ubm designnews 2012 Feb

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Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation .comAccelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation .comAccelerating Engineering Innovation Accelerating Engineering Innovation .com.comFebruary 2012 $15.00

MEMS IS THE WORD Sensors Apps Go Wide 12

PETROSKI ON ENGINEERING Armchair Design & Analysis 14

PLASTIC BRIDGE Water Bottles Boost Structure 30

3DMachineVisionComes Into FocusThe ability to go beyondsurface defects and seedepths more effectivelyis driving adoption.

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Accelerating Engineering Innovation www.designnews.comContents 5

www.designnews.com February 2012 Design News

continued >

Cover Image: DeBee rommel

48

Cover Story36 3D Machine Vision Comes

Into Focus Production of 1 million more autos annually is driving demand for deep inspection.By Charles J. Murray

Features40 Multifunctional Coatings for

harsh environments As operating conditions get tougher, coatings manufacturers are combining functions to make them more durable.

By ann r. ThryFT

44 unleashing the Power of Model-Based DesignDriven by the rise of embedded systems, companies are turning to model-based design approaches to facilitate the development of increasingly complex products.

By BeTh sTaCkPole

48 advanced Motion Control for harsh environments Chemical and high-pressure wash-down, extreme temperatures, high shock, and vibration require high-performance solutions that thrive in demanding applications.

By al Presher

ColumnsWo l f e ’ s d e n

12 MeMs Is the Word Our Sensors in Design summit focuses on emerging applications.

By alexanDer WolFe

P e t ro s k i o n e n g i n e e r i n g

14 armchair Design & analysis The airline tray table in the armrest is something admired for its design ingenuity, but long cursed for its operational opaqueness and flimsiness.

By henry PeTroskI

M A d e B Y M o n k e Y s

18 harley hindered by lower Belt GuardOne tiny screw stands between a safe highway ride and disaster.

By DaVID T. huMPhrey

C A P tA i n h Y B r i d

20 Is lithium-Ion the answer for eVs? Lithium-ion batteries are already too costly, and new safety measures will prevent them from dropping significantly in cost, even as economies of scale kick in.

By Charles J. Murray

s h e r l o C k o h M s

56 Materials Mix-up: The epoxy Was Too soft

Expensive multipliers failed after potting when a hard epoxy was replaced with a soft one.

By keITh henson

February 2012vol. 67 no. 2

44

36

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7Contents> continued


G A D G E T F R E A K

64 Self-Starting, Solar- Powered Stirling EngineThis self-starting, solar-power Stirling engine runs all year when the sun is visible from the sculpture’s location.

Departments22 Engineering Matters

Thirst for Energy Contributes to National Water Crisis

24 Data Measurement & Analysis

A Data Acquisition Primer

26 MechatronicsPulse Width Modulation

28 Green SceneEnvironmental News Engineers Can Use

30 NewsTrends, Developments, Breakthroughs

54 Social EngineeringRandy the Robot or Roomba?

58 Design DecisionsEddy Current Position/ Displacement Sensor Selection

60 Design Engineering Products

Best of the Engineering Marketplace

SupplementsMedical MiniaturizationFind stories on high-speed motors powering ventilators and micro drives increasing surgical precision.

Sensors/Machine VisionLearn about crank sensor support for stop-start functionality, Ethernet tech-nology, and thermal accelerometers.

These stories also appear online at www.designnews.com.

DESIGN NEWS® (ISSN 0011-9407) is published monthly by UBM Electron-ics, 600 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; 516-562-5000. Periodicals postage paid at Manhasset and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTIONS – Free to qualified subscribers as defined on the subscrip-tion card. Rates for non-qualified subscriptions, including all issues: U.S.A, $150.00 one year, $250.00 two years, $300.00 three years; Canada, $184.90 one year, $314.90 two years (includes 7% GST, GST# 123397457); Mexico, $172.90 one year, $295.90 two years; Foreign air expedited $323.90 one year, $579.90 two years. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $10 U.S.A and $15 foreign. For telephone inquiries regarding subscriptions 763-746-2792. Email: [email protected]. CHANGE OF ADDRESS – Notices should be sent promptly to DESIGN NEWS® P.O. Box 47461, Plymouth, MN 55447 – Please provide old mailing labels as well as new address. Allow two months for change. NOTICE – Every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of content; however, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for the correctness of the information supplied or advertised or for any opinion expressed herein. POSTMASTER – Send address changes to, DESIGN NEWS® P.O. Box 47461, Plymouth, MN 55447, Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Pitney Bowes, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Printed in U.S.A. Copy-right 2011 by UBM Electronics. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

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Achieving High Performance: A Collaborative Approach for Motion Control SolutionsThis white paper allows design engineers and machine build-ers to better leverage the role of an expert partner in creating high-performance motion con-trol solutions that result in true competitive differentiation. For example, expert advice on whether to specify hydraulic or electric technology for a higher perfor-mance level in a specific machine.http://dn.hotims.com/40993-501

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automation & controlThe USB3 Vision standard, based on the widely available USB 3.0 bus, will become available this year for building vision systems with lots of different hardware.http://bit.ly/zuHWGq

Gadget FreakIn an aerospace and mechanical technology trilogy, we bring you videos of homebrew jet engine projects, including one made via 3D printing.http://bit.ly/zqer5R

engineering Materials Unlike other organic resins used in composites for aircraft, automobiles, and electronic circuits, a new thermoplastic resin can be reshaped at high temperatures and is recyclable.http://bit.ly/znG8df

caD/caM corner Jack, the Siemens PLM Software human simulation modeling tool, got a makeover, with a point release that pushes usability and productivity enhancements to facilitate easier, more accurate ergonomic studies.http://bit.ly/A88y1e

tesla Model s hitting the road this summerTesla’s new EV, the Model S, is expected to surprise consumers with its acceleration, range, and styling. It is priced starting at about $50K, and was debuted at the North American International Auto Show.http://bit.ly/zi6lET

Li-ion batteries in eVs May Last Longer New materials for lithium-ion batteries and their housings, along with cheaper ALD manufacturing methods, may help bring down costs and make them last longer in electric vehicles.http://bit.ly/Af5mxF

MeMs Will set the World on FireMicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) were in focus at the Seventh Annual Livingston Nanotechnology Conference, with the news that the US has a competi-tive advantage in advanced manufacturing in nano- and, to some extent, microtechnology.http://bit.ly/wfj2b4

Webinar: Mechatronics & industrial automation: software convergenceView now at: http://bit.ly/yo3LfMMachine control, HMIs, safety, vision, networking, and software are converg-ing to produce more potent, streamlined control architectures and robust industrial automation solutions. This webcast panel discussion focuses on this megatrend, the benefits of new technology, and how these solutions are re-shaping the face of automation and industrial machinery development.

Design News February 2012 www.designnews.com

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Building a Low-Cost, HBLED-based Fiber-Optic Illuminator (Part 1) Recently I needed to design and build a dual channel, high-output fiber optic (FO) illuminator. In the spirit of “open disclosure”, the unit is intended as an upgrade for a cherished vintage Vision Engineering “TS-3 Dynascope” stereo microscope in my home lab. It was a simple two-weekend project; but the optical, thermal and software development reflect many of the tasks you may encounter in production-level designs. In this issue of Light Matters, I’ll present the optical portion. Part 2 will address how the HBLED’s temperatures are monitored using thermistors and the algorithm used to convert their resistance into Celsius using a small microcontroller.

Due to its unusual multi-stage internal optical path, a significant amount of light reflected from the area under observation is lost before the image is erected on the viewing screen. As a result, an illumination system is needed to cast additional light on an object so it can be seen clearly. This Dynascope uses a ring light fed by two FO bundles. Originally, two 150W MR-16 halogen lamps were provided to drive the system. The lamps run incredibly hot and have an average lifetime of 200 hours.

The lamps’ radiation pattern is fairly wide, so only a small portion of the light is effectively coupled to the FO cable. FO cables and light pipes have an “acceptance cone” based on diameter. Light rays exceeding the cone angle never enter.

Thus, ideally the source is a narrow collimated beam. For an LED, this implies a sophisticated arrangement of secondary optics, or a large concentrated die area covered with a flat glass plate (no lens). This was the approach I chose- a Luminus Devices’ CBM-360 HBLED. CBM-360’s are quite powerful, with outputs exceeding 4,000 lumens.

Each of the two FO light engines contains a CBM-360, active-cooling and a mating thread for the FO bundle which ensures it is aligned precisely above and parallel to the glass cover of the CBM-360. A cable provides the thermistor feedback, high-current HBLED drive and fan power connections to a small MCU-based controller. The controller continuously monitors the temperature of each CBM-360, displays information on a four-line LCD and keeps the fan running until a desired cooler “end-point” temperature is reached after HBLED power is removed. The controller will immediately shut down one or both engines if a pre-set maximum temperature is exceeded (due to fan or cable fault, air flow constriction, etc.). Only about a hundred lines of C were required to implement the system. I used Atmel’s ATmega168 MCU—very nice tools and easy to develop with.

The controller can supply each engine with 100W of power, but the CBM-360s are driven at 75% of capacity—this yields over 6,000 lumens while keeping the system relatively cool and extending life to beyond 60K hours.

Next issue will address the thermal aspects and coding. If you’d like more information on high-brightness LEDs, visit our website (www.em.avnet.com/LightSpeed) or send a note [email protected]. Your questions and comments are always welcomed.

Cary Eskowis Global Director of the Solid State Lighting and Advanced LED business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing. An ardent advocate of energy efficient LED-based illumination, he has worked closely with LED manufacturers, advanced analog IC and secondary optics vendors since his first patent using LEDs was issued two decades ago. Avnet works with customers through their national team of illumination-focused sales engineers who are experienced in thermal, drive stage and optics design. Prior to his LED lighting focus, Cary was Avnet’s technical director and managed Avnet’s North American FAE team.

To submit questions or ideas,e-mail Cary at [email protected]

To learn more about designing an LED-based illumination system, go to:www.em.avnet.com/LightSpeed

Figure 4 – HBLED FO light engine internals, and as assembled into a PVC box

Figure 3 –CBM-360 (Available from Avnet/US and EBV/Europe)

Figure 2 – Acceptance cone

Figure 1 – My beloved old TS-3 Dynascope (Stereo Microscope)

12

D e nAlexander Wolfe, Content Director, [email protected]

Follow us on:Wolfe’s


MEMS Is the WordMicroelectroMechanical SyS-teMS (MEMS) have stealthily moved from DARPA research to daily use without most of the engineering world taking notice. The devices, which until recently saw service largely as automotive accelerometers to trig-ger airbags, have busted out big time in the consumer space.

At Design News, we’ve taken notice. We’re running our first live event — Sensors in Design. It’s part of DESIGN West, which has the broadest technical program ever. On March 26 - 29 in San Jose, seven summits are coming together under one roof.

ESC, the legendary Embedded Sys-tems Conference & Exhibition, is joined by the Android Summit, Black Hat, DesignMed, MultiCore DevCon, EDN’s Designing with LEDs, and Sensors in Design. You can check out the program at www.ubmdesign.com, and register for any and all of the summits.

Our Sensors event features a deep technical program with a focus on applications and actionable design tips for engineers who need to get up the learning curve quickly. That’s key because many of you have an immediate need to fold sensors into the consumer products you’re designing.

We saw this trend big time in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “MEMS are becoming more main-stream, not just with accelerometers in your smartphone and tire pressure moni-tors in your car, but now you are seeing MEMS magnetometers enabling your GPS to determine what floor you’re on inside a building,” says Karen Lightman, managing director of the MEMS Industry Group (see www.memsindustrygroup.org). “You’ll also see MEMS microphones that can intelligently distinguish between your

voice and background noise, and relay the former. I see the future and it’s four letters: MEMS.”

Karen will be one of our track chairs at the summit, along with sensor s experts Alissa Fitzgerald, founder of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, and Randy Frank. Our program includes a sensor-focused tab-let teardown, robotics showcase, and panels on apps in factories, harsh environments, smart grid, sports, and healthcare.

Sensors pose unique opportunities for design engineers. MEMS combine an electronic circuit and mechanical sensing element in one package. Smart sensors render moot the calibration challenges of analog devices. We’ll look at where both are headed, along with the role of legacy parts.

To show we’re not neglecting cars — where indeed sensor usage has increased, due to the power management requirements in electrics and hybrids — Tesla Motors Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel will be a keynote speaker.

Karen always takes pains to remind me that MEMS is more than just sensors. It encompasses microfluidics — MEMS which channel small fluid flows — and Texas Instruments’ Digital Light Process-ing — microscopic mirrors for video and pico projection.

That puts me in mind of the 1966 movie, Fantastic Voyage, where the actors became anthropomorphic MEMS so they could travel through blood vessels to perform brain surgery. Assaying MEMS’ rapid prog-ress, analogous biological apps may follow even before today’s consumer wave crests.

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1414 PETROSKI ON ENGINEERING


The folding tray table was obviously designed to satisfy a considerable number of constraints, which it does.

Henry Petroski is the Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and a professor of history at Duke University. His latest book is An Engineer’s Alphabet: Gleanings from the Softer Side of a Profession. He can be reached at [email protected].

Armchair Design & AnalysisTHE TRAY TABLE THAT folds in half for stow-age in the armrest of an airline seat is something I have long admired for its design ingenuity, but long cursed for its operational opaqueness and flimsiness. On domestic flights, tables of the kind I am describing are usually found in the first-class cabin and on seats facing a bulkhead. The more common rigid tray tables that swing down from the back of the seat in front of a passen-ger are obviously less costly to manufacture and install, and so are used wherever the seat pitch allows them.

But even before the more complex armrest table can be deployed into a (hopefully) flat and hori-zontal position, the airline passenger has to get the thing out of its underarm pocket. This can be more easily said than done, for there is no standard feature to grasp on the stowed table. Some models have a fabric loop, some a trigger-like hook, and some a corner hole. Since not all passengers are able to contort their bodies or squint their eyes sufficiently to see what aid might be lurking in the dark recess, they tend to feel around for a familiar shape and tug on it.

Once the table has been wrestled out of its hold, it can typically be rotated about an orthogonal axis to become a half table, often with a slight depres-sion in its surface to keep drinks from walking off the edge during air turbulence or just under ambient vibration. It is in deploying this half table that passengers might first discover that the top can have a pronounced incline. On a recent flight from Chicago to Raleigh-Durham I found myself with such a table. As I waited for the flight attendant to bring me a drink, I almost put the table back into

the armrest, since I would have had to hold the glass anyway.

The detailed design of the kinematically clever deployable armrest table understandably varies from airplane model to airplane model, but virtually all variations seem to depend for their operation on two primary mechanical principles: the hinge and the cantilever. Some also contain a slide or swivel feature, which enables the more corpulent user to push the tray forward or aside to gain some breath-ing room.

In one common form, the two halves of the table have their top edges connected through a pair of link hinges; the bottom edges of the two halves butt up against each other, providing reaction forces. Collectively, the forces maintain a cantilevered table top in a flat and horizontal position. One familiar form of tray table, when fully deployed, forms a bridge of sorts between a seat’s armrests.

On my flight where the folded table sloped downward, the unfolded one would also have — had it not been for the opposing armrest providing a support constraint. Thus, the fully opened table top formed not a flat plain but a shallow valley. The two halves inclined toward the center, creating a V into which everything from pencils to peanuts to plastic drink glasses would want to slide.

While cursing my bad luck, I noticed that the passenger one row up and across the aisle had an

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While cursing my bad luck, I noticed that the passenger one row up and across the aisle had an equally deformed tray table.


equally deformed tray table. The flight attendant saw immediately upon set-ting down his drink that it would not stay in place on the slope. She returned to the galley and came back with the aluminum tab she had broken off a

pop-top can, and she used it to shim up the cantilevered tray at its main hinge. When she came with my drink I asked for the same mechanical assistance, and she obliged. The fix was just right, and the table was perfectly flat and hori-

zontal even when fully opened across the seat. Thank goodness for shims, and for mechanically inclined flight attendants.

The folding tray table was obvi-ously designed to satisfy a considerable number of constraints, which it does. Thus, it is relatively lightweight, as well as compactable and deployable. These latter two qualities mean it has moving parts that are capable of get-ting out of kilter. Armrest tray tables clearly have not been designed to take the forces imposed by infrequent fliers wrestling with the puzzle of how the

thing deploys and stows, or by frequent fliers who use the table as a crutch for rising out of their seat. Such overloads naturally can and do throw the mecha-nism out of alignment. All designs have limitations, but not every user respects them.

The case of the airline tray table points out one of the asymmetries of the designer/user interrelationship. The failure of an armrest tray table to deploy into a f lat and level surface, perhaps leading to a drink spil l ing into a passenger’s lap, might result in a product-liability lawsuit, with pos-sible career-altering implications for the table’s designer. But a passenger who engages in heavy-handed misuse of the table, causing it to be permanently off level when in its deployed position and thus setting the stage for a drink spill-ing into some future passenger’s lap, can simply walk off the plane when it reaches its destination. Neither life nor design is always fair. DN

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I was riding my 2005 Harley Davidson Screaming Eagle V-Rod when I heard a rat-tling that sounded like a part was loose. I looked and decided it was probably some of the stones that suck into the radiator cowl and rattle around in the sheet metal.

A few days later, as I neared my exit on Interstate 83 at rush-hour, traffic slowed to a stop in my exit lane. When traffic started up, the bike wouldn’t move, even though the engine was running. The rear wheel was locked up! The lower belt guard had fallen down onto the belt, and it wedged between the main drive belt and the pulley.

I pulled the bike back a couple of feet and reached down to pull the guard out of its errant location. I walked the bike to the shoulder, strapped the twisted chrome guard onto the seat, and rode the rest of the way home.

This was not a terrible outcome. However, the more I thought about this, the more I was shaken. Moments before the rear wheel locked up, I had been riding almost 60 mph. It would not have been easy to keep the bike from spilling at highway speeds with a locked-up wheel. Furthermore, the following traffic may not have been alert to keep from hitting me during the extreme stop in the middle of rush hour.

As it was, I needed to re-adjust the belt tension and replace the lower belt guard (using some lock-tight blue on the replacement screw). The belt was not visibly dam-aged, the pulley had minimal damage — something like two stone nicks. The belt tension, however, was pulled from the 6mm specified slack to around 80mm! I think I’m also going to get some of the aftermarket stainless mesh grills to keep stones out of the radiator cowl, and pay more attention to rattles.

On further investigation, I found the lower belt guard was designed such that one little screw could loosen from vibration and the entire guard will drop off its mounts. There are no sheet metal tabs against the hex f lats, back-up cotter pin, clip, safety wire, or even a second screw through a closed slot.

If the belt guard did drop off, it would pass between the belt and pulley with an inverted-U channel. That would virtually guarantee that the guard would get trapped and pinched between the pulley and belt. This would, at the very least, either lock up the rear wheel with damage to the guard, belt, and pulley, or snap the belt and damage the pulley.

A good Design FMEA should have caught this likely scenario from one little screw in the suspension/driveline loosening, and the risk could have been mitigated with secondary locks or travel limits.

A redesign of the lower guard to wrap as a U channel from the outside of the belt would have allowed the guard to drop off. Or, alternatively, the channel riveted seam from metal to plastic could be shifted to have the top of the channel as plastic that may shear off without locking the rear wheel.

— DAVID T. HUMPHREY

Harley Hindered by Lower Belt Guard

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CS SeriesTactile Style

Cost, not safety, is the big issue.

Is Lithium-Ion the Answer for EVs?

these days, you can barely pick up a newspaper without seeing a headline about electric car safety. But the dark cloud that now hangs over the electric car community in the wake of a recent Chevy Volt fire shouldn’t be about the Volt itself, nor about electric car safety.

It should be about battery pack cost.Experts say that rising concerns over

safety are going to make it tougher for engineers to dramatically cut the costs of lithium-ion battery packs. Already, Gen-eral Motors is said to be considering a re-design of its lithium-ion battery pack in order to help prevent damage during a collision, according to news reports.

“We just don’t know how much lower we can go in terms of price,” says Don-ald Sadoway, battery expert and John F. Elliott Professor of materials chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technol-ogy. “It’s not as if we can stand on the shoulders of all the work that’s been done on cell phone and laptop batteries up to now. Laptop batteries don’t have to be crashworthy.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the Volt fire occurred after a side crash test was performed on a Volt last May (http://dn.hotims.com/40993-505). During the test, the vehicle’s battery was damaged and a coolant line was ruptured. The fire occurred three weeks later. Three similar tests in November did not result in fires, although one damaged battery did emit sparks and smoke, the agency says.

Experts are conf ident that existing cooling systems coupled with greater crashworthiness will keep electric cars safe. “We will learn how to better deal

with the safety issues,” says Elton Cairns, professor in the department of chemi-cal and biomolecular engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and a designer of fuel cells for the Gemini spacecraft program during the 1960s. “After all, any battery that can fit on a vehicle stores much less energy than a tank of gas.”

Still, the concern is that lithium-ion batteries are already too costly, and that new safety measures will prevent them from dropping significantly in cost, even as economies of scale kick in. Today, approximately half of the cost of an EV battery pack lies in its “non-cell” por-tion, according to the National Research Council, and that number could go up if crashworthiness becomes a big issue.

None of this would be an issue, of course, if EV battery packs weren’t so big in the first place. The packs, often weighing in excess of 400lb, can have trouble releasing their heat because they’re so much bigger than laptop or cell phone batteries. That’s why most electric carmakers are employing com-plex active cooling systems that cell phones don’t need.

“Can you put cooling channels in (an EV battery pack)?” Sadoway asked. “Sure. But then you may not hit the price point you want.”

The bottom line is, today’s technology of choice may be facing challenges ahead. Automakers are relying on a steep drop in battery cost to help electric car sales to take off. And additional safety constraints aren’t going to help them reach their cost targets, especially since cost was already an issue before the Volt fire. DN

By CHARLES J. MURRAY, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics & Test

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22 ENGINEERING MATTERSFocus on the Future of Engineering

22


Geoffrey C. Orsak

Thirst for Energy Contributes to National Water CrisisYOU CAN HARDLY avoid the thorny issue of global water politics today. Just a quick Google search of the phrase “global water crisis” yields a staggering number of hits, which sadly contain too few answers amongst the endless graphs and reports.

So what an enlightening expe-rience it was for me to be able to sit down and talk with Jeff Fulgham, and see the impend-ing water crisis through his very experienced eyes. Fulgham is the former chief sustain-ability officer for GE Power and Water, and is now one of the leaders of Banyan Water, helping customers manage water-related risks. He is one of the most thorough and lucid experts in framing and solving water resource challenges around the globe.

As we talked, I gained a greater appreciation for the complex and often hidden interactions between water, energy, and global development that will inevitably pose deep challenges to our leaders, scientists, and engineers.

Our national thirst for energy is the biggest con-sumer of water in our society; in the US this amounts to half of our total water consumption. So, while I am typing this article, or chilling sodas in the refrigerator for later, the faucet is running in the bathroom.

Water consumption in the energy-hungry manu-facturing industry can become truly staggering (and surprising): 39,000 gallons of water to produce one automobile, an additional 97 gallons for just one gallon of gasoline, and while you sit down to enjoy a simple hamburger over lunch, you will have unwittingly used an additional 4,000 gallons of water (not including the amount required for the A/C and lighting).

So, the big takeaway is that nearly everything we do in our lives today requires immense (and hidden) amounts of one of the most precious commodities on earth. Fortunately for the US, there is no real global market where water is priced based on supply and demand, for if there was, the actual cost of living in our country would likely increase dramatically. Just think, on a per capita basis, the US consumes more than five and a half times the amount of water of our neighbors in Latin America, and two and a half times more than France. In a world with increasingly stressed water reserves, this vast differential in consumption has the potential to seed resentment and conflict.

And now that nations around the globe are aspir-ing to emulate the American lifestyle, they too will inevitably and dramatically increase their water con-sumption. Unfortunately, many of these countries are located where there is little water to begin with. Will their only practical option be to import all of their goods simply because they don’t have access to the vast amounts of water required to power a modern economy? Unless there is new water-efficient, energy-producing technologies available, they just might be locked in the economic conditions they face today for decades to come.

