TechArchive

Original article date: March 1999 According to JOHN GOODAY Product Manager at Rockwell Automation the RSWire software package can reduce electrical design and documentation time by up to 50%. RSWire is an electrical design package for engineers designers and implementers of electrical control and power systems. It replaces the drawing board mechanical CAD and electronic [...]

Original article date: November 1999 Alan Quinn’s three-yearly defection to PRW Magazine to help judge its product design awards yielded this device from Ultronics – a software driven programmable electronic hydraulic proportional valve. Quite a mouthful, but a clear winner nonetheless. It’s often predicted that on tomorrow’s truck there will be a joystick with which [...]

Original article date: March 1999 Before I get going, I must tell you about an email I received from a friend and reader recently, suggesting I point out that, in view of the future importance of the Internet, we should all be thinking about reserving our own personal domain names for the future. The message [...]

Original article date: November 1997 Competitive prices, small design improvements, a continuing need for replacement and consistent demand across Europe can all be expected to benefit revenue growth in AC motors, says a new Frost & Sullivan survey. The commercialisation of technology offering greater efficiency and reliability in the AC market is significantly contributing to [...]

Original article date: July 2000 Looking for a cost effective alternative to weld nuts? Alan Quinn reports on the Kaptinut There are many alternative captive fasteners available for the sheet metal industry, each with its own benefits and disadvantages. The Kaptinut is a cost-effective alternative to weld nuts in high volume automotive, appliance and other [...]

Original article date: May 2000 With the small data capacity of bar codes increasingly limiting their usefulness, Omron’s SEAN ELEY looks at the emergence of the 2D code, and the equipment to print and detect it The humble bar code has been meeting data portability requirements industry-wide for decades, unmatched in its ease of application [...]

Original article date: July 1999 Alan Quinn takes a look at the KV Automation range of dry-operated solenoid valves in which the solenoid is isolated from the valve body and media. To enable solenoid valves to control the flow of aggressive or contaminating media KV Automation is offering a dry operator version as part of [...]

Original article date: April 2000 JAIME PETERS takes a look at the strides being made by MIRA and others in thermal imaging technology Thermal imaging technology has taken a step forward at the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), where engineers have discovered a way to let a camera ‘see’ air flow. The brain behind the [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 Dave Maundrell, Worldwide Product Manager at Gems Sensors (formerly TransInstruments), takes a look at pressure transducer specifications. Pressure transducer specifications vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from instrument to instrument, often with each company claiming that their instrument is more accurate, faster, more reliable and so [...]

Original article date: January 2001 Only when the time capsule was opened did it become apparent that the documents inside were from before the great floods of 2020. This document, explaining some of the key technology stories of the year 2001 shed some light on the kind of lives we lived back then… January:Ford introduces [...]