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Xsens, the manufacturer of motion tracking modules, has announced two new products in its technologically advanced MTi 600-series, extending the customer’s choice of rugged products with and without an integrated satellite positioning receiver.

Xsens is adding a new GNSS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) module, the MTi-670G, and a rugged Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS), the MTi-630R to the MTi 600-series. The complete MTi 600-series line-up now offers a flexible and diverse choice of products which is capable of meeting a broad range of application requirements at competitive prices. The rugged products added to MTi 600-series are particularly well suited to use in harsh environments in maritime, mining, agricultural and many other applications.

Boele de Bie, Xsens’ CEO, said: ‘The latest members of the MTi 600-series are the fruit of Xsens’ continued investment in product development and new technology, ensuring that we provide the combination of performance, features and value that our customers demand across the range of markets we serve, from high-volume mainstream electronics to highly specialised product designs including RTK.’

Rugged enclosure withstands harsh environments

The MTi-670G and MTi630R are housed in an IP68-rated aluminium enclosure which measures 40.9mm x 56.5mm x 36.8mm, and which is highly vibration- and shock-proof. Both modules feature standard CAN and RS232 interfaces and an output data rate of up to 400Hz.

The new MTi-670G GNSS/INS module includes a high-performance u-blox ZED F9 GNSS receiver. Sophisticated sensor fusion firmware in the module combines the receiver’s inputs with integrated 3D attitude (tilt, inclination) and heading measurements to provide absolute positioning accuracy of better than ±1m. The sensor is easy to integrate into system designs thanks to its support for Xbus and standard NMEA and CAN protocols, and the provision of Xsens’ popular MT Software Suite for developers. The suite includes the MT Manager GUI for Windows or Linux operating systems and a useful Magnetic Field Mapper function.

The MTi-630R AHRS is a ruggedised version of the successful MTi-630 AHRS. It offers the same high performance, including roll/pitch measurement accuracy of ±0.2°, and heading accuracy of ±1°. Like the MTi-670G, the MTi-630R is easy to integrate into end product designs thanks to the MT Software Suite, which also includes drivers for the LabVIEW, ROS and GO development languages.

Like all MTi 600-series products, the new modules also offer numerous differentiating features:

• Precise factory calibration of MTI
• High immunity to magnetic interference
• Adaptive firmware operation to optimise performance in various types of applications
• Out-of-the-box operation with Xsens’ popular MTi development (DK) or starter kits (SK)

The MTi-670G and MTi-630R are available for sampling now. Ruggedised versions of the MTi-610 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and MTi-620 Vertical Reference Unit (VRU), the MTi-610R and MTi-620R, are available on request.

The sensor manufacturer HENSOLDT has awarded its “Argus” research prize to outstanding theses by university graduates in high-frequency and communications engineering, digital signal processing, optronics and cybertechnology as part of its cooperation with research institutions and universities. New findings in these specialist areas are important for the further development of the technology group’s product portfolio.

“Our products represent the state of the art,” said HENSOLDT Chief Human Resources Officer Peter Fieser at the welcoming ceremony. “Their development and production requires experts who enjoy challenging tasks and want to contribute their skills to complex projects.”

The prize, each worth 1,500 euros, has been awarded for 18 years. The award ceremony took place during the annual Professor’s Day, due to the pandemic as an online event with over 500 participants. Professors from technically oriented universities and colleges as well as experts from the company regularly use this platform to exchange knowledge. “All the award-winning papers deal with the field of sensor technologies – a key technology for the security and defence capability of the Federal Republic of Germany. As such, they make contributions to the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe,” emphasised Dr Jürgen Bestle, Chief Technology Officer of HENSOLDT.

A jury of university professors and company experts selected outstanding bachelor’s and master’s theses by graduates of the Ulm University of Technology, one from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics (FKIE), two from the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, two from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and one from the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University Aachen from numerous submissions.

First prize in the “Bachelor” category went to David Brunner from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with his work on mutual interference influence in automotive radars, supervised by Professor Thomas Zwick. Another prize was awarded to Veronika Keilwerth from the Ulm University of Technology with her Bachelor’s thesis, supervised by Professor Thorsten Hasbargen, on the reliability of testing apps in aerospace or medical technology. Steffen Jung from the Fraunhofer Institute FKIE and the University of Bonn also received an award for his work. Supervised by Professors Peter Martini and Wolfgang Koch, he dealt with the use of artificial intelligence to increase the safety of autonomous vehicles.

