Penn State researchers received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to further explore the characteristics of an acoustic technology inspired by nanoscale electronics. The $380,909 grant will support three years of research led by Yun Jing, associate professor of acoustics and biomedical engineering. In twistronics, a condensed matter physics field, researchers investigate how stacking two […]
Learning Objectives A geared servomotor competes head-to-head with a direct drive servomotor using the same settings and features. Many of the results might seem minor on the surface, but they can be quite significant for applications that require absolute precision. Direct drive servomotors are more expensive, but they make up for it in performance and overall payback. A geared […]
There was a time when industrial field networks all had different hardware requirements. HART requires a unit capable of injecting and reading signals overlaid on an analog signal, RS232 requires two signal wires and a ground, and RS485 requires two pairs of differential signal wires. Machine builders and end users alike had to invest in […]
Accurately identifying changes in community COVID-19 infections through wastewater surveillance is moving closer to reality. A study by Stanford and University of Michigan researchers have identified a method that not only detects the virus in wastewater samples, but also tracks whether the infection rates are trending up or down. Testing wastewater — a robust source […]
The top 5 most read articles online, from Jan. 11-17, 2021 for Control Engineering covered programmable logic controllers (PLCs), top 5 VFD parameter changes explained, cybersecurity and the rise of IT-enable OT system, and more. Links to each article below. 1. Which IEC 61131-3 programming language is best? Part 1 With so many programmable logic […]
A Columbia University Engineering robot has learned to predict its partner robot’s future actions and goals based on just a few initial video frames. When two primates are cooped up together for a long time, we quickly learn to predict the near-term actions of our roommates, co-workers or family members. Our ability to anticipate the […]
Industry 4.0 – in conjunction with digitalization – is starting to transform the way we all work, collaborate, create products, and go-to-market. Data is now the driving force behind success, helping to track everything from the identification of plant assets and associated maintenance requirements to traceability and customer buying trends. But, as more and more […]
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced $123.6 million in funding, as well as $44.7 million of cost share, for 46 projects in 23 states. The purpose is to stimulate technology innovation, improve the energy productivity of American manufacturing and enable the manufacturing of products in the […]
The journey of the COVID-19 vaccine – from the factory to the needle injected into a patient – is not immune to breaks in the supply chain. John Saldanha knows firsthand from his time in the Merchant Marines and at Dole Food Company anything can, and likely will, go wrong before a product or service […]
Rice University scientists have extended their technique to produce graphene in a flash to tailor the properties of other 2D materials. The labs of chemist James Tour and materials theorist Boris Yakobson reported in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Nano they have successfully “flashed” bulk amounts of 2D dichalcogenides, changing them from semiconductors to metallics. These materials are valuable for electronics, catalysis and as […]