Developments

Public appeal for revolutionary new wheelchair

The inventor and manufacturer of a revolutionary new wheelchair has launched a public appeal to develop it further and build 10 prototypes. Kevin Halsall’s Ogo wheelchair was a finalist at the New Zealand Innovators’ Awards in Auckland last year and also won the BCC (Building Clever Companies) Innovate 2015 grand prize of $10,000. The invention blends cutting edge electronics with innovative body driven control which frees the user’s hands to do anything they want. As a result of publicity in 2015, Kevin received thousands of inquiries from around the world from people interested in either purchasing, investing in or distributing his machine. However by launching his appeal for $240,000 on Indiegogo, the largest global site for crowdfunding and fundraising, Kevin wants to give as many people as possible the opportunity to fund what they can afford, enabling him to take the development to the next level. He explains that, by keeping costs down, he can make his machine available to millions around the world at the lowest possible cost. “Our goal is to change as many lives as we can,” Kevin says. The crowd funding campaign, launched on March 8, will run for 30 days and Kevin is confident he’ll attract the money required. “It’s an achievable amount and with it we’ll build 10 prototypes, five for sale as part of the crowd funding campaign and the other five to be located in major centres around New Zealand for people to try out,” he says. Kevin, from his Otaki base, wants to start production before the end of the year because he’s aware there are 11,000 disabled people in New Zealand alone who rely on a wheelchair for mobility and 69 million wheelchair users worldwide. His interest in building the machine began nearly five years ago when he observed how […]

Solar innovation a relief for drought-stricken farmers

A solar water pump system is helping get much needed water to stock on remote hill country farms and has captured international interest from water-stressed countries. Central Hawke’s Bay electrical and pumping business Isaacs Pumping & Electrical has been developing the technology over the last two years with support from Callaghan Innovation. Isaacs Electrical directors Gavin Streeter and Shane Heaton were continually being asked by farmers what options were available to reliably get water to stock without electricity, especially in remote hill country properties. “Solar was the ideal alternative but we needed to ensure we had a motor and pump that farmers could rely on to keep stock troughs full. “We didn’t need to look too far and we selected a pump with a proven track record and has been servicing farms for over 50 years,” Mr Streeter said. The Callaghan Innovation funding helped developed the controller or the “brain”, which is a circuit board that optimises the use of solar power and monitors water pressure, run times and faults logs. “The system is fully automatic, it operates like a standard pumping system and we have just design some clever features to maximise the pumping time and protect the motor,” he said. The development of the epump has been a mix of international and Hawke’s Bay suppliers providing equipment and componentry. An Italian company developed the industrial continuous rated motor, Hawke’s Bay engineering firm McLaren Stainless designed and manufactured the outer protective shell and another local firm, some of the Intellectually Protected circuitry. The epump can pump up to 120 metres of head and up to 20 litres per minute in daylight hours and can withstand the harshest environments. It can fill stock troughs on hillsides up to 120 metres on hill country and unlike other options it can draw both […]

What is smart manufacturing?

Construction sector forecast to remain a major economic contributor

New Zealand dwelling building activity to strengthen further post-Christchurch rebuild Driven by strong activity particularly in Auckland Amid housing demand from its population growth and a shortage in housing supply Infrastructure construction to be boosted by Accelerated Auckland Transport Programme The construction sector in New Zealand is forecast to continue to contribute positively to the country’s economy over the medium term, according to leading industry analyst and economic forecaster, BIS Shrapnel. While the sector will be led by a renewed surge in dwelling building activity to new highs in the second half of the five-year outlook period, overall non-residential and infrastructure construction activities are likely to remain at relatively high levels. According to the company’s Building and Construction in New Zealand 2016-2021 report, the value of building (residential and non-residential) is expected to peak in 2016/17, capping off a five-year upturn. However, following a modest decline in dwelling activity forecast for 2017/18, BIS Shrapnel expects reasonably strong rebounds in the activity level (led by Auckland) over the three years to 2020/21 to lift the value of new dwelling consents to a fresh high of around NZ$6 billion in real terms. The value of non-residential building consents (new, and alterations and additions) is expected to remain at relatively high levels, averaging NZ$3.3 billion per annum in real terms over the five-year outlook period – which is comparable to the level over the preceding five-year period. The next dwelling building upturn is likely to drive consents in New Zealand up to around 32,000 by 2020/21, which is comparable to the peak level during the 2003/04 building boom. “The ‘other’ dwelling segment (apartments, retirement units, town houses and flats) is expected to register strong growth, as high land cost especially in the Auckland region and the government’s plan to increase affordable housing […]

