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Semiconductor equipment designers in their efforts to reduce cost in the processing of electronic chips are evaluating the use of closed-loop control system. Significant developments were made in the area of sensors which is one of the most difficult problems in the closed-loop control. Sensors, once fully developed could reduce scrap and make machines more reliable. However, the greatest setback to closed-loop control will be the accuracy and traceability of the sensors themselves.

Industrial control makers are developing customized controls and connection schemes for factories. Suppliers of terminals and input/output (I/O) modules are offering a vast array of interface modules and electronic connections. Module reliability is also being optimized by increasing the integration level of the circuitry. Improvements in interconnection buses and networks have also reduced the number of connections needed to accommodate remote I/O., Smarter connections and better cabling systems make factory control more reliable and less expensive. In modern factories, they sure don't treat control wiring the way they used to. Time was [...]

The application of mechatronic technology will enhance the performance features of home appliances. Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary design system that merges electronic, mechanical and computer engineering. Appliance designers are developing clothes washers, microwave ovens and air conditioners that incorporate computers and sensors that monitor several environmental variables for automated adjustment., Washers, dryers, and refrigerators are getting on the information superhighway, linking up with utility companies, teleservicing centers, and other appliances throughout the home. The technological boom of the past few [...]

Computer models are increasingly being used by the semiconductor industry to design and fabricate semiconductor chips. These models, which are based on computational fluid dynamics principles, allow engineers to study the different parameters that contribute to chip growth, such as plasma transport, contaminant formation and radiation. They are used together with computer-aided design software packages to achieve full computer simulation., Designers of semiconductor equipment are counting on computer models to help them produce tomorrow's chipmaking machines. The future of the semiconductor industry doesn't hinge on finding new materials or more [...]

Disk-drive designers at IBM Corp.'s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA, are developing magnetoresistive sensing heads and micromachined silicon actuators to make smaller and faster magnetic disk drives. To date, the company has achieved a magnetic data storage density of three gigabits per sq. in. of recording surface and is working on spin valves to reach the 10-Gbit/in.2 barrier. Although problems with magnetic transitions and noise sources still have to be surmounted, the designers are optimistic that new technology will enable them to break through the remaining physical barriers., Disk-drive designers at IBM are taking magnetic storage densities to new heights, getting a boost from silicon micromotors and magnetoresistive sensors. Talk about a challenge. Disk-drive engineers are given a [...]

Digital communication may inexpensively give machine-tool drives and motors greater speed, resolution, and synchronization. Six years ago, industry had no use for a digital motion network. But today, there are [...]

Model train builders are now using computer technology to make their creations more realistic. Trains sets are connected to PCs for switching, signaling, interlocking at junctions. Microchips have also been placed inside the trains to respond to digital commands sent through the tracks. The main benefits of microchips are starting and stopping trains at will as well as the manipulation of train speed., Locomotives with electronic smarts and train track carrying digital information head up the technological innovations making model railroading more true to life. Model train technology has taken a quantum leap [...]

Many equipment engineers are intensifying their efforts to upgrade motion control technologies to increase manufacturing capacities of industrial plants. The development of new motion control systems will depend greatly on the development of computer control systems. Particularly, computers which control the transmission of information from the central control system to the manufacturing system., Computers hold the key to higher productivity, but only when combined with good mechanical and electronic engineering. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology define one second as [...]

The trend towards automation in the machine plant has begun with the emergence of intelligent sensors and actuators which are foreseen as the basis for the factories of the future. Innovations in electric drives are especially important since they act as a direct connection between computers and motion on the factory floor. The design of new electric drives favors single housing and plug-and-play characteristics equipped with electronic intelligence. High integration and the use of linear motors are also highly desired in the current crop of drives., Plant managers tend to view automation as a necessary evil. Who can blame them? Automated production lines are expensive, complex, and difficult to change once they are set. Some managers [...]

Innovations in sensor technology and increased application support are the key to the continued efficiency of industrial automation. Low-cost, more accurate and easier-to-use motion sensors have emerged in the market and increased design-engineering support is helping eliminate suppliers' need for in-house sensor specialists. The overall performance and precision of machines is largely attributed to motion sensors., Computers may have triggered the age of automation, but without sensors, even the highly touted Pentiums and PowerPCs would be useless on the factory floor. Sensors are the eyes and [...]