We as an engineering community and society must become more aware of the real impact of our work and lifestyle on our already stressed water supply. So here’s one simple idea: what if every product listed the actual amount of water required to produce and place that product on the shelf at your local store? How would we feel about buying a 4-pound pot roast that required nearly 10,000 gallons of water to produce? Maybe we just might begin to look for new water-efficient ways to provide the benefits of our modern lifestyle. DN

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24 DATA MEASUREMENT & ANALYSIS Unbelievably useful info on data measurement,

collection and analysis from the test expert


24

Jon Titus, a former designer and chief editor of EDN and Test & Measurement World magazines, remembers when “fast” signals operated at 10 MHz and programs came on paper tape.

OVER THE YEARS, engineers start-ing their careers have asked me how to specify and create a data-acquisit ion system. The path can seem rocky until they analyze what they must measure and what they want to do with the measure-ment information. This and following columns outline how to think about such projects, for which I assume one or more “unknown” voltage signals.

You must know what to measure when you start a project. Although data-acquisition equipment can adapt to many needs, I recommend designing or configuring what you need to solve a specific problem. After solving that problem you can decide whether to add other capabilities.

Must you measure analog, digital, or both signal types? At first, analog signals seem straightforward because most of the time you will just digitize them. Digital signals could involve counting pulses or timing periods between signal transitions. And because digital signals do not always make a clean transition between logic states, you might need to treat them as analog signals and sample them accordingly. The sampled infor-mation lets you observe analog-like behavior such as jitter, glitches, noise, and runt pulses not seen if you cap-ture only logic-level transitions. Also, by sampling and analyzing digital signals

you can determine how well they meet signal-integrity specs.

The need to sample a signal leads to the next specifications: resolution and accuracy. Manufacturers’ data sheets provide this information, so get your calculator ready. For a 1V signal, a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), for example, provides a resolution of 15.3μV, the value of its least-significant bit. A 5½ digit DVM offers a 10μV res-olution, the value of its least-significant digit. The DVM data sheet notes an accuracy of 0.012 percent, or 120μV for

the 1V signal. Electrical noise created within the 16-bit ADC and surround-ing circuits will limit accuracy to about 14 bits, or 61μV. Match accuracy to the measurement requirements for your data. There is no need to specify accu-racy in 10’s of microvolts when 10’s of

millivolts will suffice. Accuracy is almost always less than a specified resolution.

Next, consider the frequency of your signals. To test slowly changing DC or near-DC signals in, say, battery or photovoltaic-cell tests, a digital voltmeter (DVM) with a USB interface to a PC might suffice. DVMs can provide root-mean-square (rms) measurements and can average a signal over a set period, too.

When you sample AC signals, things get more complicated because you must determine the bandwidth over which you need to capture signals and then

determine the appropriate sampling frequency. I’ll review sampling and bandwidth characteristics in the March issue of Design News. DN

For More Information:1. Kester, Walt, ed., “The Data Conversion Handbook,” Elsevier-Newnes, 2005. ISBN: 978-0-7506-7841-4.2. “Complete Data Acquisition Tutorial,” National Instruments. http://dn.hotims.com/40993-504

Jon Titus

A B&K Precision Model 5491B digital multimeter can take as many as 25 samples per second and provide true rms values to a PC. The company also provides instrument control software.

A Data Acquisition Primer

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FRESH IDEAS ON INTEGRATING MECHANICAL SYSTEMS, ELECTRONICS, CONTROL SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE

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Pulse Width ModulationWhat is it and why is it so widely used? All engineers need to know.

AS ENGINEERS, THERE ARE many components and devices we use every day that we treat as black boxes. We only are concerned about the inputs and outputs of the black box, and this is acceptable provided we know the operating range and limitations of the device. The same can be said about cer-tain concepts and techniques. We routinely use them and they work, but maybe we really do not understand why they work. As fundamental performance limitations and safety come into question, a deeper understanding becomes necessary. In addi-tion, innovation demands understanding. The widely used pulse-width-modulation (PWM) technique may fall into this category. Most engineers use it every day to drive a variety of devices, but only a few know why it is used and how it works.

A pulse signal is de ned by its amplitude and pulse width. A periodic pulse train has a frequency (pulse repetition rate) and a duty cycle (ratio of pulse width to repetition period, varying between 0 percent and 100 percent). In PWM, we modulate the duty cycle while keeping the period xed. A PWM signal can be generated by microcontrollers, which operate in the digital domain. While an analog signal is continuous in both time and amplitude, a digital signal is discrete in time (sampled at a certain rate) and quantized in amplitude (using a nite number of bits). The output of a microcontroller is typically either digital or PWM. The PWM signal typically varies between 5V and 0V, high and low, and thus can be used to turn an electronic power switch (a transistor) on and o , and control the amount of power delivered to a load.

Why would anybody be interested in this type of signal? PWM avoids losses normally incurred when a power source is limited by resistive means. In PWM, the average power delivered is proportional to the modulation duty cycle. Thus, the switched circuits, used to control the voltage across or current through a load, have low power loss as the switching devices are either o (no current, no power loss) or on (low power loss due to low volt-age drop). The PWM signal, with a su ciently high modulation frequency, can be augmented with a low-pass lter to smooth the pulse train and recover an average analog waveform. PWM has been called a poor man’s digital-to-analog (D/A) converter.

What should the frequency of the PWM signal be? First,

consider the case where we are using the PWM signal as a D/A converter. A wide variety of microcontroller applications exist that need analog output, but do not require high-resolution D/A converters. In a typical PWM signal, the frequency is constant, but the pulse width (duty cycle) is a variable, directly proportional to the amplitude of the original unmodulated signal. The bandwidth of the low-pass lter should be equal to the bandwidth of the unmodulated signal. The PWM frequency is chosen to give an acceptable ripple magnitude in the analog signal. For example, if a RC low-pass lter is used, the amplitude attenuation in deci-bels (dB) is given by:

To increase the attenuation, and thus reduce the ripple, a higher-order f ilter may be necessary or a higher PWM frequency.

Many devices inherently average an on-o signal to control their operation, based on the duty cycle. Examples include LEDs viewed by humans and inductive loads, such as motors and solenoids. For an inductive load, e.g., a LR circuit, what should the PWM voltage frequency be so that the current waveform is within a certain percentage (P percent) of the analog step response? A fundamental analysis of a LR circuit shows that frequency (f Hz) to be:

Too often, devices and concepts are shrouded in mystery, which can often lead to avoidance or misuse. Focusing on the funda-mentals removes that mystery. DN

Kevin C. Craig, Ph.D., Robert C. Greenheck Chair in Engineering Design & Professor of Mechanical Engineer-ing, College of Engi-neering, Marquette University.

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For regular updates on sustainable engineering news, follow Content Director Alexander Wolfe at http://twitter.com/awolfe58.

GREEN UPDATES

Environmental news engineers can use \\\ By Rob Spiegel, Senior Editor

GreenScene


For regular updates on sustainable engineering news, follow Content Director Alexander Wolfe at http://twitter.com/awolfe58.

GREEN UPDATES

28

Sustainable Cooling TechnologyMany power plants are cooled with the use of marine waters, and the e ect is marine pollution. Chile-based Crystal Lagoons proposes to end this problem by creating closed-circuit lagoons for cooling plants. The company has 19 projects started in several locations, including the US, Finland, and India.

The goal of the lagoons is to reduce or eliminate marine pollution and CO2 emissions produced by cooling indus-trial and thermal power plants.

The company creates large crystalline lagoons which disperse heat through a closed cooling circuit. The water returns to the lagoon after cooling the plant, and the lagoon acts as a heat sink. The system also allows for creating or relocating thermoelectric power stations farther from the sea.

Monitor Your Solar Power With Your AndroidWant to know if you’re receiving su cient solar power? Check your phone. SunPower, a manufacturer of solar cells and panels, has added an energy-monitoring application for Android-powered smartphones. With the Android applica-tion, users can follow their system’s performance, monitor home energy usage and trends, and view usage history.

The android applications can be downloaded for free from the Android market. It’s available to new and existing Sun-Power customers.

Kraft Foods Maps Total Environmental FootprintA company’s true environmental footprint goes beyond its own operations and includes the practices of its supply base.

In that vein, Kraft Foods has conducted a study that measures the company’s environmental impact on land and water use beyond its own manufacturing operations.

The study looked at Kraft’s environmental footprint from the farm to the forklift. It concludes that the company needs to work with its suppliers to reduce the impact of producing raw materials. This means forging long-term partnerships with suppliers based on shared objectives.

Kraft says it intends to reduce water use, energy use, CO2 emissions, and waste production by creating measurable goals for reduction.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., meanwhile, has made a practice of mandating that customers adopt sustainable practices.

SunPower energy can be monitored with an Android phone.

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NewsTrends \\\ Breakthroughs \\\ Developments


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Bridge Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles

We’ve Seen recycled bottles turned into car seats for Ford’s 2012 Focus elec-tric vehicle. And we’ve seen plans by Boeing to recycle composites used in its Dreamliner plane for nonstructural uses in aircraft. Now recycled bottles and other plastic products destined for landfills have been turned into struc-tural, weight-bearing elements of a 90-ft heavy-load bridge in Scotland.

Recycled St r uctura l Compos-

ite (RSC), a proprietary composite thermoplastic material from Axion Inter-national, is made from 100 percent recycled plastics. RSC is also 100 per-cent recyclable at the end of its useful life. The material won’t rot, crumble, splinter, rust, or corrode, and it requires no painting or regular maintenance. In other words, it is a type of Trex building material, but instead of going into your back deck, it’s designed for heavy-duty manufacturing uses such as railroad ties and heavy-load bridge elements like I-beams, pilings, and boards.

Axion constructed the bridge’s com-ponents at its plant in Pennsylvania and shipped them in six sections to Scotland, where the bridge spans the River Tweed at Easter Dawyck near Edinburgh. It

was assembled and erected in four days (you can see a picture gallery at http://dn.hotims.com/40993-506). Recycling the materials in the bridge prevented 50 tons of plastic waste from going into a landfill or being shipped to Asia, Anil Aggarwal, director of the Welsh firm Vertech Composites, one of Axion’s partners in the project, said in a press release. The bridge, which is also the longest to date built with recycled plastic, meets European standards with a load rating of 45 metric tons.

The three-span bridge, which mea-sures about 12 ft wide x 90 ft long, replaces an old road bridge made of steel beams and timber decking. It is the first recycled plastic bridge outside the US. Axion has built several US bridges from

Recycled plastic bottles and other waste plastic are being turned into structural, weight-bearing elements of a 90-ft bridge in Scotland.

The crew lowers composite panels made from recycled plastics into place in the 90-ft Scottish bridge structure.


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its RSC material, most recently in North Carolina.

Axion developed its RSC mate-rial in conjunction with Rutgers University’s materials sciences and engineering department. Vertech plans to manufacture its own high-perfor-mance composite sheet materials, using Rutgers University’s polymer blending and processing technology, for use in the European construction industry. These composite materials will serve as a replacement for the less environmentally friendly plywood, MDF, and laminates.

Vertech’s new materials will be manufactured in the UK from UK-sourced recycled materials. “We shouldn’t be sending so much of the UK’s waste plastic to landf ill, nor should we be shipping it to China,” William Mainwaring, cofounder and CEO of Vertech, said in a press release. “With this unique technology, we can now recycle it ourselves to produce increasingly sought-after high-quality and sustainable construction materials for the European market.”

This year, Vertech plans to open a manufacturing facility in northern Wales to produce its own material, and it will work with Axion to combine its knowledge of the bridge market with technology from Rutgers.

On its Website, Axion bills the Struxure RSC products used in the Scottish bridge as “Composite Infrastructure Products.” This looks to me like the wave of the future. It may not be technically renewable or sustainable, but an industrial-strength Trex could go a long way toward solving the problem of all that unused plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills.— Ann R. Thryft, Senior Technical Editor, Materials & Assembly

For More Information:Axion International: www.axionintl.comVertech Composites: www.vertechcomposites.co.uk

Electronics & Test

Would Cellphone Ban Secure Car Safety?Automakers continue to expand the scope of electronic “infotainment” features, despite govern-ment pressure to ban them and deem them unsafe.

T h e p r o l i f e r a T i o n o f in-car entertainment technologies — Internet routers, smartphone links, MP3 connections, capacitive touch screens, etc. — are great for selling cars, but they have sparked a serious debate about driver distraction.

That leads to the question: If safety is so important, why are automakers putting these features in vehicles at all?

It’s a good question. The same thought apparently occurred to the people at the National Transportation

Autonet Mobile’s in-car router lets occupants surf the Web while the car is moving.

News32


Safety Board, which in December called for the “first-ever nationwide ban on portable electronic devices” — includ-ing cellphones — for drivers.

“According to NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents,” NTSB chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hers-man said in a press release. “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices while driving.”

However, the proposal was virtually dead on arrival. Transportation Sec-retary Ray LaHood gave it an almost immediate thumbs-down. Auto blogs generally disliked the concept. “Even LaHood thinks the NTSB mobile elec-tronics ban is flawed,” autoblog.com wrote. And radio call-in shows were flooded with calls from unhappy lis-teners, many of whom were probably phoning in from their cars.

And that, in a nutshell, answers our readers’ question about why automakers keep adding these features. Auto execu-tives understand what consumers want. They know how important cellphones are to a segment of the buying public. And no one wants to be the one who took a backward technological step, even if it is for the sake of safety.

“You’ve got a pull coming from the market and a pushback coming from the government agencies, and the manufac-turers are in the middle, trying to figure out what to do,” David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research, told us in an interview.

Cole, who knows the automotive market as well as anyone in the country, cites the lack of success of Tata Motors’ Nano, a bare-bones city car that retailed for a scant $2,100 and still missed its mark, even in India’s economically chal-lenged market.

“It’s been a bomb in the market,” he said. “Many people don’t want a car with no extra features.”

The debate over cellphone use is also complicated by the question of whether a cellphone really is a distraction. Few would argue that texting while driving

is a safety issue, but many phone users cite the availability of Bluetooth headsets to eliminate potential distraction. With Bluetooth, they say, a phone is no more a distraction than a car radio or a crying child in the back seat.

Still, Bluetooth technology doesn’t help drivers deal with center console displays, many of which have gotten maddeningly complex. Some use as many as 15 buttons and require drivers to step through a menu of four or five

nested screens, all of which qualify as a major distraction. Cole predicts that the auto industry will ultimately settle the problem with the development of recon-figurable displays that can change to meet the individual driver’s needs. Those who have difficulties with complex features will be able to simplify the display to minimize the distraction, he said.

Of course, that won’t help clueless drivers who seem incapable of under-standing when they’re distracted. “This is a huge dilemma for the industry,” Cole said. “You’re dealing with human nature here. People want what they want. And sometimes they want more than they should have.”— Charles Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics & Test

For More Information: National Transportation Safety Board: www.ntsb.govCenter for Automotive Research: www.cargroup.org

“You’ve got a pull coming from the

market and a push-back coming from

the government agencies, and the

manufacturers are in the middle, trying to

figure out what to do.”

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2012 Global Electronics Distribution Special S5

Nobody has come up with a catchy alternative yet, but it is becoming

increasingly clear that the term “electronics distributor”— harking

back to the group’s origin as middlemen that linked component ven-

dors with customers worldwide—has outlived its usefulness. The mis-

nomer does little justice to the range of services that the sector’s

diverse participants perform nowadays, and it might be time to dump it altogether.

A look at Avnet Electronics’ latest annual filing with the U.S. Securities and

Exchange Commission bolsters that argument. The filing states that Avnet “pro-

vides engineering design, materials management and logistics services, system inte-

gration and configuration, and supply chain services that can be customized to

meet the requirements of both cus-

tomers and suppliers.” Of course,

the company still functions as an

“industrial distributor of electronic

components, enterprise computer

and storage products, and embed-

ded systems,” but it is no mere mid-

dleman. Rather, it is “a vital link in

the technology supply chain.”

The description is not hyperbole.

And it applies not only to distribution giants like Avnet, Arrow, World Peace Group,

Future, Digi-Key, Mouser and Element14, but also, increasingly, to midsize and niche

players. This editorial package, a joint project among the publications of UBM Elec-

tronics, provides ample evidence that in all segments of the electronics industry, the

companies we know today as distributors are increasingly critical resources for

design and related value-added services. In short, today’s distributors have taken on

many more responsibilities than tradition has assigned them.

The expansion of distribution’s role raises key questions not just about distrib-

utors, but also about the fundamental changes occurring in the industry and in

society at large. As distributors add design functions to their slate of offerings,

An industryin transitionBy Bolaji Ojo

2012 Global Electronics Distribution Special

INSIDE

8 Keeping the channel relevant in an ever-changing world

10 Need design guidance?Ask a distributor

11 Disasters, shortages,counterfeits: For industry, 2011was a year of wakeup calls

16 Stemming the counterfeit tide

21 Five regulations to watchin 2012

23 Niche suppliers point tohardware democratization

25 Web, economy shift distrib models forautomation/control products

28 Parts ‘ownership’ questionsdefy easy solutions

30 Is your supplier’s distrib dealgood news for you?

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what is the effect on their relationship

with their various constituencies—

component makers, the OEMs that

have traditionally handled design, the

outsourcing community on which

equipment vendors rely for produc-

tion, and the customers who rely on

their services? How many more OEM

and vendor functions can distributors

absorb? What are the implications of

this brand extension for the design and

supply chain? Who bene-

fits most from the new

twists in relationships

among suppliers, distrib-

utors and their cus-

tomers? And how do the

players get reimbursed

for their services in an

environment where

goods and ideas crisscross

national and corporate

boundaries?

The articles in this spe-

cial editorial package

examine those questions

and provide perspective

on how the industry can best manage

its evolving web of interrelated busi-

ness models.

The discussion is only just begin-

ning. As technology innovations have

accelerated, so has the complexity of

the industry’s relationships. The lines

of demarcation are being erased not

just between OEMs and their EMS

providers, but across all industry

segments.

Indeed, even the definition of OEM

is changing rapidly.

The OEM ranks thinned out during

the recessionary Y2K period but have

expanded fast since then to accommo-

date some players that bear little resem-

blance to the typical OEM of 2000. In

addition to “traditional” companies like

Microsoft and Apple, industry partici-

pants now include bookseller and Nook

e-reader vendor Barnes & Noble; online

retail titan, Kindle creator and, if specu-

lation proves correct, aspiring smart-

phone market participant Amazon;

and Google Inc., which

leveraged its high value

in search engine opti-

mization to launch

Android and purchase a

traditional OEM (Motoro-

la Mobility).

I suspect distributors

will somehow find new

ways to serve everyone in

the industry, whatever

direction they pursue.

That’s because they’ve

changed faster than any

other segment over the

past 20 years and have a

depth of offerings and market penetra-

tion that few can match. Avnet alone

says its roster of customers includes

“more than 100,000” OEMs, EMS

providers, ODMs and VARs, in addition

to hundreds of component makers.

Such companies can rightly still

be called distributors only in the con-

text of how extensively their distrib-

uted services touch all segments of

the industry. p

Bolaji Ojo ([email protected]) is editor

in chief of EBN.


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S8 2012 Global Electronics Distribution Special

Electronics distributors have seen wrenching changes

in the industry over the past two decades and have

had to adjust rapidly to the demands of their cus-

tomers. The channel’s traditional model of order ful-

fillment has evolved to include design services and

engineering support. Meeting the needs of both the engineer-

ing and procurement departments isn’t always easy, and dis-

tributors are resolving this dilemma in a number of ways.

Until fairly recently, distributors’ main focus was on pur-

chasing—securing large-volume orders to be shipped to man-

ufacturing sites around the world. Engineers either interfaced

directly with component suppliers or worked with catalog

distributors.

A number of factors have changed that. First, suppliers are

cutting back on their technical support to all but their major

customers. Second, the global regulatory environment has

made the supply chain increasingly complex. Distributors,

which interface extensively with both their suppliers and

their customers, have seen an opportunity to fill in some gaps

by expanding their role in the supply chain.

As component suppliers have cut back on their support, cus-

tomers have been turning to distribution for design assistance.

As extensions of their suppliers’ sales forces, distributors are

trained in many technologies. Since most distributors carry a

wide variety of suppliers—some in the hundreds—the channel

has a bird’s-eye view of how these technologies interact.

Distributors are in a unique position to assist designers in

selecting the best mix of components for their end products.

Keeping the channel relevantin an ever-changing worldBy Barbara Jorgensen



That has required a change in the way distributors interact

with suppliers and customers. In the past, distributors would

typically push a supplier’s product—a Texas Instruments or

Intel part, for example—as the mainstay on a customer’s pc

board. Now, instead of focusing on a single product, distribu-

tors focus on solutions.

This approach takes a combination of products, directs

them toward an application, test drives the solutions and

offers them to the market. Intel and TI products may be on

the board, but so are the capacitors, resistors and connectors

that complete the solution. Even longtime competitors

appear side by side on the same board.

Some distributors are taking design assis-

tance a step further and are guiding cus-

tomers to design tools as well as

components. Catalog distributor Element14,

for example, has created an interactive site

hosting component data, EDA tools, design-

related content, pc board prototyping servic-

es, an engineering community and a

components store.

For now the community, called The

Knode, targets the pc board design and

embedded systems markets, but there are

plans to expand into other design areas, such

as FPGAs, according to Jeff Jussel, senior

director of global technology for Element14

parent company Premier Farnell plc.

"We see this as a gateway into engineering design solu-

tions,” Jussel told EBN. “We now provide solutions beyond

component development kits and hardware tools: We can

help engineers with the design, their component selection,

their pc board services and their prototyping needs, and con-

tain it all in one ‘room.’

“The concept is to present these solutions to engineers and

let them do their work faster, with less risk, and in a way that

makes sense to them.”

All this engineering assistance comes at a cost, however.

Distribution is first and foremost a sales-driven business mod-

el. High-salaried engineers are a fixed cost in these organiza-

tions and have to be deployed toward distributors’ most prof-

itable opportunities. Distributors are trying to scale their

design services toward a highly segmented customer base.

While distributors can spread the expense of hiring engi-

neers over a customer base that numbers in the tens of thou-

sands, they are also turning to their suppliers for support.

Global distributors Arrow Electronics Inc. and Avnet Inc.,

for example, host several programs every year that include

suppliers and customers. Events such as Avnet’s X-Fest and

its SpeedWay and On-Ramp programs offer intensive hands-

on training sessions that bring suppliers and customers

face-to-face.

On the fulfillment side of the business, distrib-

utors face many of the same challenges as OEMs.

Electronics companies are under increasing pres-

sure to become better global citizens. Manufac-

turers are being asked to provide information on

the materials they use, where those materials are

sourced and to whom their products are being

shipped. Distributors are frequently conduits of

such information.

For example, environmental mandates such as

the European Union’s RoHS directive require

manufacturers to document their compliance.

Most OEM systems aren’t set up to track and sort

millions of components, but distributors’ systems

are. So OEMs rely on distributors to stay on top of

a variety of environmental laws.

Only a decade ago, the Internet threatened to render the

distribution channel irrelevant. That hasn’t happened, but

distributors realize they have to keep evolving to keep cus-

tomers engaged. The channel has moved from the parts-ful-

fillment business into the design realm and still has room

to grow.

“We’ve moved from selling parts to making complexity

seem simple,” Arrow CEO Michael Long said at a recent

industry conference. “But innovation is the cost of entry.” p

Barbara Jorgensen ([email protected]) is community

editor at EBN.


Interactivecommunitieslike the Knode are ‘a gatewayinto ... designsolutions’— Jeff Jussel,Premier Farnell


Component vendors and

resources like EDN are go-to

sources for design guidance,

but electronics distributors

can also help you get your

designs off the ground.

Many distributors have

their own teams of applica-

tion engineers. Companies

such as Newark offer libraries

of application notes and

white papers, as well as train-

ing and design tools.

In addition, distributors

like Avnet Inc. have long

championed reference

designs as a way to help

OEMs speed product evalua-

tions. Sometimes component

vendors do these reference

designs, but distributors have

also stepped up to the chal-

lenge of creating their own.

If enough customers request a

design, many distribution companies

have the engineering talent on hand to

supply it. So even if you don’t see the

reference design you need, be sure to

ask your distributor if it can come up

with the required reference platform.

Distributors also partner with other

vendors to provide design services. For

example, Avnet’s Technology Solutions

group partners with Palo Alto Networks

to help with firewall solutions, and it

teams with Lincor Solutions to handle

clinical assessment and entertainment

systems. Avnet’s Electronic Marketing

division conducts technical seminars and

workshops on such topics as designing

with USB or ARM. There’s a Design with

Avnet section on the company’s Web site,

and there’s even a technology museum at

Avnet’s Phoenix headquarters. And

Avnet Express is UBM Electronics’

partner in the Drive for Innovation,

a program in which Brian Fuller of

EDN sister publication EE Times

has been driving a Chevy Volt

around the country and meeting

with engineers.

