Green manufacturing activity has remained steady over the past 12 months, buoyed by the rebounding economy. Manufacturers are engaged in a wide variety of sustainable initiatives, such as recycling, landfill gas and solar panels.
It took several years, but self-tapping screws for plastic assembly have come of age. OEMs were lukewarm toward this type of fastener in the 1980s and early 1990s, that trend has changed in recent years.
Several manufacturers consider electromagnetic, or induction, welding a better way to weld highly filled thermoplastics than thermal or friction welding, or using adhesives.
ASSEMBLY recently asked Joel Hoffmann, strategic market development manager of Intel’s Automotive Solutions Div., to discuss current trends affecting the automotive electronics sector.
In the near future, energy harvesting and inductive power transfer technology may replace electrical wires, power cords and batteries in a wide variety of applications.
The Integrated Design and Engineering Environment system analyzes the functional requirements of a product and identifies appropriate materials at an early stage of the development process.
Evolving technology, such as carbon nanotubes, fiber optics and printed electrical systems, may provide the backbone of future electrical distribution systems in cars, trucks, locomotives, aircraft and other vehicles.
Today, just about every square inch of a typical automobile is crammed full of electronic components. Microprocessors, sensors, connectors and other increasingly smaller and more robust devices are inside doors, under seats, behind dashboards, inside tires and under hoods.
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