Most companies in the US are availing of advanced concurrent engineering tools to improve their manufacturing processes and retain their competitive edge. Firms, such as Cannondale Corp and Harley-Davidson Corp, have already modified their production activities to accomodate computer-aided designing/computer-aided manufacturing technologies. These tools enable them to rapidly evolve new product models with varying archetypal designs and shorten the product development cycle., A growing number of American companies are emerging as world manufacturing leaders by taking advantage of change. Their secret: new design tools, new manufacturing technology, and a more integrated product [...]

Burglars target homes which appear vulnerable to easy entry. Thus, homeowners should make their dwellings safe and secure to prevent break-ins. Common sense and the installation of key electronic safety devices will limit or prevent criminals from considering any opportunity to steal. The use of safety devices can even give burglars an impression that a house is occupied and deter them from breaking in., Electronic security devices help protect homeowners in the battle against crime. In the eyes of a burglar, your house or condo is just one of countless opportunities, blending into the [...]

The potential applications of voice technology in industrial and consumer equipment such as cameras, toys, control machines, data loggers and alarm clocks, are discussed. Speech recognition technology has been found to increase productivity of workers by more than 40% by enabling them to free their eyes and hands to manually record data. The problem of speech recognition is the variety of phonetic pronunciation of a particular command by different users., Get ready for gabby vending machines, VCRs, and automated bank tellers. Better speech-processing chips are creating a new breed of products that talk and listen. The pioneer of instant photography, [...]

The uses and the technology involved in touchscreens are discussed. A touchscreen consist of a glass substrate, resistive metal layer and a conductive plastic film. When light pressure is applied on the screen, current flows and voltage is generated at the contact point. There are over 1,200 patents for different types of touchscreens such as resistive-analog, capacitive, surface-acoustic-wave, piezoelectric and infrared touchscreens., Looking for the perfect input device? Touchscreens put computers at your fingertips. A touchscreen is one of the most intuitive input devices: just touch the screen to select what you [...]

Man-machine interfaces (MMIs) are becoming the norm in factories as production workers begin to take over the task of running production operations from middle management. Operator-designed MMIs are preferred by most manufacturers because these are configured to be more practical and utilitarian than those designed by engineers. Graphical MMIs provide the best means of transmitting information and common control panels throughout the factory will prevent any slumps in productivity., Factories for empowered production workers may have more video screens than a shopping-mall arcade. Industry is in the midst of a quiet revolution. 'We're entering an era of bringing computers [...]

The automobile manufacturers of Detroit are required by the EPA's California Air Resources Board to produce electric vehicles by 1998. Resolving to comply with EPA regulations, carmakers are joining forces with public utilities and concerned organizations in order to pave the way for the electric age. This would involve construction of charging stations, and American consumers will have to learn when and how to recharge their electric cars., While automakers squeeze every last mile out of battery-powered vehicles, electric companies are spearheading efforts to install charging stations and educate the public. It's not hard to see why people [...]

Medical industry practitioners consider coping up with technology developments as the biggest challenge of the business. Medical institutions, hospitals and physicians who fail to adjust to such changes face possible business closure. The field of medicine uses different kinds of technology. The process of combining several science fields for a single purpose is called 'technology fusion.' This design method is important for medical engineers., Most American firms are not good at mixing technologies. One exception is the medical industry, which provides a lifesaving formula for leading-edge design. Today's biggest medical challenge is not AIDS, [...]

Thermostatic chips let designers program set points for tight temperature control, and are almost as easy to use and inexpensive as bimetal switches. What do cars, computers, ovens, and water [...]

In the mid 1950s, a group of engineers at General Motors did something that seemed completely irrational. They sent a Chevy convertible barreling down a quarter-mile test track - without [...]

A lot of engineers are confused about fuzzy logic. Here's an explanation that not only clarifies it, but also helps you decide where and how to use it. Boeing's doing [...]

