News

Instrumentation Live, sponsored by IndySoft, is coming to the National Conference Centre in Birmingham on 17 January 2024. This brand new table top event is the ideal platform for showcasing your latest technology in the fields of test, measurement and control. Taking place alongside Electronics Live, the NCC will be the place to be come 17 January 2024.

Taking place during the event are the seminars. Throughout the day, visitors to the exhibition will be able to find out more about electronics and instrumentation in the seminar theatre:

• 11:00 am: Extending the life of semiconductor components
• 11:40 am: The Sense In Sensing: What Can The Industrial Internet Of Things (IIoT) Do For Me?
• 1.00 pm: What’s happened and now likely to happen in the UK and wider electronic components markets
• 1:40 pm: New Developments in Torque Measurement and Display
• 2:20 pm: Attack of the Clones: Five ways to spot – and avoid – counterfeit electronic parts
• 3:00 pm: UK Sensing Innovation Ecosystem

Instrumentation Live is a free-to-attend event that aims to attract key decision makers that are looking to source the latest products and solutions and stay up-to-date with the latest developments. Visitors benefit from the unique opportunity to see all of the instrumentation market leaders under one roof while exhibitors enjoy an incredible ROI from the highly-targeted and relevant crowd that the exhibition will attract. Exhibitors already signed up to be at the event include Michell Instruments, Micro-Epsilon, ION Science, POWTechnology, Calex Electronics, Trafag, Dewesoft, Asset Instruments Engineering, Luso Electronics, Rheintacho, D.A.T.S., Status Instruments, Winters Instruments; Sensing Innovation Leadership Council;Alphasense; Magnaflux; Mettler Toledo; Display Technology; Indysoft; GI Systems; Acoustic Camera; Strainsense and European Springs and Pressings.

To register for free to attend Instrumentation Live, please visit instrumentationlive.co.uk.

Airly’s particulate sensor has been announced as winner of the AIRPARIF AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge 2023 for the measurement of fine particulates (PM2.5) outdoors. “I am incredibly proud that our team has been recognised as a global leader in outdoor PM2.5 measurements,” comments Airly CEO Wiktor Warchalowski. “The challenge included major instrumentation companies from around the world, and Airly was proclaimed winner because our sensor was able to deliver the most accurate PM2.5 measurements.

“This victory is more than just another trophy on our shelf – it’s a testament to the dedication and hard work of our R&D team, combined with a deep commitment to our mission – for which a key component is the provision of accurate, reliable, understandable air quality data.

“I would also like to pay special tribute to my co-founder, Michał Misiek for leading our R&D program from day one. His tenacity, vision and leadership have been pivotal in our journey to this remarkable achievement.”

Airly’s Microsensors Challenge success follows the recent award of MCERTS certification, which provides further third-party verification of Airly’s performance in the measurement of both PM2.5 and PM10.

Launched in 2016 by Airparif and its partners, AIRLAB brings together a community that is committed to the improvement of air quality. In 2023 the AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge involved an evaluation of the performance of microsensors for measuring air pollution simultaneously in both France and Thailand, from March to June.

Summarising, Warchalowski says: “34 sensors were evaluated for measuring outdoor air in two very different environments. Leading global manufacturers competed, and the results were evaluated by a jury of independent international experts, so we are deeply honoured to win, and we are hugely grateful to Airparif for allowing us to participate.”

Analog Devices, Inc., global semiconductor leader, and SambaNova Systems, makers of the only purpose-built, full-stack AI platform, announced that ADI is deploying SambaNova Suite to spearhead its global AI transformation, making AI pervasive enterprise-wide.

“ADI is synonymous with innovation, and we have a legacy of technology leadership in bridging our physical and digital worlds for the benefit of our planet and its people,” said Alan Lee, Chief Technology Officer at ADI. “We achieve this by collaborating with our customers, providing them with technical expertise, support, and resources to help them overcome their toughest challenges. We are working with SambaNova Systems, pioneers of cutting-edge AI solutions, to rapidly deploy their enterprise-scale generative AI platform toward enabling our customers’ success.”

