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Building a large interactive exhibit took insight, innovation, and the perfect systems to get it right. Volcanoes Explode on Interactive Table Exhibit Building a large interactive exhibit took insight, innovation, and the perfect systems to get it right. Edited by EE Staff Museums Sep 12, 2025 Ideum recently completed an interactive exhibit for the Volcano Discovery Center located inside the Valles Caldera National Preserve. For 1.25 million years, Valles Caldera has been shaped by dramatic geological events, thriving ecosystems, and a rich tapestry of human history. These stories unfold across the 89,000-acre landscape and span vast stretches of time. To represent this significant landscape, Ideum, in collaboration with the National Park Service, created a 12-foot topographic relief map as a canvas for this rich history to be projected upon. Immersive Technologies Suspended above the map, a 4K projector brings the table to life with projection-mapped sequences that engage multiple visitors at once. Synchronized RGB lighting washes over the walls in colors, while a 6.1 surround sound system with a 15-inch subwoofer creates a dynamic audioscape that can be felt. The show control system ties into motorized roller shades that darken the room every hour for the signature volcanic eruption sequence, transforming the exhibit hall into a fully immersive, cinematic environment. All photos courtesy of Ideum. Interactive Touch Screen Displays While the large map table captivates groups, the experience is designed for multiuser interaction. Four Ideum-built 34-inch 5K UltraWide Presenter touch screen displays surround the perimeter of the table, giving multiple visitors simultaneous control of the projected animations. Each station offers games and activities tied to one of four themes: Cultural History: Traces human activity from archaic-period settlers to the present day, developed in collaboration with 38 tribes and pueblos to honor their enduring cultural connections to the Caldera. Geology: Features a scrubbable geologic timeline where guests can witness the Caldera’s primary eruption 1.2 million years ago, along with the formation of lakes, lava domes, and other dramatic landscape changes. Ecology: The exhibit’s most extensive library of animations allows users to visualize wildlife migration patterns, plant communities, watersheds, and wildfire impacts across the preserve. Scientific Discovery: Explores the scientific research that has occurred in the region, including paleomagnetics, geothermal research, and seismic monitoring efforts. Exhibit Design and Fabrication The Ideum team starts work on a project with an exhibit design phase where they collaborate closely with the customer to design an immersive digital experience that will be engaging for visitors of all ages. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) data provided by the National Park Service, the Ideum exhibit fabrication team created the true-to-life scaled model of the Valles Caldera landscape. The CNC topographic relief map model, exhibit base, and screen mounts were created entirely in-house. The floating screen mounts were a particularly fun engineering challenge—the end result being a low-profile hidden mount meant to fade away into the table. The mount is tied off to the center ring of the exhibit, allowing for structural rigidity and strength even under the weight of visitors leaning or hanging on the screen. All photos courtesy of Ideum. The topographic relief map, spanning 12-feet in diameter, was fabricated in sections using 3D milling operations on a CNC machine. The map surface was machine-milled from high-density foam, then coated with epoxy for durability and finished with projection-enhancing paint. This hard-wearing surface is easy to clean and resistant to damage. The pieces were trimmed to the outer diameter of the circle and glued together. The map was then cut apart into five organic shapes that follow the natural landscapes of the Valles Caldera. Once on site, the map was seamed together with silicone and repainted. The table’s substructure, built from steel and wooden joists, is clad in Staron and Nevamar Armored Protection, creating an ultra-durable piece designed to endure the heavy use of public spaces while maintaining a refined appearance. Beyond the Exhibit Hall Since the newly branded Volcano Discovery Center sits more than a mile from the park’s main entrance, Ideum and the NPS created a way to draw visitors into the new interactive exhibit hall. At the Welcome Station, a 65-inch Ideum Presenter is programmed to be a Digital Docent providing maps, FAQs, and other day planning tools. Most notably, it includes a countdown clock inviting guests to witness the “volcanic eruption” of the table every hour, a feature drawn from the visitor anticipation that surrounds Yellowstone’s Old Faithful geyser. For more information: Ideum Ideum Presenter Displays Innovative Design Valles Caldera National Park Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

An innovative approach to teaching music brings music education and technology together.  Violins Too Expensive? School Superintendent Turns to 3D Printing An innovative approach to teaching music brings music education and technology together. Joe Gillard Cool Stuff Sep 23, 2025 Here’s a story at the intersection of entertainment and engineering that will tug on your heart strings, so to speak. A school superintendent in Pennsylvania, Laura Jacob, noticed that students from low-income families had difficulty purchasing violins for music, and came up with a solution inspired by something she had heard of an orchestra doing: 3D-printing instruments. In the past five years, Jacob has 3D-printed 200 violins that are free for students in a school where 70% of them are low income. Violins can be very expensive, even relative to other instruments. It can cost hundreds in rental fees for the families of students, if they want their child to have the opportunity to learn violin in school. Jacob started out with two 3D printers. She now says she has 34 of them, and students can learn to use the machines, too. “I’m not a computer scientist or an engineer by any means, but after a variety of failures, I found one that actually printed and it sounded good,” Jacob told CBS News. The violins are made from a template created by a company called Hova Labs. Beyond that, Jacob used real violin strings, a few additional wooden parts, and then added modified guitar pegs. Hova Labs violin template for 3D printers The whole process takes about three days to finish a violin. If the instrument breaks (probably a strong possibility with schoolchildren), they can easily be fixed. As a fun added benefit, the 3D-printed violins can be made in different colors, which might make the instrument more interesting for kids. Prusa 3D Printers The Prusa XL 3D printers are designed for precision. According the company website, “the precision tolerance of a well-assembled Original Prusa printer is 0,1 mm on the Z-axis and 0,3 mm on X and Y.” And the company says that calibrations can be done to further improve the result. “It can be as little as 0,05 mm on all axes, after making additional calibrations such as the Extrusion multiplier calibration and Extruder linearity correction.” Prusa XL 3D printer The magnetic heatbed can hold a two-sided flexible spring-steel sheet, for removal of printed objects from the print surface, according to the product page for the Prusa XL. There are six varieties of sheets for the Prusa XL: smooth, powder-coated textured, PA Nylon, PP, and HighTemp, all of which serve a specific type of 3D-print job. For information: Hova Labs: https://www.hovalabs.com/ Prusa Research https://www.prusa3d.com/ CBS Interview with Laura Jacob: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pennsylvania-school-3d-printers-violins/ Cover photo: u_l5sf233ead , Pixabay Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

