed - now and at anytime in the future - without having to spend the sort of money associated with being 'factory rebuilt.' "The need to improve reliability was the main impetus for the upgrade," says Bob Hand, manager, machine tools services group, and project engineer. "At the same time, we wanted to make sure that any upgrades would use 'over-the-counter' hardware and that the source code for software would be readily available. As well, replacement on-board components would have to be specified and fitted in a way that would simplify all future maintenance and troubleshooting needs." "Since we have upgraded many similar systems, we were able to readily identify which components needed to be replaced and which could continue to perform satisfactorily," says Tom Goetz, a technical sales representative for Retrotech. "Another important aspect of the Pratt & Whitney project with which we were perfectly comfortable was the integration of new physical components, not just among themselves and with existing components, but with the communications and control network."
To serve members and their customers, IDI publishes idisupply, an 84-page full-colour glossy magazine, with a mix of news and products. The twice-yearly publication carries a complete listing of ...member companies and locations. IDI is also in the process of compiling an 1,800-page catalogue of products that will be fully digitized for electronic as well as print distribution. To free up time so as to be able to service their customers better, IDI members may now communicate electronically all information regarding national contracts with the IDI head office, where tracking and reporting tools keep the process running at peak efficiency. Working in collaboration with U.S. strategic partner IBC (an industrial buying group for independent distributors based in Hartford, Conn.), the group uses Visio software to document the whole process side of contracts and contract implementation, allowing all cost and sales-reporting functions to be made directly through the IDI website, with further ability to post national accounts information online and fill out contracts.
IDI head to "retire" Rix, Richard
Machinery & Equipment,
12/2005, Volume:
21, Issue:
6
Trade Publication Article
If you think that Knowles, who is already a few years past 'conventional' retirement age, has any plans to quit working, think again. While he might give up his Toronto condo and return full time to ...the family home in Peterborough, Ont., some 100 km away, he won't be the fabled retiree getting under the feet of wife Isobel. He will continue to contribute his expertise and knowledge to IDI in a consulting role. Knowles' career really began in the power transmission and bearing industries, back in the 1950s and 1960s. Then, shortly after IDI started up, he was asked to lend his skills, "to help it get off the pad." He agreed, stuck around for six months or so, and went off to do his own thing. Ten years later, he came back to IDI full time at a location near Pearson International Airport in Toronto. "One of IDI's most valuable functions is to level the playing field and provide the opportunity for users to source product from all across North America through a single group," Knowles says. "We offer an unbeatable combination of volume leverage and product and price standardization across the MRO industry."
"Not so long ago, delivery delays were an acceptable tradeoff for any manufacturer in pursuit of product quality and engineering excellence," says Darcor vice-president Dan Carnegie. "Supply chains ...were that much simpler, and customers were willing to accept erratic leadtimes as the price for consistency in product quality and performance." "Today's attitude tends to be, get the product to me by such-and-such a date, or don't get it to me at all," Carnegie says. "Customers simply can't and won't wait, since they have obligations to meet too." "Our primary aim is to meet customer needs through standardization, parts rationalization, process flow and predictability," says newly appointed QCI manager Bryan Fee, a manufacturing engineer of 12 years' experience. "Achieving this aim means achieving control, and that is what will allow us to attain 100% on-time delivery." "Not so long ago, delivery delays were an acceptable tradeoff for any manufacturer in pursuit of product quality and engineering excellence," says Darcor vice-president Dan Carnegie. "Supply chains were that much simpler, and customers were willing to accept erratic leadtimes as the price for consistency in product quality and performance." "Today's attitude tends to be, get the product to me by such-and-such a date, or don't get it to me at all," Carnegie says. "Customers simply can't and won't wait, since they have obligations to meet too." "Our primary aim is to meet customer needs through standardization, parts rationalization, process flow and predictability," says newly appointed QCI manager Bryan Fee, a manufacturing engineer of 12 years' experience. "Achieving this aim means achieving control, and that is what will allow us to attain 100% on-time delivery." "Not so long ago, delivery delays were an acceptable tradeoff for any manufacturer in pursuit of product quality and engineering excellence," says Darcor vice-president Dan Carnegie. "Supply chains were that much simpler, and customers were willing to accept erratic leadtimes as the price for consistency in product quality and performance." "Today's attitude tends to be, get the product to me by such-and-such a date, or don't get it to me at all," Carnegie says. "Customers simply can't and won't wait, since they have obligations to meet too." "Our primary aim is to meet customer needs through standardization, parts rationalization, process flow and predictability," says newly appointed QCI manager Bryan Fee, a manufacturing engineer of 12 years' experience. "Achieving this aim means achieving control, and that is what will allow us to attain 100% on-time delivery."