As part of the initial deployment, ADI will leverage the SambaNova Suite to accelerate field sales and customer enablement across its business. For example, ADI plans to leverage the technology to streamline access to its extensive data sheets, helping inform recommendations in the field, and deepen its customer connections.

“Our efforts with ADI reinforce our vision that a complete software and hardware AI stack is the right answer for today’s enterprise. This is true market validation of our product direction,” said Rodrigo Liang, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SambaNova Systems. “The SambaNova Suite solution offers a quicker way for ADI to deploy generative AI enterprise-wide with global impact. We’re delighted to be working together.”

SambaNova Suite is the first full stack, generative AI platform, from chip to models, for the enterprise. Delivered on-premises or in the cloud, the SambaNova Suite is a fully integrated platform offering state-of-the-art open-source models, which can be fine-tuned using customer data for greater accuracy. Customers retain model ownership in perpetuity, so they can turn generative AI into one of their most valuable assets.

“Generative AI adoption in the enterprise will be accelerated by more complete offerings that avoid costly and lengthy integration while also providing data privacy and model ownership to enable investment protection and high ROI,” said R “Ray” Wang, Founder and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. “Seeing generative AI moving beyond experimentation to enterprise use cases signals the next wave of market maturity has begun.”

“The global deal being announced today is a significant technological advancement for the industry,” said Marshall Choy, Senior Vice President of Product at SambaNova Systems. “The work we are doing with ADI showcases SambaNova’s integrated software and hardware capabilities within enterprise-scale environments. ADI is a power user of innovation among the Fortune 500, truly underscoring our technology’s potential.”

For more information on SambaNova Suite, please visit www.sambanova.ai/products/sambanova-suite.

AMETEK Land, a world-leading manufacturer of highly accurate infrared pyrometers, scanners, and thermal imagers, is providing a service solution to ensure customers benefit from peak product performance and maximum return on investment over the life of their equipment.

All thermometers, regardless of manufacturer, are subject to damage and deterioration over time. However, this can be limited proactively through AMETEK Land’s service and calibration support, providing ongoing confidence in the measurement accuracy of the instruments.

Service support, delivered through LAND’s worldwide network of regional accredited service centres, helps to maintain peak operating performance over time, while on-site calibration conformance testing maintains the accuracy of the temperature measurement being made.

Victoria Jones, Team Leader – Aftermarket at AMETEK Land, said: “Many instruments are operated continually with little or zero maintenance which can affect their performance. Our service and calibration adjustments restore instruments to ‘as new’, thus limiting their deterioration. This not only provides customers with the assurance that their instrument is working as it should but also protects the investment they have made in that equipment. It’s a proactive solution that maximises the availability and uptime of your AMETEK Land products.”

In addition to its service centres, AMETEK Land also operates three accredited ISO 17025 laboratories which provide certification to endorse the accuracy of temperature measurements being made.

ISO 17025 certification provides additional confidence through traceable independent testing and allows the thermometer operator to distinguish shifts in calibration and correct for calibration errors over and above the specification, providing a useful audit trail.

These ISO 17025 certification laboratories can also certify non-AMETEK Land thermometers/pyrometers within the scope of their approval, subject to the provision of necessary power supplies and cables.

To find out more, go to https://www.ametek-land.com/services.

Hamamatsu Photonics UK, the UK leader in optoelectronics, announced it is celebrating over 20% growth in the team in the past year, alongside two birthdays – the 35^th of the UK company and the 70th of the global parent.

Hamamatsu Photonics UK is continuously growing. From humble beginnings with just 6 people, it appointed its 61st member of staff in December.

One of the company’s key capabilities is in LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), using light to measure distance. This has many applications within industry, though most commonly in Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), factories or industrial robotics in warehouses. It can also be used for mapping or scanning to produce an accurate 3D representation of large areas.

Providing real time feedback with high positional accuracy, LiDAR is also a key component of many health and safety systems, for example in construction sites to measure distances between workers and large machines or in remote operation of heavy machinery (anti-collision).

The company produces a wide range of detectors, from photodiodes with a high dynamic range, to Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) and SPAD arrays, with high signal to noise ratio due to inherent gain of the order of up to 10⁶. Hamamatsu Photonics also produces Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) which are muti-pixel APD devices operating in Geiger mode to achieve this high level of gain.