Designed to operate in various environments where human-machine interaction is essential, this humanoid robot provides versatility, intelligence, and is fully modular. Reachy the Open-Source Robot is Designed for Research and Industry Designed to operate in various environments where human-machine interaction is essential, this humanoid robot provides versatility, intelligence, and is fully modular. Edited by EE Staff Cool Stuff Jan 6, 2026 Reachy 2, from Pollen Robotics, was designed to adapt to a wide variety of uses and allows users to choose from several configurations. Its natural expressions and gestures make it an intuitive and engaging robot, capable of integrating into social environments. The robot’s fluidity is based on the company’s key innovation, Orbita, the bio-inspired joint system. The Orbita 3D is mounted to the robot as the wrists and neck, allowing harmonious and smooth movements with a wide range thanks to its three degrees of freedom. Similarly, the Orbita 2D, integrated into the elbows and shoulders, articulates via two degrees of freedom. The Orbita 2D is design to support loads of up to 3 kg. Image courtesy of Pollen Robotics. Reachy 2 is equipped with a Python SDK and is based on ROS2, offering researchers and developers an open and flexible programming environment. According to Elsa Kervella, Sales and Marketing Director at Pollen Robotics, “We designed Reachy as a platform: researchers can integrate their own algorithms, and developers can enrich the software.” Reachy even includes a teleoperation feature—remote control—opening up additional prospects for difficult-to-access environments or those requiring great precision. With a virtual reality headset, an operator can control the robot's movements in real-time as well as teach it new movements. This learning capability allows Reachy to reproduce learned gestures autonomously. Image courtesy of Pollen Robotics. The open-source approach is a central pillar of Pollen Robotics' identity. By making Reachy's plans and resources public, the company offers the global community an opportunity to customize and enrich the platform. This choice promotes collective innovation, aligned with the goal of democratizing access to useful robotics. "This not only allows our customers to adapt Reachy to their needs but also a global community to advance the technology, " said Kervella. Reachy was designed to appeal to both the academic world and industrial world. In prestigious institutions like EPFL or Cornell University, it is used to explore human-robot interaction and machine learning, pushing the limits of artificial intelligence in real conditions. In industry, its modularity allows it to adapt to complex environments, whether for cobotic tasks or specific simulations. When Pollen Robotics sought to push Reachy's limits, the company found a solid partner in maxon. The two teams closely collaborated to meet a challenge: adapting the components to demanding environments while respecting the robot's design and modularity constraints. Integrating the motors into the Orbita joints was a challenge as it was necessary to reconcile performance, compactness, and reliability while respecting Reachy's humanoid design. maxon met this challenge with a series of integrations including different motors, gearmotors, and sensors. For example, the maxon EC-45 flat motor featured an optimized winding design and powerful magnets. Its efficient heat dissipation enabled continuous operation at high performance levels while its flat design facilitated integration in confined spaces. The MILE inductive encoder was the perfect complement to the flat motors, offering high resolution and precision. The inverted-signal encoder was extremely resistant to magnetic and electric fields, as well as to dirt. It was directly integrated into the motor. GPX32 gearboxes offered over 90% efficiencies to ensure smooth and efficient movements. Their robustness ensured reliable handling, even under demanding conditions. From left to right: EC flat, ECX torque, GPX gearhead. Images courtesy of maxon. Additional components included maxon’s ECX22torque motors and GPX22C gearboxes. Compact and powerful the motors provided exceptional torque densities for precise motion, while their iron-core windings and multipolar design guaranteed the optimum energy efficiency necessary for dynamic, real-time movements. The gearboxes delivered exceptional power transmission, and their modular design made it possible to create customized solutions for customers. According to Kevin Schwartz, Sales Engineer at maxon, “The compactness and performance of the motors were essential to respect Reachy's humanoid design while increasing its load capacity.” Overall, the integration of maxon solutions has pushed the limits of Reachy, making it a platform as powerful as it is modular. Lead image courtesy of Pollen Robotics. For information: Pollen Robotics maxon Flat motors Gearboxes Sensors Read more about robots >>> Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

Rushed and dangerous scenarios require equipment that's safe and reliable. Here's how the aerial ladders on firetrucks just got safer. Fire Trucks Get a Ladder Safety Upgrade Rushed and dangerous scenarios require equipment that's safe and reliable. Here's how the aerial ladders on firetrucks just got safer. Edited by EE Staff Cool Stuff Nov 17, 2025 Amity Fire & Safety serves the Fire & Equipment industry by producing swivels, telescopic waterways, weldments, machined parts, and pins for extremely demanding applications. Their international customer base includes industry giants such as KME (Kovatch Mobile Equipment), Pierce Manufacturing, and Rosenbauer. Amity’s customers manufacture the fire trucks that are seen at local fire departments around the world. KME custom manufactures the broadest family of aerials in the fire service and incorporates IQAN E-Control™ (motion control system) in their trucks to ensure a high level of safety. Ladder base swivels allow for rotation of the aerial ladder while acting as a pass-through for water and continuous hydraulic and electrical circuits. The position of the aerial ladder on a fire truck needs to be monitored to reduce risk of injury and damage to equipment. Although Amity used limit switches to monitor whether the ladder was within certain degrees of rotation, the proximity switches still couldn’t monitor the accurate position of the ladder within that range. Safety swivel side and top view. Images courtesy of Advanced Micro Controls, KME, and Amity Fire & Safety. Without knowing the absolute position of the aerial ladder, damage or injury can occur in several ways. Trucks could tip over when the ladder’s range of movement is exceeded. This could happen during a short jacking operation where a narrow jack spread is used to avoid obstacles such as parked cars. Damage can also occur when bringing the ladder to cradle position. When the ladder is brought back into the resting (cradle) position, misalignments can damage the cradle ears. On mid-mount ladders, pump panel damage can occur when the aerial ladder is brought below grade (too far down). Outrigger jacks fully extended. Images courtesy of Advanced Micro Controls, KME, and Amity Fire & Safety. Accurate Positioning By using an absolute analog DuraCoder®, Amity is able to acquire the accurate feedback they need. The DuraCoder recognizes where the ladder is within the 0–360 degree revolution without guesswork. When the ladder is at a low angle, the operator is now capable of automatically stopping rotation at a pre-set point known to eliminate risk of damage to the body of the truck and injury to firefighters during a rescue operation. When KME upgraded to their Parker IQAN™ (motion control system), they realized that the grey scale encoder they had initially specified would no longer meet their voltage output requirements. Additionally, an excessive amount of mathematical programming was required with the grey scale encoder; and together, Amity and KME set out to find a more efficient solution. “If we want to be successful, we have to get to that next level.” DuraCode® absolute encoder. Images courtesy of Advanced Micro Controls, KME, and Amity Fire & Safety. Signal Changes After reviewing all of their options, KME contacted Amity with the solution: an AMCI DuraCoder with integrated cable. The DuraCoder’s analog output signal eliminated much of the mathematical programming that was necessary with the grey code encoder. With the integrated cable, KME no longer needed to produce their own cable, simplifying wiring and installation, and ensuring the IP67 sealed rating. The DuraCoder is installed in an area of the truck that is exposed to water mist during firefighting, high pressure wash downs, and airborne contaminants from smoke and ash. AMCI’s DuraCoders are designed to provide consistent reliable feedback while preventing water and contaminant ingress. With the DuraCoder, KME’s IQAN “E-Zone™ system stops rotation or elevation of the ladder when the operator attempts to position the ladder in a pre-defined zone (cab avoidance, body avoidance, and short jack operation). This eliminates the possibility of cab or body damage and makes operation of the device on the short jack side of the vehicle safer, according to the KME product brochure. Amity’s concerns when selecting an encoder included its ability to withstand heavy shock and vibration caused by the truck’s engine, onboard generators, and road vibration. The DuraCoder is resolver based, meaning that it was designed to provide absolute position feedback without plastic disks or magnetic components, enabling it to withstand high levels of shock and vibration. Amity Swivel with AMCI DuraCoder. Images courtesy of Advanced Micro Controls, KME, and Amity Fire & Safety. The optional 5/8-inch stainless steel shaft boasts exceptional shaft loading, and the high shock and vibration rating provides reliability where most sensors fail. The IP67 rated product line comes standard with either a ¼-, 3/8-, or 5/8-inch stainless steel shaft and an oversized double row sealed bearing. Additionally, DuraCoder brand encoders are available in six different versions, including SSI, Digital, Analog, Incremental, DeviceNet, and Ethernet/IP. Amity was able to change out the original optical encoder for the AMCI DuraCoder quickly and easily. The units’ industry-standard mounting pattern made it easy to replace the existing encoders. While the standard lead time for the AMCI DuraCoder is three weeks or less, Amity could not wait that long. Because AMCI designs and manufactures their products in-house, they were able to expedite the process, sending the full shipment out within a few days. After an easy installation, Amity’s swivels were ready to be sent off to KME. For more information: Advanced Micro Controls Absolute DuraCoder Amity Fire & Safety Kovatch Mobile Equipment Read more about cars and trucks >>> Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

A student team gained valuable STEM experience by developing an underwater remote operated vehicle using commercially available industrial-grade components. Industrial Devices Used in STEM Project A student team gained valuable STEM experience by developing an underwater remote operated vehicle using commercially available industrial-grade components. Geoff Gardener, North Paulding High School Cool Stuff Jul 9, 2025 Exploration of both the deep sea and of outer space share a lot in common. Both are extremely unforgiving environments where it is very expensive to create manned vehicles to carry out missions. As automation has become more capable, robotics and unmanned remote operated vehicles (ROVs) are used to execute much of this work. Underwater ROVs operate in challenging environments, which means that industrial-grade automation products are a natural fit to support these designs. Also from EE: Escape Room Experience Uses Automation Tools Although, ROVs are controlled remotely by human operators, most have some degree of on-board automation, combining mechanical, automation, and other skillsets. To develop young talent to support this field, Monterey Peninsula College—via a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation—has established a program called the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center. MATE promotes marine engineering by inspiring and challenging students to learn and creatively apply STEM skills for solving real-world problems. Part of the program is the MATE ROV Competition, which offers five different contest classes, each based primarily on skill and not strictly by age group. At North Paulding High School in Dallas, GA, a number of students make up the “WhaleTech” team. Some of them have participated up to seven consecutive years, starting in middle school. Each year, the competition organizer publishes challenges and mock mission profiles simulating real-life conditions, with various restrictions. For example: dive to a pipeline simulation at a given depth, strategically remove a “bad” pipe segment, replace it with a new section, and bring the bad portion to the surface. The team builds a ROV to meet those challenges, and along the way they must act and present themselves as a professional company by developing technical documentation, conducting research, and selecting products. Throughout the process, the team must learn and follow safe practices, assemble and test the ROV and subcomponents, and even do a bit of marketing. The Details Many ROVs look a lot like aerial drones, with propellers arranged to provide thrust in various directions. Just as aerial drones use propellers to provide constant lift and control motion, an underwater ROV does the same, but it can also use an additional mechanism to adjust its buoyancy. Cameras and lights are common on ROVs, and many also have robotic arms and manipulators to perform tasks. Many of the monitoring and control needs mirror the types of functionalities needed by industrial automation control systems. AutomationDirect has a long history of supporting student STEM efforts, and this underwater ROV project exemplifies just how important it is for industry to support education. For the 2024 competition, the WhaleTech team needed to develop a well-controlled ROV with an extensible gripper. The buoyancy mechanism, gripper, cameras, propellers, and other components would need to be supported and arranged in a chassis, which meant that some design effort would have to be in parallel and iterative to achieve the functionality and create an integrated form factor. As part of the process, the team used cardboard mockups and 3D printing, and then they created many structural elements cut out from high density polyethylene (HDPE). The buoyancy engine is used to actively alter the buoyancy of the vehicle so the ROV can rise, descend, or stay at a fixed depth (Figure 1). A sealed cylinder compresses the fixed air volume, displacing it with water, which results in changing the overall density of the apparatus. Figure 1: The buoyancy engine consists of a specially modified pneumatic cylinder, driven by a stepper motor and an AutomationDirect SureStep stepper drive, to provide accurate control with minimal power consumption. (Photo courtesy of North Paulding High School.) After selecting an industrial-grade cylinder, the team needed a powerful yet controllable way to actuate the piston portion via a linear screw drive mechanism. After some trial and error, and investigation of technologies readily available from AutomationDirect, the team found that a stepper motor could