Digi-Key has long helped design

engineers get the job done. If you

need information on the on-resis-

tance of a 200-volt p-channel FET,

you could go to five or more com-

ponent vendor Web sites and look

up the parts. But it’s far easier to

conduct a search on digikey.com

and filter for your desired specs,

such as the lowest on-resistance

available from the vendors that

distribute through Digi-Key.

The distributor also offers product

training modules and videos to help

customers understand their design chal-

lenges and trade-offs, and it has refer-

ence designs on hand and application

Need design guidance?Ask a distributor

By Paul Rako


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engineers on staff to help designers get started.

Perhaps Digi-Key’s most valuable design-related service is

its TechXchange forum, where designers can share informa-

tion and pick the brains of Digi-Key’s application engineers. A

recent discussion centered on how to power an LCD through

a microcontroller output pin. Alec, a Digi-Key engineer, was

monitoring the forum and responded: “I asked one of the oth-

er engineers here at Digi-Key, and he says he has used small

LCDs with that level of current draw and powered them

directly from an MSP430 GPIO pin without any problems.”

Digi-Key also partners with National Instruments, NXP,

Screaming Circuits and Sunstone in what the participants

call a circuit design ECOsystem. The capitalized ECO riffs on

the engineering change order, but the use of “ecosystem”

reminds designers they need distribution, board fabrication,

simulation and testing, as well as an IC vendor, to get a design

working and ready for production. The ECOsystem helps

them move from parts research to circuit design, fabrication

and assembly, and validation and test.

Mouser is another distributor that does more than just

stock parts. Its Product Knowledge Center has information on

more than 1,700 topics to help engineers strategize and refine

designs. The company also offers a search accelerator that can

be added to a browser to expedite part searches, an often frus-

trating part of the design process. And Mouser’s project shar-

ing system lets designers share projects with coworkers.

Even smaller distributors, such as Jameco, offer design

assistance. Electronics guru Forrest M. Mims III describes his

favorite designs on Jameco’s Web site. The site also offers a

DIY section that offers fun projects, such as the One-Hour

CoasterBot kit. Such diversions might not solve an immediate

design problem, but they let engineers get hands-on experi-

ence in areas such as robotics and analog design.

Be sure to consider the resources and talents of distributors

as you plan your next design project. They have the tools and

expertise to help you get a jump on the competition. p

Paul Rako is a former EDN technical editor.


Disasters, shortages, counterfeits: For industry, 2011 was a year of wakeup callsBy Junko Yoshida

The electronics industry got a rude awakening—or a

series of them—in 2011. It was a year in which any

hiccup in the supply chain posed the threat of pro-

found disruption for OEM businesses ranging from

automaking to light bulb manufacture.

Supply chain issues that plagued the industry last year

included the great earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in

March; the increasing rarity of rare-earth materials; and an

alarming uptick in chip counterfeiting, which has brought

new national-security headaches.

Devastating impactThe damage stretched from the fab lines tothe office space at Renesas facilities afterthe March earthquake and tsunami innorthern Japan.


Everyone in the industry knows their

business lives or dies by the supply

chain, but nobody fully appreciates its

centrality until a catastrophe serves as a

reminder. Then, at least for a time, folks

get serious about devising plans to cope

with the next distribution crisis.

The problem is, every supply chain

problem is unique in terms of its cause,

its impact and its appropriate solution.

Often, distribution ruptures cannot be

repaired by distributors alone. It takes

serious collaboration all along the supply

chain—component suppliers, distribu-

tors and OEMs included.

To complicate matters, the supply

chain itself has become increasingly

fragmented. The rise of Internet trading,

the increased use of electronics manu-

facturing service providers in diverse

locations, and system vendors’ giving in

to the temptation of faster and cheaper

solutions have all compromised supply

chain visibility. That, in turn, has creat-

ed new entry points for counterfeit

chips, as the industry and government

discovered last year.

Topping the list of 2011 events in

terms of damage to the supply chain

was the March 11 earthquake and

tsunami. The catastrophe’s repercus-

sions were spread broadly among the

materials, components and equipment

segments of the supply chain. A short-

age of MCUs from Renesas—hardest hit

among the Japanese chip companies

slammed by the quake—sent shock

waves of production-line disruptions

through tier-one automotive manufac-

turers like Nissan and Honda, as well as

through second- and third-tier-automo-

tive subsystem suppliers.

Thanks to the combined efforts of the

IC vendors themselves and their suppli-

ers, customers and competitors, even

the most damaged chip vendors

resumed full production before the end

of the third quarter. But a robust redun-

dancy program to stave off the next sup-

ply crisis is still in the works.

In an interview with EE Times last fall,

Yasushi Akao, CEO of Renesas, laid out

his vision for a “fab network” of produc-

tion lines operated both inside and out-

side Renesas fabs. During a crisis, the fab

network would allow the company the

flexibility to change, on the fly, the vol-

ume and mix of products run on the var-

ious fab lines.

Renesas’ three-pronged plan for the


mBefore and after Although there was damageto equipment inside clean rooms likethis one, shown before and after therepairs, the buildings themselves heldup well, having been engineered andconstructed to withstand seismicactivity.

b Their finest hourDan Mahoney, president and CEO of RenesasElectronics America, characterizes the rebuilding period as his colleagues’ finest hour.Part of the process, once the crisis was over andmanufacturing capability was restored, was todraft a ‘fab network’ plan that would get thecompany through the next disruptive event.


redundancy program involves securing

multiple production lines, asking cus-

tomers to evaluate and qualify produc-

tion lines at different fabs in advance,

and requiring each fab to maintain an

inventory of “semi-finished” products.

Renesas aims to restore production at

any given fab—no matter what hap-

pens—”within a month,” said Akao.

“That’s our endgame.”

But, of course, no supply chain issue

can be sorted out just by one party.

The fab network won’t function prop-

erly if Renesas and its customers fail to

disclose and share information on

specifics such as available capacity at

fabs, product road maps and qualifica-

tion processes. Further, they must agree

on how to share the cost of building the

needed redundancy into the model.

At a time when many leading inte-

grated device manufacturers have been

busy downsizing in-house production

capacity and going fab-lite, Japan’s

earthquake was a shock to even the

best-laid fab plans. The question semi-

conductor companies need to answer is

no longer whether they should main-

tain their own fabs, but how they can

build a network of production lines on

which they can reliably depend.

Artificial scarcity Along with reliable access to fab capacity,

reliability of materials supply was an

issue last year as China tightened restric-

tions on production of the rare earths

used in electronics manufacture. The

problem originated with a tiff between

Japan and China in 2009 and quickly

escalated beyond those traditional rivals.

By last summer, China had cut already-

short export supplies by a third. The

unsurprising upshot has been skyrock-

eting prices for the vital materials.

Australia, Canada and the United

States all have programs under way to

open or reopen rare-earth mines outside

China, including new mines in Malaysia

and Russia. But the added mine capacity

isn’t expected to reduce the shortfall

appreciably for at least three years.

Rare earths are used in slurries for

mechanical planarization of everything

from glass to semiconductor wafers.

Chip makers are resorting to silicates

and other minerals to substitute for rare

earths, but manufacturers of phosphors

for such products as fluorescent bulbs

and white LEDs are having a hard time

finding alternatives.

For some, moving production to Chi-

na—the source of the needed materi-

als—addresses the problem, albeit by

sidestepping it. Meanwhile, phosphor

manufacturers’ research and engineer-

ing teams are working to develop alter-

native phosphors in the United States.

Ultimately, regardless of how the

rare-earths shortage is addressed, the

lesson that should linger well after last

year’s wakeup call on materials supply

is that relying on a single source for

anything is never a good idea.

Crackdown on counterfeitsNothing reveals the complexity of

today’s supply chain issues more plain-

ly than the counterfeit chips that have

crept, with growing sophistication,

into the electronics pipeline in recent

decades.

Last May, customs officials at the Port

of Long Beach, Calif., intercepted a ship-

ment of almost $1 million worth of fake

SanDisk memory chips stashed inside

nearly 2,000 karaoke machines, shipped

in a container from China.

In a U.S. Dept. of Commerce survey of

original component manufacturers con-

ducted in 2010, China topped the list of

suspected sources of counterfeits by

country. In the same survey, “brokers,”

“independent distributors” and “Inter-

net-exclusive sources” were identified

as the three worst offenders by supply

chain segment.

As the electronics industry and law

enforcement step up their efforts to fer-

ret out the fakes, counterfeiters are

becoming even more devious. Some are

using dice harvested from decapped

scrap ICs and repackaging them.

The best defense against counterfeit

parts is prevention. For OEMs and EMS

providers, traceability to the source—

knowing where every part comes

from—is the obvious first step. But

equally important are heavy-handed

diplomacy—particularly with China—

and legislative oversight to combat the

flood of counterfeit electronics parts

coming into the defense supply system.

In today’s interconnected world,

design engineers cannot afford to ignore

politics—just as they dare not disregard

natural disasters, manmade shortages

and chips of questionable pedigree. If

past is prelude, however, they probably

will—until the next rude awakening. p

Junko Yoshida ([email protected]) is

editor in chief of EE Times.


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Counterfeit components have

been a thorn in the side of the

electronics industry for

decades. And every year the

incidents seem to grow more

common—and more costly.

One estimate suggests

that counterfeit parts

account for more than

$5 billion, or about 2 per-

cent, of the total available

market for semiconductors

worldwide. The Semicon-

ductor Industry Association

claims counterfeiting costs

U.S.-based semiconductor

companies more than

$7.5 billion each year.

Law enforcement and gov-

ernment agencies are collaborating to

catch fakes before they enter the supply

chain. Between 2007 and 2010, the U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

agency (ICE) worked with U.S. Customs

and Border Patrol on more than 1,300

seizures involving 5.6 million counter-

feit semiconductors. The confiscated

counterfeits bore the trademarks of 87

North American, Asian and European

semiconductor companies.

A 2010 government case against chip

broker VisionTech Components of

Clearwater, Fla., charged two company

officials with knowingly importing

more than 3,200 shipments of counter-

feit semiconductors into the United

States, marketing some of the products

as “military grade” and selling them to

the U.S. Navy, defense contractors and

others. The case involved the coordina-

tion of multiple government agencies,

including the Department of Justice

Task Force on Intellectual Property, the

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

(NCIS) and ICE.

VisionTech “set a ticking time bomb of

incalculable damage and harm to the

U.S. military, U.S. servicemen and

-women, the government, all of the

industries to which VisionTech sold

goods, and consumers,” the U.S. attorney

who prosecuted the case wrote in the

government’s sentencing memo.

Congressional responseIn 2011, electronics counterfeit-

ing caught the attention of the

Senate Armed Services Commit-

tee. A series of hearings ex-

plored the extent and severity of

the counterfeit problem within

the military and government

sectors, and a congressional

investigation documented more

than 1,800 instances of counter-

feit electronic parts in the

defense supply chain. Some of those

parts had wound up in military equip-

ment operating in the field.

One case involved suspect counterfeit

parts in forward-looking infrared radar

(FLIR) units supplied to the U.S. Navy by

Raytheon Co. Some of the FLIR units had

been installed on helicopters deployed to

the Pacific Fleet. In another case, suspect

counterfeit parts were used in color mul-

tipurpose display units (CMDUs) that L3

Communications had installed on U.S.

Air Force C-27J aircraft. Two of the C-27Js

had been deployed in Afghanistan.

Stemming the counterfeit tideBy Bruce Rayner


New efforts to keep fakes outof the military supply chain

have made headway, but arethey enough to protect

against tomorrow’s threats?

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In the case of the CMDUs, the counterfeit parts were traced

back to a company in China that had sold them to a U.S. inde-

pendent distributor. The U.S. company in turn had sold the

parts to L-3 Communications, according to an Oct. 31 letter to

Michael Donley, secretary of the Air Force, from Senate Armed

Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Ranking Minor-

ity Leader John McCain. “More than 500 of those [CMDUs]

were sold to both L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, the

prime contractor on the C-27J, and Lockheed Martin, the

prime contractor to the C-130J,” Levin and McCain wrote.

The investigation culminated last month in an amendment

to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal

Year 2012 co-sponsored by Levin and McCain that would

“bolster the detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic

parts.” The amendment, which was signed into law on Dec. 31,

puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of contrac-

tors such as Raytheon and L-3 to ensure that counterfeits nev-

er make it into equipment deployed to the field.

The Levin-McCain amendment requires the contractor to

absorb the cost for any equipment rework or refurbishment

resulting from counterfeits. It also calls for a fine of up to

$5 million and 20 years in prison for individuals convicted of

selling counterfeits to the U.S. government that are used in

critical infrastructure or national security applications.

Guilty companies could be fined up to $15 million.

The amendment further requires contractors to obtain elec-

tronic parts from original manufacturers, their authorized

dealers or other “trusted suppliers.” Those trusted suppliers can

include independent distributors as long as they have adequate

policies and procedures in place to detect counterfeits.

Because military systems are often deployed for decades,

replacement parts are typically out of production and often

not available from either the original component manufac-

turer (OCM) or a franchised distributor. A few franchised dis-

tributors, such as Rochester Electronics, specialize in obsolete

parts for defense systems. But when those sources don’t have

the parts—or, more precisely, don’t have them when the cus-

tomer needs them—the only recourse for defense contractors

is to buy from independents and brokers on the open market.

While the vast majority of independents are aboveboard,

most do not have the systems in place to catch counterfeits.

In fact, some independent distributors have estimated their

incoming inventory to be as high as 35 percent counterfeit,

according to Leon Hamiter of Components Technology Insti-

tute Inc. (Huntsville, Ala.).

Catching the fakes is expensive. Outlays for the equipment

needed for physical inspection and test can run into the hun-

dreds of thousands of dollars. The instrument roster includes

high-powered laboratory-grade microscopes, X-ray fluores-

cence equipment, scanning electron and acoustic micro-

scopes, and decapsulation test equipment. In addition to


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LEVIN-MCCAIN AMENDMENT TO THE FY 2012 NDAA• Prohibits contractors from charging the DOD for the cost

of fixing the problem when counterfeit parts are discovered.

• Requires the department and its contractors whenever possible to buy electronic parts from original componentmanufacturers and their authorized dealers, or from trustedsuppliers that meet established standards for detecting andavoiding counterfeit parts.

• Requires contractors and military officials who learn ofcounterfeit parts in the supply chain to provide written notifi-cation to the contracting officer, the DOD inspector generaland the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program.

• Requires the secretary of Homeland Security to establisha methodology for the enhanced inspection of electronicparts after consulting with the secretary of Defense as tothe sources of counterfeit parts in the defense supply chain.

• Mandates that large defense contractors establish systemsfor detecting and avoiding counterfeit parts, and authorizesreductions in contract payments to contractors that fail to do so.

• Requires the DOD to adopt policies and procedures fordetecting and avoiding counterfeit parts in its direct purchases, and for assessing and acting on reports of counterfeits.

• Adopts provisions of a bill sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., to toughen criminal sentences for counterfeiting of military goods or services.

• Requires the DOD to define “counterfeit part” and to include in that definition previously used parts that havebeen misrepresented as new.

SOURCES: OFF ICE OF SEN. CARL LEVIN; T ITLE V I I I , SUBTITLE C, SECTION 848

OF THE NAT IONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZAT ION ACT FOR F ISCAL YEAR 2012

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absorbing the capital costs, companies must invest to hire

and train staff for both physical and electrical testing.

Contractors and defense agencies are reviewing their rela-

tionships with independent distributors and brokers in light

of the Levin-McCain amendment. “Many are cutting their

approved vendor lists to just three or four independents,” said

Tom Sharpe, vice president of independent distributor SMT

Corp. (Sandy Hook, Conn.).

Sharpe hopes SMT will be one of the few independents that

make the cut, though a few years ago it would not have been

considered a standout. In 2005 and 2006, SMT unknowingly

sold counterfeit parts to a defense contractor. The contractor

discovered the fakes during a stock sweep and in early 2007

filed two Government Industry Data Exchange Program

(GIDEP) reports against SMT.

Appearing in the GIDEP database amounts to being black-

listed by the defense community. But “that event was the best

thing that ever happened to SMT,” Sharpe said. “It made us

reassess our capabilities and develop a mitigation strategy.”

SMT took a year off from selling to the military to enhance

its ability to identify counterfeits. It invested more than $1 mil-

lion in test and inspection equipment, earned certification to

three industry quality standards, trained and certified its quali-

ty-control lab staff, and built new capacity and processes.

The company reentered the defense market in July 2008 and

has since gained a reputation as a leader in authenticating

semiconductors, according to a number of industry sources.

SMT has contributed to the industry’s understanding of

counterfeit practices by documenting some of the more

advanced methods used to resurface and remark semiconduc-

tor packages. In 2009, it identified a surface recoating materi-

al that is immune to acetone surface permanency testing. And

last year, it uncovered two new processes used by counterfeit-

ers: one for removing part markings without requiring sur-

face recoating, and the other to remove and recondition the

surfaces of ceramic components.

“There’s no college degree in detecting counterfeit parts,”

said Sharpe. “You need to be looking at parts and work with

the stuff every day.”

The counterfeiting problem is hardly confined to the public

sector. About 98 percent of all semiconductors are sold to com-

mercial customers in all market segments—including the

automotive, industrial and medical sectors, in which safety

and quality standards are rigorous. And there are plenty of cas-

es in all of these sectors of counterfeits’ causing system failure.

The recommendations made in Levin-McCain are as valid

for commercial applications as they are for the military. All

companies should source only from OCMs or their franchised

distributors whenever possible. And if there’s no alternative

to the open market, they should source only from “trusted

sources” that have robust test capabilities.

Still, there’s no telling how long today’s test regimes will

protect the electronics supply chain, as counterfeiters are con-

stantly refining their capabilities. As soon as companies iden-

tify a counterfeiting technique, counterfeiters respond with

even more sophisticated approaches.

One of the most serious new threats is the “clone” compo-

nent—a part manufactured to look and function exactly like

the OCM’s product. Typically, clones pass both physical and

electrical testing. Taking the concept a bit further is “malicious

insertion,” whereby malware is embedded in a piece of indus-

trial equipment with the intent of causing a malfunction or to

gather intelligence. Targets include commercial companies, the

military and the government.

One suspected example of malicious insertion, reported

roughly a year ago, involved software embedded in a piece of

industrial equipment manufactured by Siemens. The software

contained a sophisticated worm known as Stuxnet that was

allegedly responsible for causing malfunctions of nuclear cen-

trifuges at an Iranian nuclear enrichment plant. Israel has been

implicated in that attack, according to The New York Times.

A November report by the Office of the National Counter-

intelligence Executive titled “Foreign Spies Stealing U.S. Eco-

nomic Secrets in Cyberspace” argued that the pace of

industrial espionage against U.S. corporations and govern-

ment agencies is accelerating. While the report did not men-

tion clone components specifically, it did address the

increased incidence of malware.

Don’t let your guard down. p

Bruce Rayner ([email protected]) is a contributing editor

to EE Times.



Messy, confusing, expensive and often limiting to

design, government regulations and legislation

are ever changing—and always influential.

Like it or not, the task of understanding and

complying with these directives is a necessary

evil of the electronics supply chain. Quality distributors stay

on top of the directives to usher designers and manufacturers

through challenging process-

es, even going so far as to

keep an eye on product end-

of-life for the consumer. But

every link in the chain needs

to be aware of current regula-

tions and legislation.

As we move into 2012,

here are five regulations,

directives and laws across

the globe that will affect the

electronics supply chain—

the manufacturers, distribu-

tors, design engineers and, ultimately, users of electronics.

1. RoHS recastIf you thought you were done with the European Union’s

Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, think

again. A “recast” or reimplementation of RoHS was written

into the original directive’s documentation. Its subsequent

changes became law in the summer of 2011.

The changes include new product categories under RoHS

and a coming analysis of additional substances, as well as new

challenges in terms of meeting requirements for the CE mark,

a mandatory conformity mark for products placed on the

market in the European Economic Area.

“The requirements of the CE mark included in the recast

will prove a massive burden on industry,” said Gary Nevison,

head of legislation at Newark/Element14. “There will be a

massive data collection exer-

cise required, including a new

‘declaration of conformity’ doc-

ument. There is already wide-

spread concern in industry

around the CE requirements ...

this can impact manufacturers,

importers and distributors.”

As to other changes brought

by the recast, Nevison noted,

“Manufacturers of products in

categories 8 (medical devices)

and 9 (monitoring and control

instruments) will need to have RoHS-compliant products from

2014 onward. Those ready ‘early’ could gain market share.”

2. China RoHSThe term “China RoHS” has been used in the electronics sup-

ply chain for more than five years, yet its meaning remains a

mystery to many. China RoHS, officially known as Measures

for Administration of the Pollution Control of Electronic

Information Products, is a Chinese Ministry of Information

Five regulations to watchin 2012

By Suzanne Deffree



Industry regulation that aims to control certain materials,

such as lead, that have been used in electronics and are con-

sidered to have negative environmental or health effects.

Because of the long road this regulation has taken, the

measure seems to have fallen off many watch lists. To be sure,

however, so-called China RoHS is alive and strong. Its “Stan-

dard Product Catalog for the Pollution Control of

Electrical and Electronic Products” was published in July;

in November, the first “voluntary certification” measures

took effect for some parts, materials and components used

in computers, household electronics and telecommunications

products.

3. Eco-design of Energy-related Products directive

Until recently, the EU Eco-design of Energy-related Products

(ErP) directive’s focus had been on increasing energy efficien-

cy, particularly during the use phase of a product’s life. Now

looking at the electronics supply chain from start to finish,

the directive aims to improve the environmental perform-

ance of products throughout their life cycle, from mining of

the raw material through recycling at end-of-life.

By definition, this is a framework directive, meaning that

while it defines the legal context for “implementing meas-

ures” for specific target groups of products, it does not itself

impose any obligations on industry. Nonetheless, the Euro-

pean Commission (EC) reports that 12 Eco-design regulations,

two amendments and five energy labeling regulations came

into force between 2008 and 2011.

At press time, an EC Consultation Forum on the Eco-design

directive working plan and the new methodology was slated

for Jan. 20, 2012. It was expected to address a working plan for

2012 through 2014 and to include a review of the directive’s

methodology. It was also expected to address the need for

additional guidance and clarity in producing a uniform

method for implementation of regulations.

Element14 reports that 2012 is expected to be a big year for

the Eco-design directive, with more regulations due to be

implemented. Adoption of the revised Eco-design directive is

due by March 2012.

4. U.S. e-cyclingAbout half of the states in the United States—including tech

centers like California, New York and Texas—have passed

electronics recycling (e-cycling) laws to varying degrees.

Under the New York law, which took effect in April and so far

is the most comprehensive in terms of covered products,

manufacturers must provide an electronic waste acceptance

program at no cost to consumers. Such state e-cycling laws

are expected to continue to pass and go into effect in 2012,

with Pennsylvania’s law being the first to go into force this

year, on Jan. 1.

Several federal bills have been presented that would affect

e-cycling. Bill S.1397 was just one such effort to go beyond e-

waste dumping and call for “sustainable design” of electronic

equipment, as well as funding for research and development

of more sustainable designs.

While Bill S.1397 did not become law, similar legislation

is expected to continue to be presented. Such efforts, as


More information on legislation can befound via these sources and links:European Commission’s information page on the recast of the RoHS directivehttp://bit.ly/uuUZ90

China Ministry of Commerce English translation of Measures for Administration of the Pollution Control of Electronic Information Productshttp://bit.ly/tWHoJR

Element14’s legislation information pagehttp://bit.ly/i886Qu

Export.gov information page on Eco-design of Energy-related Products directivehttp://1.usa.gov/sinoj1

National Center for Electronics Recyclinghttp://www.electronicsrecycling.org

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Acthttp://1.usa.gov/dohxqC

IPC’s conflict minerals information pagehttp://bit.ly/u5fRlN


well as the various state e-cycling laws, will affect the

supply chain.

5. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and ConsumerProtection Act

Dodd-Frank is largely focused on financial supervision. But 838

pages into this act, which became law in the summer of 2010,

information on regulating so-called conflict minerals is present-

ed. A provision requires public companies trading on a major

U.S. exchange to determine whether their products use any gold,

tantalum, tin or tungsten from the Democratic Republic of Con-

go or surrounding countries, described as conflict areas.

The law’s conflict minerals provision aims to deter what

the United Nations describes as genocide in the area, as it is

believed that terrorist activity is being financed through the

illegal sale of minerals from the region’s mines.

The task of determining the origination of such minerals

and then reporting it to the SEC is enormous but is necessary

to comply with the law. Various electronics industry organiza-

tions and groups have begun addressing the requirement. For

example, the IPC, the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition

and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative have a standard in the

works to assist companies in demonstrating compliance.

In September, the IPC separately announced that it had

agreed to participate in a pilot evaluation program to review

and refine the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development's due-diligence guidance for conflict minerals.

And in mid-October, the IPC’s Solder Products Value Council

began urging tin smelters to use conflict-free minerals and rec-

ommended the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition/Glob-

al e-Sustainability Initiative Conflict-Free Smelter program. p

Suzanne Deffree ([email protected]) is managing editor,

online, at EDN.


Niche suppliers point tohardware democratization

By Margery Conner

One not-so-obvious side bene-

fit of the miniaturization of

electronics is that folks far

removed from the engineer-

ing realm become comfort-

able with small electronic devices and

think, “Wouldn’t it be neat if I had a

gadget that did … ?”

Back when computers were called

“workstations,” their inner workings

seemed mysterious, complex and

expensive. Few consumers thought

about how they could exploit the com-

putational power. But now that the

equivalent of a workstation fits into a

smartphone, complete with a recharge-

able power source and a high-definition

screen, software creation has become

more appealing to a nontechnical audi-

ence. There’s an app for seemingly

everything, and even 10-year-olds are

creating them.

Similarly, hardware itself is becoming

more open. A decade ago, distributors

like Avnet and Arrow began to create

their own corps of application engineers

to intermediate between manufacturers’

new, increasingly complex products and

customers who wanted to solve design

problems without necessarily becoming


experts in a highly specialized IC. Fast-forward to the present,

and a new breed of electronics supplier is emerging to facilitate

the “democratization of hardware”—that is, the use of hard-

ware in new designs by nontechnical people.

One leader in this niche is SparkFun Electronics, started by

Nathan Seidle, a newly minted EE from the University of Col-

orado. Seidle had been looking for a source of small quantities

of sometimes-obscure electronic parts and began offering them

himself. Shortly thereafter, he began receiving questions from

customers on how to use them,

and he started posting tutorials.

That made for a virtuous circle:

The tutorials served as link bait to

draw in new, often nontechnical

customers who found the compa-

ny through Google.

Seidle contrasts the thinking of

professionally trained engineers

and nontechies: “I’ve seen a lot of

senior projects in the university

EE department, and they are all

very good and very technical. And

they all have to do with some

kind of solar tracker or a digital

music player or a power supply. But in the digital media class-

es, [the art students] are doing the most amazing, ridiculous,

beautiful things with the same electronics. It’s important to

show creative people that they can achieve a grand project—

and, yes, it has some current and voltage, but don’t worry about

that. We’ll teach you that part.” It’s the opposite of a traditional

EE educational approach, which is: We’ll give you the technical

background, and after a couple of years you can implement

your grand ideas—if you remember what they were.

Adafruit Industries has a similar story of how it got into the

parts/kit business with detailed tutorials that include step-by-

step instructions and photographs to lead newbies through

the basics of Ohm’s Law and soldering, and on to program-

ming the open-source hardware Arduino platform.

Whereas traditional electronics distributors often have

application engineers on staff, the Adafruit site effectively

crowdsources its application engineering support through its

forums and FAQ pages on the kits and parts. This reliance on

the knowledge of the site’s fans is part of a well-thought-out

business plan: Adafruit’s founder, Limor Fried, detailed the

company philosophy in the EDN article, “15 steps to starting

your own electronic-kit business” (http://bit.ly/sIFA7f).

Individual parts offered by Adafruit benefit from the com-

pany’s excellent documentation and tutorials. I speak from

personal experience. A couple of years ago, I bought a TLS

2561 light-to-digital converter from TAOS Semiconductor

(now part of Austriamicrosystems).

It seemed like a handy component

for getting a quick, objective meas-

urement of LEDs. However,

although documentation existed

for the part, its outputs were hard

to interpret, and it was not easy to

hook it up to a computer for data

logging. I quickly gave up and forgot

about it.

Then Adafruit fielded the part pre-

mounted on a small pc board with

a couple of chip resistors and some

headers, along with a tutorial as

well as a software library for the

open-source Arduino platform. As the Adafruit tutorial says, “To

use this sensor and calculate Lux, there’s a lot of very hairy and

unpleasant math. You can check out the math in the data sheet,

but really, it’s not intuitive or educational—it’s just how the

sensor works. So, we took care of all the math and wrapped it

up into a nice Arduino library” (http://bit.ly/rNMbL7).

My sentiments exactly; I just wanted to start using the sensor.

Adafruit took a part that sells competitively for about $2 each,

added a couple of passive components and a well-thought-out

online tutorial, and sold it for $12. It was worth every penny.

Digi-Key Corp. had a similar start back in 1972, selling its

Digi-Keyer Kit to ham radio enthusiasts. Today it’s a $1 billion

company. History could repeat itself with a whole new gener-

ation of parts and kits providers. p

Margery Conner ([email protected]) is a technical editor

at EDN.


This combination of an Arduino microcontrollerplatform on the left and a TSL 2561 light-to-digital converter simplifies the detection andmeasurement of light.


Selling automation and control products through

distribution has traditionally been the domain of

local and regional resellers that serve customers in

their own geographic markets. Because products in

this market are niche-oriented and designs are

highly customized, the smaller operations that serve it func-

tion more like system integrators than traditional broadline

electronics distributors. They provide

specialized hardware and software

design services, often targeting only

one or two main control platforms.

But other models for selling these

products have emerged, partly as a

result of the economic downturns of

the past decade and the shift to the

Web for research and e-commerce.

In particular, the recessions of

2001-2002 and 2008-2009 were hard

on smaller distributors and smaller

manufacturers. Many were forced to

reduce inventory when their access

to capital all but dried up, said Scott

McLendon, vice president of product

management and marketing for

Allied Electronics.

“They also typically aren’t quite as

strong logistically as some larger dis-

tributors, nor do they have the full breadth of product solu-

tions available for many customers,” said McLendon.

Consequently, some larger distributors, including Allied,

have been able to build rapidly growing business in this sec-

tor. Just last year, Allied’s growth in automation and control

exceeded 50 percent.

Channel strategy and the selling process for electronics are

quite different from those for automation/control or mechan-

ical products, said Chris Beeson, vice president of global sales

and business development for Digi-Key. “An automation

design is typically characterized by a higher mix and lower

volume,” Beeson said. “Some of these

products are a one-time sale and

might be capital expenditures, vs.

selling less-expensive components to

an OEM on a repeat basis.”

For larger distributors whose mod-

el is based on moving large numbers

of parts, these differences can be espe-

cially challenging. On top of that,

consolidation among the large semi-

conductor distributors means that

mindshare becomes even more

important to automation and control

suppliers. “Smaller suppliers are com-

peting with very large companies

under the same umbrella,” said Bee-

son. “How does the supplier know

they are getting share of mind

through the large distributor?”

While price is always important,

other critical considerations in the automation and control sec-

tor include whether a product will be applied in a finished sys-

tem or an OEM application, whether it will target domestic or

global use, and the harshness of the operating environment.

Web, economy shift distrib modelsfor automation/control products

By Ann R. Thryft


B&R Industrial Automation’s compact,high-performance ACOPOSmulti drivesystem reflects the trend toward greaterintegration in control systems.SOURCE: B&R INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION


“In today’s business climate, buyers are looking for a better

price on the brands they already know and trust, but they are

not necessarily looking to sacrifice quality or performance in

the process of getting a lower product price,” said Allied’s

McLendon. Making those sacrifices on the front end could

potentially require much more on the back end in warranty and

repair, as well as in downtime costs.

Therefore, Allied approaches the mix/volume issue more

strategically. “Within a given technology, we try to offer the

customer ‘good,’ ‘better’ and ‘best’ options,” McLendon said.

A “good” product “may do the job, but it might not last as long

or be as accurate, or it might have fewer features,” compared

with the alternatives.

Specialist Automa-

tionDirect takes an alto-

gether different tack from

the traditional reseller

model by relying primari-

ly on e-commerce and

phone sales. “We don’t

have sales reps who visit

customer sites to demo

products, take orders or

take the customer out to

lunch,” said Tina Gable,

focused image team

advertising manager at

AutomationDirect. “We

don’t provide full assis-

tance with designing a solution or with programming. We do

have qualified internal support, plus external support

through system integrators and VARs [value-added resellers]

that are fully acclimated to our products and solutions.”

The distributor also provides free online tutorials, videos and

other training assistance tools. “AutomationDirect is like the

Walmart of automation, with a business model similar to that

of Dell,” Gable said. “If you phone us, someone knowledgeable

answers immediately. All our products are stocked in a gigantic

warehouse and are available for same-day shipping.”

One of the biggest changes in how the sector operates has

been customers’ use of the Web. “There’s been a wider adop-

tion of Web-based everything in users’ lives: tools, social media,

user sites and user groups,” said Gable. “Therefore, it’s become

many people’s whole mechanism for researching products and

services. And they are researching vendors and sources, too, not

just products and tools.”

As machine builders and OEMs increasingly look to the

Web for research, they are more open to ordering products

online, Gable said. “In a down economy, with price more

important than it has been, if you are a low-price leader you

can procure opportunities you did not have before. In the

past, some people may have not considered us, because they

were buying from the

sources they were most

familiar with. But now,

more are coming to us

because often we are the

price leader [and offer]

immediate product avail-

ability. Those buyers

often become our best

customers.”

Said McLendon:

“I think people are doing

more comparative shop-

ping today, and the Web

makes that a lot easier.

Buyers in this sector are

definitely shifting more

to e-commerce. Over the last four years, we’ve seen the online

percentage of our revenue increase from 10 percent to over

40 percent, while our overall business has grown dramatical-

ly in that time frame, so the increase in online is substantial.

Last year, we grew our online sales by more than 80 percent.”

Some users conduct research online first before talking to

the local distributor, said Beeson. “The small niche distributor

or rep may have a Web site, but their customers may not be

using it, since the rep is always in front of their customers

anyway. The niche-oriented suppliers to this segment can

really get into a tier-one company and get into the details of


The Phoenix RAD-ICM-900 integrated radio and I/O moduleeliminates cable and conduit for one 4- to 20-mA currentloop and two digital signals in harsh industrial environments.SOURCE: ALL IED ELECTRONICS


design. We fit more of the long-tail

equation—that is, working with tier-

two, -three or -four customers who

may have similar design require-

ments but may not need the same

degree of support from us.”

That’s why Web-based solutions

and tactics work for Digi-Key, which is

somewhat new to this sector: The one-

to-many equation yields economies of

scale and builds on the distributor’s

origins as a cataloger with an engi-

neering orientation. “Many of our

customers in this sector can now be

self-serviced,” Beeson said. “The few

customers that need additional sup-

port can rely on the supplier and/or

their manufacturers’ reps for followup.”

AutomationDirect is evaluating social networking’s role in

marketing, said Gable. “Is it a trend yet in automation? We

don’t know,” she said. “Most of the engineers who buy from us

now don’t use it, at least not in their work lives. They might be

more open to user groups, like technical forums. But the next

generation of engineers will be open to social networking.”

One supplier, B&R Industrial Automation, combines a

highly technical distributor network with direct sales and

engineering staff in regional offices. The privately owned

Austrian company, which has done business in the United

States and Canada since 1987, uses distribution as the main

push of its sales strategy, said Nathan Massey, sales channel

manager. “In addition to its sales staff, each regional office

and distributor has in-house, local engineering resources,

something that’s a big part of our regional strategy but not

common among our competition. Our regional engineers pro-

vide design assistance and support our customers throughout

the whole development process.”

Some customers take complete ownership of their designs,

said Massey. “We help them with training and the initial

design, but they do 100 percent of the programming.” Others

contract for a B&R engineer or one of its distributors’ engi-

neers to develop the entire system.

Most fall somewhere in between:

They want training and support with

the first product line, but when

expanding to other machines and

product lines they take all design

functions in-house.

Products get more integratedAutomation and control products are

becoming more interconnected via

open communications standards,

more dependent on software, and

more integrated. These changes can

pose challenges for distributors.

“Today, through open-source soft-

ware and open standards, manufac-

turers are developing products that are more plug-and-play

and that communicate with each other wirelessly, or, if wired,

via open protocols like Ethernet,” said McLendon. “Not only

communication among devices, but also interoperability

among vendors, has proliferated over the last few years.”

For B&R, programming support is more important as soft-

ware becomes a key factor in differentiating customers’

machines through increased performance, faster time-to-mar-

ket and ease of maintenance, said Massey. Many distributors

the company encounters don’t have such engineering

resources in-house, and are strictly hardware-oriented.

B&R was among the first automation companies to release

an all-in-one control solution, said Massey. Now, customers are

quickly migrating to integrated control. “In the past, a control

system [might include] an HMI, a PLC, a motion controller and

a safety relay, all from different suppliers and requiring differ-

ent software, multiple communication links, individual train-

ing and separate troubleshooting. Integrated control solutions

combine these into a single, efficient package with a single,

integrated development environment.”

Open communications and connectivity-oriented network-

ing standards are also becoming more important, visible in

the rapid growth in demand for real-time Industrial Ethernet


Worker checks inventory for fulfilling anorder in AutomationDirect’s warehouse.SOURCE: AUTOMATIONDIRECT



protocols. As a result, OEMs can select products from multi-

ple sources, instead of choosing a single vendor with older,

proprietary protocols.

In a related trend, machine builders’ customers are

increasingly removing the control system brand from their

machine specifications and are concentrating on a

machine’s performance and capability. “This allows the

machine builder to focus on their core competencies and

not remain handcuffed to aging, limited technology,” said

Massey. “This encourages automation suppliers to innovate

in order to stay competitive.”

Overall, there’s been a lot of demystifying in the control

world, making it easier for design engineers to compare prod-

ucts, spec them in or out of a design, or specify multiples within

the control system. “Today, you rarely see only one brand of

controls in a system,” said McLendon. “The challenge, or oppor-

tunity, that arises for distributors is: How do you support a cus-

tomer who is using multiple platforms and multiple products?

How do you provide the service they require?” p

Ann R. Thryft ([email protected]) is senior technical editor,

materials and assembly, at Design News.

Parts ‘ownership’ questionsdefy easy solutionsBy Barbara Jorgensen

Until the twin natural disasters that shook Japan in

mid-March, the supply chain seemed to have got-

ten its inventory management practices down pat.

The old habit of purchasing inventory well in

advance of demand has shifted to just-in-time (JIT),

relieving most companies of the burden of financing invento-

ry they aren’t sure they are going to need.

Most companies, that is, except distributors.

Distributors have become the de facto warehouses for the

entire supply chain, storing enough inventory for customers’

upside forecasts or inventory that is consigned by EMS com-

panies or OEMs. Under most JIT, build-to-order (BTO) and

consignment practices, distributors own inventory, and its

attendant risks, until customers consume it.

Such programs make sense for suppliers and customers

who don’t want to carry inventory on the balance sheet.

Although inventory is considered an asset, explains Charlie

Barnhart, principal of consultancy Charlie Barnhart & Associ-

ates, certain supply chain practices—such as buying invento-

ry on credit—make it look like a liability. OEM customers

don’t want unused components or work-in-progress on their

books when quarterly earnings periods come around.

But distributors are likewise beholden to Wall Street and

to shareholders, so the channel is always in the middle of

some kind of inventory adjustment. How do distributors

As the supply chain moves closer to JIT,distribution still manages upside and

downside demand



maintain enough inventory for customers without bogging

themselves down?

Lessons of 2001Memories of the inventory glut of 2001 still sting, yet it has

taken a decade for the supply chain to even come close to a JIT

inventory model. The first hurdle was convincing partners to

share demand forecast data in a timely manner; the next was

interpreting that data in a meaningful way. Distributors, as the

link between component suppliers and manufacturing cus-

tomers, have become the clearinghouse not just for inventory,

but for the information used to manage the supply chain.

Before 2001, customers had little incentive not to over-

order; the market was so hot that excess inventory was invari-

ably gobbled up. It was only when demand slammed on the

brakes that anyone questioned who was responsible for all the

stock in the supply chain: Was it the customer who ordered it,

the distributor that delivered it or the supplier that made it?

Facing huge write-downs on devalued parts, customers tried

to return inventory to distributors, which, in turn, pressed

suppliers to take it back. The supply chain wrote off an esti-

mated $13 billion worth of components.

Ten years later, the distribution channel has become so big

that it can push back a bit on OEM and EMS customers. Distrib-

utors now require more frequent forecasts from their partners.

They compare the data to historic buying patterns, flag major

upside/downside trends and follow up to rectify discrepancies.

But distribution has to deal with component makers as

well as OEMs. Component manufacturers rely on distribu-

tion information to manage their own production schedules.

The better the information coming from the distributor, the

better manufacturing can be managed.

All of this requires closer partnerships. Indeed, over the past

decade, trust has built up among the partners, and upside/

downside forecasts work themselves out pretty quickly.

Globalization, meanwhile, has been a plus for inventory

management. Global distributors manage pockets of invento-

ry in all major regions, so a global distributor can internally

move inventory out of, say, the Pacific Rim to the Americas if

demand in Mexico suddenly spikes. The channel can also posi-

tion inventory based on geographic demand cycles, accommo-

dating seasonal shifts in ordering for the yearend holidays in

the Americas, the August vacations in Europe or the Chinese

New Year in the Pacific Rim .

But the natural disasters of 2011 have some in the industry

rethinking the Lean supply chain. Coupling inventory man-

agement so closely to forecasts leaves little maneuvering

room for upside demand.

Late last year, for example, the flooding in Thailand, a manu-

facturing hub for hard drives, forced many companies to sus-

pend production. Although demand for the Christmas season

had been met before the disaster, future orders were expected to

be delayed. Such uncertainty drives some companies to pad

inventory for orders that may or may not materialize.

Distributors manage their way through inventory imbal-

ances by selling to a diverse customer base: If one customer

orders too many widgets, others can take up the slack. The

same should hold true for EMS companies, but industry

watchers say that isn’t the case.

“Inventory in many cases makes up the largest asset on the

balance sheets of global EMS providers,” IHS iSuppli

EMS/ODM analyst Thomas Dinges wrote for EBN

(http://bit.ly/sIBcir). “The latest results from several of the

largest global EMS providers show, in fact, that nearly one-

third of their tangible asset base is tied up in inventory.”

While EMS companies serve many customers, their base isn’t

as broad as the channel’s. Selling off excess EMS inventory usu-

ally has meant selling to the gray market. Anecdotally, however,

distributors say EMS providers are turning increasingly toward

authorized distribution to manage their inventory imbalances.

Given the lingering market uncertainty, that’s a sound move.

So as long as the electronics supply chain operates on a

demand forecasting model—which it still does, despite JIT,

BTO and Lean—the channel will play a leading role in global

inventory management. Whether the electronics market is in

an up-cycle or down-cycle, Barnhart says, “We are always in

the middle of some kind of inventory question.” p

Barbara Jorgensen ([email protected]) is community

editor at EBN.


For manufacturers, the question is almost as old as

engineers’ make-or-buy dilemma: use in-house support

or commit to a distributor? The latter is attractive in a

time when global reach and rapid turnaround are nec-

essary in order to compete and grow, but there are

implications for both the manufacturers and

the designers using the product in terms of

reputation, intellectual property protection,

design support and trust.

A case in point: In June, Vicor (Andover,

Mass.) committed to Future Electronics, mak-

ing the Canadian company its global distrib-

utor for all of its power conversion devices.

The phased rollout began in August. It was a

big move for Vicor, which to date had been

its own distributor within the United States

while relying solely on smaller, specialty

distributors, such as Craftec and ACAL Tech-

nology, elsewhere.

Vicor traditionally has been self-reliant,

keeping all its intellectual property, as well

as its manufacturing, in-house to maintain a tight inner circle

and thereby avoid the risk of exposing its road maps to any-

one who might take the knowledge elsewhere. Now, in a

quick turnabout, it’s “going all-in” with Future globally, said

Rich Begen, vice president of distribution at Vicor.

Why now, and why Future?

To explain the “why now” part, Begen referred back to

2003, when Vicor introduced the Factorized Power Architec-

ture. FPA was the invention of company founder and CEO

Patrizio Vinciarelli—a true engineer’s CEO.

The FPA could be called a solution to a solution. At the time

of its arrival, the distributed power architecture (DPA), with

power “bricks” that brought power to the point of load (POL),

was widely deployed and had been in broad

use since the 1980s. DPAs solved the prob-

lem of distribution losses, but multiple on-

board voltage levels meant the number of

DPA bricks also multiplied, sucking up

board space and increasing cost. They also

proved inadequate for the loads’ increasing

transient-response requirements.

FPA concepts were realized in ASICs that

led to the development of V•I Chips, which

divide voltages and multiply currents while

keeping the voltage-current product (the “•”

in V•I) constant. The chips, in turn, led to a

popular series of power components that in

the years since have garnered key design wins

and solidified Vicor’s position in the power

market, most recently with the Picor line of semiconductors.

But the technology has matured, and it is with that in mind

that Vicor now needs to broaden its reach and distribution

capabilities to ramp up volume.

That’s where Future comes in.

Given the distributor’s size, it’s not intuitively obvious

that Future would be the best choice. In a UBM Electronics

distributor customer evaluation study (May 2011;

Is your supplier’s distrib dealgood news for you?

By Patrick Mannion


‘We’re going all-in with Future Electronics’

— Rich Begen of Vicor


http://tinyurl.com/brerw5s), Future was ranked eighth in over-

all patronage for all products. Digi-Key led the category, fol-

lowed by Arrow, Mouser, Avnet, Element14, Allied and

McMaster-Carr. Worse, Future placed tenth among the study’s

“most preferred” distributors. Digi-Key again sat securely at

the top; Arrow and Avnet were a distant second and third.

Begen makes it clear that size doesn’t matter; on the con-

trary, it can sometimes be a liability. “Arrow and Avnet are too

encumbered with large engagements,” such as Texas Instru-

ments and Analog Devices, he said. “Future is

better with niche suppliers; it’s in their DNA.”

Begen speaks with some authority on the

matter. Until last June, he was a principal of

LJ James LLC, a consulting business focused on

sales and channel management strategy.

ImplicationsFor suppliers and designers, the implications

of working through a distributor are manifold.

First there’s the issue of trust, as the supplier

has to expose its road map, as well as train the

field application engineers (FAEs) at the dis-

tributor. That’s “secret sauce” information, but in general,

NDAs cover exposure liability pretty well.

Then there’s a concern that a distributor might push one

supplier’s line at the expense of another’s, depending on

which supplier’s product has the higher margin or who’s

being the squeakiest wheel about how much product is mov-

ing. That’s a trust issue not just for suppliers, but also for

designers seeking reliable support from a distributor. Begen,

however, said the distributor model has matured enough that

neither suppliers nor designers need be worried.

Designers over the years have expressed concern about sup-

pliers’ overreliance on distributors to provide technical support;

in some cases, suppliers have abdicated their responsibility

and gutted their own tech support infrastructure.

That’s not the case at Vicor, Begen said. He acknowledged

that handing over support to a third party is a bit like trusting

your baby to a stranger. With four months’ training, the dis-

tributor FAEs come up to speed but can’t completely replace

in-house support. “An FAE or two may get to a supplier-level

FAE, but they [generally] won’t have the depth,” and while

they tend to be more available than the suppliers’ own sup-

port staff, “it’s the luck of the draw” in terms of quality.

“You have to ferret out the FAEs who can best serve [the

designers’] needs,” Began asserted. That said, the distributor

FAE can always refer to the supplier for help.

Web-based supportIncreasingly, before attempting to reach an FAE,

designers refer to both suppliers’ and distribu-

tors’ Web sites for technical information, appli-

cation tips and notes—and, in some cases,

community knowledge. The Future Electronics

Web site’s reputation as a comprehensive infor-

mation source—supported by the UBM study—

belies the company’s size.