In the “Master” category, Patrick Fenske from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Professor Martin Vossiek) was awarded with a thesis on the identification of transmitters for tracking deliveries of goods in the context of Industry 4.0. Also supervised by Professor Martin Vossiek at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg was André Scheder, who was awarded for his Master’s thesis on efficiency-enhancing communication technologies. Jonas Pfaff from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology dealt with multi-antenna systems of the next generation of mobile communications and received a prize for his work, which was supervised by Professor Thomas Zwick and Professor Cagri Ulusoy. The jury also found the Master’s thesis by Thindlu Rudrappa Manjunath from the Fraunhofer Institute FHR and the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University Aachen worthy of a prize. Supervised by Professors Dirk Heberling and Peter Knott, he investigated the non-contact measurement of circulation parameters using a new type of radar technology.

In his laudatory speech, HENSOLDT technology coordinator Dr Guy Kouemou, who moderated the event, emphasised the special role of close cooperation between industry and research: “New innovative products based on networked sensor technology, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, for example, require a great deal of detailed research. The outstanding graduates of our partner colleges, universities and research institutes make an important contribution to this”.

At HENSOLDT’s Ulm site, around 2,500 employees are involved in the development and production of complex safety electronics, including radars, electronic protection systems and high-frequency electronic components. Most of the employees are engineers and technicians, and about 120 young people are in training.

The Financial Times has listed 300 European Climate Leaders 2021. The list includes European companies that achieved the greatest reduction in their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2014 and 2019. Vaisala is proud to be near the top of the list.

Vaisala, a global leader in weather, environmental, and industrial measurements, is ranked 14th on the Financial Times list of 300 European climate leaders. Climate change is turning into an ever more crucial challenge for our planet, and with this study the Financial Times underlines great achievements but also encourages companies to do more.

“It is a great honour to be included on the top of Financial Times’s Climate Leaders list, and it is a result of consistent and excellent work on reducing our own carbon footprint. We can see that the climate situation is getting more urgent, creating a chain of environmental, societal, and economic impacts on our planet. This calls also for actions from the private sector to step up and be a key driver of change in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” says Kai Öistämö, President and CEO, Vaisala.

Vaisala achieves this excellent position, whether ranked by GHG emission reduction aligned with revenue growth during the years 2014–2019 or total reduction of GHG emissions in the same timeframe. Vaisala’s figures on these scales are 37.3% (average per year) and 86.9% (total) respectively. The great reduction is largely due to the fact that Vaisala has worked towards using 100% renewable electricity and achieved this target in 2020.

The Financial Times’ study takes into account Scope 1 and 2 emissions, meaning those emissions directly produced by a company itself and those produced in generating the energy used by the company. Other parts of the value chain, such as suppliers and product use, are left out.

“We have taken great measures to reduce our carbon footprint continuously, and if we look at our latest figures from last year, they surpass even the 86.9% in the Financial Times’ list. In 2020, our total reduction of core emissions from the 2014 baseline was actually 94%. Sustainability really is at the core, and it is visible not only in our own operations but throughout the value chain. We place expectations on our suppliers so that they act according to our sustainability standards. Also, the net impact of our solutions is demonstrably positive: the greatest impact of our products stems from our product use,” explains Marjo Hietapuro, Sustainability Manager, Vaisala.

“The fact that we are able to do good for our planet in every part of our value chain makes me very proud to work for Vaisala. Our handprint is positive: as our customers use our products, they can, for example, prepare for extreme weather events beforehand, make renewable energy production more efficient, or reduce the emissions from their industrial processes. We help them to build a better future for our planet. It is truly extraordinary to get to work for a company where everything we do is meaningful,” Öistämö concludes.

An automated tool-change process reduces setup times and improves machine efficiency, but introduces the risk of damage if the tool-press is not completely closed before its moulding tools are changed.

Therefore a Contrinex inductive sensor is trusted to ensure that the tool-press is completely closed, so that the moulding tools can be changed safely and efficiently.

Customer application

Hydraulic presses that are used to mould automotive body parts have had their tool change automated.

The down-acting hydraulic presses which are common in many industries, feature rams that hold the upper tool half in position as they press down on the lower half.

To change tooling requires the detachment of the upper tool half from the ram, putting it into the lower half, and sliding both out of the press. Before the ram releases the top half for any tool change, the tool pair must be in the closed position. This ensures that both tool halves are perfectly aligned when the automatic tool-change process starts, avoiding damage to either tool or press and any consequent downtime.