do the job admirably. A stepper motor can continuously turn in either direction and be commanded in increments as small as 1.8 degrees per step, driven by an AutomationDirect SureStep stepper drive commanded by an Arduino nano. A stepper motor draws no power when idle, it works well within the available power budget, and there is no rebound when the target position is achieved. The buoyancy engine is also outfitted with a pressure sensor used to store depth data into the on-board computer, and a wireless transmitter to communicate this information to the surface computer for a graph display when the ROV surfaces. Similarly, the gripper assembly incorporates an AutomationDirect SureStep rotary stepper motor driving a screw shaft to provide the motion required to extend or retract a mechanism, which in turn opens or closes the gripper (Figure 2). Because this assembly must articulate, it is connected to the controller using a watertight flexible cable. Figure 2: The WhaleTech project team found the right cable assembly for the gripper by researching the AutomationDirect catalog where they found cut-to-length cable solutions that met their technical needs. (Photo courtesy of North Paulding High School.) In previous competitions, the team had experienced issues with umbilical cables—running from the ROV to the surface—that were not flexible enough to allow precise movements in the water, or were insufficiently shielded and therefore susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI). To solve these issues, the team researched cables on the AutomationDirect website and found products with better flexibility and improved resistance to electrical noise. Further, the team occasionally used AutomationDirect’s phone support to iron out details. As a result of their design and execution efforts, the WhaleTech team won first place in the Ranger class of the 2024 MATE ROV Competition. While some members are graduating and moving on to new work and educational endeavors, a new crew will assemble next year and work to build upon their successes. For more information, visit AutomationDirect . Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

A rehabilitation of Atlanta’s historic Fountain of Rings earlier this year included the installation of a new, transformative technology that’s dramatically improved the water feature’s programming capabilities. Fountain Technology Transforms Iconic Water Feature A rehabilitation of Atlanta’s historic Fountain of Rings earlier this year included the installation of a new, transformative technology that’s dramatically improved the water feature’s programming capabilities. Theme Parks Sep 4, 2025 Cool Stuff Built nearly 30 years ago, the enormously popular LED-lighted show-style water feature comprises more than 250 manifold-mounted precision jet nozzles supplied by several large dry pumps. Designed to reflect the iconic interlocking Olympic rings, this choreographed display has become one of Georgia’s most photographed attractions, delighting guests with daily performances of synchronized water, lights, and music. Led by Texas-based fountain design firm The Fountain People, the comprehensive restoration effort included the installation of 256 new display nozzles and an integrated LED ring light fixture for dramatic color-changing effects. The project also added plug-and-play connections and a new water feature show panel with a touchscreen interface that allows operators to select among up to ten choreographed musical fountain shows. Video courtesy of The Fountain People. Further improvements included modernized pump and filtration systems, fog system repairs, and remote access capabilities that give staff greater control over the fountain’s operation. Perhaps the most exciting addition brought by the renovation, however, was the installation of a new fountain valve technology that’s enabled vastly richer nozzle effects and choreographies, thrusting the historic attraction into a new, growing class of elite manifold-based fountains and water features. Until recently, manifold-based water features such as the Fountain of Rings used a water switch, a three-way valve installed at each nozzle that allows on/off nozzle sequencing. The ability to independently control spray height for each nozzle, however, has always required a distributed pump architecture where each nozzle is controlled by its own VFD-driven effect pump. This approach required extensive submerged electrical infrastructure but allowed for show flexibility where programmers could provide complex effects such as waves, variable height chase scenes, and more. Now, this same level of control is available among manifold-based water features. The Robotic Water Switch Developed by Texas-based aquatic robotics company SplashBotix, the SplashValve is a single-axis, fast-acting robotic valve that uses a specially shaped diverter to bring proportional nozzle height control to manifold-based water features for the first time. The Fountain People’s restoration effort marks one of the first and largest uses of the new technology, representing a new standard in manifold-based water feature design and programming. SplashValves are three-way valves installed at the nozzle, designed to divert incoming water to effect or bypass. Unlike water switches, however, SplashValves can also divert water to varying proportions of effect and bypass, enabling both on/off and spray height control. Capable of cycling up to four times per second, SplashValves marry the speed and on/off action of a conventional water switch with the height control flexibility of a VFD-driven effect pump. Image courtesy of The Fountain People. SplashBotix is a division of ARM Automation, an industrial robotics and automation firm with more than 30 years of experience developing high-performance motion systems for semiconductor, aerospace, and factory automation. Unlike other technical suppliers in its industry, SplashBotix takes much of its design and engineering inspiration from the world of industrial automation. For this reason, the story of SplashBotix and the SplashValve challenges assumptions about where advanced robotics and automation principles can provide value—not just on factory floors, but in public and municipal spaces as well. Design Features The secret behind the SplashValve’s advanced flow control capabilities lies in its clever electro-mechanical design. Rather than using a pilot switch to control the flow of water, the SplashValve uses a specially designed, servo-actuated diverter. Set inside the SplashValve’s bore, the diverter rotates 90-degrees between effect and bypass, incrementally changing the nozzle spray height as it shifts its position. Fully enclosed, the SplashValve’s servo motor transmits motion to the diverter through magnetic actuation, a clever static-seal design that makes the SplashValve virtually leak-proof. Image courtesy of SplashBotix. Composed mainly of 316 stainless steel and a proprietary blend of wear- and chemical-resistant plastics, the SplashValve also offers advantages over competing solutions when it comes to maintenance and durability. Effectively a one-inch diameter pipe when the diverter position is at full effect, the SplashValve allows most fountain debris to pass right through to the nozzle, making screen filters largely unnecessary. When clogs do occur, SplashBotix has made the diverter easily accessible for maintenance personnel, who can remove the diverter from the magnetic coupling, clean the valve and return the diverter back to the SplashValve all in less than a minute. From a fountain engineering and design perspective, the SplashValve represents a major paradigm shift. By bringing proportional control to manifold-based systems, the SplashValve is enabling designers to deliver world-class shows without the cost, complexity and power requirements of installing hundreds of VFD pumps. For municipalities like Atlanta and other stakeholders, this means richer experiences for guests, safer public amenities, and less frequent, less costly maintenance. For more information: SplashBotix ARM Automation The Fountain People Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