New sustainable business leader

Abbie Reynolds has been appointed as the Sustainable Business Council’s new Executive Director where she will continue to build its successful work leading sustainable business practices in New Zealand. The Sustainable Business Council has 85 members, including some of New Zealand’s largest companies. Its membership now accounts for about a third of private sector GDP. Abbie, who currently leads the Vodafone Foundation and is Head of Sustainability at Vodafone says she is looking forward to the challenge: “The Sustainable Business Council’s work has had a significant impact on supporting New Zealand businesses to be more sustainable. It’s a privilege to be able to build on the great work that has been done to date and to ensure we have the right environment to move further and faster in the future.” In her role, Abbie will champion the interests of businesses who are advancing their sustainability. This includes driving action on climate change, governance, social impact and ecosystem health. She will also continue to grow the organisation’s focus on mainstreaming sustainable business practices throughout New Zealand. Abbie brings with her a depth of expertise in social, financial and environmental sustainability within business. Previously she has led sustainability and regulatory work at Spark, the UK’s Cable & Wireless and as a resource management/environment solicitor for Bell Gully. She has a proven track record of delivering results in sustainable business development. The current Executive Director, Penny Nelson, is leaving to take up the position of Deputy Secretary, Sector Strategy at the Ministry for the Environment in late February.

Fitzroy Engineering to deliver underwater restaurant to Maldives

Over the evening of Tuesday 9th February, the latest big fabrication project to come out of Fitzroy Engineering will make its way slowly to Port Taranaki. Following the usual route via Devon Road, Northgate, Hobson Street, Molesworth Street and St Aubyn Street, the 450 tonne Underwater Restaurant will go to the port for shipping to its destination in the Maldives, Indian Ocean. Designed by leading aquarium and underwater restaurant design engineers, MJ Murphy Ltd from Auckland, this underwater restaurant (UWR) will be the second only of its type to be deployed anywhere in the world. MJ Murphy Ltd were also the designers of the first UWR (now world famous, called Ithaa… also in the Maldives for a different resort), and have been involved in the design of many major public aquariums around the world, similar to Kelly Tarltons Underwater World in Auckland. This new UWR will be delivered to site by heavy lift ship and lowered onto specially prepared piled foundations on the edge of a beautiful coral reef at Huravalhi Island in the Maldives, where the clients, Champalars Holdings Pvt Ltd are building a complete new luxury resort. As many scuba divers will attest, the water in the Maldives is especially clear and the corals and fish life astounding. The UWR will sit alongside the steeply descending coral reef, so that all diners can view the corals and the fish they attract. For the deep open ocean side, special concrete platforms have been developed by MJ Murphy upon which the corals from under the UWR have been replanted, and are now waiting in the sea for the arrival of the UWR. These ‘coral garden’ platforms will be lifted off the seabed and bolted to the ocean-side of the UWR once in place, so that diners on the ocean side […]

Flawed and Cringing New Zealand Foreign Policy Closes World’s Biggest Nation Russia to Vital NZ Exports

Craven fawning United States orientated policy conflicts with frivolous and irresponsible populist stance to wreck trade New Zealand manufacturers in the food and food processing equipment sector in shutting the door on exports to Russia will find themselves also shutting themselves out of an immense and reliable growth market counsels the managing director of Napier Engineering & Contracting. The company turnkey constructed a string of freezing works in Russia with all the expertise and processing equipment hardware shipped out of the Port of Napier. The experience was both profitable for Napier Engineering and salutary. “Our staff who lived in Russia for months a time were superbly treated. In most contracts of the scope and size of this one there are major problems. But in the Russian project no problem arose that could not be solved on the spot,” recalled Ken Evans (pictured). Mr Evans warned exporters that the US – invoked embargo that prevented EU members from selling to the Russians meant in practice that the Russians were jump-starting their own food and food processing machinery resources. Mr Evans said that the Russians were not unaware of the inconsistency inherent in New Zealand banning US Navy vessels warships on the one hand. Then “grovelling in meek obeisance” on the other in falling into line with a US embargo on Russia to which it was not even party to. An export economy such as New Zealand’s simply could not eliminate the world’s biggest country, which also happened to be a growth one and an emerging one, insisted Mr Evans. The falling into line of the EU with the United States embargo on Russia was substantially responsible for the world milk surplus. Milk and other agri products that would have been sent to Russia continue to back up into an unmanageable world […]

