Soldiers might soon have lighter, slimmer, and more flexible armor that lets them move more easily but still protects them from bullets and shrapnel. Dubbed liquid armor by its developers at BAE Systems, the new protective material incorporates shear thickening fluid (STF) and Kevlar. The liquid is a proprietary mix of nano-particles, possibly silica or sand, suspended in a non-evaporating fluid like polyethylene glycol. STF, a non-Newtonian fluid, stiffens milliseconds after it is struck.
The Navy’s newest destroyer, the DDG 1000 or Zumwalt-class warship, will carry two Advanced Gun Systems (AGS). The 155-mm weapon, a joint development of BAE Systems and General Dynamics, uses the world’s largest fully-automated ammunition magazine for reloading. To make both the gun and magazine work together, engineers installed more than 40 linear actuators into each weapon system.
Data-matrix codes in industrial environments are quite common. Their small size, large data capacity, and readability when large segments of the symbol have been lost or destroyed provide secure and reliable performance in the areas of production, identification, inventory, sorting and other areas.
When an engineer-inventor came up with an idea for a low-cost, hobby-grade CNC milling machine, he devoted his spare time and tight budget to making it a reality. To help support this endeavor, Jeff Kerr, owner of PIC-Servo Motion Control in Bellingham, Wash., used the online service ZoomRP.com to make a prototype of the machine’s spindle-motor chassis using the PolyJet rapid-prototyping (RP) method.
The QPhase family of encoders incorporate a patented sensor, resulting in high resolution, increased frequency response, and reliability despite temperatures from 0 to 120°C.
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