The Faro Gage 3D portable coordinate measurement machine (CMM) is an all-in-one-solution that reduces calibration costs and minimizes clutter. Replacing traditional hand tools such as calipers, micrometers, and height gages, it provides 20% more reach than the previous-generation Gage arm. The Gage sets up in seconds, reduces inspection time, and delivers quality results with flexibility. A universal quick mount is compatible with various mounting options, allowing the Gage to be set up anywhere, including on-machine. A 2-button design, 6-point articulation, and built-in counterbalance deliver ease of use and fatigue-free operation.
The Artis GEMGP standalone solution detects and reports tool breakage, missing tools, overload, tool wear, and fluid flow in real-time, preventing damage to the machine, reducing scrap, and improving productivity.
It can accommodate two sensors to measure force and strain values obtained from the spindle during machining. The solution has three monitoring strategies and can handle up to 127 cutting cycles with varying types of limits for each cycle. Any events that exceed the pre-fixed limits are recorded in a log-file.
As part of the Genior Modular product family, the GEMGP capability can be built upon or integrated into the Genior Modular system for process monitoring.
We experience the world through our skin. From sensing temperature and pressure to pleasure or pain, the nerve endings in our skin tell us a great deal.
Our skin tells the outside world about us as well. Moms press their hands against their children’s foreheads to see if they have a fever. Someone may see a blush rising on their date’s cheeks during an intimate conversation.
To gather further information from a person’s skin, Caltech’s Wei Gao, assistant professor in the Andrew and Peggy Cherng department of medical engineering, developed an electronic skin (e-skin) that applies directly to real skin. Made from soft, flexible rubber, the e-skin can be embedded with sensors that monitor information such as heart rate, body temperature, levels of blood sugar and metabolic byproducts, and nerve signals that control muscles. It does so without a battery, running solely on biofuel cells powered by one of the body’s waste products – sweat.
“One of the major challenges with these kinds of wearable devices is power,” Gao says. “Many people are using batteries, but that’s not very sustainable. Some people have tried using solar cells or harvesting the power of human motion. We wanted to know, ‘Can we get sufficient energy from sweat to power the wearables?’ And, the answer is yes.”
Human sweat contains high levels of lactate, a by-product of normal metabolic processes, especially by muscles during exercise. Fuel cells built into the e-skin absorb the lactate and combine it with oxygen from the atmosphere, generating water and pyruvate, another by-product of metabolism.
As they operate, the biofuel cells generate enough electricity to power sensors and a Bluetooth device, allowing the e-skin to wirelessly transmit readings.
“While near-field communication is a common approach for many battery-free e-skin systems, it can only be used for power transfer and data readout over a very short distance,” Gao says. “Bluetooth communication consumes higher power but is a more attractive approach with extended connectivity for practical medical and robotic applications.”
Devising a power source that could run on sweat was not the only challenge in creating the e-skin – it also needed to last a long time with high power intensity and minimal degradation. The biofuel cells are made from carbon nanotubes impregnated with a platinum/cobalt catalyst and composite mesh holding an enzyme that breaks down lactate. They can generate continuous, stable power output (as high as several milliwatts per square centimeter) for several days from human sweat.
Gao’s plan is to develop a variety of sensors that can be embedded in the e-skin for multiple purposes.
“We want this system to be a platform,” he says. “In addition to being a wearable biosensor, this can be a human-machine interface. The vital signs and molecular information collected using this platform could be used to design and optimize next-generation prosthetics.”
With the Index C100 multi-tasking lathe, Alpha Grainger reaped the benefits of high-speed machining, producing complex ventilator parts to meet high demand.
Reflecting on its crisis response, Jake Grainger, CEO of Alpha Grainger Manufacturing Inc. highly praises his team for growing with technology and being eager to learn and apply new skills. These abilities have been integral to the company’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and reflect the industry’s ability to meet a massive challenge.
