Developments

Robots benefit plastics technology company

“One of the most appealing aspects of Universal Robots’ new generation of industrial robots is they no longer require specialist knowledge to operate.” Pic: Steve Wilson High labour costs and geographic remoteness have meant to be competitive in global markets, New Zealand (NZ) manufacturers have needed to apply new, innovative technologies to their production processes to deliver products to market faster, cheaper and with the highest level of quality. To solve part of that problem, Talbot Technologies deployed two of Universal Robots’ UR10 industrial robot arms to perform in-mould modelling, transfer moulding and co-moulding tasks on the company’s Christchurch production line. Since the installation of the first UR10 in 2013, Talbot Technologies has already reported increases in productivity, reliability, quality and cost savings. Best-in-class technology and support: Talbot Technologies is an integrated technical plastics manufacturer and solution provider that works as a design, development and production partner across a wide range of industries, for companies across the globe. Talbot Technologies, like so many NZ companies, has been trialling various technologies aimed at providing high quality output at a lower cost. Having been introduced to Universal Robots’ technology by Design Energy, the company’s NZ distributor, Talbot Technologies began exploring various application options. According to Steve Wilson, Executive Director of Talbot Technologies, the business required a flexible, ease-to-program five axis robot for a particular type of application. “We conduct complex in-mould labelling which has quite a few components and a fixed rail robot simply doesn’t have the capacity or the versatility to deliver the type of results we need. After extensive discussions with Design Energy, we agreed that the style of robot offered by Universal Robots would best suit our requirements,” Wilson commented. “We had looked at other robots, however the strong ROI combined with its reliability and versatility […]

Used cigarette butts offer energy solution

A group of scientists from South Korea have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The researchers have demonstrated the material’s superior performance compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It is hoped the material can be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors—electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy—whilst also offering a solution to the growing environmental problem caused by used-cigarette filters. It is estimated that as many as 5.6 trillion used-cigarettes, or 766 571 metric tons, are deposited into the environment worldwide every year. Co-author of the study Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said: “Our study has shown that used-cigarette filters can be transformed into a high-performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution to meeting the energy demands of society. “Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used-cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year—our method is just one way of achieving this.” Carbon is the most popular material that supercapacitors are composed of, due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term stability. Scientists around the world are currently working towards improving the characteristics of supercapacitors—such as energy density, power density and cycle stability—whilst also trying to reduce production costs. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that the cellulose acetate fibres that cigarette filters are mostly composed of could be transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. As a result of this burning process, the resulting carbon-based material contained a number of tiny pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material. “A high-performing supercapacitor material […]

Market more premium products to boost China sales

New Zealand exporters struggling to meet Chinese demand for commodities such as milk powder, logs and lamb flaps, should look to market more premium products to an increasingly worldly, wealthy Chinese consumer, according to Shanghai-based economist Mary Boyd. “Given the importance of agriculture in the domestic economy here and the success that New Zealand has had in promoting agricultural products in China it is really looking at what additional sales can be made and these may not actually come in the form of volume of goods,” Boyd said after a luncheon in Wellington hosted by the New Zealand China Council and the Asia NZ Foundation. “It could be in the form of a ‘premiumisation’ marketing effort and also extending the range of products that are sold from New Zealand,” China’s emerging middle class has helped drive New Zealand’s terms of trade to a 40-year high as the nation gained favourable access to the world’s second-largest economy following the 2008 Free Trade Agreement. China became New Zealand’s top trading partner in November last year and annual two-way trade exceeded $20 billion for the first time in May, ahead of the government’s 2015 target. Last year, New Zealand overtook Russia as the biggest exporter of logs to China, shipments of lamb flaps used in Chinese hotpots have risen to a record and dairy farmers boosted production to benefit from record milk prices driven by Chinese demand for milk powder. Analysts have said New Zealand producers are struggling to increase volumes any further to meet “insatiable demand” from China. The FTA with New Zealand, China’s first with a developed country, was “a great accomplishment” and has left the nation well positioned with its access to market, said Boyd, who works for the Intelligence Unit of The Economist and has lived in China for […]

Used cigarette butts offer energy story solution

A group of scientists from South Korea have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy. The researchers have demonstrated the material’s superior performance compared to commercially available carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes. It is hoped the material can be used to coat the electrodes of supercapacitors—electrochemical components that can store extremely large amounts of electrical energy—whilst also offering a solution to the growing environmental problem caused by used-cigarette filters. It is estimated that as many as 5.6 trillion used-cigarettes, or 766 571 metric tons, are deposited into the environment worldwide every year. Co-author of the study Professor Jongheop Yi, from Seoul National University, said: “Our study has shown that used-cigarette filters can be transformed into a high-performing carbon-based material using a simple one step process, which simultaneously offers a green solution to meeting the energy demands of society. “Numerous countries are developing strict regulations to avoid the trillions of toxic and non-biodegradable used-cigarette filters that are disposed of into the environment each year—our method is just one way of achieving this.” Carbon is the most popular material that super capacitors are composed of, due to its low cost, high surface area, high electrical conductivity and long term stability. Scientists around the world are currently working towards improving the characteristics of supercapacitors—such as energy density, power density and cycle stability—whilst also trying to reduce production costs. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that the cellulose acetate fibres that cigarette filters are mostly composed of could be transformed into a carbon-based material using a simple, one-step burning technique called pyrolysis. As a result of this burning process, the resulting carbon-based material contained a number of tiny pores, increasing its performance as a supercapacitive material. “A high-performing supercapacitor […]