Unique cooling solution is optimized to provide cooling for an electric Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft capable of traveling flight distances of 1,000 km. Electric VTOL Aircraft Unique cooling solution is optimized to provide cooling for an electric Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft capable of traveling flight distances of 1,000 km. Terry Persun Cool Stuff Jun 10, 2025 Conflux Technology designs, engineers, and produces additive manufactured heat exchangers for a variety of thermal challenges in multiple industries. Recently, they unveiled a collaboration with AMSL Aero, an Australian aircraft manufacturer involved in building the world’s most efficient long-range zero emissions electrical VTOL aircraft. Also from EE: Electric Race Car Uses 3D-Printed Components Under the first phase of the project to develop hydrogen fuel cell cooling for AMSL Aero’s Vertiia VTOL aircraft, Conflux developed three heat exchanger concepts, each focusing on minimizing weight and volume while managing continuous heat loads and reducing drag. The ultimate goal was to enable flight distances of up to 1,000 km. Already at its second phase, the company will optimize the design and manufacture of a full proof-of-concept assembly to evaluate its performance within Vertiia’s hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. According to Michael Fuller, CEO & Founder of Conflux Technology, ““Hydrogen fuel cells represent a transformative technology in Australia’s pursuit of sustainable energy solutions. We are proud to incorporate our heat exchange technology to enhance the efficiency and performance of Vertiia’s hydrogen fuel cells. Together, we’re advancing innovation in creating world-leading sustainable air transport.” The Conflux cooling solution will be optimized to provide cooling for high transient heat loads experienced during vertical take-off, landing, and hover operations. Weight, performance and packaging size are key constraints for aeronautical hydrogen powertrains. Geometrical freedoms granted by additive manufacturing means heat exchangers for these systems can be lightweight and conform to the space available. Conflux’s unique thin-walled, patented designs deliver thermal performance and low drag. Photo: A closeup of Conflux Fins AMSL Aero chairman Chris Smallhorn said: “In Vertiia we are building a hydrogen-electric aircraft that flies record-breaking distances at Formula 1 speeds, making Conflux Technology, with its storied history of innovation in motorsport and aviation, the perfect partner for us. Conflux’s AS9100D manufacturing and quality certification is critical in enabling Vertiia to become the world’s first long-range passenger-capable hydrogen VTOL.” Working together, the companies are pioneering a future where clean energy and cutting-edge engineering drive the aviation industry toward a greener and more sustainable future. This engagement further expands Conflux’s presence in aerospace applications, leveraging additive manufacturing to develop high-performance heat exchangers for next-generation aviation. Applications now extend across propulsion system cooling, transmission and gearbox cooling, environmental and avionics cooling, and power electronics cooling. As the demand for sustainable solutions accelerates, additive manufacturing is setting new performance benchmarks, delivering advanced thermal management solutions that conventional methods cannot achieve. Watch: News video of the Vertiia For more information: Conflux Technology AMSL Aero Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

Live production and signage workflow incorporates live social content into lively display screens Social Media Engages Recreational Crowd Live production and signage workflow incorporates live social content into lively display screens Brian Galante Sports Jun 4, 2025 The rallying cry of “Attention all sand addicts, duners, and dirtheads” resonated loud and clear in the YouTube event announcement for Polaris Camp RZR, one of the biggest dune gatherings of the year. It was the first serve in a social media volley that amplified the fan experience throughout the three-day recreation event. The annual event celebrates the sport and the machines, taking place at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area near Glamis, California. The location is roughly two hours east of San Diego in a region considered the Mecca of North American sand dune recreation. The reputation of the event and the region was enough to draw thousands of enthusiasts this year, driving everything from backyard quads to full-blown desert racers. Overnight, attendees transformed Glamis Beach into a massive campsite as the event prepared to open on Halloween day. Those preparations included the installation of three video walls and a fully loaded digital production facility. Alpha Sports TV, experts in delivering specialized broadcast content for sports and live events, provided the production front-end and handled content creation and delivery. This included playout of sponsor advertisements and more than 30 special features, as well as live content captured on a roving, wireless Sony HXC100 camera with embedded audio. “A lot of what we did involved processing literally terabytes of media files, primarily video, from many different sources,” said Andrew Allan, president of Alpha Sports TV. “We made sure that the high-quality content we processed was rendered in equally high quality with no artifacts, even though outdoor video walls are quite tolerant of high compression. We needed to make sure all the content, whether from an outside source or acquired live on-site, ultimately looked the same in terms of aspect ratio and overall quality.” Allan points out that many production companies can handle this, but Alpha Sports TV, with its history in Olympic Games and other high-profile events, was brought in for its expertise in integrating graphics, video, and data into live broadcasts and events. This was especially important for the social media aspect, which proved to be a major attraction and source of engagement for attendees. The social media gateway was opened courtesy of software from Bannister Lake, a graphics and broadcast automation specialist. Allan integrated Bannister Lake’s TweetOut and TweetOut Nano products into the workflow to keep screen content refreshed and dynamic. Allan ran TweetOut on the Ross Video XPression Studio platform, creating Twitter and Facebook routines for several different graphics layouts including insertion over the prerecorded Polaris features. This included full-page and lower-third layouts, the former of which could take advantage of TweetOut’s inline photo support. This means that the full-page graphics space was mostly reserved specifically for photos taken by attendees with their “feet on the ground.” Those photos were stored in the Flow database along with tweets and other data content, and made available for output into the lower-third layouts. Room to Spread The TweetOut Nano solution essentially offers users a compact form factor for integrating social media content into live broadcasts – especially ideal for temporary facilities where rack space is limited. Allan likens its size to “a few decks of cards,” noting that it’s very quick, reliable, and networkable. “We can conceivably have several different ‘content moderation clients’ networked into the switch, all providing their own social media contributions to the stream,” said Allan. At the Polaris event, the TweetOut software constantly