In early April, Grainger got a phone call from an aerospace manufacturer facing a major challenge with a medical part. The client needed to produce a very complicated body part for a pressure regulator used in a ventilator. Grainger’s customers needed to develop the part and produce 1,000 units per week to meet demand amid the COVID-19 outbreak. While no other manufacturer responded to this task, Grainger was not afraid to take on the opportunity.
Immediate solution
The blueprint files for the ventilator part included more than 150 dimensions, causing Grainger to briefly second-guess his ability to produce something so complex, but he then realized the component matched the strength of the Index C100 machine tool.
“The more I looked at it, I realized that yeah, we could get that thing going quickly. And because we had developed the skill sets, we knew how to run the very sophisticated software that’s used to design parts, generate machine tool CNC code, electronically prove out that code and make the required custom tooling – software products from Dassault Systèmes (SolidWorks), DP Technology (Esprit), and Index.”
“Later that evening, after I absorbed what I was looking at, I called my son Eric. We talked it over the next morning, we reviewed it, brought in our engineers, looked at it, and we all agreed: we can do this,” Grainger says. “We told our customer and they breathed a great sigh of relief because no one was willing to step up to the table and take on such a complex part that involved so many complex milling and turning features, so it was perfect for my alternative machine.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF INDEX
The C100 multitasking, automatic production lathe offers high-speed production of parts turned from bar stock, making it well suited for the part that involved complicated milling and turning.
Within 10 days, Alpha Grainger was ready for production. They designed and produced all the custom tooling, had CNC cutting programs, the verification software had proven out the tool paths, and were ready to use the machine.
“At this point we were ready to set up the job, which involved 30 milling and turning tools. In the past, this would have taken days to load into the machine and carefully prove out, but we had already proven out the code and tool offsets with Index Virtual Machine software. The next step was to load the program into the C100, mount all 30 tools into three turrets, push the start button and get a good part the first time.”
He adds that the setup started on Monday morning and they had good parts in the afternoon. With their in-house capabilities, Alpha Grainger produced all of the custom cutting tools to turn things around quickly. They printed sample parts on their Stratasys 3D printer so they could have parts to hold and see, which helped them visualize how to machine the part.
Optimization software
Body part for a pressure regulator used in a ventilator that included several intricate details.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALPHA GRAINGER
The body component they were producing for the ventilator pushes out air, which requires extremely low pressure. Therefore, it had to be incredibly reliable and accurate to avoid damaging patients’ lungs.
To ensure the component functioned properly, Alpha Grainger knew they needed several software programs suitable for the design, programming, and prove-out. They chose SolidWorks computer-aided design (CAD) software and Esprit software to generate the machine tool code.
“We used SolidWorks to get a model of what the customer wants,” Grainger adds. “Normally, we need to change that so it can be manufactured correctly. We take their model, or if they don’t have a model, we create a model with SolidWorks. When we have this electronic solid model, we put it over to our Esprit software, which allows us to generate the machine tool code. In Esprit we select electronic versions of the cutting tools that we will be using and are able to see how those tools cut the various features on the part.”
They were able to take the CNC program generated in Esprit and run it on Index Virtual Machine which is an exact replication of the C100 on a desktop computer. By having the machine tool displayed on the desktop, Grainger’s team could see how the actual machine tool would perform in the real world. Everything could be optimized in the office and they would be sure that the real program would reliably run without a long and risky prove -out time. If actual tool offsets are used in Virtual Machine, the rendered part will be exactly what the C100 will be making. You can use the measuring tools in Virtual Machine to dimension the part back in the office.
“The industry has dreamed of the day that they could put the cutting tools in the machine, download the program, hit the start button and get a good part. With the different technologies we have – Solidworks, Esprit, Index Virtual Machine and the Index machine tool – we’re living that dream. We got the customer the parts that solved a huge problem for them. It’s a result of my people mastering the skill sets needed to use these very sophisticated and complicated software platforms.”