Smart chip tells you how healthy your battery is

In the picture: NTU Prof Rachid Yazami (left) holding his smart battery chip with research fellow Sohaib El Outmani holding a prototype testing device. Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have developed a smart chip which can tell you how healthy is your battery and if it is safe for use. If the battery in your smartphone or electric vehicle is faulty and is at risk of catching fire, this smart chip will warn you. Current warning systems only alert users when the battery is already overheating which may be too late for any remedial action. Developed by Professor Rachid Yazami of the Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N), this smart chip is small enough to be embedded in almost all batteries, from the small batteries in mobile devices to the huge power packs found in electric vehicles and advanced aeroplanes. A pioneer in battery research, Prof Yazami won the 2014 Draper Prize for Engineering awarded by the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering for being one of the three founders of lithium-ion battery. The prestigious award recognised his discovery in the 1980s in making lithium-ion batteries safely rechargeable, paving the way for its universal use today. “Although the risk of a battery failing and catching fire is very low, with the billions of lithium-ion batteries being produced yearly, even a one-in-a-million chance would mean over a thousand failures,” explained Prof Yazami, who holds more than 50 patents and has authored more than 200 scientific papers, book chapters and reports on batteries. “This poses a serious risk for electric vehicles and even in advanced aeroplanes as usually big battery packs have hundreds of cells or more bundled together to power the vehicle or aircraft. If there is a chemical fire caused by a single failed battery, it could cause fires […]

The development of smart manufacturing

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a sub-sector of the higher-level concept of the Internet of Everything (IoE) which connects people, processes, data and things, with the aim of bringing maximum value to the global economy. Technologies that have made IoE a reality include short range communications, embedded intelligence, cloud computing, next-generation networks, sensor technology, Big Data, and data analytics. The popularity of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in Asia-Pacific is largely attributable to informed manufacturing, which leads to a transparent and streamlined manufacturing process. Ivan Fernandez Industry Director, Industry Practice, Australia & New Zealand said “The top concern for discrete or process-manufacturing firms is the continuous effort to stay competitive. However, manufacturing competitiveness is not achieved by focusing on one parameter, but on a group of pertinent issues. Resource areas pertaining to people and process innovation are where manufacturing competitiveness is extensively pursued.” “Although Europe is seen to hold a major edge in terms of industries embracing IoT, several countries in Asia Pacific such as Australia, China, India, Japan and Singapore, will adopt these technologies to improve their global standing and become more competitive. Competition will force manufacturers to innovate and adapt various aspects of their manufacturing systems. Smart factories, considered to be the 4th industrial revolution or Industrie 4.0, will create a notable convergence of business models in manufacturing units. Embedded systems, combined with Internet connectivity and online data services, will kick-start the new era of cyber-physical systems, to enable smart factories. Smart factories A manufacturing plant is typically located over a large area and operates multiple machines which are difficult to manage without automation. The smooth functioning of a manufacturing plant, therefore, requires the development of an automated plant-floor with connected machines that receive and respond to orders from central control systems and human machine interfaces. […]

Is your shop floor ready?

Shop floors are often ground zero for scepticism regarding the Internet of Things (IoT). To the employees who work on the shop floor, IoT might seem like little more than the latest technology buzzword. Yet, the network connectivity that’s at the heart of the IoT is already rippling through the manufacturing industry. Manufacturers are realising significant productivity gains as a result of IoT-related improvements in sensing, analysis, prediction and control, and higher levels of automation. How organisations obtain the all-important buy-in from shop floor stakeholders? They must pay careful attention to change management. Capitalising on IoT opportunities is as much about reshaping an organisation as it is about implementing innovative technologies. The Importance of IoT Seventy to 80 percent of manufacturing processes are already automated. So then, what’s the big deal about IoT? By coupling software applications with sensors and controls that gather real-time production data, IoT links the entire manufacturing environment, including mobile devices used by workers and supervisors. Take a look at the impressive advances IoT is notching on the shop floor. A packaging and chemicals company, for example, made considerable gains in asset management by outfitting its forklift operators with Google Glass. The operators quickly scanned batch IDs of boxes and automatically generated transfer orders that integrated with the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system; this system also easily tracked packages as they checked in and out of storage bins. As a result of this connectivity, the company improved its inventory management and productivity. And by avoiding multiple touchpoints, it also reaped significant cost savings. In another success story, a logistics company implemented a GPS and telematics-based solution that alerts it to supply chain disruptions such as port strikes, traffic congestion, or weather-related problems. The real-time notifications allow the company to reroute global consignments and grant the […]

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Developments