In general, distributors have tended to be a

good starting point for basic product search and

selection, but that bright spot may be fading.

Comments on a recent EE Times article

(http://bit.ly/tbKbje) bemoan the lack of solidly tabulated and

parameterized data on distributors’ sites, and instead recom-

mend using one of a number of paid product selection sites,

such as Octopart, Partminer or SiliconExpert.

Thus, the answer to whether it’s a good move for sup-

pliers and their customers to work through distributors is,

“It depends.” It depends to what degree a supplier relies on

the distributor, and to what degree the distributor’s FAEs can

be trusted. You may get them on the phone quicker, and you

may get the part quicker—but is it the right part? p

Patrick Mannion ([email protected]) is director of content

for EDN, Test & Measurement World and the EE Times Designlines.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

See “Suppliers, distributors and the issue of trust” on EDN at

http://bit.ly/tkBD4J.


Some suppliershave abdicatedtheir responsibilityfor tech support

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Follow us on Twitter!www.twitter.com/avnetdesignwire


33

Design Hardware & Software

Autodesk Testing Android Design- Review Mobile App

Six months after the release of Design Review mobile for Apple iOS devices, Autodesk is courting beta testers to help it ready the Android version.

engineers are hardly knocking down doors for mobile design tools, but responses to our coverage of the still-emerging apps category has shown a consistent, albeit slightly hesitant, interest.

Yet while most of the early design tool apps have been for Apple iOS devices, there’s a sign that some major Android releases are just around the corner. Recently, Autodesk put out a call for beta testers to help start troubleshooting a working version of its mobile Design Review program for Android devices. The app, which lets users read, write, and markup DWG files, was released in mid-2011 for the Apple iPhone and iPad. Its release gave engineers a tool to view and collaborate on 2D and 3D drawings wherever they are in the field, unencum-bered from the constraints of a laptop.

Most of the vendors getting their feet wet with mobile design tool apps have come out with Apple iOS versions first, with promises of similar offerings for Android platforms over time. It’s not so much that there’s greater demand for mobile design tool apps on Apple plat-forms, rather it’s that it’s just so much easier to release for Apple first given that there are only two variants of iOS — for iPhones and iPads — versus the dozens of different permutations for Android.

Shanna Tellerman, Autodesk’s prod-uct line manager for cloud services and applications, confirmed for us the chal-lenge of testing for Android, which in part explains Autodesk’s concerted effort to enlist its user base to help with the best test process. “The largest challenge with Android is the range of devices,” she told us:

• When designing an app, you need to take into consideration the different hardware, including details like the dif-ference in screen resolutions. Customers have the same expectations that iOS customers do — that the apps should work and should work well. In reality, Android apps are very hard to design to work well on every possible device. Specifically, for a design application like Design Review mobile, certain Android

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Tellerman says an Android version of Design Review mobile was the top requested feature among the Autodesk user community, which cemented the company’s decision

to reach out to users to assist in the beta test process. She says the beta program will give Autodesk specific feedback on features in the Android version, but will also allow users to report on how well the app performs on their particular Android devices.

Tellerman declined to specify when the final version of Design Review mobile for Android would be released. She says her company plans to keep the iOS and Android mobile offerings comparable for the time being, but she didn’t rule out offering an app on one platform and not the other if Autodesk were able to take advantage of a specific capability on a specific platform.In addition to this latest Android app, Autodesk also offers Android versions of AutoCAD WS, Inventor Publisher, SketchBook, and its Pixlr mobile apps.— Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor, Design Hardware & Software

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36

Design News November 2011 www.designnews.com

T hree-dimensional (3D) machine vision, once considered little more than a novelty, may finally be finding its niche in high-volume manufacturing.

Increasingly, manufacturers are deploying the technology in applications ranging from assembly of automotive car doors and hoods to part stacking, can filling, and tire inspection. And with new lightweight cameras, bet-ter software libraries, and more powerful multicore processors

on the horizon, deployment of the technology is expected to grow further during the next few years.

“We’re reaching an inflection point where 3D vision is going to become much more common,” says John Petry, vision software marketing manager for Cognex Corp., a major manufacturer of machine vision systems. “People are getting just enough machine vision experience under their belts, and they’re starting to look to system integrators to help them support their 3D applications.”

Indeed, the number of potential applications is growing fast, particularly as automakers look to ratchet up US-based production by a million more vehicles per year. Assembly of car doors, hoods, engines dashboards and LED lighting displays is increasingly being handled by robots equipped with 3D vision. Inspection of hose assemblies, such as fuel and brake lines, has also migrated from visual methods to 3D-camera-based systems, as has checking of tire treads and threaded holes. Outside the auto industry, engineers are employing 3D machine vision for semiconductor wafer inspection, as well as for food and pharmaceutical processing. Objects with round shapes — bottles, pins, and needles, for example — are also candidates for 3D machine vision.

To be sure, the vast majority of machine vision applications are still two-dimensional. Manufacturing engineers say that 3D applications are still a niche, but they’re a growing niche.

“We’ve been getting a lot more inquiries in the past three to four months,” says Robert Couture, senior machine vision specialist for EngATech Inc., a system integrator of machine vision systems. “All of a sudden, the floodgates have opened and manufacturers are starting to spend money again.”

Overcoming ComplexityIn truth, 3D machine vision is not a new idea. Manu-facturers have looked at it as a possibility for at least two


KWD Automotive uses 3D machine vision on industrial robots that assemble car doors.

Cover Storyer Story

Machine Vision Comes Into Focus

By Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor, Electronics & Test

Sou

rce:

Cog

nex

Cor

p.

decades, largely so they could go beyond inspection of surface defects and see depths more effectively.

“3D machine vision has been around for a very long time,” says David Michael, director of core vision and applications for Cognex. “The world is 3D, not 2D, so this is a direction that people want to move in.”

The path to 3D has been strewn with stumbling blocks, however. The math-ematics behind it are complex, software libraries have been spare up to now, and robustness has been lacking. For many hopeful users, outside expertise was needed to get the job done.

“3D is hard,” Petry says. “A lot of automo-tive companies have been working on this for 20 years. And a lot of vision companies have gone bankrupt trying to support the applications. It’s an order of magnitude harder than 2D.”

The good news, however, is that machine vision manufac-turers believe they’re crossing over into a new era, in which vast software application libraries are becoming more plenti-ful and 3D vision packages are growing more user-friendly.

“In the past, it had to be a very specialized person to make it go,” Michael says. “But the trend now is moving from the specialized expert to a normal manufacturing engineer who can deploy this with enough training.”

Cognex’s VisionPro 3D, for example, incorporates a soft-ware library that is specifically designed for machine builders and plant automation engineers. It includes a software library with 3D shapes, mathematical tools, and calibration software for a variety of applications. Similarly, MVTec Software


GmbH now offers Halcon 9.0 for 3D alignment and recon-struction, which helps to determine 3D shapes and orientation of objects.

Couture says that such systems enable manufacturers to address manufacturing problems that couldn’t be touched with classical 2D solutions. He cites an example of a candy bar manufacturer who wanted to inspect chocolate bars to see if they contained almonds. By measuring the depth of the bar, he says, the manufacturer could tell if the almonds were present or missing.

Production of 1 million more autos annually is driving demand for deep inspection.

“The whole bar is coated in chocolate, so you have very poor contrast,” he says. “But with 3D, the almond pops out at you.”

Better CamerasManufacturers attain such 3D results with various systems, including stereo cameras, so-called “time-of-flight” techniques (which resolve distances based on the speed of light), and vision triangulation. The most common of those is vision triangula-tion, which uses multiple images from the cameras to determine the object’s position in space and its 3D coordinates.

“Triangulation systems are typically built on top of the same cameras that you’d use in 2D applications,” Petry says. “But it involves a second step where you take the results from the cameras and combine them to determine your 3D pose.”

Increasingly, manufacturers are using such methods for appli-cations that previously used visual inspection and mechanical methods. Aicon 3D, for example, developed a tube measure-ment system that calculates a pipe’s geometry. The system employs multiple cameras from Allied Vision Technologies to create parallel images that are used to inspect irregularly shaped pipes. It has been used to analyze long and winding fuel and brake lines in automotive assemblies.

Smaller cameras are a key element in such systems, largely because cameras must often be mounted atop mobile robot heads. Vision Components GmbH’s VC nano 3D, for example, measures just 140mm x 70mm x 35mm, less than half the size of analog cameras of a generation ago. Increasingly, such cameras are also offering simplicity. The VC nano 3D integrates the camera and laser in a single pre-calibrated unit.

“Not long ago, if you wanted laser triangulation, you had to buy the camera and the laser separately,” says Endre Toth, director of business development for Vision Components GmbH. “Then you had to have the knowledge to put the two together and calibrate the system yourself.”

Lower-cost cameras are also appealing to manufacturers. MVTec has teamed with Microsoft to employ the Kinect camera to its Halcon software. Kinect, originally developed for the Microsoft Xbox 360, is expected to bring a lower-cost option to the machine vision market. Similarly, the VC nano 3D has cut costs by employing widely used CMOS, instead of CCD (charge-coupled device) technology.

Such technologies are being employed in applications that needed a level of depth that 2D couldn’t provide. In automotive assembly, they’ve been used to inspect brake surfaces, threaded recesses and tire treads.

“With 2D, you might not be able to look inside a tire tread,” Toth explains. “But with 3D, you can do it easily.”

The Power of MulticoreAll of this would be virtually unthinkable, of course, without the constant push of semiconductor technology behind it. The VC nano 3D, for example, incorporates an onboard Texas Instruments digital signal processor (DSP). The emergence of

multicore processing technology has been an even bigger key for makers of 3D vision systems. Cognex engineers tell their customers to run their 3D software on PCs containing a mini-mum of four computing cores.

“It’s very processing intensive,” Petry says. “Most people use a modern Intel processor with multiple cores. It’s not unusual for them to use eight or even 12 cores on their PCs.”

The move toward greater simplicity doesn’t mean that the new breed of machine vision is easy to use, however. Asked to list the critical aspects of a successful 3D machine vision system, Michael of Cognex quickly responds, “Training.”

Some system integrators doubt whether complex 3D applications can be handled by in-house engineers. In simpler applications, such as de-palletizing or picking items from a bin, in-house manufacturers can do it, they say. But complex robotic applications may call for a higher level of expertise. Even if such applications no longer require Ph.D.-level specialists, they still require engineers with intimate knowledge of 3D, they argue.

“Can a plant engineer do it? Sure,” Couture says. “But the problem is that it might take twice as long. It will burn up a lot of resources and a lot of time.”

Among those who are willing to invest in the technology, however, suppliers expect the 3D niche to grow. “We’re see-ing more 3D applications popping up,” says Petry of Cognex. “There are a lot of applications right now that look like good candidates for 3D guidance.” DN

For More Information:Vision Components GmbH’s VC Nano 3D: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-514Cognex’s VisionPro 3D: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-515MVTec Software GmbH’s Halcon 9.0: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-516Aicon 3D: www.aicon3d.comAllied Vision Technologies: www.alliedvisiontec.com

Cover Story38


Aicon 3D’s MoveInspect employs a feature called Dynamic Refer-encing, which compensates for vibrations during measurement.

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DARING DESIGNS TAKE FLIGHT

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40 Materials & Assembly


Multifunctional Coatings for Harsh Environments

Coatings in harsh envi-ronments already have a tough job protecting metal and plastic com-ponents in cars, ships,

planes, and industrial machinery. But a combination of globalized markets, more extreme operating requirements, and the desire for a cleaner environ-ment, are now demanding more from them. Manufacturers of some coatings are combining the product’s basic func-tion, whether it’s resistance to salt water, chemicals, or extreme temperatures, with additional features such as greater durability, reduced friction, lower cost, or less wasteful application. Some classes of coatings are replacing a competing class in certain applications, and in other application areas, new coating types are gaining ground.

Field-applied coatings are used as top-coats on metal structures with tanks or piping exposed to outdoor conditions, such as bridges, oil tankers, or chemical plants. Traditionally, a zinc-rich primer coat was used to protect metal from corrosion, says Jerry Witucki, senior coatings specialist for Dow Corning’s coatings and composites group. The zinc powder protects the steel via sac-rif icial oxidation. An epoxy coating is applied to hold down the zinc and provide corrosion protection, followed by a polyurethane topcoat.

“It’s possible to cut down the number of coatings and get the same level of

By Ann R. Thryft, Senior Technical Editor, Materials & Assembly

Polysiloxanes combine the environmental toughness of silicone polymers with the functional attributes of different organic compounds, providing solvent-less high-performance protective coatings for harsh environments. S

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protection for less labor cost and downtime,” says Witucki. “Siloxane-based coatings have superior weather and chemi-cal resistance. The same zinc-rich primer is covered by a silicone acrylic or silicone epoxy topcoat. These are being used on offshore oil platforms, wind farms, radio towers, transmission lines, and anywhere steel is outside.”

Because of consolidation in the industry, f ield-applied coating systems have become commoditized, says Witucki. Now coatings suppliers are differentiating their products by incorporating a new benefit or performance enhancement, such as durability, easy clean, or chemical resistance. “His-torically, the silicones were relegated to niche applications due to cost, but as the price of organic resins increases with the price of oil, siloxanes have become a more attractive option,” he says.

One of the fastest-growing coating technologies in indus-trial maintenance is the silicone hybrid coating, which combines the best of organics and silicones, says Witucki. In particular, polysiloxane hybrids combine silicone with epoxy, acrylic, or urethane. “Polysiloxanes have inherently low viscosity so there’s low solvent requirements. They have good thermal and UV stability, excellent chemical resistance, and excellent compatibility with organics,” he says. While their share of the overall coatings market is still small, engineers have a growing preference for hybrids, so rapid growth in polysiloxane use is expected.

The trend toward lightweight materials in transportation means that more aluminum, magnesium, and titanium are being used. With more aluminum involved, there’s more coupling of aluminum and steel parts, so eliminating gal-vanic corrosion is becoming a large part of design, says Patrick Scalera, Henkel’s technology manager for general industrial surface treatments.

For example, the company’s Alodine EC2 is a new base coating for protecting parts made of aluminum, titanium, and related alloys in severe environments. The coating process is electrolytic, producing a tough, f lexible titanium oxide coating with high resistance to abrasion, corrosion, extreme temperatures, and chemicals, says Scalera. Its pri-mary applications are marine, automotive, and industrial. The coating is also used in automotive applications, such as for coating pistons and intake manifolds.

Aside from inboard and outboard marine engines, the coating’s salt spray resistance can also be used for cast alu-minum lights on large bridge structures spanning salt water, says Shawn Dolan, Henkel’s senior research scientist. “The corrosion on these bridges is very bad. In that environment, we’ve actually tested our coating for as long as 8,700 hours, which is a full year.”

Automotive internal combustion engines are shifting to more turbocharged types, such as those that use exhaust gas recycling, says Dolan. “That means a lot of hot, corrosive gases recirculating, a very aggressive environment. Tem-

peratures on the crown of the piston can reach over 537C. Our coating protects the pistons and the whole engine at those temperatures.” The EC2 coating is also used in mili-tary engines, and is undergoing tests by NASA for rocket engines. The coating itself is stable to 900C, but the metal it coats melts at 600C to 660C, depending on the alloy.

One trend Dow Corning sees is a demand for more dura-ble anti-friction coatings that last longer under various conditions, says Matt Hagemeyer, application engineering and technical service specialist for industrial assembly and maintenance. As automotive manufacturers try to achieve federal mileage goals, there will be a sizable trend toward increasing the use of anti-friction coatings, such as the company’s Molykote. These coatings are lubricating paints, also called dry-film bonded lubricants, which may be used to coat pistons and other rotating parts of an engine. They are replacing grease and other wet lubricants because they are easier to handle, less messy, don’t attract dust, and look better. “Sometimes they replace coatings designed to resist corrosion,” Hagemeyer says. “Dry-film anti-friction coat-ings can be used everywhere in assembly, from fasteners to clips and springs, to threaded connections.”

During thermal cycling the two or more dissimilar mate-rials, such as a plastic and a metal, that are often found in some of today’s cars can produce noise when they touch each other, says Hagemeyer. Anti-friction coatings can reduce the amount of noise and vibration in an assembly or an engine, which is increasingly important in today’s smaller engines S

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Henkel’s electrodeposited Alodine EC2 titanium oxide coating can be used on a variety of aluminum castings, extrusions, and

wrought alloy parts for superior corrosion resistance in harsh

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Design News Februa ry 2012 www.designnews.com

42 Materials & Assembly

Dow Corning’s Molykote anti-friction coatings can be sprayed on automotive piston rings to provide durable, long-lasting friction control for reducing engine noise and wear.

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and smaller cabins where less noise is being masked from passengers.

Henkel’s EC2 coating can improve emissions in automotive engines, says Dolan. By replacing the piston skirt coating, it increases overall engine effi-ciency by 2 percent to 8 percent, since the piston skirt is responsible for about half of engine friction.

Engineer it Right the First Time Plastics are increasingly used in many machines, and their coating require-ments are quite different from those of metals. “The biggest threat to many resins isn’t corrosion, but scratching or damage from ultraviolet (UV) light,” says Bill Welch, vice president of engi-neering and CTO for Phillips Plastics. Although many are UV-stable, other plastics such as polycarbonate require hard coating to prevent scratching and UV degradation.

One approach to solving corrosion and other problems often solved by applying a coating is to select the right material in the f irst place, says Welch. “Material selection is key, whether you’re talking about metals, plastic, silicone, or ceramics. By selecting the right material for the job, you can sometimes f ind an engineering solu-tion to avoid corrosion. For example,

we have in many cases redesigned metal products to convert to plastics to solve corrosion issues.” By applying structural analysis with material selec-tion, engineers may be able to choose a combination of molding process and material for designing a product with-out the need for coatings.

The key questions engineers should ask in materials selection are what is the problem you are trying to prevent, what is the best material to prevent that problem, and how can you engineer a low-risk solution, according to Welch. “Incorporating these questions into the early product development phases can prevent issues that would not other-wise be found until later development phases,” he says. “The focus is on def ining the environment in which the product must work, and on what failures you’re trying to prevent from happening in that environment.”

In addition to selecting the right materials and deciding how to coat out or seal out the environment, sometimes engineers do need to select a material that requires anti-corrosion coatings, says Welch. “For example, Phillips also offers magnesium thixomolding, which presents a unique set of material ben-efits along with corrosion challenges. Magnesium may be very susceptible to corrosion in some environments if not S

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properly coated, but the thixomold-ing process does provide enhanced mechanical and corrosion performance when compared to other magnesium casting processes.”

Application Processes Get Simpler The trend in application seems to be away from spray coating because of the amount of waste and environmental considerations. For example, in f ield-applied coatings, hand application by brush or roller is increasing, says Witucki. “During spray application, 35 to 50 percent of the coating fails to be applied onto the intended substrate. In addition to poor eff iciency, without proper precautions, this overspray can be released into the environment.”

Henkel’s electrodeposition application process for its EC2 coating eliminates the surface preparation necessary for most thermally applied spray coatings, improving adhesion, and saving time and money, says Dolan. The process also requires fewer steps by replacing primer and conversion coatings.

Phillips has developed its own digi-tally printed, UV-cured system for hard

coats, called Vuecoat. “It offers precise thickness control and allows you to put the coating only where it’s needed,” Welch says. With a typical dip- or spray-applied hard coating, plastic parts are molded and delivered to an advanced coating system, usually in a separate facility. With Phillips’ Vuecoat system, a part is molded, goes through the printed hardcoat machine, and straight into a carton for shipping, removing packag-ing and freight costs, reducing handling, and reducing scrap. “For spray-applied hard coat, a 25 percent material loss is typical for cosmetic application,” says Welch. “With a digitally applied hard coat, the loss is typically in the 5 to 8 percent range. The supply chain is also shortened, removing several days if not weeks, and the whole process is more consistent with lean manufacturing principles.” DN

For More Information:Dow Corning’s Molykote: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-510Henkel’s Alodine EC2: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-511Phillips Plastics’ Vuecoat: http://dn.hotims.com/40993-512

Phillips Plastics’ multi-shot molding process provides integrated sealing that prevents corrosion in a variety of components made of multiple materials.

W ith software and control systems becom-ing standard fare even in what used to be considered straight mechanical-based products, model-based design — an engi-neering approach rooted in industries like

aerospace and defense — is gaining traction as companies seek ways to reduce the growing complexity of development while facilitating time-to-market.

In traditional development processes, engineers gather requirements from multiple sources, create a paper specifica-tion, and then work off that paper spec to produce a detailed design concept. The concept is then prototyped using simula-tion or physical hardware, and continually checked against requirements until a suitable design is achieved. In this scenario, testing typically occurs toward the end of this multi-

stage process, a design workflow that can be problematic if errors or flaws are detected late in the game when they are far more costly to remedy.

In contrast, with the model-based design approach, a system model serves as the centerpiece of the development pro-cess, starting as early as the requirements phase, and evolving through design, implementation, and testing. This single model is an executable specification that can be linked to the origi-nal requirements. It is an approach that allows for two-way traceability between the design and the requirements while enabling a multi-domain engineering team to continually provide input and refine the model throughout the develop-ment process. Simulation is employed every step of the way to determine whether the model is behaving as desired.

The MathWorks, which markets one of the leading tools

Driven by the rise of embedded systems, companies are turning to model-based design approaches to facilitate the development of increasingly complex products.

By Beth Stackpole, Contributing Editor, Design Hardware & Software


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for model-based design, says the practice that was originally tuned for the development of dynamic systems such as con-trol systems, signal processing, and communications systems, is systematically being embraced by other industry segments grappling with similar complexity issues. “Software complex-ity is the big driver,” says Ken Karnofsky, senior strategist for signal processing applications at The MathWorks. He explains that model-based design first took hold in industries like automotive and aerospace which were dealing with extremely complex, large-scale embedded applications that needed a lot of process rigor beyond some of the ad hoc engineering that was happening in other segments. Now, other fields like industrial machinery and medical communications are fac-ing similar requirements, which are prompting a recasting of traditional design approaches in the hopes of finding a more efficient way.

“With the integration of multi-domain systems, different disciplines that conveniently worked in separate bubbles in the past, for example, electrical, mechanical, and software, can no longer afford to do so,” Karnofsky says. “To get a design out to market in a reasonable amount of time and to meet requirements requires much more collaboration.”

Specifically, The MathWorks says when collaboration

happens far earlier in the design workflow, companies are much better positioned to garner efficiencies and wring costs out of their development processes. “Once you adopt model-based design, what you get away from is building your first prototype that went together perfectly. Now, to get it to do what your customers expect it to do takes too many rebuilds to understand the design flaws,” adds Tony Lennon, The MathWorks’ industry market manager for industrial automation. “The cost of rework has gotten to point where companies need to find a way to get work done more cheaply.”

Dr. Jerry Krasner, chief analyst with Embedded Market Forecasters, a division of American Technology International, conducted a study to drill down into the financial ROI associated with model-based design approaches. Krasner’s findings, which confirmed an uptick in model-based design adoption over the last six years, found that 36.6 percent of model-based design deployments in North America had a significant total cost of development advantage over non-model-based design deployments. Moreover, the number of developers used per project was smaller with model-based design deployments, according to his research.

“Model-based design has significant cost advantages even for smaller designs,” Krasner says, adding that the approach’s advantages in the areas of rapid prototyping, code generation, and code reuse add to the value proposition. “The ability to move applications to new hardware and to have interoper-ability for people in different locations for working on the same project is key.”

Model-Based Design in ActionFor the Centre for Concepts in Mechatronics, solving design challenges in its specialty area of mechatronics without a model-based design approach would be unthinkable given the complexities of development, according to Arend-Jan Beltman, manager of the department of mechatronics at CCM. While the development approach commands more upfront work in terms of understanding the design problem and building the model, it is a huge time saver in the end, Beltman says, because the model helps the team understand what is going on. “You start modeling the expected problem with the tools, and through the model, you gain insight and you can experiment to clarify your insights and iterate the design,” he explains.

Take, for example, a project it completed for printer maker Agfa, which acquired the :Dotrix Modular inkjet printer brand and needed to make some design adjustments to improve the printer’s repeatability. The team had determined that tension on the substrate, or printing material, caused it to stretch, triggering a misalignment in the firing mechanism of the ink jet head, which reduced precision. Operators couldn’t tune the force control properties with the existing printers, so

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Using The MathWorks tools for model-based

design, CCM created a custom controller that increased the repeat-

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customer, Agfa.


