Reverse engineering is becoming multifaceted and complex. The key drivers: new metrology sensors and more capable software, enabled by ever more powerful and cheaper computing.
Applications for flexible hybrid electronics in aerospace and defense exist in environmental monitoring, biomedical assessment, security, communications, energy generation and storage, computation, supply chain management and asset sustainment.
The COVID-19 pandemic clearly proved challenging to the manufacturing industry in myriad ways. Now, as nations and industries begin to navigate their way forward as restrictions are lifted, manufacturers have an opportunity to put into practice some lessons learned.
Feature-based Product Line Engineering refers to the engineering of a portfolio of related products using a shared set of engineering assets, a managed set of features, and an automated means of production.
The pandemic has recharged the drive toward new solutions and led to new methods of engineering and production that will carry on after the pandemic.
When an automotive starter needs to be replaced, it’s very likely that the most expensive components—the armature, commutator or gears—are still functional, or can be restored economically.
Today, laser technology in manufacturing touches all of our lives on a daily basis; lasers cut air bag material and weld air bag detonators for our in-car safety; lasers weld the batteries in many of our mobile devices; lasers drill aero-engine components for planes; lasers cut the glass for our smart phones and tablets screens; lasers weld the drivetrains in our cars and trucks; lasers cut medical stents that increase and enhance our lives, just to name a few.
Solid-state laser technology has matured, leading to development of new, cost-effective welding applications, such as hybrid welding
White-light metrology is a noncontact method that uses a familiar, safe light source—simple white light. Simplicity and accuracy may make white light the system of choice in many applications.
Many industries have been making parts with micron dimensions for some time, but in the last few years, the market for miniaturization has expanded. The demand is not only for small parts, but also for small complex features on larger parts. This is due chiefly to the switch to modules in which the functions of several parts or subsystems are not handled by a single complex unit.