These devices are known as Multi Pixel Photon Counters, or MPPCs and they are currently used worldwide for a variety of low light level applications such as automotive, wind LiDAR, factory automation and fundamental research. Hamamatsu’s MPPC technology also has very low crosstalk, low after-pulses and high speed which ensures high measurement accuracy.

The global company has been exploring the possibilities of light since the mid-1950s, when, under the name of Hamamatsu TV Co, it manufactured phototubes that converted light into electrical signals. In 1983, it adopted the name Hamamatsu Photonics and broadened its aim to further develop opto-electronic technology.

Hamamatsu invests over 9% of its annual revenue into R&D. It is a world-leader in the manufacture of optoelectronic components and systems. The company’s corporate philosophy stresses the advancement of photonics through extensive research. Our products provide solutions for a wide variety of applications including analytical, consumer, industrial and medical instrumentation.

Tim Stokes, Managing Director of Hamamatsu Photonics UK, said: “This is a fantastic year as we celebrate our 35^th birthday with 20% growth in our team and the appointment of our 61^st  staff member. We are expanding our capabilities by attracting more highly skilled engineers, enabling us to pursue the possibilities of light in a number of industries.

“The photon is our business, and we are harnessing it for our customers in optical information and processing, health care and medicine, biophotonics and energy. We will continue to forge a path in light research and its varied applications.”

You can find out more about Hamamatsu UK by visiting www.hamamatsu.co.uk.

element14, an Avnet Community, in collaboration with Edge Impulse, Renesas, and Avnet, is hosting a free webinar focused on implementing machine learning at the edge using the Avnet RASynBoard.

The webinar aims to provide engineers and developers with insights into the hardware and software enablement available for the Avnet RASynBoard, designed to address complex challenges in machine learning at the edge.

Event Details:

• Title: Implementing Machine Learning at the Edge with Avnet RASynBoard
• Date: 17 January 2024
• Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM GMT
• Registration: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1695

During the webinar, participants will receive a comprehensive introduction to the Avnet RASynBoard, emphasizing its hardware components and capabilities. The session will include live demonstrations showcasing the RASynBoard in action, allowing attendees to witness its practical application in solving real-world problems with machine learning at the edge.

What attendees will learn by attending:

• The hardware components in the RASynBoard design
• The benefits of ML at the Edge
• Where to find open source application code to leverage for custom ML at the Edge solutions
• Where to find documentation to help development teams get started with the RASynBoard
• How to create a ML model in Edge Impulse Studio and deploy the model to the RASynBoard

“We are excited to collaborate with Edge Impulse, Renesas, and Avnet to bring this informative webinar to the engineering and development community,” said Andreea Teodorescu, Global Director of Product Marketing & element14 community. “The Avnet RASynBoard is a powerful tool, and this webinar will empower attendees to harness its full potential in addressing challenges associated with machine learning at the edge.”

For more information and to register for the free webinar, please visit: https://community.element14.com/learn/events/c/e/1695.

Easyfairs, the world’s largest privately owned exhibition organiser, today announced the acquisition of European Trade & Exhibition Services, organiser of Southern Manufacturing & Electronics, bolstering its already extensive engineering and manufacturing portfolio that incorporates Advanced Engineering as well as many other brands across Europe. It is a significant acquisition that provides a complete and complementary portfolio of events for the UK manufacturing industry.

Southern Manufacturing & Electronics is in its 26th edition, having built up an impressive reputation as a key event for the manufacturing technology sector in the UK. Taking place from 6 to 8 February 2024 at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre, it attracts over 460 exhibitors (representing 600 companies) and 9,000 attendees, and has a unique position as the only large-scale industrial engineering event in the South of England.

Easyfairs has a strong track record of delivering 30 industrial events across nine countries, including Advanced Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing, All About Automation and many others. Advanced Engineering, one of the biggest in the portfolio, has its flagship event at the NEC Birmingham in November and is the UK’s largest annual gathering of engineering and manufacturing professionals, offering a vital window into the future of the market. Since its acquisition by Easyfairs in 2015, it has cemented its highly respected reputation as a market leader, and has since launched into Belgium and Sweden.