Design Hardware & Software46

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the team turned to The MathWorks’ Simulink and Simulink Coder to design, develop, and deploy a control system that would address this issue with existing printers.

The nonlinear dynamics of the substrate path were first modeled in Simulink, and CCM engineers then developed controllers using their own controller design tools. Simulink came back into play for simulating and refining the control strategy, and The MathWorks’ Simulink Coder was tapped to automatically generate C code for the controller. Simulink’s automatic code generation capabilities were a big factor in accelerating development time spent on this project. “In the conventional way, the software engineer would need to translate the idea of the control engineer into software code, but in this case, the control engineer also creates the soft-ware code using the Simulink Coder,” Beltman says. “It saves resources, it saves communications, and it lets the software department focus on other things like user interface design.”

The model-based design approach also goes a long way in streamlining the trial-and-error process that so often derails engineering projects, according to Dr. Rudiger Newmann, head of research mechatronic systems at Festo AG. The group, which builds robots out of pneumatic drives, would not be able to efficiently optimize its controller designs for

complicated systems via the conventional approach of build-ing and testing them on physical hardware, he says. “You can’t do design in a systematic way,” he says, explaining that a movement would be developed and tested, then hardware would have to be physically constructed to test the control-ler model. If a problem was encountered, the process would start anew, with the movement modified and the hardware physically redesigned to continue optimizing the controller design. “Nowadays, by testing on the model and then building the hardware, you can use the model for controller design before you even design the hardware,” he says.

Newmann’s team put that approach into action with the design of the Festo Bionic Handling Assistant, a mechatronic robot arm designed to work closely and safely with humans. Unlike most industrial robot arms which are stiff, thus could be dangerous if they come into direct contact with humans, the Bionic Handling Assistant is made of lightweight polymer components so it’s safe to the touch. A complex system of 12 pneumatic chambers, 13 actuators, and 12 position sensors work in concert to control the motion of the arm, and a control system manages the pneumatics so that the arm will yield immediately in the event of a collision.

The controller models for the pneumatic chambers were


designed and optimized in The MathWorks’ Simulink, and Simulink Coder was used to generate C code from the model to put to work in the prototype hardware.

Newmann says while the model-based design approach definitely saves time and ensures a more streamlined engi-neering workflow, he says there are hurdles, including getting engineers comfortable with a front-loaded design process that doesn’t necessarily yield results until later in the project. It also takes some work getting engineers acclimated to the mathematical background necessary for building models, as well as training and education on the tools.

Nevertheless, heavy lifting aside, Newmann and Beltman say the transition to model-based design practices is well worth the effort. “It depends on the level of mechatronics,” Beltman says. “If the specifications are very tight, model-based design is a must.” DN

For More Information:The MathWorks: www.mathworks.comCentre for Concepts in Mechatronics: www.ccm.nlFesto AG: www.festo.comEmbedded Market Forecasters: www.embeddedforecast.com

Festo’s Bionic Handling Assistant, a mechatronic industrial robot arm, was inspired by the motion of an elephant’s trunk.

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48 Automation & Control


Advanced Motion Control for Harsh Environments

From high-pressure wash-down at food and bottling plants, to the extreme heat and pressure generated by oil and gas exploration, to

an increasing focus on outdoor applica-tions, advanced motion control solutions are being implemented in a wider set of harsh environments than ever before.

Recall Concerns Push Washdown Solutions“Washdown is an important harsh environment segment that is growing because of concerns resulting from the recalls that we have seen this year,” says Gene Matthews, product manager for Kollmorgen. “With the listeria outbreak traced back to a cantaloupe pack-ing plant, in addition to ground meat and egg recalls, there are many more machines that need to be washed down on a daily basis with caustic chemicals, steam, and/or using high pressure.”

Matthews says that industry is mov-ing, because of liability issues, toward all stainless-steel, hygienic designs, often using air purge and all of the techniques available to make sure that the motor is going to survive in the environment and can be cleaned thoroughly.

“There are a number of challenges related to washdown applications,” says Matthews. “If the customer is using caustic chemicals, those chemicals will hasten corrosion and shorten the life

of painted motors. For this reason, the most robust motor designs include an all stainless-steel exterior. Stainless steel is chosen due to its resistance to corrosion.”

Companies are also utilizing round motor designs to eliminate the nooks and crannies in the motor housing where bacteria can hide, and users can more easily and thoroughly spray off the sur-faces. Another approach is to use steam. The IP69K standard allows customers to use an 80C liquid for washdown between 1,200psi and 1,450psi. Most motor designs that meet the IP69K standard are all stainless steel. The rea-son for this is that painted motors can fail quickly once the painted surface is compromised. No matter what kind of paint is used, if the surface is scratched or chipped, the motor will corrode quickly under these conditions.

“The downside of using stainless steel for the housing of a motor is that it is a poor conductor of heat,” says Matthews. “The motors get warm and, as they cool down, negative pressure forms inside the motor. In this situation, a perfectly sealed motor will often pull water inside the motor via the shaft seal. Spraying a hot motor with a cool liquid can inten-sify the effect.”

“Water ingress doesn’t immediately kill the motor; you might just start to get some corrosion within the motor.

By Al Presher, Contributing Writer, Automation & Control

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[www.designnews.com] February 2012 Medical Technology: MiniaTurizaTion / a suppleMenT To design news M1

Medical Technology: Miniaturization

Micro Drives Increase Surgical PrecisionTechniques for minimally invasive surgery rely on highly sensitive drive technology.

By Al Presher, ContriButing Writer

M odern medical technology is making operations safer and replacing conventional surgical methods with pro-

cedures, which put less strain on patients. Often these new techniques rely on micro control motion technology such as minimally invasive surgery, for example, which uses small openings in the body rather than larger incisions.

Since all the components used need to be as compact as possible, micro drives are an appropriate solution for medical actuator systems. They produce high performance from very low product vol-umes, plus they are very easy to control and adaptable to all medical standards, making them perfect for extending the fingertip sensitivity of the operator. Minimally invasive surgery represents a significant improvement for patients but the “operating tools” used need to meet exacting requirements in terms of flex-ibility, reliability, and ergonomics.

The new ViKY system (Vision Control for endoscopy) developed by EndoCon-trol is tailored to meet these everyday medical requirements. In order to accom-modate all the options the system offers to the operator within the smallest possible space, the developers worked in con-junction with custom motion provider, Faulhaber. Modern micromotors with precision gears and motion controllers are now used for the precise execution of the surgeon’s control commands.

The new endoscopy system was devel-oped with flexibility and compact design in mind from the outset. The device can handle all standard procedures in the abdomen, chest cavity, and other body cavities. Its small size, compared to other

systems, means the surgeon is given better access to the patient, and allows surgeons to utilize their experience in direct contact with the patient rather than being reliant on pre-filtered infor-mation on a screen.

Its comparatively low procurement and operating costs, compact size, and the fact that ease of sterilization has been incorporated into the design, make the system ideal for various surgical disci-plines. Precise control and drives allow

the system to be used just as effectively in different areas such as gynecology, urology, or gastrointestinal, bariatric, and thoracoscopic surgery.

Naturally, this kind of application needs motors which are small and com-pact, but offer high performance at the same time. It is an opportunity for mod-ern drive technology to be utilized to its full potential. The quiet movements (due to bearings associated to EndoControl’s ViKY precise mechanism), sensitive reac-

Miniature medical actuator systems used in minimally invasive surgery need to be as compact as possible. Micro drives are an effective solution because they offer high performance from small packages, are easy to control, and help increase the fingertip sensitivity of the surgeon.

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M2 Medical Technology: MiniaTurizaTion / a suppleMenT To design news February 2012 [www.designnews.com]


tion to control commands, and high performance ratio are all key factors.

A broad operating temperature range of -30C to 125C is compatible with all standard disinfection methods. Its long service life guarantees reliable functional-ity over a long period, which is a tangible benefit for a medical device, plus speed can be optimized to the application. The bandwidth of reduction ratios ranges from approximately 3:1 to 1,500:1, giving extensive latitude for optimum adjustment of speed and torque.

Using metallic gearheads, up to 700mNm can be achieved. The position resolution generated provides both suf-ficient power and high levels of precision to the drive shaft. The compact control center integrated into the ViKY control unit also has built-in adjustable control functions, such as power and speed limits. This means that both the controller and the motor fulfill all EMC requirements for use in a medical environment.

Micro Motion in BioMedical applicationsBiomedical applications are a great fit for micro motion technology that is being used to implement linear and rotary positioning, highly accurate piezo science, plus stepper motor and servomo-tor control integrating ball screws and lead screws. Typically motor sizes range from 1.9mm to 40mm in diameter, and precise mechanisms or motion subas-semblies are often created as projects. In many applications, the design team takes standard motion products and, through a design process, suppliers work with indi-vidual customers on a system concept that is developed, tested, and ultimately goes through product approval.

“Our technology offering covers an entire spectrum of micro drive solutions, and we look at ourselves as a micro and miniature motion provider,” says Jim Lostetter, a senior sales engineer for Micromo, the North American opera-tions for the Faulhaber Group. “Many projects result in the development of value added subassemblies which reduces the integration requirements into the final product by medical device manufac-turers. To simplify final assembly, a series of subassemblies created by individual suppliers can be quickly integrated into the final product.”

In addition to micro motors and

drives, the building blocks that systems typically integrate include encoders or Hall effect sensors for either linear or rotary positioning feedback. One unique component is a quick shaft magnetic linear drive-motor which uses magnets in the rod itself and rides within a suspen-sion coil, resulting in no wear. The novel design has attracted interest in applica-tions where there is a requirement for precise positioning and a small working envelope.

“The engineering challenges that designers of these systems face, start with the size restrictions and compact size of the devices,” says Lostetter. “Power usage is also important as more devices are moving to batteries, or batteries in part-time usage, and there is a requirement for systems that are efficient from an elec-trical usage standpoint. The size of the battery itself also becomes an important consideration and needs to be specified within the symmetry of the final device design and usage of the device.”

Accuracy and performance within a small package is a major challenge and design goal. Operation has to be highly accurate and precise, especially in dos-ing applications where there is a concern for patient safety and the potential for

overdoses. Systems used in surgical applications often reflect the need for highly accurate motion performance, excellent feedback, and optimized speed and position.

The overall product strategy and concept for development is to work within the existing suite of technology solutions to design customized solu-tions for specific devices. As much as possible, existing products that offer high performance, small footprints, and energy efficiency are used to keep costs down. The subassembly itself may be highly specialized, but the heart of the product components used in the design is already a fit for these types of applications. Ongoing development on the motion building blocks themselves is part of the process of creating more potent solutions.

One trend is the use of micro motion solutions in dosing applications, such as push pumps and dosing pumps, with the push to smaller designs that deliver more precise movements and provide better energy management. It is also important to provide feedback on where they have moved and how far they have moved. We are seeing more lead screw and linear applications.

endocontrol’s ViKY ep system is an ultra-compact, motorized endoscope positioner. it holds and moves the endoscope under direct surgeon control, is positioned just above the patient’s abdomen, and is held by one of a series of passive arms developed for different types of surgery.

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Supplament Name HereMedical Technology: Miniaturization

Lostetter says there has been high interest and questions about piezo technology. Compared to other motor technology solutions, piezo technology offers the potential for small, powerful systems, which provide high performance in a very small package. Movements are highly accurate and the technology has improved its ability to provide energy-efficient operation.

“For medical device manufacturers, the ability to develop four to five different subassemblies from trusted technology suppliers enables them to use contract manufacturing that often specialize in biomedical products to do the final assembly and packaging,” says Lostetter. “It provides a complete design strategy where they have found that working with suppliers on subassemblies makes it pos-sible to simplify the final assembly.”

For more information, go towww.endocontrol-medical.com andwww.micromo.com.

Biomedical applications are a great fit for micro motion technology. Motor sizes range from 1.9mm to 40mm in diameter and, in many applications, precise mechanisms or motion subassemblies are developed as suppliers work with customers on a system

concept customized for the particular application. Sou

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High-Speed Motors Power VentilatorsMotor manufacturers work to balance iron, joule, and friction losses to optimize the working point, and create high-speed, dynamic motor control for new ventilator designs.

By Al Presher, contriButing Writer

a new trend with OEMs dra-matically reduces the size of ventilators and makes them mobile to penetrate

the home care market, as well as to answer ICU (intensive care unit) and emergency nomadic needs. This new technology tests the limits of high-speed motor technology, pushed along by ever-smaller turbine designs that will rely on up to 70,000rpm opera-tion, fast changes in acceleration rates, and the need for ultimate reliability.

“The home care sector and needs in the ICU have encouraged OEMs to consider a different approach using a much smaller compressor or turbine,” says Bruno Fauvel, project manager — Medical Market Europe for Portescap. “To make ventilators smaller, manu-facturer designs are moving to small turbines that replace the compressors in these applications. The idea is to replace the air pump with a fan rotat-ing at high speed and, as a result, a motor that is rotating very fast and defining many of the requirements for these products.”

Turbine design for medical venti-lators is also driven by the specific application such as either Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or sleep apnea patients. Sleep apnea is a high-quantity, low-end market because of the need for apply-ing continuous air pressure into the patient’s lungs. The goal is to open the airway, so the patient doesn’t snore, and is simpler than other similar medical applications. Both the fan and

turbine can be less expensive compo-nents to provide a continuous supply and required flow of air, plus there is less risk because it is basically a com-fort application.

But with other applications like COPD where there is often a threat to life and the patient may be hospi-talized in a coma, the device has to be extremely safe and perform using very precise patterns. There is also a need to adapt the surgery to differ-ent types of patients (children and adults, including the elderly) who

have different breathing patterns. A child typically takes a higher number of breaths per minute and rates up to 200 respirations per minute due to the effects of the surgery and other stresses. With higher rates for the heartbeat and breathing, there is often a need to put more oxygen into the patient, and the system must be able to sustain the patient breath at the proper frequency.

“These requirements create needs in the turbine design, and some device manufacturers are using valves to

use of a brushless motor (with blower) reduces the noise experienced by the user and allows the oeM to minimize the size and weight of the ventilator.

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M8 MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY: MINIATURIZATION / A SUPPLEMENT TO DESIGN NEWS FEBRUARY 2012 [www.designnews.com]


regulate the flow and pressure,” says Fauvel. “It seems that using a valve makes the therapy delivery simpler but it generates noise and makes the over-all system more complicated.”

The trend is a move to turbines, which can provide very high-frequency cycle rates. The idea is simple because if you drive the motor more slowly, the turbine will sup-ply low pressure and low flow rate just like a normal patient is breathing out. The machine creates a very small back pressure for the patient to breathe against. And when the patient needs to take or inspire air, the motor accelerates very fast to deliver high pressure and high flow to fill the lungs. The challenge is that with a newborn child’s higher breathing patterns and very high frequency, the motor will need to speed up and down 200 times per minute.

“These accelerations require torque, and typically the torque required to

accelerate is the inertia of the system times the acceleration rate,” says Fau-vel. “If there is a large inertia, in this case a larger wheel because of driving the turbine fan, there is a need for more torque. If a higher acceleration

rate is needed, it is the same. Since torque is directly related to the cur-rent required to operate the motor, to increase the breathing rate, the appli-cation overdrives the motor with more current.”

The need for current also increases the temperature of the motor, and creates joule losses equal to the resis-

tance times the square of the current. More current creates a squared time temperature increase, so it becomes very important to limit the current to maximize system efficiency. Efficiency is defined by output power versus input power, where the input is elec-trical power and what you get out of the system is mechanical power.

“The difference is the losses, so our goal is to work closely with the OEMs to understand the losses in the system and to minimize these losses,” says Fauvel. “The joule losses due to the square of the current are understood and, if there is a low current draw, everyone knows that will produce low heating.”

Another key factor is the friction, and typically brush-type motors are not used in these applications because of wear of the collector. The life-time consideration of the motor is extremely important in these applica-tions.

With a brushless motor that uses two bearings, the goal is to work with bearing manufacturers to define spe-cial lubrication and minimize friction to enhance the life of the motor. Also, the balance of the rotor is very impor-tant because if the rotor is poorly balanced, the bearings can be damaged very quickly.

The balance issue also affects the envelope considerations for the rotor.

If the application uses an inner rotor motor, it is easier to balance than with an outer rotor motor. An imbalance with a larger diameter rotor tends to vibrate more in the bear-ings.

Beyond joule and friction losses, a third area of con-cern is understanding and mitigating iron losses. Iron losses generated when the

magnet is rotated in front of the lami-nations also create heat. For example, in the automotive industry, to temper a brake disk the iron part is placed inside a winding and a magnetic field makes the disk very hot to temper the part.

In a motor, the same phenomenon is created by a magnet with a permanent

The key to using high-speed motors in new ventilator designs is increasing effi ciency of output (mechanical) power versus input (electrical) power. The goal is to balance cop-per or joule losses which vary with the load in proportion to the current squared with mechanical losses, including friction in the motor (bearings and brushes).

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field rotating very fast in front of the back iron laminations of the motor. The heat generated by the rotation of

the magnetic field creates a challenge when you want to produce a cool motor running at very high speed.

“The respirator fan has low torque requirements to spin the disk to move the air but the speeds requirements are very high when the trend is to move to speeds up into the 50,000rpm range,” says Fauvel. “With a respirator, the frequency cycle needs to change from 10,000rpm to 50,000rpm in a short time. The optimization point is not important at 10,000rpm where there isn’t a need to think about the losses. But at the peak when the air is flowed into the patient’s lungs, that’s where the motor is heating the most and there is a need to define and optimize performance by selection of lamination material and defining the magnetic field.”

The key for motor manufacturers is to find the best compromise between all of the three losses (iron, joule, and friction losses) to optimize the work-ing point. Some motor manufacturers propose high-torque or high-speed motors for these applications.

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Portescap slotless brushless DC motors feature high speed, high torque, low noise, minimal temperature rise, electronic commutation, and Hall effect sensors. The key in ventilator applications is to specify a motor that offers the best compromise between the iron, joule, and friction losses to optimize its working point.

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“Customers say the typical ven-tilator that operates at 35,000rpm, in the future, will operate between 50,000rpm and 70,000rpm,” says Fauvel. “The application will operate at twice the speed because the OEMs would like to move to a smaller impel-ler and fan, and increase pressure and flow capabilities. To move the same amount of air, there is a need to rotate faster which leads to the challenges of managing the heat in the motor.”

Joule losses due to more torque, plus iron and fric-tion/vibration losses from higher speeds, all contribute to increased complexity as the trend in ventilators moves to this higher-speed opera-tion. Plus there is a desire not only to reduce the size of systems, but also to operate on lower power and increase mobility.

There is also a potential advantage in having one blower support chil-dren, another for average adults, and another for overweight adults, but OEMs try to develop one versatile ventilator instead of several specialized units.

To do this, all of the motor manu-

facturers will need to carefully specify motor components. Working with component suppliers, Fauvel says the goal is optimized selection of lamina-tions, magnets, and bearings where design hits logistic matters without

incurring major cost increases. Dis-cussions with OEMs and motor component suppliers will help pin-point the best compromises to achieve maximum performance.

“Job one is to balance the iron, joule, and friction losses to achieve the unique set of performance require-

ments needed to support new ventilator design goals,” says Fauvel. “To achieve performance and reliability, everything is tied together around that one goal.”

“Reliability and perfor-mance are not separate topics,” he adds. “Per-formance is high-speed operation but reliability means long life and also

low-temperature operation since higher temperatures can damage the bearings very quickly.”

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Contributing to the effectiveness of these double lip seals is correct material selection, and molding it properly to very tight tolerances. Minnesota Rubber and Plastics uses specially formulated EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) com-pounds for certain of its medical applications. Formulated and molded to ensure low extractables, seal materials are compat-ible with a wide range of fluids prescribed for administration through an IV system.

Seal size is also important in double lip design applications. A smaller seal reduces potential for leaks. Minnesota Rubber and Plastics designs these double lip seals as small as .046 OD, .140 ID, and .145 inch thickness. Critical surface dimensions for this size are: ID ±.004, OD sealing diameter dimension (.295) held to ±.005. Sealing thickness held to ±.005.Minnesota rubber and Plasticswww.mnrubber.com

6165 MarShall cnc BenDing for MeDical DeviceSPrecision 2D and 3D Shapes available in prototype and large quantities.Marshall’s CNC bending capability often allows stock to be completely machined prior to bending, orienting the features as the part is bent. Marshall’s capabilities provide designers the freedom to create innovative and intricate designs. Mandrels and other tooling are often required to produce the required shapes.

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M14 Medical Technology: MiniaTurizaTion february 2012 [www.designnews.com]

Updated Range of HigH peRfoR-Mance Line SHaft coUpLingS For use in material handling, printing, and sheet metal fabricating equipment.Fabricating with highly straight (generally 0.2mm/m) extruded intermediate tubing allows for the line shaft couplings to span very large distances (>6m) unsupported, and at unusually high speeds, depending upon the application requirements. New designs include lightweight CFK tubing, which makes for reduced inertia and

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unit is available with a factory-fixed flow setting of .4 gpm to 100 gpm in water or custom flow settings in oil. Other models are available with vanes for adjusting set points in the field. Standard process connections range from 3/4 inch to 3 inch NPT, and optional silver braze or socket weld ports are available. Materials of brass, bronze, 316 stainless steel, or monel are standard.Thomas Products Ltd.www.thomasprod.com

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the device employs offset correction and gain programming to precisely calibrate the bridge output signal. Two analog and one digital outputs offer versatility across many applications.

Programming and single-pass calibration of the sensor and the ZSSC3008 is implemented in a standard PC environment using the ZSSC3008KIT development tools. The kit includes the device, development board, USB cable, and calibration software.

The ZSSC3008’s standard supply voltage is 2.7V to 5.5V, or up to 30V with external JFET. Accuracy is 0.25 percent over the -25C to 85C range, and 0.5 percent from -40C to 125C. Depending upon configuration, current consumption typically ranges from 1mA down to 250μA. Response time is typically 1ms.Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden aG (ZMDI)www.zmdi.com

Medical clad Wire Custom manufactured clad composite wire lets medical device makers innovate more effectively by combining several properties into a single wire.Anomet Medical Clad Wire can achieve characteristics not available in a single alloy wire by combining one or more pre-cious metals and a core material into a single wire with the desired OEM properties. Formulated to achieve various combi-

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49

An important challenge for the oil and gas industry is the need for high power density actuation. Moog has the ability to create forces up to 100,000lb in very compact solutions, depending on customer envelope constraints and force requirements. In extreme cases, actuators have been built up to 22ft long and just over two inches in diameter.

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If the motor doesn’t fail right away, it will certainly reduce its life, so that’s a big challenge for the engineers to deal with,” Matthews adds.

Historical ly, air purge has been pitched as a solution for most stainless-steel motors. Many motors offer an air purge port and users can apply a slight positive pressure (only around 1.5psi) to prevent the intrusion of water by coun-teracting the negative pressure. You can also prevent negative pressure from building within the motor by providing proper venting. A motor that is vented to clean and dry air will pull air into the motor instead of possible contaminants via the shaft seal area.

“One of the design features that we incorporated into our new line of mo-tors is a design where we run the motor

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power and feedback leads through plastic tubing,” says Matthews. “The leads from the feedback device and the power go through the tubing, and the user can route that tubing directly into the electrical panel. With the motor sharing the air in the electrical panel, it is more difficult for negative pressure to build within the motor. By equaliz-ing the internal and external pressures, we prevent sucking water in through the shaft seal.”

One of the benefits venting offers compared to the air purge approach is that is can be very expensive to get clean, dry air via the facility’s compressed air system. Typical compressed air systems contain some moisture and oil components. Cleansing the air of its water and oil components requires expensive equipment and a strict maintenance schedule. By venting the motor to the electrical cabinet, you get inexpensive access to clean, dry air. “Applications that require washdown are more prevalent with increased usage of variable frequency drives (VFDs) and the focus on energy efficiency,” says Todd Ammerman, product marketing manager at Yaskawa America Inc. “More and more users, along with OEMs, are familiar with the cost savings of VFDs and are specifying them in a wider variety of applications.”

With the focus on reduced cost, energy savings, and higher horse-power washdown solutions, this motion technology is becoming easier to apply, and more companies are trying these drives in applica-tions where they haven’t been specified before. In many applications, the drives are replacing lower-tech solutions such as across-the-line starters, which provide simple on/off functionality.