polled Twitter and Facebook content based on search parameters, including several different hashtags provided by Polaris. The production team regularly received hits based on those hashtags. A built-in interface allowed for downstream editing of content that was raw or inappropriate. From there, the content went straight into XPression. That flexibility to moderate streams with simplicity also meant that Allan could focus on higher-end production aspects, including live camera feed monitoring and on-the-fly graphics creation. “I like to have all these different components broken out into modular functionalities, which is why we have TweetOut Nano dedicated to managing the raw data,” said Allan. “That way when there is someone on site who can help, we can put them in front of the Nano box to moderate the content. Everything that comes from the Nano into my Ross XPression has been pre-moderated. That relieves me from having to keep my eye on four different machines.” Flow Motion The complete workflow included transcoding tools from Handbrake and Adobe for format conversion, and a temporary site-wide satellite broadband solution for local WiFi device connections so that attendees and participants could engage and connect via social media. The combined output of video, graphics and social media was ultimately output through a Ross Carbonite switcher, which, along with the videowalls, Sony camera and RF hardware – including six antennae spread around the site for camera feed transmission – was provided under a contract with Screenworks. The broadband link was partitioned for private and public use. This ensured that Alpha Sports TV wouldn’t lose its slice of the bandwidth if attendees swamped the network. “Nano doesn’t require much bandwidth at all – it’s purely XML data, and as such doesn’t cause any bottlenecking in terms of data throughput,” said Allan. “It was essentially an input into the Carbonite switcher, networked with one of the laptops running XPression. We used a third laptop for standalone Xpression graphics, which were basically content layouts built in advance so we could quickly post updated event schedules.” Elsewhere, Allan notes that aspect ratio was an interesting challenge. All video content was delivered to Alpha Sports TV in HD 16:9, while the main giant screen was SD 4:3. To compensate, videos were formatted for HD and letterboxed to the screen to avoid loss of content. The screen's huge size allowed the letterboxing to be an acceptable compromise. Ultimately, turning the typical event production into a “SocialTV” experience was an important step. “You can very quickly tell when people catch on to tweets and social media activity on the screens, because the comments quickly increase in quantity,” said Allan. “If you make it clear that you’re looking for photos and things to accompany tweets, it comes fast and furious. That’s really what you want to see out of an event like this, and we had the right tools in place to out as much content as possible.” For more information: Alpha Sports TV Sony HXC100 Camera Bannister Lake (now part of Ross) Handbrake transcoding tools Adobe transcoding tools Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

How this automated bowling system — created for testing bowling balls, lanes, and related equipment — was engineered. EARL the Bowling Robot Can Reproduce Virtually Any Throw How this automated bowling system — created for testing bowling balls, lanes, and related equipment — was engineered. Edited by EE Staff Sports Nov 17, 2025 Games When the U.S. Bowling Congress (USBC), the national governing body for bowling, approached ARM Automation with a request to develop an automated bowling system capable of reproducing virtually any type of throwing style to a high degree of accuracy, the company’s creative wheels started turning. In their quest to build the ultimate testing platform for balls, lanes, and related equipment, the USBC had approached several different machine builders and had evaluated using many off-the-shelf robotic systems to no avail. What had to be done is for the ARM Automation team to break down the many different challenges presented and come up with a solution that met all of the performance criteria—within a strict budget. The team had to consider multiple elements in a bowling test, including different ball masses, ball grip orientations, spin, velocity, release point, and throw vector parameters. Any single bowl requires specification and execution of up to over a dozen variables all interacting at once. The Enhanced Automated Robot Launcher (EARL) is essentially a purpose-built seven-degree-of-freedom robot and tightly calibrated control system that allows for precision motion (± 2mm) and split second (± 1ms) timing accuracy. That’s what was ultimately required of the system to provide throwing a bowling ball at speeds up to 25 miles per hour time after time for test after test. All images courtesy of ARM Automation. Some of the key attributes of EARL include high robot tip speeds, high precision motion, fast spin speeds of unbalanced balls, and a simple touch-panel setup with flexible programmability. EARL is built for portability and rigidity. It’s mounted on air bearings, which double as vacuum chucks to secure the frame while throwing the ball. One of the key challenges of the project was the development of a suitable combination ball gripper/spindle/release mechanism. Each ball must be captured in a user-defined grip orientation (gripper spin axis relative to the ball’s rotationally non-homogenous coordinate frame) and clamped with significant pressure despite small variances in allowable ball size. To achieve required ball spin speeds of up to 900 rpm, a spindle motor system was incorporated into the scissor like gripper apparatus. Finally, in order to achieve precise release points while traveling at maximum arm speed, the gripper mechanism needed to open in a manner that imparted no adverse motion to the ball’s instantaneous trajectory and needed to do so in a very tight window of time, ±1 millisecond. This free-release grip solution required that the clamp forces on the ball be almost instantaneously reversed. To achieve this function, the ARM team of designers created a reversible scissor mechanism which once set closed was held in place by a multi-stage hair trigger release. Once set, the clamping cylinder loading was reversed, which attempted to open the mechanism. This allowed a fast-acting solenoid—combined with an accurate look-ahead control scheme—to release the spindle jaws at precisely the right moment and see that they swung wide and clear of the departing ball. EARL’s capabilities were so repeatable that it limited its own ability to bowl a perfect game. During an initial competition against a top professional bowler, EARL’s programmed perfect throw rubbed a dry streak on the oiled lane, which resulted in a progressively decreasing score. Tom Frenzel, USBC Senior Director of Equipment Specifications said, “Something I say about E.A.R.L. when I showcase him is: Due to the range of release variables E.A.R.L. can be adjusted with, it gives us a bowler for our research that can emulate any bowling style from the standard league bowler hobbyist all the way up to the top-level professionals by just pushing a few buttons. That allows us to study how our equipment specifications affect all levels of the sport.” Bonus video of EARL playing against Chris Barnes, 2007–2008 PBA Bowler of the Year: For more information, visit ARM Automation . Read more articles about creative technology in sports >>> Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