ARANZ Geo recognised for global success

Tim Schurr and Shaun Maloney. ARANZ Geo Limited, a recognised world leader in the visualisation and interpretation of geological sciences, has been named as a finalist in the 2014 Champion Canterbury Business Awards in the Global Operator category. ARANZ Geo has built a global reputation in the mining industry in particular as the developers of 3D geological modelling software Leapfrog® which is sold to over 50 countries. Catherine Schache, Commercial Director of ARANZ Geo said, “We’ve been through a period of extremely high growth, as we continue to open up markets around the world. This is a fantastic acknowledgement for the team who have been working hard to develop innovative products with global appeal. We’re committed to Christchurch and we’re really pleased to be contributing to the region’s international reputation.” Schache says the team has had cause to celebrate their achievements this week. Earlier in the week the company announced that Wellington-based Pencarrow Private Equity had taken an equity stake securing a mixture of existing shares and new shares through a significant investment. CEO Shaun Maloney also received a Prime Minister’s Business Scholarship to study at Harvard Business School and London Business School at a function at the Beehive recently. Schache says, “We’re really gearing up to further accelerate global expansion and product plans to build on our past strong growth. We’ll also be looking at strategic acquisition opportunities.” ARANZ Geo’s R&D and head office is based in Christchurch and sales and support offices are located in Australia, Chile, Brazil, Denmark and Canada, with distributors in South Africa, Colombia and Mexico.

Building skills in the Manufacturing industry

Mathew Vandy, Industry Manager. As your industry training organisation (ITO), Competenz is working with your industry to review your qualifications. The aim is to develop a simpler, more relevant suite of qualifications that makes it easier for you to grow skills, careers and businesses in the manufacturing industry. This review is known as a ‘Targeted Review of Qualifications’ or TRoQ. Which qualifications are under review? • National Certificate in Manufacturing (Core Skills) (Level 2) • National Certificate in Manufacturing (Metal and Related Products) (Level 2) • National Certificate in Manufacturing (Metal and Related Products) (Level 3) • National Certificate in Steel Manufacturing with strands in Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and Oxygen Bodenblasten Maxhutte Process (OBM) (Level 3) • National Certificate in Manufacturing (Metaland Related Products) (Level 4) • Diploma in Manufacturing (Level 5) Following the review, these qualifications will be reduced into a new suite of ‘New Zealand Certificates’. What stage is the review at? The industry governance group has confirmed and developed the high-level qualifications needed and are now ready to apply to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) for approval to list these qualifications. First though, a technical advisory group will meet to work through the unit standards that lead to the qualifications and confirm that all content is correct. The draft qualifications will then be sent out to the manufacturing industry for wider consultation before being submitted in November. It is expected the new qualifications will be ready to launch in quarter one of 2015. To have your say on the future of New Zealand’s manufacturing qualifications, visit troq.competenz.org.nz or contact Mathew Vandy who’s leading this review on behalf of your industry. Mathew will tell you how you can attend a meeting of our working group or comment on draft documents (e.g. draft training programme and unit […]

Reduce development risk

Offering both tools and services, Maplesoft Engineering Solutions help engineers validate and optimise product designs, produce extremely fast simulation code for hardware-in-the-loop and other types of simulations where execution speed is critical, and develop specialised analysis and design calculation tools. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions also support model development for model predictive control, an advanced technique used to represent the behaviour of complex systems. The Maplesoft Engineering Solutions team has expertise in a variety of engineering fields and extensive experience in model-based design. By leveraging the unique benefits of MapleSim and Maple, advanced engineering design tools from Maplesoft, they help engineers reduce development risk, create better products, and get to market faster. MapleSim and Maple are also available for engineers to use directly in their own development projects. MapleSim is an advanced system-level modelling and simulation tool from Maplesoft that applies modern techniques to dramatically reduce model development time, provide greater insight into system behaviour, and produce fast, high-fidelity simulations. MapleSim is based on Maple, the technical computing software for engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. Maplesoft Engineering Solutions are used by customers in a variety of domains, such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, ground transportation, space systems, batteries, mining, and manufacturing. Past projects include a robotic arm for drilling in mines, a motion platform for driving simulators, a torsional vibration analysis tool for marine drivelines, batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, and dialysis machines. While projects vary greatly, they frequently involve the following: High performance plant models for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) applications. Generating high-fidelity plant models from many system design tools typically results in code that is not fast enough for real-time, HIL execution, and engineers often perform a trade-off between model fidelity and performance.

