Thermoelectric coolers are great for day trips, tailgating, boating or even overnight camping trips. Instead of ice, these coolers rely on a thin, flat electronic assembly called a Peltier device.
Daimler Buses is using additive manufacturing to make spare parts for vehicles on demand. The company's Centre of Competence for 3D Printing is examining more than 300,000 bus parts to determine their suitability for additive manufacturing.
An assembler wanted to automatically feed and orient synthetic corks at a feed rate of 200 parts per minute. These corks are difficult to feed due to the sticky film that remains on their surface after the manufacturing process.
Medical devices pose a special challenge to designers of parts feeding equipment. Parts for such devices can be tiny, sharp, clingy, floppy, tangly; or some combination of those properties.
Multistation automated assembly systems are a wonder to behold. A well-designed system can mass-produce hundreds of assemblies per minute with minimal human intervention.
Today’s automobiles contain dozens of electric motors. They adjust the mirrors, position the seats, aim the headlights, provide heating and cooling, and raise and lower the windows. In fact, a luxury car might have as many as 120 electric motors of various sizes.
There’s an old joke that the factory of the future will be so automated that it will have just two employees: a guard dog and someone to feed it. Fortunately or not, such a scenario remains the purview of science fiction. Indeed, despite advances in robotics and automation, people remain the most flexible assembly technology.