As differentiating features of automobiles are increasingly defined by software, OEMs are transforming their development processes from hardware- and component-centric to software-centric approaches. Complete Automotive Design Through Virtual Prototyping As differentiating features of automobiles are increasingly defined by software, OEMs are transforming their development processes from hardware- and component-centric to software-centric approaches. Gunnar Braun, Technical Product Manager, Synopsys and Stewart Williams, Segment Mamagement Director, Synopsys Cool Stuff Jul 29, 2025 In the race to develop software-defined vehicles (SDVs), automotive manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers are facing pressure from all angles. With vehicular codebases often exceeding those of commercial aircraft, OEMs must wrangle enormous complexity while shortening developing cycles. In addition, companies must deliver frequent software updates throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle, which continually assures quality, safety, security, and reliability. Further, cost pressures are enormous. These challenges demand faster, more rigorous software development, testing, and validation. While traditional hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) testing rigs are still a mainstay for system validation, their expense, latency, and inflexibility are increasingly at odds with the agility required by today’s automotive software development practices. To enable earlier and more efficient software testing and validation, the industry is adopting cloud-based development practices and the use of virtual prototypes. Cloud-native development Automotive software is simultaneously becoming more expensive and central to a car’s identity. Infotainment, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), traction control, and even powertrain management are all shaped by lines of code. The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the push toward fully autonomous transport have further increased the role and importance of automotive software. The shift from hardware-centric to software-centric vehicles means that OEMs and suppliers must rethink their development models. The IT industry pioneered cloud-native development approaches, leading to web applications and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions that are quickly delivered and continuously updated. These approaches involve incremental development and a strong emphasis on automation. DevOps practices further bridged the gap between the software development process and its operational deployment environment. Thanks to technologies such as containerization, testing cycles are now performed and automated in a production-simulated environment. This is one of the key challenges for OEMs and suppliers adopting cloud-native methods for SDV development: The replication of the operating environment — the vehicle — when developing and testing software. While the cloud provides virtually unlimited compute and collaboration resources, physical hardware—the ultimate destination for automotive software—often lags behind in availability. Teams often wait months for electronic control units (ECUs) to be ready for initial testing and validation. If hardware revisions are required, it extends the waiting period before OEMs and their suppliers can fully test their software at scale. All photos courtesy of Synopsys. Virtual prototypes accelerate automotive software development Virtual prototypes are models of target hardware that are used for software development, testing, and validation — before the hardware is available. Referred to as electronics digital twins (eDTs), these virtual prototypes simulate the behavior of automotive compute platforms; enable continuous software testing, integration, and delivery (CI/CD); and minimize the reliance on hardware and eliminate associated delays. Virtual platforms are used throughout the embedded software industry for starting software development before hardware is available, which results in a significant time-to-market advantage. A notable example is the open-source community’s use of QEMU, an emulator that allows open-source software stacks to leverage cutting-edge Arm CPU features well before the corresponding hardware is available. But traditional emulation-based tools were never designed for the complexity of modern automotive processors, such as Arm’s Cortex-A720AE, or the runtime demands of continuous, cloud-based software development. With Synopsys’s introduction of Virtualizer Native Execution, they are addressing these limitations and enabling Arm embedded software to be executed directly on Arm server CPUs—in the cloud, with no emulation or hardware required. This means developers can run workloads at the speed of the eventual hardware, roughly 100x faster than traditional instruction set simulators, while retaining the benefits of virtual prototypes and full compatibility with the existing ecosystem of models, tools, and workflows. Here are some of the technical and operational impacts: Software teams can validate complex system-level behaviors early and often, reducing the dependency on HiL rigs during the development cycle. With architecture parity between cloud and vehicle CPU (via Arm’s instruction set), developers can use the same development tools to significantly reduce workflow complexity. Native execution on Arm-based cloud instances, such as AWS Graviton servers, enables continuous DevOps and CI/CD pipelines, with virtual prototypes providing the critical link between development and operational environments. Leveraging the SOAFEE reference architecture An essential part of this puzzle is the SOAFEE (Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge) initiative. Led by Arm and other industry stakeholders, SOAFEE provides a standardized framework and reference architecture—based on the principles of modularity and orchestration—for SDV workloads. By adhering to common standards like SOAFEE, the ecosystem of automotive OEMs, suppliers, and technology leaders can increase interoperability and reduce vendor lock-in. All photos courtesy of Synopsys. At Embedded World 2025, while in collaboration with Arm, Synopsys demonstrated how virtual prototypes, SOAFEE reference architecture, and cloud-to-edge software development come together: Leveraging Synopsys Virtualizer Native Execution in an AWS cloud environment, the demonstration featured an open-source autonomous driving workload running on top of the SOAFEE edge reference stack. Executed at real-time speed, the virtual prototype was approximately 100x faster than a comparable QEMU-based simulation. The demonstration showed how virtual prototypes replicate the structure of an edge device with sufficient granularity to validate real-world functionality and software behavior, while remaining scalable and shareable across teams and geographies. While the technical underpinnings are compelling, the business value of virtual prototypes and cloud-native development is just as important. Cloud-based workflows are becoming a prerequisite for meeting time-to-market expectations in a world where vehicle features are continuously updated via over-the-air (OTA) software pushes. Synopsys’s collaboration with Arm and other SOAFEE partners is ongoing, and forthcoming advances to Virtualizer Native Execution will enable more complex scenarios and system-level parity. This includes better support for real-time behavior, safety domains, and full-vehicle E/E system integration. In the meantime, the automotive industry has a powerful foundation on which to build. For more information: Synopsys Home Synopsys Virtualizer Native Execution release Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