Customer solution

The Contrinex DW-AS-603-M18-002 inductive sensor meets the requirements of this application, due to its robust industrial construction and the proven reliability of its sensing capabilities – There is also the benefit that it is from Contrinex’s lowest priced, ‘Basic’ ‘600’ series of inductive sensors.

A single sensor is mounted using an angle bracket on the lower tool housing. Directly above it, a matching bracket on the upper housing serves as the reference surface. Before enabling tool release, this sensor is checked. Since the target does not enter the switching range until the tool is fully closed, premature tool release is prevented.

The accuracy in switching distance of these sensors means that the upper tool half is only released when the tool is fully and correctly closed. The checking process is quick and reliable and prevents the press from proceeding to the tool-change process with incorrectly closed tools, to avoid downtime and damage to tools and the press.

Contrinex sensors are available from PLUS Automation.

Farnell is hosting a free webinar on IoT Trends based on information gathered in Farnell’s third annual global IoT survey. More than 2,000 respondents provided first-hand insights into the world of IoT, including the most popular technologies and applications for IoT design, the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into IoT designs, the future of the IoT industry, and much more. In addition to the IoT Survey results webinar, attendees will also receive a 30 minute presentation from Nordic Semiconductor on Cellular IoT Development.

The Farnell webinar will focus on:

• Most important aspects to consider when developing IoT solutions.
• Key concerns regarding IoT implementation.
• Top IoT industries in the next 5 years.
• Adoption of AI within IoT Industry.
• Hardware and connectivity preferences for IoT solutions.

The schedule for the webinar is:

Thursday 27^th May, 2021

11.00am – 12.45pm BST

Location: ON24 webinar platform

Login details provided via email after registration

The webinar will be hosted by Farnell technical expert Carl Scargill. Carl is a Senior Technology Specialist for Embedded Technology, with in-depth knowledge and experience in the opto and analogue fields as well as in design and applications. He has been with Farnell for more than 25 years.

Following the 45-minute IoT Trends presentation, Martin Lesund, Technical Marketing Manager at Nordic Semiconductor, will deliver a 30 minute guest presentation on Cellular IoT Development and Nordic Semiconductor’s Thingy:91 prototyping platform.

Attendees will then have the opportunity to take part in a 30-minute Live Q&A with Farnell representatives including technical expert Carl Scargill, Regional Technical Solutions Manager Ankur Tomar and regional sales leader Mathew Thorpe.

The webinar is free to attend and will take place in English language. To register for the event please visit https://uk.farnell.com/iot-trends-2021-webinar.

The first 40 registered attendees will also receive an exclusive webinar pack including notepads, pens and a thermal coffee mug.

Farnell provides a broad range of products and support materials to assist developers designing IoT solutions and integrating AI. Farnell also stocks a range of products from Nordic Semiconductor including award-winning Bluetooth LE solutions and more. Farnell’s IoT hub also provides access to the latest products for development as well as insights and white papers to support the design journey.

Laser Components Detector Group has joined the prestigious Optical Sciences Center (OSC) of the University of Arizona as an Industrial Affiliate (IA) and is listed as an Associate Partner by the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences.  Shankar Baliga, senior product manager, will serve as the coordinator and contact person for the Detector Group.

As a member of the Industrial Affiliate programme, the Arizona based company will use its areas of expertise in strengthening its ties to one of the world’s leading institutes in optical research and education.  Being part of the affiliate programme gains access to a broad spectrum of optics applications and provides an opportunity to interact with a pool of highly talented and educated potential employees.

IA members are invited to participate in Workshop and Corporate Showcase events held twice a year.  The fall edition of 2021 is scheduled for October 25-27.   Additional benefits include year-round online access to student resumes, the posting of internship and employment positions, privileged library access, and presenting their work at technical colloquiums.  IAs are permitted to provide second year M.S. students with an industrial-track M.S. degree program on a thesis topic of mutual agreement between the company and faculty.

“We at Laser Components are very pleased to be part of this distinguished and esteemed Affiliate Programme that brings us together with the optics community”, stated Baliga. “It affords us great opportunities to share our expertise in the photonics industry, with the ability to help those who are interested in pursuing and advancing their careers and goals”.