“Engineers are realizing that it’s more energy eff icient and saves wear and tear on the motor to slow it down and speed it up rather than using on/off control or pharmaceuticals manufactur-

New W-Series stainless-steel Goldline motors from Kollmorgen run motor power and feedback leads through plastic tubing. The design equalizes the internal and external pressures in the motor, making it more difficult for negative pressure to build, and preventing water from being sucked in through the shaft seal.


51


ing, bottling, slicers, and mixers,” says Ammerman. “The washdown capabil-ity provides a key feature to approach these applications with VFDs, espe-cially in food processing washdown applications from water to harsh chemicals. The enclosure is coated to protect against the harmful effects of sanitizing chemicals commonly used in food industries.”

The V1000-4X current vector micr-odrive (1/8HP to 25HP) is a version of Yaskawa’s standard V1000 in an inte-gral enclosure that meets NEMA type 4X/12 indoor use requirements, UL type 4X/12 standards, and the IP66 rating of IEC 529.

High Temperature, High Pressure Environments“If you look at the oil and gas industry, the trends are continuing to move toward ultra-high-temperature and ultra-high-pressure wells,” says Rob Nicholl, engineering manager at Moog. “Systems must operate in temperatures up to 240C and 30,000psi inside the well, and even survivability of the transport systems can be challenging.” “The industry also has high shock and vibration requirements because actuation systems are sometimes placed directly behind the head of a drilling tool which is driving through rock,” Nicholl says. “Tools can stall, wind up torsionally, and produce massive shocks as the tool breaks free.”

Designing solutions for operation within high-tem-perature environments requires careful selection of materials. The insulation systems used with electric motors, for example, are outside the industrial norm, and through correct selection of materials, Moog sta-tors operate at temperatures up to 260C.

“The goal is to trade off temperature performance relative to the life of the motor,” says Nicholl. “We design solutions to achieve the required life. In very high-temperature applications, the motor may be required to last for 2,000 hours.”

Moog has also been working on permanently deployed actuators for downhole applications, which offer a completely new challenge. In that environment, systems are situated in the hydrocarbon f low after the well is completed. The hydrocarbon f low is a mixture of materials including, but not limited to, hydrocar-bons, condensates, water, and hydrogen sulfide.

With prolonged exposure to well f luids, metals

can corrode and become brittle, lead-ing to premature failure. Elastomeric seals on cylinders or linear actuators, for example, cannot be used for long-term deployments because they will eventually degrade and disintegrate.

“In permanent deployment applica-tions, we have leveraged work from the Moog Space and Defense Group,” says Nicholl. “We weld the Inconel housings together, so the system does not require static seals. The elimination of seals offers reduced failure modes for permanently deployed systems. For linear actuators we have replaced rod seals with Inconel bel-lows welded to the structure. This sealing

methodology provides a unit that is sealed from the well environment.”

An additional important challenge in the oil and gas environment is the need for high power density actuation, and systems that can create forces up to 100,000lb in very

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“Applications that require

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usage of variable frequency drives (VFDs) and the focus on energy

efficiency.”



Yaskawa’s V1000-4X current vector microdrive enclosure provides protection in washdown or dust-tight environ-ments. The new drive operates at up to 25HP, versus 10HP to 15HP with the previous product line, to address larger applications using a 4X product.

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compact solutions. Systems can range from 1 inch up to 4.5 inch depending on customer envelope constraints and force requirements. “We have actually built actuators in extreme cases up to 22 feet long and just over two inches in diameter,” says Nicholl.

To combat high-pressure environments, solu-tions need to include pressure compensation systems. For high-pressure systems the key is to equalize the pressure on the inside of the actuators with the pressure on the outside. In some applica-tions, a slightly higher pressure (15psi) inside the unit helps prevent leaks. If there are any leaks, the compensation f luid inside the actuator will leak out into the well. “To achieve high power density, the ballscrews and gearing is custom-designed using very specific material and processing selections,” says Nicholl. “Non-standard geometries are sometimes utilized in gear and screw design to achieve above-normal load capacities. Since Moog has its own ballscrew manufacturing facility, these units can be custom-ized based on the application versus making a selection from a catalog.”

Moog uses a double-vacuum impregnation method on stators, which are submersed in the varnish and vacuumed to remove the air before they are cured. Since there is no air in the wind-ings, when they are exposed to the pressurized environment, they do not fail.

New Applications & Design Methods“Servo motion is being adapted in all kinds of applications well outside of factory machines,” says Karl Meier, marketing manager for Advanced Motion Controls. “Servos are operating in envi-ronments where AC and DC motors have been operating before and is evolving into new tech-nologies that didn’t previously exist. We are being asked to put servo motion into applications where it wasn’t even a concept before. And as technology evolves, there is a challenge to come up with new design methods.”

One example of an extreme harsh environment application is an AMC drive that operates in the engine compartment of a heavy industrial vehicle. The drive is fully enclosed within the motor hous-ing in an environment to assist in vehicle emissions control. Internal temperatures reach 112C to 115C. Standard AMC drive products operate up to 65C to

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75C, so this application required de-velopment of a custom drive and add-ing components with extended tem-perature range capabilities to previous design blocks, and adjusting the drive design to operate in that much higher temperature range.

“A circular-shaped custom PC board, created to fit within the con-fines of a completely sealed design, was mounted onto the back of the motor,” says Solomon Cheng, a senior

applications engineer for AMC. “The design also carefully integrated the PC board into the housing to keep the package as small as possible.”

All of the electronics are integrated into the motor housing, and the to-tal number of components has been reduced. The feedback content of the subassembly has been reduced by implementing a magnetically coupled interface between the motor and drive. Because the motor is oper-ating in a high-temperature, velocity-controlled application, the application greatly benefitted from a servo solu-tion. Components in the housing are also positioned to minimize shock, vibration, and the overall design was optimized to meet the specific stresses in the environment. DN

For More Information:Kollmorgen: www.kollmorgen.comMoog: www.moog.comYaskawa: www.yaskawa.comAdvanced Motion Controls: www.a-m-c.com

“We are being asked to put servo motion

into applications where it wasn’t even a concept

before.”

Socialengineering

54


Randy the Robot or Roomba?By ALEXANDER WOLFE, Content Director

are you ready to Roomba? If you’re a fan of nondescript, purpose-built robots — this one vacuums your f loors — you probably are. But per-haps you’re intrigued, as I am, by the unusually anthropomorphic automatons coming out of Japan. (See “Slide-show: Humanoid Robots Get Real” at http://dn.hotims.com/40993-513.)

The differences beg the question: Should robots look more like people or like machines? That’s what we asked par-ticipants in our Systems & Product Design Engineering and Automation & Control Engineering groups on LinkedIn.

Many of the answers revolved around the “form versus function” issue. “This question is deeper than it seems at first glance,” says Rick Rice, an applica-tions engineer in Illinois. “It really comes down to philosophy. Robots are designed to do things that humans can’t do, or robots can do better. This doesn’t necessarily mean they have to emulate humans. However, the people that pro-gram robots will tend to duplicate human actions because, after all, we are humans programming machines.”

“Popular movies like ‘I, Robot,’ portray robots as virtually human in appearance, and they even possess human characteris-tics like a conscience and a sense of right and wrong. The bottom line is, do we want robots to be assimilated into our culture so much that we don’t recognize them at first glance?,” Rice asks.

Alan Curley, an automation & control engineer in Ireland says, “I think the consensus is that function should dictate form, which should not directly lead to

a humanoid robot.”Erik Goode, an engineer at an indus-

tr ia l automation company, sees an inexorable movement toward human-oid form-factors. “People have a strong desire to attach personalities to their environment,” he says. “The visual perception of robots will indeed be less HAL-like and more humanoid-like. Depending on the task, robots will have avatars that convey personality, gender, and empathy.”

However, other respondents disagree. “Useful robots are just an arm or other mechanism with tooling to accomplish a task,” says Michael Roberson, an electrical engineer in Nashville. “The Jetsons-style fictional vision is nothing but a novelty item with no real func-tional use in industry.”

Mark Bannan, owner of MBE Auto-mation in Michigan, balances both views. “I have worked on and off with robots for over 30 years in an industrial environment,” he says. “All of the robots I have worked with were designed based on functionality and did not look too human. For industrial use, I would expect this trend to continue.”

“However, there are robots being designed to assist human beings, par-ticularly in Japan, which has a rapidly aging population. These new robots will assist the elderly to function, without too much human intervention. This type of robot will need to look as much like a human as possible so that the humans they interact with are not repelled by the sight of them. So in this case it would be form over function,” he says. DN

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SHERLOCK ΩHMSFamous investigations into engineering’s most diabolical real-world cases


Keith Henson is electrical engineer, a proto-transhumanist, and a writer on life extension, cryonics, memetics, and evolutionary psychology. He has published a Web book, “Standard Gauge,” which takes the reader on an exploratory journey into the post-singularity, near-future technology of an artifi cial intelligence directed clinic in Africa.

http://bit.ly/SherlockOhms

56

Materials Mix-up: The Epoxy Was Too SoftBy Keith Henson, Contributing Writer

I ONCE WORKED FOR Burr-Brown in the function modules group. We made the weird stuff: square and square root, vector adders, log amplifiers, and the like.

Mostly I worked on computing RMS modules. These designs were all based on monolithic pairs of transistors, and the same were used as the input stage of operational amplifiers. They were made by gluing a pair of transistors in a ceramic cup and bond-ing gold wires out to six leads. Then a dot of very hard epoxy protected the bonding wires. We sorted out the incoming parts for the ones with the best-matched characteristics for multipliers, so the function modules got the newest parts.

One day a line tech came by and gave me a box of expensive mul-tipliers that had failed after potting. Normal loss was a percent or so, but this time about 40 percent failed. I don’t remember exactly why I suspected the dual transistors, but after grinding down half a dozen modules, I found that the leads were open on one or more of the dual transistors. Snapping off the potting plastic let me read the date code on the edge of the cups. Three date codes had failures.

Eventually this was traced to a materials mix-up where the hard epoxy had been replaced by a soft epoxy that moved under the stress of potting — enough to shear off the gold leads.

It never occurred to me that I should ask before shutting down production to get the bad parts out of the flow. Months later, at a performance review, I found this was a strike against me.

Not long after that review, I moved on to a job at the long-defunct Arizona Gear and Manufacturing Co. There I was dismissed

for refusing to cer-tify thermocouple isolation amplifiers for 250,000 MTBF. There were parts in the modu le s stressed to where t h ey wou l d b e lucky to last 2,000 hours (400mW on a 250mW resistor, as

I remember).The timing was wrong (1972) for these

modules to have contributed to the Fermi-1 reactor meltdown (1966). However, the fail-ure of similar thermocouples on the top of the reactor core made it hard to see the blocking effects on the sodium coolant of a loose plate of zirconium. DN

DesignNews.comCase of the Vintage Furnace BlowerSometimes the best solu-tion is the one that gets you through the short term. http://bit.ly/saJsXn

Have you applied your deductive reasoning and technical prowess to troubleshoot and solvean engineering mystery that even the fi ctional Sherlock would fi nd most perplex-ing? Tell us about it! E-mail Senior Editor Rob Spiegel at: [email protected]

Join 1,000 design engineers who are members of the Sherlock Ohms Investigators Club at LinkedIn: http://designnews.hotims.com/27739-523.

This was traced to a mix-up where

the hard epoxy had been replaced by a soft epoxy that

moved under stress.

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58DesignDecisions


0.25X -0.5X

0.25X -0.5X

0.25X -0.5X

1.5X - 2X

1.5X -2X

X

X

X

inductive eddy current position/displacement sen-sors require an electrically conductive target. The target does not have to be grounded, and in general, the more electrically conductive the target is, the better the overall performance will be.

Materials that have been successful targets for eddy current sensors vary in resistance from 1.59µOhm-cm for silver to 127µOhm-cm for Inconel. Even graphite at 1,050µOhm-cm has been used for a target.

Magnetic/Non-Magnetic Distinction. Eddy cur-rent sensors utilize a balance bridge circuit to operate. The balance of the bridge circuit will vary with sensor-target distance. It will also vary with target material, and the biggest variable is whether the target is magnetic or non-magnetic.

As they pertain to eddy current position sensors, all conduc-tive material can be categorized into two groups, magnetic (magnetic permeability >1), and non-magnetic (magnetic permeability = 1). Note that for eddy current sensors, perme-ability of up to 1.1 is still considered non-magnetic.

A small diameter sensor (<0.5 inch) set up for a magnetic target will perform poorly, if at all, with a non-magnetic target, and vice-versa. In most cases, electronic bridge com-ponents must be changed in order to convert a system set up for magnetic targets to be used with non-magnetic targets. Large diameter sensors (>0.5 inch) typically need only to be recalibrated to the new target material. It is best to check with the manufacturer’s applications engineering group, or service group before considering using a system with a target material other than what it was originally specified.

When no target material is specif ied, non-magnetic systems will typically be set up and calibrated using a 6000 series aluminum target. For magnetic systems, 4130 steel is typically used.

This figure depicts the size and shape of the electromagnetic field produced by a shielded sensor. It also shows a typical recommended bracket mount and recess mount.

Eddy Current Position/ Displacement Sensor SelectionWhether a target will work in any specific application depends a great deal on the desired performance, most importantly resolution.

By DAN SPOHN, Kaman Precision Products/Measuring

Dan Spohn is regional sales manager for Kaman Precision Products/Measuring, a division of Kaman Aerospace Corp. For more information, go to www.kamansensors.com.

59


Sensor Diameter vs. Target Diameter RelationshipsCa l ibrated Range — Sensor Diameter. The calibrated range is typically the f irst specif ication to be considered when selecting an eddy cur-rent sensor for position/displacement measurements.

The sensor itself contains a preci-sion-wound wire coil that is excited by a high-frequency AC signal. This produces a toroidal-shaped oscillating electromagnetic field with the coil itself at the center of the toroid. As with all electromagnetic coils, the strength of the field produced is proportional to the distance from the coil.

Kaman’s displace-ment sensors use the osci l lat ing elect ro-mag net ic f ie ld to induce eddy currents in the sur face of a conductive “target.” As the magnitude of the eddy current is pro-portional to the f ield strength, the amount of eddy current induced in the tar-get decreases with increasing distance between the sensor and the target. The effective measuring range of a given coil is typically equal to 30 percent to 50 percent of the coil diameter.

Sensor Diameter — Target Diameter. For this discussion, the coil diameter and sensor diameter are inter-changeable. The electromagnetic field produced by unshielded sensors extends radially from the sensor to a diameter equal to 2.5 to 3 sensor diameters. For shielded sensors, the f ield diameter extends 1.5 to 2 sensor diameters. Any electrically conductive material in this field will have eddy currents induced into its surface, thereby affecting sensor output.

Sensors are typically calibrated by the manufacturer using a flat target based on the thumb rules described above. To ensure the sensor will perform to the manufacturer’s published specifications, the same target diameter thumb rules should be followed

in actual application.Deviating From Thumb Rules.

Some applications do not allow enough room for an appropriately sized target. If the ideal target diameter is not pos-sible, measurement can still be achieved with reduced performance. Contact the manufacturer’s applications engineering group to determine how the perfor-mance will be affected.

Sensor Mounting ConsiderationsThe electromagnetic field produced by eddy current sensors extends in front of the sensor face, radially from the

sensor OD, and, to a small degree, behind the sen sor f ace. Any elec t r ica l ly conductive material in the sensor f ield can affect the system output. Because of this, care must be taken when install-ing sensors to ensure t h a t m a x i m u m

sensitivity of the system is achievedShielded & Unshielded Sensors.

The stainless-steel housing of shielded sensors typically extends to the face of the sensor. This results in the electro-magnetic field from a shielded sensor being somewhat smaller than that of an unshielded sensor.

In unshielded sensors, the sensor face containing the coil protrudes in front of the stainless-steel housing. This allows for a larger electromagnetic field and the larger calibrated ranges typical of unshielded sensors.

Dev i a t i n g F rom Ty p i c a l Mounting. In some applications, it is impossible to maintain the clearances specif ied in the drawings. This does not mean that a precise measurement is impossible to make. Conductive material other than the target that engages the field is called side loading. In-situ calibration or bench calibration with simulated side loading can, in most cases, eliminate the concern. DN

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Design Engineering Products

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Electronics & Test

MXC6226XC MEMS Two-Axis Digital Accelerometer Monolithic design, wafer level packag-ing, and thermal MEMS-based design, enables enhanced functionality for cost-sensitive motion-sensing applications. MEMSIC Inc.’s MXC6226XC MEMS two-axis digital accelerometer is a small, fully integrated MEMS accelerometer. It is manufactured using a standard 0.18um CMOS process and advanced wafer-level packaging.

The MEMSIC MXC6226XC digi-tal accelerometer measures 1.2mm x 1.7mm x 1.0mm. Its small size and availability in a ball grid array (BGA) package provides designers enhanced flexibility for integration into space- constrained designs. The MXC6226XC

integrates signal conditioning circuitry, including a DSP, to enable motion-sensing performance. Since it is based on MEMSIC’s thermal accelerometer technology, which has no moving in-ternal structures, the MXC6226XC exhibits high shock survivability (up to 50,000g). MEMSIC Inc. www.memsic.com

Omega’s Advanced Operator Interface (HMI) NS SeriesFor use in the automotive, chemical, and plastics industries.

Omega’s NS series touch-screen HMIs offer built-in Ethernet communica-tions, alarming/recipe/data-logging capabilities, and live video input/dis-play capabilities. The CE-compliant NS series also allows you to moni-tor ladder programs without using a personal computer. The NS series mon-itors process temperature and pressure, packaging parts count, and water/air flow rates.Omega Engineering Inc. www.omega.com

Crystek’s 2230-2430 MHz Voltage-Controlled OscillatorFor use in applications such as digital radio equipment, fixed wireless access, satellite communications systems, and base stations.Crystek’s CVCO55CC-2230-2430 VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscil-lator) operates from 2230MHz to 2240MHz with a control voltage range of 0.1V~4.9V. This VCO fea-tures a typical phase noise of -106dBc/

Hz @ 10KHz offset. Output power is typically +3 dBm.

Engineered and manufactured in the US, the model CVCO55CC-2230-2430 comes in a 0.5 inch x 0.5 inch SMD package. Input voltage is 5V, with a max current consumption of 32mA. Pulling and pushing are minimized to 1.0MHz and 2.5MHz/V, respectively. Second harmonic suppression is -15dBc typical. Crystek Corp. www.crystek.com

Automation & Control Micromo’s 32ALN GearheadDesigned for smooth operation and high torque stability.MICROMO’s 32ALN (32A Low Noise) gearhead from FAULHABER is a plan-etary gearhead designed for low-noise application requirements, and is opti-mized in combination with brushless motors. The gearhead can be used with a variety of brushless and dc motors in the 26mm to 32mm range.

Based on the metal gearhead Series 32A, the low-noise module for the first stage of the 32ALN features a detailed and well-matched combination of mod-ule, teeth count, helical angles, gearing width, and material choice.

The 32ALN is available in 17 standard reduction ratios from 4:1


Design Engineering Products 61


to 2076:1, with output torque rang-ing from 4.5Nm (continuous) up to 6.0Nm (intermittent).MICROMOwww.micromo.com

IDEA Size 23 Programmable Linear Actuator Linear travel per step ranges from 0.000125 inch to 0.005 inch and output force up to 200lbf. Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions has introduced the Haydon RoHS-compliant

IDEA Size 23 Non-captive Linear Actua-tor, which combines high-output force, rotary to linear motion, stepper drive, and programmable control in a single integrated package.

In addition to full programmabil-ity through an easy-to-use graphic user interface, the programmable linear actua-tor configuration is capable of up to 20 inches of stroke length with a variety of screw pitches allowing fine-resolution lin-ear motion. The IDEA programmable linear actuator is for small gantry robots, motion systems for optics and lasers, high-resolution imaging, precision fluid dispensing, and other applications requir-ing precision linear motion.

Programming the actuator is through the use of on-screen graphic buttons instead of complicated command sets or other proprietary programming lan-guages. The software allows the system designer to troubleshoot programs

through line-by-line or multiple-line program execution using the interactive debug feature. Haydon Kerk Motion Solutionswww.idea-drive.com

Materials & Assembly Structural Thermoset 2045 from IDI Composites InternationalFor applications in military, industrial, and transportation. IDI Composites International’s Structural Thermoset 2045 is a polyester-

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62 Design Engineering Products

based SMC that allows for thinner walls while keeping its strength. It has UV properties, and is suited for demanding military and industrial environments. Suggested applications include vari-ous shields in military applications,

components for welding equipment, enclosures for batteries in automotive and other transportation products, and various electrical components, such as high-reliability structural and dielectric fixtures.

IDI’s new line of Structural Ther-moset Compounds builds on the properties of IDI’s standard thermosets, such as corrosion resistance and dura-bility, with light weight and superior tensile strength.IDI Composites Internationalwww.idicomposites.com

HinderRUSTThis rust-inhibiting lubricant is solvent free, non-aerosol based, and odor-free. HinderRUST is a multi-use product that can extend the life of valuable equipment by keeping it moving and rust-free. As a lubricant, HinderRUST uses the technology from Tufoil to keep everything moving smoothly: motors, joints, and bearings.

Areas of application include indus-trial, transit and light rail, mining, marine, automotive, household, and leisure. More specifically, areas include line machinery, all modes of transpor-tation, submersible pumps, gas and electric motors, diesel, towing equip-ment, farming, construction/grading/excavation, turbines, chemical engineer-ing, manufacturing and maintenance, offshore drilling, car wash systems, and high-performance rac- ing teams.

HinderRUST fights against salt-water corrosion, and apply ing the product on parts or tools when they are new wil l s top c o r r o s i o n b e f o r e it begins. Fluoramics Incwww.hinderrust.com

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Allied Electronics 64, C3

Alpha Wire 46

APM Hexseal Corp. 63

AutomationDirect 2

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Bokers Inc. 61

Bosch Rexroth 27

Carlyle Johnson Machine LLC 18

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CIT Relay & Switch 20

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ITT Enidine Inc. 7

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Kepner Prod’s Co. 52

Keystone Electronics 33

Master Bond Inc. 32, 59

The MathWorks C4

Maxon Precision Motors 10

Minalex 53

Mouser Electronics 6

National Instruments 25, 54

Newark Electronics 21

Nippon Pulse America Inc. 63

Nook Industries 17

Novotechnik U.S. Inc. 53

Omega Engineering 1

Proto Labs Inc. 8

Pyramid Inc. 51

Sapa Extrusions 15

Sensiron 61

SEW-Eurodrive 55

Siemens Industry Inc. 13

Siemens PLM 4

Smalley Steel Ring Co. 62

SolidWorks Corp. 19

Stratasys 29

Tech-Etch Inc. 49

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Photo: Doug Conner

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[www.designnews.com] FEBRUARY 2012 ELECTRONICS / TREND WATCH SUPPLEMENT S2

FEBRUARY 2012

S E N S O R S / M A C H I N E V I S I O N

S4 Sensing Trouble Out at theNetwork EdgeNo matter what the environment, sensors are expected to communicate with reliability, accuracy, and durability. By Mike Fahrion, B&B Electronics

S8 The Rise ofHeated-Gas MEMSAccelerometers

Thermal accelerometers have been gaining ground as an intelligent approach to many applications.

By Yongyao Cai, Sean Ding, & James Fennelly, Memsic Inc.

S12 Crank Sensor Support for Stop-Start Stop-start functionality requires advanced sensing technology to be effi cient. By Eric Burdette & Mike Morris, Allegro MicroSystems Inc.

S14 Machine VisionRatchets up Aerospace Precision Recent camera product introductions highlight the importance of machine vision in manufacturing. By Ann R. Thryft, Senior Technical

Editor, Materials & Assembly

S15 The Many Interfaces of Machine Vision More options exist today than ever before. By Ann R. Thryft, Senior Technical Editor,

Materials & Assembly

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S4 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement FEbruAry 2012 [www.designnews.com]

SenSorS & Machine ViSion

S

Sensing Trouble Out at the Network EdgeNo matter what the environment, sensors are expected to communicate with reliability, accuracy, and durability.By MikE FahriON, B&B ElEcTrONicS

Sensors and their accompanying recording devices are grow-ing steadily more sophisticated and can record everything from exhaust gas temperatures to the electrical activity in a human heart. And they don’t just collect data anymore. They’re becoming intelligent. Embedded micro-controllers and built-in software are turning them into think-ing, communicating, and active nodes of intelligent networks, systems that demand local-ized intelligence and real time, sensor-driven analytics. You don’t just connect them anymore, they communicate with you.