Designing and troubleshooting 802.11ac networks correctly the first time

There is now a range of new 802.11ac features in AirMagnet Survey PRO/Planner and AirMagnet WiFi Analyser PRO to help organisations optimise their migration or co-existence path to the new 802.11ac technology standard. With new modeling applications, toolkits, and the industry’s only 3×3 portable capture and analysis capability, businesses can now leverage the industry’s first complete wireless lifecycle solution to design, deploy and troubleshoot 802.11ac networks accurately, quickly and more cost effectively. As enterprise networks rely more heavily on Wi-Fi networks and increasingly face bandwidth and capacity challenges, IT is transitioning from the 802.11a/b/g/n wireless standard to Gigabit 802.11ac for more reliable connections, better performance, and higher capacity. Independent research firm Infonetics Research estimates 802.11ac access points (APs) could well account for three-quarters of access point shipments by 2017. But just moving to 802.11ac will not solve all IT challenges. According to Gartner, “More bandwidth is good, and 802.11ac can better support high transaction dense environments; however, this does not solve the underlying problem of poorly or inadequately implemented WLANs.”** Wireless engineers and system integrators are already facing challenges integrating new equipment and ensuring deployments meet and maintain the Gigabit Wi-Fi standards. However, with the AirMagnet tools, the users are assured of designing and deploying networks that “simply work” and with the maximised performance possible. To help address these challenges, AirMagnet Survey PRO, the industry’s most accurate wireless design and site survey solution, and AirMagnet WiFi Analyser PRO, the premier solution for mobile auditing and troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks, now include 802.11ac functionality to help IT teams effectively phase new wireless infrastructure into existing WLANs without blindly performing a 1-to-1 rip-and-replacement of existing equipment. The AirMagnet tools also let IT teams solve 802.11ac network issues correctly the first time, which prevents costly repeat visits and, more importantly, minimise user downtime. 802.11ac […]

Delcam launches new PowerMILL CAM for five-axis machining

Delcam has launched the 2015 version of its PowerMILL CAM system for high-speed and five-axis machining. The new release includes improvements to the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, improved collision checking to also cover near misses, and more efficient raster finishing. The Vortex area-clearance strategy produces safe toolpaths with a much deeper cut by using a controlled engagement angle that maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the whole toolpath. As a result, higher feed rates and material-removal rates are possible, making the cutting time shorter by as much as 70%. In addition, cutting is undertaken at a more consistent volume-removal rate and at a near constant feedrate, so extending tool life and protecting the machine. Two enhancements in PowerMILL 2015 will give even greater reductions in machining time with Vortex compared to conventional roughing. The first change allows toolpaths to approach the part from outside the stock at the cutting height, both for open pockets and in areas where earlier cuts have made this possible. Previously, all entry moves had to be made by plunging onto the surface or by ramping into the material. The second change allows an increased feed rate to be set for non-cutting moves. The default value is set at double the rate for the cutting moves but this can be altered as required for each machine tool. The extra time that can be saved depends on the shape of the part but an additional saving of around 20% should be expected above the earlier releases of Vortex. Another problem in previous versions of PowerMILL was that unnecessary lifts could be added to area-clearance toolpaths when the cutter moved outside the stock or close to its edge. Changes to the roughing algorithm in PowerMILL 2015 have reduced the number of lifts per toolpath slice to the minimum […]

Army helicopter can fit in your pocket

It weighs 16 g, can fly for up to 20 minutes, and fits in the palm of your hand. It’s the Prox Dynamics PD-100 Black Hornet, a mini helicopter which uses embedded cameras and a digital data link to provide real-time video for ground troops. Information is king on the battlefield, and this pocket-sized UAV offers advanced situational awareness for soldiers with negligible impact on troop load. Ever been on a hike with 70-100 pounds strapped to your back? It sucks..Military service members tote heavy loads regularly (especially in a warzone), so any “additions” can’t weigh them down further. And at .035 lbs, the PD-100 Black Hornet provides a valuable service without burdening anyone. Under the Cargo Pocket Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (CP-ISR) program, the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Centre has been tasked with developing a small aerial system to give dismounted troops increased situational awareness. And situational awareness — and knowing more than the enemy — wins wars. “While larger systems have been used to provide over-the-hill ISR capabilities on the battlefield for almost a decade, none of those delivers it directly to the squad level, where soldiers need the ability to see around the corner or into the next room during combat missions,” the Army said. One of these squad-based ISR systems is the Black Hornet. Operated remotely via GPS, this diminutive drone is small, quiet, and virtually undetectable. And at 4 inches x 1 inch, it won’t present a fat, enticing target for the enemy. The PD-100 was already issued to the UK Armed Forces last year, and early returns are promising. The company will need to initiate a data-link redesign to make the pocket-sized ‘copters compatible with the US Army’s tactical network. Otherwise, there should be few hurdles to the Black Hornet’s immediate deployment […]

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