IntroductionAs delineated in Chapter 2, many optical systems in nature are based on soft and pliable organic tissue. Technical implementations of tunable optical systems, as described in Chapters 1, ...3, 6, and 7, also benefit from the use of soft matter in the fabrication of optical components.Whereas in natural optical systems such as the human eye, actuation (for tuning the focal length) uses flexible muscle tissue, most technical optical systems are actuated with rigid metallic or crystalline semiconductor-based actuators, that are used to deform a pliable optical component. Now, a new family of materials, liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), represent a useful and novel means for generating force and movement in a micromechanical system and may thus be used to tune an optical system. In this chapter, we show how LCE-based actuators may be conceived to realize compact tunable irises and tunable lenses, all fabricated with soft materials.The LCE is a polymer-based material that contracts and elongates significantly in direct dependence of temperature changes; it may thus be considered a thermal actuator characterized by a long stroke and able to generate significant force. By microstructuring the LCE and incorporating microfabricated heaters into the material, very compact actuators may be designed, allowing the realization of self-contained, highly miniaturized tunable optical systems.Bioinspired tunable optical components have been demonstrated before. In the example shown in Figure 14.1a, Carpi et al. (2011) uses a dielectric elastomer to tune a pliable lens, thus imitating the human eye. Alternatively, liquids can be used to realize a completely fluidic tunable iris (Müller et al. 2012), which can be seen in Figure 14.1b; this system is discussed in-depth in Chapter 6.Following the design of the human eye in both optics and actuation (Schuhladen et al. 2013), one challenge remained: the integration of individual components into a complete imaging system. In the following, we describe means for realizing actuation of soft-matter tunable optical devices using LCEs and the integration of these into an imaging system that includes a tunable lens and variable iris.We begin with an in-depth exposé of the chemistry, fabrication technology, and operating characteristics of LCEs. We then continue to characterize two optical components that rely on the characteristic behavior of this active material: an LCE-based iris and an LCE-actuated tunable lens. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the functionality of a complete imaging system that employs these components.
Ned Atalla, president of Scancode Logistics in Oakville, Ont., a WMS developer, says that despite all the critical needs outlined above, the warehouse is often the last place to get the automation ...tools that typically reside only in the front office. Advanced Barcode Systems, for example, recently launched XL-Link Middleware for connecting the shop floor or warehouse direct to the business system. A fourth-generation automatic data collection integration tool, it is a standard solution that can be tailored to the user's needs. "XL-Link Middleware truly empowers management by feeding error-free, real-time data into key business applications," John Fedak says. "For order picking, two megabits is ample (especially with a 2.4 GHz data-intensive frequency network), while 11 megabits will further enhance the capacity to perform real-time picking and provide the ability to transmit images," says Claudio Ricci. "As well, voice data can communicate over the same network as other data, and we will soon introduce a handheld computer device with a bar code reader and voice data over the local RF network."
Bar coding has shown itself to be very economical and reliable in providing fast and accurate data collection and entry. General Motors, for example, uses bar coding to control raw material, work in ...process, and automated manufacturing. As a shop-floor data collection tool, bar coding has paved the way for such advanced techniques as manufacturing resource planning and computer-integrated manufacturing. In addition to being used to control parts and processes, bar coding has made important advances in tracking labor and assets and in security control. Bar codes are expected to remain the standard for automatic identification in a variety of industries for many years. Bar codes are scanned with either fixed-head scanners like the laser beam scanner, or portable devices, which can be equipped with their own integral microcomputer and decoding software. There are several methods for printing bar codes, including: 1. dot matrix, 2. thermal transfer, 3. thermal direct, and 4. laser.