Brushless dc motors are almost the 'perfect machine' except for one thing: they rely on Hall-effect sensors. According to one small-motor expert, Hall sensors stick out like a sore thumb [...]

NO PLACE TO HIDE The ability to fight at night may have been the deciding factor in the Gulf War and in Panama, but the equipment that makes it possible [...]

The ho-hum, humdrum world of home appliances is taking on an exciting new look -- and sound. New technology, much of its developed for audio/video products, is starting to make [...]

The Packaging Hurdle Not all exotic alloys and composites go into stealth fighters or race cars. Advances in electronic gear will increasingly depend on innovative material technology. PACKAGING ONCE was [...]

FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY WAITS IN THE WINGS For nearly two decades, NASA engineers have been advocating the use of electric actuators in place of hydraulics for spacecraft control. Instead of fluid-filled [...]

BATTLEFIELD TECHNOLOGY SETS PEACEFUL COURSE If there is any good news coming out of the Middle East lately, it can be only for the defense industry. Military muscle seems to [...]

GOVERNMENT TANGLES TELEPHONE TECHNOLOGY Worldwide public telecommunication services are improving the life-styles of millions. But in the U.S., information service for the average consumer is little more than 'dial-a-joke.' Innovations [...]

TOOLING UP FOR THE INFORMATION AGE The message from this year's Consumer Electronics Show was loud and clear: Expect more convenience but less gadgetry in the 1990s. Instead of another [...]

MECHATRONICS: A NEW DESIGN STRATEGY The role of electronics in motion-control system is rapidly changing. Centralized control is becoming impractical, and electronic intelligence is being distributed to the peripheral hardware. [...]

POWERFUL CHIPS DRIVE AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS Automakers are pushing chip makers to produce components that will help them comply with new, tougher laws at both the state and Federal level. The [...]

ELECTROMECHANICAL TEMPERATURE SWITCHES Survive in a high-tech world Although many electromechanical switching components are being replaced with solid-state devices, thermostatic switches remain fundamentally unchanged but are improved in many ways. [...]

Motor designers are continually being pulled in several directions. Not only must they make their products better and more efficient, they're also being pressed to produce motors that are smaller [...]

Multiplex wiring systems may revolutionize the way cars are designed, assembled, and serviced. Much has been written on how automakers are moving to multiplex wiring. Many view such efforts as [...]

Self-testing ICs and a standard test bus may simplify the process of creating reliables stems. The importance of subsystem testing was hammered home recently by the crash of a commercial [...]

LEDs that stay bright longer and transmissive media that do not cloud up are simplifying optocoupler applications. Optically coupled isolators, or optocouplers, are no strangers to industrial applications. They often [...]

LAWRENCE A. BERARDINIS Staff Editor It is no secret that computers are increasingly used in industrial applications. Here they face hostile environments that demand rugged components. Peripherals, especially keyboards, are [...]

More and more of the test gear now used in engineering looks nothing at all like instruments traditionally found stacked on bench tops. The trend toward automated testing has fostered [...]

Hewlett-Packard Co. has developed a CNC controller for machine-tool applications. The new system features a fully open architecture and allows users to customize not just the operator interface but also the servo code, trajectory planners and acceleration profiles associated with individual motors. The new controller is the first CNC to allow users to modify basic motion equations. The two main components of the system are the operator console and the motion chassis., Hewlett-Packard Co. has announced the launch of a CNC controller aimed at machine-tool applications. Featuring a fully open architecture and some of the latest computing technology, the new system gives [...]

Exel Microelectronics Inc. has come up with a new microchip for automobiles that uses a sophisticated variable-code protocol to make itself virtually impossible to outwit. Called 'SureLok,' the chip is cheaper than other access-verification chips at 90 cents each, works in pairs and requires only a three-wire interface to run. It also comes in a number of packaging styles, thus facilitating its use in various applications., Automakers have a new weapon in the battle against car thieves - a tiny chip from Exel Microelectronics that controls door locks, ignition switches, and a raft of driver-related functions. [...]

The Federal Highway Administration has a 20-year plan to solve traffic problems using smart highways and automated cars. Unable to build more roads, the government has decided that intelligent vehicle-highway [...]