About the author: Michelle Jacobson is the assistant editor of Today’s Medical Developments. She can be reached at mjacobson@gie.net or 216.393.0323
5 Things You Need to Know to prepare for the future
Advertorial - 5 Things You Need to Know
Questions and answers about how to prepare for a future outbreak will be different for each industry or company, but some broad topics can be considered, so you can be in the best position to adapt to whatever the rest of 2020 and beyond may look like.
As manufacturing facilities reopen and more people return to the workplace, there’s still a huge amount of uncertainty concerning the global Coronavirus. Many states aren’t through the worst of it, and there are fears of a second wave. The hardest thing during the pandemic is the ever-changing playing field. How can anyone make investments to plan for a future that changes daily? Instead, most companies are simply navigating through what’s in front of them today.
Questions and answers about how to prepare for a future outbreak will be different for each industry or company, but some broad topics can be considered, so you can be in the best position to adapt to whatever the rest of 2020 and beyond may look like.
1. Flexible automation solutions for unknown futures
SCHUNK addresses this with its new Flex Grip Tools program – a modular End-of-Arm-Tool system for lightweight and ease-of-use robots. With a little forward planning, a modular system allows an application to be adapted or a different type of workpiece to be easily accounted for, often without any further CAD work.
2. Plug & Work solutions to start automating
If you are thinking of automating some of your manufacturing processes, now is a good time. It’s easier than ever to get started with many complete Plug & Work portfolios that are directly compatible with robot arms from different manufacturers. SCHUNK is the world’s first manufacturer of these products and offers an extensive range of standardized components for various cobots and lightweight robots.
3. Creating a local supply chain
Supply chain uncertainty throughout the pandemic has caused great concern for many. SCHUNK worked with a partner to help a company pivot its manufacturing output to produce N95 masks. The company’s now able to do its part to keep the U.S. production of medical masks moving, even if the supply chain suffers further disruption in the future.
4. Reduce machine downtime, streamline processes
It’s always a good time to consider reducing machine downtime and increasing output, especially now. One of the best ways to safeguard future manufacturing is to ensure that downtime and part changeover time are streamlined. One way is to think about quick change pallet systems with very high repeat accuracy, allowing the next part to be set up outside of the machine while the previous part is running, reducing idle machine time between parts. The SCHUNK VERO-Squick change pallet system is modular with more than 1,000 variants for precise workpiece clamping.
5. Reduce need for outside contact during installation
Bringing outsiders into your building to install or maintain equipment is a concern. Think about implementing a solution that your own in-house team can easily install and maintain with virtual support from the supplier. SCHUNK USA recently partnered with Ready Roboticsto create an automated process for ventilator component production that could be installed quickly and managed in-house with little production downtime. It was implemented by its own people to limit virus exposure.
Software updates to Lisa and Lisa PRO selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers make them compliant with Industry 4.0 standards. One of the aims of Industry 4.0 readiness is automated integration with factory logistics. Devices such as 3D printers need to output job status data, and Lisa and Lisa PRO now provide such information. A print monitor online function allows remote print tracking, and the user interface is more intuitive and easier to operate with easily accessible functions.
The software update also enhances Sinterit Studio – a comprehensive tool to manage the 3D printing process – which now has a better object collision detector.
CERTIFICATIONS
3DEO, a metal 3D printing company based in Los Angeles, California, has received ISO 9001:2015 certification to further the commercialization of its technology. The certification allows 3DEO to operate more effectively on several different levels, including the ability to focus on customer requirements, ensure consistent production, and continuously improve the production process. The certification process took only 3 months, whereas implementation typically takes 6 months to 12 months.
Elementum 3D, a developer and supplier of metal additive manufacturing (AM) materials, has been certified for quality management. The scope of Elementum 3D certification includes the design and manufacture of advanced metals, superalloys, and composites; development of new manufacturing processes; and manufacture of prototype and production parts to customer specifications.
Posted by Elizabeth Engler Modic