Further information https://www.lasercomponents.com/uk/news/providing-strong-ties-to-the-scientific-community/

The German embedded vision pioneer Vision Components celebrates its 25^th anniversary in 2021. The year was duly kicked off with a major product launch: VC picoSmart, currently the world’s smallest embedded vision system. The anniversary will also be marked by a webinar series and a hackathon under the motto, ‘There must be a better way to do this’ – a mindset that has always driven product development in the company.

In 1995, CEO Michael Engel developed and presented the world’s first industrial-grade smart camera. Founding the company in the year after and taking up series production, he profoundly changed the machine vision market. The freely programmable cameras provided great flexibility for OEMs to design customised solutions for all conceivable vision applications. Many tasks could now be solved by highly compact systems that needed neither an image processing computer nor a control cabinet. After the first generation of smart cameras, Vision Components soon launched the next trailblazing innovations, including the first intelligent vision sensors and the first embedded 3D laser profilers.

Most recently, the manufacturer presented the VC picoSmart miniature embedded vision system, fully functional, with all components for frame grabbing and image processing, including FPGA and FPU, and as small as a conventional image sensor module. In addition, Vision Components is also a leader in the development and manufacture of MIPI camera modules for flexible embedded vision designs based on single-board computers; the company offers the widest range of sensors in this segment, along with drivers and powerful accessories for a speedy successful commissioning. Vision Components ensures long-term availability of all its products for commercial projects.

Optical Surfaces reports on the development of a new polishing technique that has been shown to reproducibly improve the spectral filtering capability (finesse) of Fabry Perot etalons.

For over two decades – Optical Surfaces has supplied precisely matched Fabry-Perot etalon pairs to Table Stable Ltd. (Mettmenstetten, Switzerland) for use as a key component in their ultra-high-resolution JRS Series interferometers.

Operating in a uniquely stable manufacturing environment, Optical Surfaces is able to produce the required 50-mm diameter fused silica Fabry Perot Etalons pairs with matching accuracies of better than lambda/200.

Dr Aris Kouris, Sales Director of Optical Surfaces said “Many parameters including material quality, optical figure, plate parallelism and coating quality are all critical to the overall performance of a Fabry Perot etalon. To maintain the competitive edge of the Table Stable Interferometer we are continuously investigating ways of further improving the quality of the matched Etalon pairs we supply to them. Our latest development project focused on how to improve the spectral filtering capability of the Fabry Perot etalon pairs by reducing surface ripples and microroughness. Our initial investigation using chemical polishing techniques brought some improvement, but degraded the matching accuracy of the etalon pairs. As a consequence, we refocused our efforts into developing new polishing techniques using conventional compounds. The results have been excellent – the new polishing technique has allowed us to almost eliminate surface ripples thereby improving the finesse of the Fabry Perot Etalons whilst maintaining all the other high-performance characteristics”.

For further information on ultra-high precision etalons for use in applications in interferometry, lasers and high-resolution spectroscopy please visit www.optisurf.com/index.php/products/etalons/

To encourage more female secondary school students to consider a career in engineering, Gloucestershire-based global engineering technologies company, Renishaw, held its first ever all-female virtual work experience week in April 2021. The week was part of Renishaw’s virtual engineering work experience scheme, which will host 140 students in years 10 to 13 during 2021.

Renishaw is encouraging more diversity in the engineering industry by providing empowering opportunities for women in the workplace and those entering the industry. The work experience week aimed to inspire girls to see roles in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as viable and achievable career options. Renishaw received over 250 applications for its work experience weeks, with a third of these from female students, which shows a growing interest in STEM careers from young women. During the application process the girls were able to apply to the all-female week or the mixed weeks that will all take place during the school holidays.

During the all-female work experience week the girls worked as teams on a project-based task to give them an insight into the various roles they could pursue in an engineering career. Each group of five girls was presented with an engineering challenge and asked to design a solution using computer aided design (CAD) software and cardboard prototypes. The groups were mentored virtually by a number of Renishaw employees in different roles, such as Project Managers, Design Engineers and Graduate Engineers. The girls also attended skills sessions where they learnt presentation skills, CAD tips and tricks, and CV writing skills.

“This work experience opportunity has been very helpful in teaching me about the opportunities available in the engineering industry and about Renishaw as a company,” explained one attendee. “What I have learnt will help me make more informed decisions about my future education and career.”

