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Software and Design Aids In the CAD/CAM/CAE and software department, Design for Manufacturing & Assembly solutions loomed large. The first rule of attending an industry trade show: One should arrive with a plan for navigating the show floor. [Extracted from the article]

A research team at Saarland University has developed a new robot suction gripper that can quickly adapt to various workpieces. The gripper consists of artificial muscles made of nickel-titanium, which move its fingers and can create a strong vacuum. The system enables more flexible production and manufacturing and only requires electrical power. The artificial muscle fibers allow for fast movements and high pulling force. The gripper can hold objects firmly and move freely in space without the need for compressed air, and it operates quietly. Control is done through a semiconductor chip that provides all the data and enables precise movements. The system can reprogram itself and can determine whether it securely grips the workpiece. The research team has founded the company mateligent GmbH to bring these and other intelligent material systems into industrial practice. [Extracted from the article]

A photograph of a tiny bowline knot tied with nitinol wire is presented.

The article offers information on the development of a constant-curvature robot for surgeries. The author mentions that the robot has the ability to let the operator telescope or change the direction of the flexible robotic arm due to the materials used in the machine which include the metal alloy, nitinol and was developed by a group of mechanical and electrical engineers. The author added that the invention can be beneficial in medical procedures such as sinus surgeries.

The article reports on the Meshworm robot developed by engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It says that Meshworm, is a soft and autonomous robot which is almost entirely made of soft materials and is based on nickel and titanium wire metal. It mentions that Sangbae Kim, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and colleagues who designed Meshworm patterned on earthworm.

Presents a valve mechanism designed by Curtiss Coffee that uses a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy (nitinol) instead of an electromagnetic coil as actuator. Advantages of nitinol; Lower cost, fewer parts and smaller size; Contact information.