Month: December 2018

When anyone talks about advanced manufacturing, there’s a tendency to think of certain definitively modern, high-tech applications: aerospace parts, medical devices, maybe smart-phone components. But arguably one of the oldest segments in advanced manufacturing is often overlooked: watchmaking. People first started wearing portable timepieces some 500 years ago, and ever since, watchmaking has been a key driver of technological development and innovation, combining engineering challenges around accuracy and reliability, with a critical focus on aesthetic design. Moreover, the history of watchmaking is characterised by disruption. Much has been made of the impact of smart-watches in recent years, but that battle has been going on since the ‘Quartz Crisis’ of the 1970s, when cheap, mass-produced electronic watches overturned the Swiss-led dominance of traditional mechanical watches. And yet, lots of people still recoil at the idea of wearing a miniaturised smart-phone on their wrists, and will pay a premium for something more classical. So traditional mechanical watchmaking endures, a craft sustained largely by dedicated independent practitioners. Nicholas…

Formula One racing is an endurance engineering sport fuelled by relentless innovation. Teams work tirelessly to reach and beat an ever-evolving standard of peak performance, and the spirit is no different at Renault Sport Formula One Team. There, the R&D machine never stops and the contributions of technical partners play a crucial role in helping the organisation reach its targets. “Race after race, new components made of complex composites and aerospace alloys see the light after surviving a harsh selection in the R&D and simulation labs,” explains Renault Sport Formula One Technical Director, Nick Chester. “At the end of a racing season, we expect our race car to be in excess of a second per lap quicker than when we started, and our technical partners have to survive the same ruthless selection. We aren’t interested in relationships that don’t bring value in our quest for performance.” This requirement for ongoing innovation and active collaboration is the foundation for Renault Sport Formula One Team’s choice of 3D…

Founded in 1978 by Michael Byrnes – still the company’s owner and chairman – Anglade completes all work in-house, including design, drafting, manufacture, electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics and PLC programming, with capabilities in CNC milling, CNC turning, wire EDM and precision grinding. Using the latest high-end machines, this 40 year-old, second-generation family company designs and manufactures specialist injection, blow, vacuum, thermos vacuum and polystyrene moulds, along with press tools, special-purpose machines, jigs, fixtures and gauges for a broad range of clients quickly and efficiently. Michael and his son David Byrnes – now the company’s general manager – have built up an impressive range of machines and equipment, such as the Okuma MB66VA S15 OSP-P200M vertical machining centre and Fanuc Robocut Alpha 1iD 310isWA, to meet the ever-changing demands for precision components. This has won them work on some impressive projects, including providing parts for two ambitious CSIRO radio telescopes. Anglade was commissioned to manufacture ortho-mode transducers (OMTs) and other specialised components…

One recent achievement, bringing ANCA’s AR300 SCARA robot arm and control system to market, took collaboration between the company, its suppliers and customers, and university researchers. The project dates back to 2014, when the ANCA noticed an unmet need for flexible automation for tool loading. Developing a local solution, instead of importing robot hardware, might also have applicability in a variety of other industries. “As a local contributor to advanced manufacturing, we’re continually looking for ways to grow,” explains Tom Nathan, New Products Development Manager at ANCA CNC Machines. Moreover Nathan adds that these opportunities can’t always be pursued, and there are times when the cost of engineering in Australia can cruel a business case. Another difficulty is quite simply that “robotics is hard”. This well-known adage has been very much in evidence over the last few months, following the demise of promising US robotics businesses Jibo, Mayfield and Rethink Robotics. The challenge of creating a robot from scratch is a daunting…

Damien Berry, R&D Manager, says that while Norris fell behind its competitors for a short period of time, it’s now overtaken them from a technology point of view: “We’ve overtaken in technology; we’re techier than everyone else in our industry. For a while, we lacked development and innovation, but moving forward, we’ve spent time developing the business and we’re using 21st-century technology to produce products people want. For example, our newest range focuses on power management – our AP500 is 50% more efficient on power than its predecessor, which is what everyone’s interested in.” Norris’ process is to make sure that it fully understands customer needs and issues, such as difficult water conditions or power restrictions. “While our products aren’t tailor-made, we try to understand difficult customer needs and incorporate solutions, rather than produce a one-size-fits-all bulk product range like our overseas competitors,” Berry explains. “We can’t compete with price, but our…

Although many headlines were written in 2017 about the death of Australia’s automotive industry, no such thing ever happened. While Australia’s last three passenger carmakers became importers (while retaining a design and engineering presence) over 2016 and 2017, the sector still produces bus, trucks, trailers, special-purpose vehicles and components. The last two years have seen Australia’s three truck manufacturers – Volvo Group, PACCAR and IVECO – grow, says Steve Bletsos, Senior Analyst, Research and Policy at the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC). “Bus manufacturing has also been buoyant as a result of increased state government expenditures on rail replacement buses and trams, particularly in Victoria and Queensland,” says Bletsos, adding that the sector’s employment level has remained “relatively steady” at around 33,000. The VACC’s CEO, Geoff Gwilym, points out that the full effect of the end of local assembly by Ford, Holden and Toyota probably won’t be known for five or six years, but there are around 2,500 companies making vehicles or parts in…