The most powerful standalone telescope in the world uses modern miniature drives commonly used in industrial automation World's Largest Binoculars Allow Astronomers to Achieve Sharper Images The most powerful standalone telescope in the world uses modern miniature drives commonly used in industrial automation Edited by EE Staff Cool Stuff Nov 3, 2025 Astronomers are particularly interested in setting sights on distant galactic systems, young double stars, and newborn suns. A definitive way to proceed with such goals includes the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) located on Mount Graham in Arizona. The telescope has a height of over 20 meters and weighs over 600 tons and is the shape of an outsized pair of binoculars. The LBT’s two reflectors each have a diameter of 8.4 meters, and together they make up an approximately 100 sq. meter dish for collecting light. In this way it can even collect the radiation from weakly illuminated objects at the limits of the universe being observed. The interaction of the two reflectors mounted 14.4 meters apart provides the telescope with a resolution that would correspond to that of a pair of binoculars having a diameter of 23 meters. Each reflector resembles a giant "honeycomb" made from borosilicate glass and weighs 15.6 ton. All photos courtesy of Faulhaber. The design of the telescope and its integrated optical systems provides scientists with a high level of flexibility when making their observations. That way they can use each of the reflectors independently of one another to view the same object, but also study different objects by tilting the viewing axes slightly or use both reflectors to observe the same object at maximum resolution. In order to achieve the unusually high definition, the rays of light reflected by each reflector are superimposed—brought to a state of interference. Consequently, the resolution is nearly ten times better than with conventional standalone telescopes. However, the requirement that has to be met to ensure the LBT works smoothly is that individual components made in the three partner countries—the US, Italy, and Germany—interact perfectly and under adverse conditions. After all, Mount Graham is approximately 3,300 meters high. The climate is characterized by temperatures below freezing, humidity of up to 90%, and extreme temperature fluctuations. Positioning unit for interference generation If a high-resolution image is to be created by the generation of interference, the optical assemblies attached to the two reflectors for bundling and superimposing the reflected light have to be positioned with an accuracy of 5 µm. For this purpose, the Feinmess company in Dresden (Germany) developed a three-axis positioning system that moves the appropriate optical system on the two reflectors of the LBT into the correct position. Horizontally, distances of up to 200mm have to be covered (longitudinal positioning), and vertically, for focusing purposes, there are distances of up to 50mm. At the same time the optical assembly has to be rotated through an angle of up to 36 degrees. In order to ensure the required positioning accuracy, the system has to operate with as little play as possible. That is why great importance is accorded to the drives on the spindles. In this case, the drive solutions included traditional bell-type armature motors with coreless rotor coil from FAULHABER. The small DC drives operate reliably even under hostile ambient conditions such as ambient temperatures between -30°C and +125°C. The devices are not affected by a high level of humidity (up to 98%) when specified appropriately. An important basic criterion for motor selection included instant, high torque starting for the DC motor after application of voltage, which ensures a direct response to control signals. The coreless copper coil allows an extremely lightweight motor design with a high efficiency of up to 80%. The motors used on all three spindles of the positioning system have a diameter of 26mm and are only 42mm long. At speeds of up to 6,000 rpm they provide a power output of 23.2 W. All photos courtesy of Faulhaber. A Compact Unit In the LBT application, the motors were combined with two-stage planetary gearheads with a ratio of 16:1. Flanged to the end of the motor, gearhead performance is extremely impressive, not only due to their compact design but also because of their steady running and durability. Gearhead backlash was factory optimized for use on the positioning system. Instead of the values of about 1 degree, customary on standard gearheads, these planetary gearheads have a backlash of only 12 angular minutes, measured at the output shaft. Knowing the actual position of the motors is an essential prerequisite for precision positioning. With the positioning systems employed on the LBT it is detected at each motor by an optical pulse encoder that generates 500 pulses per revolution. Using a metal disk, a transmitted-light system generates two phase quadrature output signals. The index pulse is synchronized with output B. For each of the three channels there are inverted complementary signals. The pulse encoder is fitted to the free end of the motor shaft and fixed with three screws. Supply voltage for the pulse encoder, the miniature DC motor, and the output signals are connected via a ribbon cable and a 10-pin connector. Since the drive units, comprised of the motor, gearhead, and pulse encoder, are extremely compact, they are easy to integrate into three-axis positioning systems. For more information: Faulhaber Miniature DC Motors Planetary Gearheads Feinmess Company Large Binocular Telescope Observatory Read about more cool applications >>> Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next

How Tolomatic accurately positioned a large and heavy camera in a very tight space. Camera Positioning System for Theme Park How Tolomatic accurately positioned a large and heavy camera in a very tight space. Terry Persun Theme Parks Jun 12, 2025 When a well-known amusement park required a digital camera positioning system for a popular attraction, they turned to Tolomatic for a solution. The major attraction required the positioning of a large and heavy, 25-pound camera to happen in a very limited space. The solution could not use a separate control cabinet or extensive cabling, yet the motion control drive components were required to maintain an overall pleasant attraction experience. In addition, maintenance free operation was highly desirable. For the final solution, the engineering team selected to use the JVL integrated servo motors integrated with the Tolomatic ERD electric cylinder actuator. JVL’s innovative motors are integrated with the drive included, providing a flexible motion control solution that can exist outside of the control cabinet. Tolomatic’s ERD series is an economical electric cylinder that is compatible with many NEMA and metric mount stepper and servo motors to create a flexible and powerful, yet cost-effective electric cylinder solution—over the use of traditional pneumatic cylinders. ERD actuators are available in three body sizes, offer force/thrust capabilities up to 500 lbf (2.2 kN), and stroke lengths up to 24 inches (610 mm). IP67 and IP69K options are available. The Tolomatic and JVL camera positioning system for the amusement park application was chosen based on its compact size, maintenance-free ball screw design, and ease of system integration. Offering a very simple setup and configuration software added to the ease of implementation. The system incorporates a closed loop positioning configuration to ensure proper positioning of the camera every time and with minimal electric components. The final application stroke length is three inches which happens within a speed of 6-8 inches per second. For the customer, Tolomatic provided an all-in-one actuation solution that also eliminated the need for additional components. The easy, clean actuator installation with minimal maintenance requirements provided an enhanced attraction aesthetic by eliminating the need for separate control enclosures. For more information: Visit Tolomatic Previous Facebook LinkedIn Copy link Next