The Network PeripheryEarlier generations of sensors reported their data via basic analog or digital connections. These days they’re becoming Ethernet-aware, with all of the accompanying advantages. Their use of universal Ethernet communications proto-cols enables them to work with off-the-shelf technology, and their ability to communicate via Ether-net means that they can be placed just about anywhere.

But Ethernet technology has its roots in safe, climate-controlled office environments. The IT world thought in terms of struc-tured cabling systems, mature protocol, transport standards,

and hardware vendors who would provide standardized products with near-seamless interoper-ability. Who knew, back then, that networking would outgrow its tame, office-based begin-nings and move out into the real world?

Nowadays, networks must function reliably in increasingly harsh terrain — on factory floors, and on gas and oil pipelines, in industries ranging from mining to transportation. And sensors tend to live way out on the network periphery, where conditions are the worst. Design engineers must know what to do about that.

Getting to the EthernetConnecting sensors to Ethernet can be problematic in real-world scenarios. The first issue is distance. Copper wire-based Ethernet has a practical range lim-itation of 100m. That’s adequate for a network in an office or a small building, but it won’t do the job when you need to monitor the turbines on a wind farm or the chlorine levels at a water treat-ment plant. To be useful outside the office, Ethernet must function at far greater ranges.

One answer is a device called an Ethernet extender, which uses DSL technology to create a long distance Ethernet bridge over virtually any available copper pair. There’s a drop in bandwidth as the range increases, but you can reliably extend Ethernet over thousands of feet while maintain-ing a quite serviceable connection rate of several Mbps. Better yet, Ethernet extenders give the sys-tem designer the freedom to use existing wiring infrastructure, like any telephone cabling or legacy coaxial cable that may be present. As the labor and materi-als involved in cable installation are often the most expensive ele-ment in setting up a network, the flexibility provided by Eth-ernet extenders can represent an enormous savings.

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Allegro Sensor Design News Feb 12 10/1/12 19:09 Page 1


S6 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement february 2012 [www.designnews.com]

fiber OpticsA second option is fiber optic cable. There are two kinds. The cheaper option, multi-mode fiber optic cable, uses LED light and can carry data several miles. Its long-range cousin, single-mode fiber optic cable, trans-mits with a laser rather than an LED. It’s more expensive than multi-mode

cable, as are the associated transceivers and receivers, but it has the ability to transmit data over great distances. Telephone and cable companies use it for their long haul applications.

Both kinds of fiber optic cable pro-vide far greater bandwidth than copper wire, and they’re impervious to EMI interference, as the data is carried on a beam of light rather than copper. This is invaluable in industrial applications, for example, where the electric motors on the machinery can generate power-ful magnetic fields.

Given that labor costs typically rep-resent the largest expense in a cabling installation, it often makes sense to go straight to single mode fiber, even if its capabilities exceed current require-ments. Considering the rapid growth of vision-based sensor systems, and their ever-increasing need for bandwidth,

starting with a fiber optic installation at the very beginning may soon turn out to be a very wise investment.

What Happens When Cabling Isn’t a Practical Solution?One solution to the range issue is 802.11, which has evolved far beyond the coffee shop “hot spot.” Today’s WiFi can provide robust IP-based con-nectivity out to thousands of meters. Using a pair of 802.11-based wireless Ethernet bridges, a local sensor net-work can be easily bridged back to a SCADA system or enterprise location. Some wireless bridges can even con-nect at distances of many kilometers while maintaining connectivity rates well into the tens of Mbps — enough to handle even high-bandwidth, vision-based sensor systems.

In many cases, sensor manufacturers are embedding WiFi directly at the sensor level. Rather than make the engineering and compliancy invest-ment required to develop devices of their own, they often prefer to make use of pre-certified WiFi modules from reliable suppliers.

The trends in WiFi are exciting: increasing range, increasing robust-ness, and improvements in power management.

What about Physical Connections?Ethernet hardware isn’t normally designed for tough conditions. For example, when installed in difficult environments, the popular RJ45 con-nector needs to be strengthened and protected by an over-connector.

embedded wireless modules enable sensors to connect to ethernet.

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Sensors can be protected by ethernet isolators.

[www.designnews.com] february 2012 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement S7

The standard switches, hubs, bridges, wireless transmitters, and other physical devices that help make up a network suffer from similar weak-nesses. They won’t stand up to the conditions they’ll encounter as net-working continues to expand into new applications and new territory. Designers will need to specify equipment built for the job, and it won’t be found at the local office supply store. Look for industry-hardened devices built by technology companies that specialize in ruggedized equipment.

Ground Loops & Power SurgesEthernet connections help sensors communicate, but they can also leave sensors vulnerable to damage from power surges and spikes. The greater the distance between two connected

devices, the more likely it is that they will have different ground potentials and the associated risk of damaging ground loops. Lightning strikes and

other power surges can also travel on copper Ethernet cable to burn out integrated circuits and connections. Sensors can be protected by Ethernet isolators, which allow data to pass unimpeded, but control electrical flows.

Sensors may be out on the net-work edge, and they may have to function in some pretty rough environments, but they’ll still be expected to communicate with reli-ability, accuracy, and durability. And a sensor with poor Ethernet connec-tions isn’t much of a sensor at all, no matter how well designed it is, and no matter how capable.

Mike Fahrion is director of product management at B&B Electronics..

For more information, go to www.bb-elec.com.

ethernet extenders enable data to travel up to 6,200 ft on copper wire.

Copyright © 2011 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD RS2192-R1/2P

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A

The Rise of Heated-Gas MEMS Accelerometers

Thermal accelerometers have been gaining ground as an intelligent approach to many applications.

By yonGyAo CAi, SEAn DinG, & JAMES FEnnElly, MEMSiC inC.

An accelerometer is a device that can be used to measure acceleration in one, two, or three orthogo-nal axes. It is typically used to measure in-plane velocity and position, inclination, tilt, or orienta-tion in two or three dimensions with respect to the acceleration of gravity, and to measure vibra-tion and shock. It works by using a proof mass to detect motion and gravity. This proof mass can be a mechanical structure or heated gas.

The most popular today are of the micro-machined MEMS variety and largely consist of two basic types: those that work on the capacitive approach and ones that work on the heated-gas principle. These two types constitute the vast majority of MEMS accelerometers on the market.

There are some other micro-machined types, as well, but these are used in specialized applications and are not generally suited for low-cost mass-market applications. These include piezo-resistive, piezo-electric, and strain-gauge accelerometers.

Capacitance-type accelerometers account for a large number of accelerometer applications, how-ever, gas-heated types provided by MEMSIC are beginning to make in-roads in consumer electron-ics, toys, automotive, industrial, home appliances, portable hand tools, and military and aerospace markets. Depending on the application, there are many advantages to using thermal MEMS accelera-tion versus capacitance types.

The capacitance approach is more suitable for applications requiring higher bandwidth. However, all capacitive sensors intrinsically have resonance from its mechanical structure resulting in unwanted

ringing effect, which disturbs the normal sensing mechanism. Such effects have been a major issue in many sensitive applications such as automotive elec-tronic stability control (ESC). For this reason, the heated-air sensor which has its natural roll off band-width from the sensor itself is better suited for ESC and rollover automotive applications, as well as for many consumer electronics applications which require inclination and human motion information.

Theory of Operation In a capacitance MEMS accelerometer, the proof mass is usually a silicon inter-digitated cantilever beam mechanical structure. This structure con-sists of a set of fixed plates, configured as “fingers” attached to the MEMS substrate. The movable proof mass also consists of a set of finger plates attached through a mechanical suspension system to a reference frame. Both the fixed and movable frame fingers are connected in parallel. The deflec-tion of the proof mass caused by acceleration is measured using the capacitance difference value between both sets of plates.

The heated-gas approach for measuring accelera-tion is unique and operates on a totally different principle that involves no moving parts. It uses heated-gas molecules to detect acceleration using thermocouples. Unlike capacitance-type MEMS accelerometers which use a solid mass structure, the thermal approach uses heated gas and thermo-couples, and is altogether different. This approach makes use of resistive heating to heat the gas mol-ecules and uses thermocouples or other temperature

Sour

ce:

MEM

SIC

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sensors to measure the temperature difference between the two sides of the heater when there is no acceleration and when acceleration is applied. It is also amenable to mono-lithic manufacturing to include all the necessary signal conditioning, interface, and embedded algorithm circuitry, resulting in lower cost and higher reliability solutions.

When subjected to acceleration, the less dense air molecules in the heated gas move in the direction of accel-eration and the cool and denser molecules move in the opposite direction, creating a temperature difference. The temperature from one side of the MEMS structure to the other is proportional to acceleration.

Technology ComparisonThe differences between the operating principles of both capacitance and the heated-gas MEMS accelerometers are profound and have important benefits to the end user. Moreover, the latter method allows for proprietary monolithic manufacturing. The latter method produces the smallest, lowest-cost and highest shock survivabil-ity MEMS accelerometers compared to the capacitance method (see table, below).

For one thing, the absence of moving parts in the ther-mal accelerometer makes it inherently more reliable. On average, failure rates achieved for heated-gas accelerom-eters are in the single-digit ppm range and compare quite favorably and typically exceed those of capacitance MEMS accelerometers. Capacitance types have been known to be prone to failure due to “stiction,” a condition where the moving proof mass fingers stick to each other and render the accelerometer inoperable.

They’re also susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI) since their sensing mode has high impedance. This may be dealt with by proper shielding and packaging of the accelerometer and its interface circuit, but that also means more processing complexity and higher end user costs.

Capacitance MEMS accelerometers also suffer from mechanical ringing, which requires damping, and have temperature-related hysteresis. All of this results in custom

fabrication processing and higher costs. They also require more complex readout circuitry than heated-gas types.

One area where heated-gas MEMS accelerometers don’t fare as well is in high bandwidth applications. However, for many applications like toys, consumer electronics, and mobile phones, this is not much of an issue since the slower response time is more than adequate.

Also, capacitance-type MEMS accelerometers generally have lower noise densities than heat-gas types. The latter types can alleviate this by using filtering or averaging to reduce noise-density to acceptable levels.

A major differentiating factor between capacitance-type and heated-gas accelerometers is the manufacturing pro-cess. Virtually all of the MEMS capacitive accelerometers use a heterogeneous/multiple chip integration approach,


Parameter Heated Gas CapacitanceCost Very low (cents in OEM lots) Low to moderately high

(cents to dollars in OEM lots)Packaged IC size Very small Small to moderately highReliability Extremely high High to moderately highSensitivity Very high HighSurvivability to shock Very high HighPower Dissipation Medium Low to medium

Capacitance vs. Heated-Gas MEMS Accelerometers

This accelerometer measures less than 2.0 square mm in size. Here you can see it in reference to a common sewing needle and thread.

This table shows the comparison between capacitance versus heated-gas MeMS accelerometers parameters.


requiring integrating the sensing element on one chip with signal-conditioning electronics, interface circuitry, and embedded algorithms on one or more additional chips. This leads to higher costs, larger package sizes, and lower reliability levels.

MEMSIC’s thermal approach uses a patented mono-lithic process where the same chip holds the acceleration element as well as all the additional circuitry needed, including algorithms. Algorithms are the necessary ele-ments that create an optimal system solution for the end user. They are often the means MEMS accelerometer manufacturers use to distinguish their products from their competitors’ offerings. ApplicationsIn automotive airbag crash applications, the heat-gas approach is not as suitable as the capacitance method because it is bandwidth-limited and thermal noise can be a problem. It does not have the high-speed (300Hz) performance of capacitance types. On the other hand, the heated-gas approach is more suited to ESC and roll-over automotive applications due to its inherent low-pass frequency response and its insensitivity to out-of-band

accelerations coupled to vehicle-like gravel strikes to the frame.

For some home appliance applications, such as wash-ing machines, the regular, inexpensive, and low-mass nitrogen gas normally used in heated-gas MEMS thermal accelerometers is not sensitive enough to detect washer imbalances due to unevenly distributed loads. This gas can be readily changed to a heavier mass gas for greater sensitivity.

Toys are another example where the heated-gas approach is superior, not the least reason being low cost. We all know that children are rough on toys. How about a toy withstanding a shock of 50,000gs when it is tossed aside, stepped on, or smashed? That is what a heated-gas MEMS accelerometer can do. As a point of reference, a 10,000g shock can be generated simply by banging a toy or any other product on a desktop.

Yongyao Cai is the senior director of technology; Sean Ding is director of applications marketing; and James Fennelly is business development manager – automotive and industrial sensors, with MEMSIC Inc.

For more information, go to www.memsic.com.

Renishaw In c. Hoffman Estates, IL www.renishaw.com/encoders

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Non-contact magnetic radial, axial and linear encoders designed for miniature motion control applications.

RoLin™—embedded component-level position sensor

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Absolute within 2 or 5 mm Incremental output position Resolutions to 0.244 µm or 13 bits

High speed operation Bi-directional reference mark Axial or radial rings

Advanced motion sensors for the smallest applications...and smaller.

S10 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement FebruAry 2012 [www.designnews.com]

Every 3.5 seconds, a Banner sensing solution is installed somewhere.Being engineers, we’re trying to improve on that.

Solving automation challenges, one application at a time, for over 45 years.For nearly half a century, when industry has an automation challenge, they turn to Banner for solutions.And among the thousands of global sensing innovations engineered by Banner, many started as a tailored response to a single customer’s needs. Challenges solved quickly. Effi ciently. And affordably. Responses that have helped to create over 30,000 products and applications, with more on the way. Because at Banner, engineering is not just part of our name, it’s what we do. Every second.

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more sensors, more solutions safety vision sensing wireless I/O lighting & indication




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Crank Sensor Support for Stop-StartStop-start functionality requires advanced sensing technology to be efficient.By EriC BurdEttE & MikE MorriS, AllEgro MiCroSyStEMS inC.

Automobiles equipped with stop-start functionality save fuel by turning off the combustion engine when at a standstill, such as at a traffic light. The engine is restarted when the driver signals a resumption of driving, such as depressing the clutch or releasing the brake pedal. Publicized fuel economy improvements for stop-start systems are touted as up to five or 10 percent. The reduction in fuel consumption through reduced engine idling time lessens the amount of released CO2 , a benefit that is propelling extensive implementation in Europe, as automakers strive to meet tightening emissions standards.

Start-Stop OperationThe start-stop concept is not a new idea; several 1980’s vehicle models were released to production with this capability. Technological improvements in the last few decades have made stop-start operation a more reliable function. Moreover, the ability of modern vehicles to accomplish a restart of the engine quickly is critical to widespread consumer acceptance of this function.

Stop-start systems have a great cost-benefit when compared to hybrids that require parallel drive systems. The former rely heavily on existing compo-nents, requiring only a few equipment upgrades to achieve the fuel savings. Existing engine control units (ECUs) use inputs from sensors to dynamically adjust engine timing and fuel use to optimize performance. Additional ECU algorithms can be implemented to turn off the combustion engine when not needed. This requires inputs from already monitored systems,

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such as wheel speed, brake application, and battery status, which is necessary to ensure adequate power to restart the engine and to sustain electronics during the standstill period.

To achieve a restart of the engine, systems rely on a starter-generator or a heavier-duty starter motor (to withstand the increased usage). In addition, information from a crankshaft position sensor is utilized to reduce the time for a restart to just a fraction of a second. In a typical automotive combus-tion engine, an active sensor is used to monitor a special target on the crankshaft. In order for the ECU to determine the absolute crankshaft position, thereby providing piston position, the sensor must provide direction of target rota-tion. This direction detection capability enables the system to maintain synchronization throughout a standstill event, even in the presence of engine backlash. Without keeping synchronization, a restart event would likely take longer.

Sensing TechnologyAllegro MicroSystems Inc. offers several automotive-grade, gear-tooth, Hall-effect integrated circuits (IC), specifically designed to meets the requirements for crankshaft speed and direction sensing for start-stop systems. These devices are built upon Hall technology, which provides digital contactless sensing of a ferromagnetic target. The ICs in the family are incorporated into a user-friendly, over-molded IC that inte-grates the Hall-effect circuit with a rare earth magnet. The small package size and integrated magnetic system can be eas-ily assembled and used in conjunction with a variety of target gears and installation air gaps. The combination of the sensor circuit with the back-biasing magnet in Allegro’s manufactur-ing facility ensures consistent device performance as each IC can be optimized to match a known magnetic circuit. The position sensor ICs, with speed and direction output,

offered by Allegro MicroSystems each contain three Hall ele-ments used to generate two differential signals based on the magnetic stimulus produced by the rotation of the ferromag-netic target gear. The relative phase of the two signals is then used to determine the direction of target rotation. The sen-sor IC provides a digital voltage output signal where a short pulse is generated as the center of every target tooth passes by the device face. Two distinct output pulse widths differen-tiate whether the target is rotating in the forward or reverse direction. In this way, an engine control unit can determine both the speed of the target rotation, by looking at the period between consecutive pulses, and the direction of tar-get rotation, by measuring the width of the output pulse.

Internal to these ICs, a number of patented analog and digital signal processing techniques are used. Advanced cali-bration techniques are used to provide optimal signal offset and amplitude. This calibration, combined with the digital tracking of the signal, results in accurate switching through the full range of installation air gap and target speed. Unique signal tracking methods are also implemented to maintain signal integrity during long periods of standstill. Digital direction detection algorithms ensure that no errone-ous output pulses will be generated during target direction changes, which can occur during engine stopping events. The combination of these techniques and algorithms allows these devices to track the absolute position of a crank target throughout an engine stopping event, ensuring that the ECU knows the exact position of the crankshaft (and there-fore camshaft) and enabling a rapid restart.

Eric Burdette and Mike Morris are systems engineers with Allegro MicroSystems Inc.

For more information, go to www.allegromicro.com.

Figure 2. The sensor IC output is interpreted to determine exact crank position, even through direction changes on engine stop.

[www.designnews.com] February 2012 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement S13

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Machine Vision Ratchets up Aerospace Precision Recent camera product introductions highlight the importance of machine vision in manufacturing.

By Ann R. ThRyfT, SenioR TechnicAl ediToR, MATeRiAlS & ASSeMBly

At the Vision 2011 conference in Stuttgart, Ger-many, Microscan demonstrated its Vision MINI and Vision HAWK smart cameras.

The small size of both makes them useful for a wide range of identification and inspection applications, including the meticulous lot tracking and component traceability required in aircraft assembly. The MINI measures 1.80inch x 2.10inch x 1.00inch, and the HAWK measures 1.59inch x 2.27inch x 3.79inch. Other recent introductions include the Imperx 29-megapixel ICL-B6620, a very high-resolution camera measuring 2.36inch x 2.36inch x 1.77inch.

High quality and precision are top requirements in the components and processes used in automated assembly lines for aerospace manufacturing. Aircraft manufacturers are required to mark each component that goes into an airplane assembly with a 2D code and track it throughout the process. Their manufacturing facilities need machine vision not only for inspection, but also for automated tracking, tracing, and control of a wide range of part and assembly sizes and shapes.

These separate but interrelated functions help ensure quality, precision, accuracy, and traceability. Individual components, component lots, and assemblies must be tracked and traced, often over long periods of time, and problems must be easily and quickly identified, located, and isolated in order to be controlled.

A complex production environment requires a system for tracking the real-time location of sub-components, components, and sub-assemblies at any given point in the manufacturing process. Next is a system for tracing where they were before that given time and what processes were done to them there. This can provide a lifecycle history of the items. The third element is a system for determining and con-trolling where parts will go next in the process, based on whether they meet the quality criteria to continue to the next step. All three of these systems can be merged into a single machine vision-assisted system,

which can optionally per-form inspections.

In aerospace, the steps in this overall vision-enabled tracking, tracing, and control system are sometimes identi-fied as part identification or recognition, part acceptance or rejection, part request or handoff, deformation detection, and gap and flush measurement. For part identification, parameter tol-erance data must be input, such as location, width, height, depth, and diameter. To accept or reject a part, the features of a scanned part must be compared to their predefined parameters. Components that pass the parameter test will be handed off to another sta-tion for assembly. To do this correctly, other features of the part — usually CAD dimensions — must be compared to those of the requesting station to ensure that it’s the right one for the job.

In deformation detection, things such as impact damage or corrosion in panels, rotor blades, or other components are detected by measuring the planar-ity or curvature of a surface. Those measurements are compared to tolerances for the particular com-ponent, and the extent to which it is out of plane or out of curvature is noted. Finally, gap and flush measurement is used to make sure mating assemblies will connect properly, such as mating dashboards to window frames, seats to interior cockpit frames, or doors to door frames.

For more information, go to www.microscan.com and www.imperx.com.

Inspection in aero-space manufacturing sometimes requires very small, very high-resolution video cameras, such as this 60mm x 60mm x 45mm, 29-megapixel B6620 camera from Imperx.

S14 sensors & machine vision / trend watch supplement fEBruAry 2012 [www.designnews.com]


D e S I G N a P P L I C a T I O N SSenSorS & Machine ViSion

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The Many Interfaces of Machine VisionMore options exist today than ever before.By Ann R. ThRyfT, SenIoR TechnIcAl edIToR, MATeRIAlS & ASSeMBly

Since January 2011, two new interface standards have been introduced: the serial Camera Link HS and CoaXPress. Now a third, called USB3 Vision, is under development, targeted for release in 2012.

At first glance, it might seem that the more camera interface standards, the merrier. In March, the Japan Industrial Imaging Association finalized coax cable-based CoaXPress. At the Automate 2011 show in Chicago that month, a pre-release form of the “next-generation” high-speed Camera Link HS standard was unveiled.

The Automated Imaging Association expects to release Camera Link HS to the public this year, which will not be backward compatible with Camera Link. There’s also the serial GigE Vision interface, which makes it easier to take advantage of Ethernet’s ubiquity and build point-to-multipoint vision networks, plus the original, parallel Camera Link.

Aside from these three, soon to be five, machine vision-specific choices, some engineers designing industrial vision systems use interfaces based on general-purpose protocols originating in consumer PCs. USB, now in its “SuperSpeed” version of USB 3.0, is one contender, as are FireWire and even Gigabit Ethernet. Now the count is up to six standards, and it will reach eight some time this year.

Some engineers prefer these direct camera connec-tions that don’t need a frame grabber. With their open standard cables and other components, hooking up USB or Gigabit Ethernet cameras is generally easier than with some of the machine vision-specific inter-faces. Some vendors also support these standards so they can control the software, drivers, and protocols in their cameras. This makes it easier to add new features quickly and integrate cameras based on different inter-faces without changing code.

On the other hand, protocols designed specifically for machine vision, like Camera Link and Camera Link HS, directly support features that machine vision systems need, such as asymmetric data bandwidth and

low-latency triggers or GPIO within the cable. They also tend to be sim-pler than general-purpose protocols.

Having choices can be a good thing. The newer machine vision-specific standards are becoming a necessity, especially for increasingly popu-lar multi-camera systems. The parallel, point-to-point Camera Link protocol needs only one frame grabber per camera. These cards, and the connecting cables, don’t come cheap, since Camera Link is essentially a closed standard specific to machine vision. Serial Camera Link HS transfers far more bits per wire, so it handles both traditional point-to-point configurations with a single camera and a single frame grabber, and different flavors of multipoint systems with multiple frame grabbers, multiple cameras, or both.

But six or eight is a lot of interfaces for camera and frame grabber vendors, making it tough to decide where to spend their R&D dollars. Not all frame grabber suppliers are thrilled at the prospect, since they usually provide more choices than camera makers. Some have said this many standards complicates the supply chain, dilutes R&D budgets, and confuses vision system designers and production engineers. Then there’s the software investment problem, which makes protecting legacy applications a priority and provokes dread of the time, expense, and hassle needed to convert from one standard to another.

Although little is known yet about USB3 Vision, USB 3.0 is well understood and embraced by several machine vision camera makers, as well as some frame grabber suppliers. The 3.0 version is a lot faster than its predecessor, USB 2.0, and more deterministic, which is critical in real-time factory floor video networks.

Measuring just 29mm x 29mm x 30mm, Point Grey’s fL3-u3 “SuperSpeed” uSb 3.0 camera is designed for machine and computer vision applications.

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