Parents were also invited to join the project presentations at the end of the week. One commented, “My daughter really seemed to enjoy the experience. It was lovely to see her confidence grow and I definitely feel this week has provided her with a stepping stone to help decide her future career.”

“The all-female week has given the girls the opportunity to build their confidence and learn more about working in the Engineering industry, without possibly feeling intimidated by working on their projects with large numbers of male students,” commented Sarah Lewis, Education Tutor and Technician at Renishaw. “Although this model does not fully replicate the real engineering world, we hope the girls saw how they could realise their potential and the rewarding nature of a a future career in Engineering.”

Renishaw has been running its structured group-based work experience weeks for seven years as part of its wider education outreach schemes. For more information about this year’s virtual work experience, visit https://www.renishaw.com/en/work-experience-weeks.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) presented STMicroelectronics with an IEEE Milestone for its groundbreaking work in the super-integrated silicon-gate semiconductor process technology combining the high-precision analogue transistors from a Bipolar process, with the high-performance digital switching transistors from a CMOS process, and with the high-power DMOS (BCD) transistors onto a single chip for complex, power-demanding applications. Over the years, the BCD process technology has enabled revolutionary developments in such end applications as hard disk drives, printers, and the full range of automotive applications, among many others.

During a live / virtual ceremony held at ST’s plant in Agrate Brianza, Giambattista Gruosso,  IEEE Italy Section Humanitarian Activities Committee Coordinator and past Secretary, and Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics, unveiled the IEEE Milestone plaque. The plaque will be mounted in two ST locations around Milan, Italy, where the development work on the Multiple Silicon-Gate Multipower BCD work was performed: at the main entrances to two ST sites: Agrate (located in Agrate Brianza, Italy) and Castelletto (Cornaredo, Milan, Italy). The inscription on the plaques reads:

IEEE Milestone

Multiple Silicon Technologies on a Chip, 1985

SGS (now STMicroelectronics) pioneered the super-integrated silicon-gate process combining Bipolar, CMOS, and DMOS (BCD) transistors in single chips for complex, power-demanding applications. The first BCD super-integrated circuit, named L6202, could control up to 60V-5A at 300kHz. Subsequent automotive, computer, and industrial applications extensively adopted this process technology, which enabled chip designers flexibly and reliably to combine power, analog, and digital signal processing.

IEEE established the Milestones Program in 1983 to recognise the technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity found in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents. Each milestone recognises a significant technical achievement that occurred at least twenty-five years ago in an area of technology represented in IEEE and having at least regional impact. Currently about 220 IEEE Milestones have been approved and dedicated around the world.

In the early 1980s, ST engineers began work to reliably address a broad range of electronic applications by pioneering the ability to integrate heterogeneous transistors and diodes on a single die. Focused on customer needs across multiple market segments, the engineers’ objective was to deliver electric power in the range of hundreds of Watts under the control of digital logic that could scale with Moore law. The target devices would also support precise analog functions and minimise power consumption to eliminate heat-sinks.

Those efforts launched a new integrated Silicon-Gate technology. The Bipolar, CMOS, DMOS (BCD) technology allowed the integration, onto a single chip, of diodes, bipolar linear, complex CMOS logic, and multiple DMOS power functions with complex interconnections. The first chip, the L6202 full-bridge motor driver, operated at 60V, delivering 1.5A, switching power at 300kHz and meeting all its design goals. The new reliable process technology enabled chip designers to flexibly combine power, analog, and digital signal processing on a single die.

Since launching the BCD process, ST has sold 40 billion devices using ST Silicon-Gate Multipower BCD and is soon to begin production of the 10th generation of the technology. The technology used in front- and back-end manufacturing sites in Europe and Asia is ubiquitous in the market and can be found across a range of automotive subsystems, in smartphones, home appliances, audio amplifiers, hard disks, power supplies, printers, pico-projectors, lighting, medical equipment, motors, modems, displays, and more.

“Blending together the high-precision capabilities of Bipolar transistors with the digital control of CMOS, and the high-power benefits of DMOS in the early 80s was an exceptional achievement. It could only have been done by an incredibly talented technical team operating within an organisation that had the vision and foresight to recognise the value of smart power, which was then a completely unique concept,” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO, STMicroelectronics. “Now, we are 35 years, 9 technical generations, 5 million wafers, and 40 billion chips sold later – almost 3 billion delivered last year. We proudly welcome this IEEE Milestone plaque, which recognises ST’s BCD invention among the select group of technologies that have advanced mankind.”