The seminar was part of a special three-day course on Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), run by RMIT in partnership with Wohlers’s consultancy Wohlers Associates. The course addressed issues including DfAM guidelines and best practices, explored AM’s capacity to consolidate many parts into one, and focused on methods to reduce material and weight. Targeted at designers, engineers, and managers, the course offered participants hands-on experience in designing real parts and building them on industrial AM equipment. “Design for Additive Manufacturing is design for manufacturability as applied to AM,” explained Professor Milan Brandt, Technical Director of RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct. “It is a design methodology that captures the benefits of additive manufacturing technology when considering product characteristics such as its  manufacturability, reliability, and cost. “The RMIT course addressed this through a number of sessions, which included examining the complete AM process chain, from CAD part creation, to part production, and specific issues and guidelines around designing for metal AM,…

The Bystronic Automation Day was an opportunity for the company to catch up with its existing customers as well as to connect with potential new clients, while presenting some of the highlights from its product range. Already world-renowned as a leader in the fields of sheet metal cutting and fabrication systems, the event was also an opportunity for Bystronic to showcase its latest innovations in automation technology. Automation represents a key area of focus for Bystronic worldwide, and 2018 saw the Swiss-headquartered company taking a number of significant strides in this area. In March it completed the takeover of TTM Laser, Italian specialists in laser-based tube and profile processing, enhancing Bystronic’s existing technology offerings along the cutting, bending, and automation process chain. This was followed in June with the acquisition of a majority interest in Antil, a highly innovative company specialising in automation solutions for sheet metal processing, headquartered in Milan, Italy. Both TTM and ANTIL had their own dedicated exhibits at the Bystronic…

Margaret Rouse – a writer and manager at whatis.com’s TechTarget – has described haptics as “the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications”. Every time we open an app on our phones or type information into a search engine on a tablet computer, we’re using touch sensations to utilise a range of applications. Haptic technology isn’t necessarily new. Early use of haptic technology actually dates back to the early 1990s when companies like Nintendo incorporated touch into the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pack console, and automobile and medical equipment manufacturers began to develop haptic-based applications in new hardware (think of the way a nurse sets up an automatic intravenous push for a patient). There are a number of features that make touchscreen technology so handy. It gives designers scope to make their applications more user-friendly, which in the end means it’s easier and faster for us to use them in our everyday…

Now, the fourth-largest cause of disability worldwide, hearing loss has become so prevalent that even the World Health Organization has taken notice, recently releasing a report to address the prediction that disabling hearing loss will affect about 13% of the world population by 2030 and one in four Australians by 2050. Identified as one of the biggest risk factors is noise-induced or industrial hearing loss. Despite being entirely preventable, this remains all too common, especially in the Australian manufacturing and construction industries, with technicians, trades workers, machinery operators, drivers and labourers the most exposed. The danger with hearing loss is that it often occurs gradually through prolonged exposure to moderate or loud noise levels, so by the time sufferers notice a change in their hearing, the irreversible damage has already been done. Hearing loss may present itself as tinnitus, the hearing of phantom sounds like ringing or static; or as hyperacusis, a reduction in tolerance for ordinary sounds. These conditions are often debilitating for the sufferer and can lead…

Consider a child playing with Lego. Watch how adaptable he or she is to multiple tasks and how adjustments are made effortlessly on the fly. We’re using that innate human talent as inspiration today in a program that trains robots to build with bricks, and while such a capability seems flippant, imagine the power in a robot that can perform any number of movements and actions and teach itself how to remember and build on them, just like a kid playing with Lego. As consumers demand further customisation and speed, the factories of tomorrow won’t have single-purpose ‘dumb’ machines that do one repetitive action. They’re going to be as responsive and constantly evolving as we are. Here are three of the most impactful changes they’ll impose on manufacturing in the coming years. Generative design In Marvel’s Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) designs the streamlined Iron Man suit digitally and then tells his artificial intelligence (AI)-equipped helper Jarvis (Paul Bettany) to fabricate it while he…

INNO3D 2018 event very well attended. Chadstone, VIC, Australia – October 10th was a milestone day for NCCS with the annual INNO3D event, showcasing what is new in SOLIDWORKS 2019, along with industry partners presenting some of the latest products and trends in the design and manufacturing space. INNO3D 2017 was a large event but this year’s event was even bigger and broke all records. With more than 220 keen design and manufacturing industry professionals in attendance, and 10 industry partners showcasing their latest technology, the event was well received by all. David Auld and David Trought from Outerspace Design gave the audience a first-hand chance to see the award-winning Fusion Guitar designed using SOLIDWORKS and featured on Channel 10’s Australia by Design: Innovation program. SOLIDWORKS 2019 along with SOLIDWORKS CAM offers Customers access to best in class design to manufacture technologies and workflows. This will improve collaboration and interactive experiences during design and engineering. Companies will be able to deliver more diverse and better products to their Customers in shorter timeframes. “This latest SOLIDWORKS 2019 release is packed with enhancements based on insights and feedback from the large worldwide Customer base. SOLIDWORKS took many of the common ideas…

From a one-person operation with floor space of 75sqm, the company has grown to now employ 26 highly skilled tradespeople and support staff in a purpose-built factory of more than 900sqm. Jorge, his wife Amanda and their family have invested in the latest machine technology to ensure Campagno stays at the cutting edge of engineering and maintain an ethos of fast, efficient service and prompt on-time delivery. The company specialises in product categories that include packaging, medical, truck, defence and general engineering. Prototyping is another area; the company’s extensive experience has often enabled it to suggest better, more efficient ways to manufacture new parts. Jorge was keen to acquire a barfeeder to complement a new CNC machine to assist in producing parts more efficiently. The increased productivity the barfeeder would bring was the key reason for the purchase. “We looked at a number of different brands but it was the sheer quality and rugged construction of the servo-driven Hydrafeed that won us over,” says…