The shortage of engineers in our country is critical, but luckily there are quite a few initiatives on the go aimed at encouraging young people to take up science and engineering, as well as mentoring their progress. In previous issues of Motion Control we have covered the Engenius initiative sponsored by ECSA, which aims to encourage youngsters to make engineering their career, as well as SEW-Eurodrive and Festo’s Pneudrive Challenge, where the quality of the entries is improving by leaps and bounds each year. There is also Schneider’s training centre at VUT which aims to prepare youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds for the job market. This time we have the popular Cyber Junkyard contest, and Siemens has now taken it to the school level where kids can apply the basic principles of flow rate and volume as well as logic control, level control and business principles.
We also cover the biennial Sasol Solar Challenge in which contestants build a car fuelled by solar power and drive it right round South Africa, a lot of it through the Karoo – a significant achievement. The UJ entry was sponsored by Siemens and the students’ futuristic looking car was on show at a recent Siemens management breakfast. Chatting to the UJ project leader gives an idea of the difficulties they experienced, ranging from mechanical problems to rain (so no solar power), to heat (the cars are not air conditioned), to steep hills which gobble up battery power.
The Karoo features again in the incredibly exciting Bloodhound SSC project. At a recent SAFPA technical evening, David Rowley, the Bloodhound education programme director, gave a fascinating talk on the latest progress in this project, which aims to break the world landspeed record and also to exceed the 1600 kmph barrier – right here in the Northern Cape. Our News & Events section has a story on Bloodhound’s successful first test of the complete hybrid rocket system. It is easy to get carried away by the car itself, but for the Bloodhound team an equally important goal is to inspire young people to follow a career in science and engineering. I think they are getting this right. I was lucky enough to hear a talk by Wing Commander Andy Green who will be driving the car, and the lecture theatre was packed out with completely spellbound young people.
Robotics is another area that captures the imagination and we have a story on a project to develop a robot that behaves like the TV character Macgyver, who solved complex problems and escaped from dangerous situations by using everyday objects he found around him. Modern robots are very good at the jobs they are built for but would not know how to use an object to escape from a burning room. A team from Georgia Tech wants to change that. Another leader in the innovation arena is Festo’s award-winning pneumatically actuated ExoHand which could be used in the workplace to perform dangerous or repetitive tasks; and in our aerospace section we describe how drives, sensors and motors from maxon motor play a role in Mars rover Curiosity’s successful excursion on Mars as well as several other space missions.
Getting the balance right
Also relating to the Karoo, our feature on hydraulic fracturing describes what is involved mechanically, notwithstanding the controversy surrounding this issue and the trade-off between the economic benefits and the potential threat to this precious resource.
Jim Pinto’s column also describes two competing forces. These are social structures called the Swarm and the Pyramid. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses and the key is to get the balance right. Maybe the same applies to fracking.
What a party
Hydromobile has been in business for 21 years and celebrated in style as our cover story shows. Having started from zero in 1991, this dynamic hydraulics company is going from strength to strength and looks all set for 21 more years.
Another London performance
Bosch Rexroth technology is putting in some pretty impressive mechanical performances in London. Rexroth drives keep the giant ferris wheel of the London Eye turning, they actuate the opening mechanism for Tower Bridge and they raise the gates of the Thames Barrier, which protects the city against storms and spring floods from the North Sea.
An ounce of prevention …
Whether hydraulic or pneumatic, the key to avoiding costly system failure is good preventative maintenance and we have advice on both sides: from Commercial Shearing (hydraulic) and Artic Driers (pneumatic). Industry figures show that 70% of hydraulic failures and up to 45% of bearing failures are due to contaminants in the hydraulic fluid and much the same applies to pneumatics. Both companies can assist with prevention of these problems.
Seasons greetings
Another year just went by while I blinked. Best wishes for a happy, relaxing holiday season and a successful new year.
Kim Roberts
| Tel: | +27 11 543 5800 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.technews.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about Technews Publishing |
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version