Matt Benyon, Group CEO of Easyfairs, commented: “Southern Manufacturing & Electronics is a perfect strategic fit for our growing portfolio; and as part of an established stable of industry-leading events, the event’s future development and its loyal exhibitor and visitor base that has been built up over the last 30 years will be in very safe hands.”

A portfolio including these two distinct UK events creates a powerful offering to the market covering the entire engineering and manufacturing value chain. Southern Manufacturing & Electronics has a core of exhibitors displaying machinery, production equipment, electronic production, tooling and subcontracting services; where Advanced Engineering has its core in product design and engineering, composites engineering and advanced materials.

Furthermore, it provides a geographical diversity; with 35% of the 2.6m people who work in UK manufacturing based in the South of England, Southern Manufacturing & Electronics provides a critical hub for the industry.

Southern Manufacturing & Electronics has built up over the years as a family business, led by founders Phil Valentine and Jo Valentine and with a family team working with them. Alison Willis, Managing Director of Easyfairs UK confirmed: “Phil and Jo will remain closely involved in the event as consultants, and we very much look forward to working with them and the rest of the family on the continuing growth and success of the event. The knowledge and experience that the Valentine family bring, combined with the strength of Easyfairs pan-European network of industrial trade shows, our advanced technology platform, and the obvious synergies within the Easyfairs portfolio will certainly drive the next phase in the event’s development.”

Phil Valentine added: “We could not be more delighted to reach this agreement with Easyfairs. As a family business, founded exactly 30 years ago, we were always going to be cautious to choose the right company to take the event forward as and when we were in a position to sell. We have built a strong relationship with Matt and the team at Easyfairs over many years; we are therefore confident that there is a close synergy with the values of our businesses, despite the difference of scale, and it gives me great confidence and pleasure that Southern Manufacturing & Electronics is in the right hands for the future.”

Easyfairs will resume full operational running of the event from the end of February 2024.

Resolve Optics reports on ongoing and increased demand for rugged high-performance lenses for military and space applications where the need for vibration / shock testing prior to deployment is a vital prerequisite.

For most military applications – operators demand much higher reliability than they would for most standard industrial products. Resolve Optics MIL-SPEC lenses have much higher life expectancy than regular commercial grade lenses. The defective rate is also extremely low. Lenses in military products are regularly subject to vibration. When functioning, vibration can be quite harmful to a lens. Slight vibration might cause malfunction in lenses, severe vibration to the body structure may result in damage that leaves it beyond repair. A MIL-SPEC lens can be designed to withstand vibration effects. Shock waves are also highly detrimental to the performance and operation of high precision military optical products. Ruggedisation to prevent changes in focus from shock and vibration is often enabled by simplifying the lens design and reenforcing the mechanics of the optical system.

The cost of launching optical payloads into space is considerable. Consequently incorporating only ruggedized lenses or optical systems into a satellite or space observation system is critical for achieving longer term, high-performance operation. During launch into space – lenses in high precision instruments and cameras are subject to high levels of vibration and shock. To minimize the effects of vibration and shock it is advisable to keep spaceborne components small and light. Minimising the mass of space optics and retaining them securely to an instrument baseplate will minimize the impact of vibration and shock.

Investment in state-of-the-art vibration/shock test equipment allows Resolve Optics to field test ruggedized lenses and optical systems prior to deployment on the battlefield or launch into space. This vibration / shock testing service not only provide piece of mind that Resolve Optics lenses will not fail upon deployment but also will save customers considerable time and money by removing the need to use third party testing services. The company’s new MPA101-L215M vibratory shaker coupled with a DTC Venzo 880 controller is certified and calibrated to ISO standards.

To read a case study on vibration and shock testing of a satellite payload prior to deployment please visit https://www.resolveoptics.com/satellite-payload-undergoes-vibration-and-classic-shock-testing/

For further information on design and development of rugged lenses for military and space application please visit https://www.resolveoptics.com/ruggedised-lenses-for-harsh-environments/ or contact Resolve Optics on +44-1494-777100 / sales@resolveoptics.com.

As part of a recent initiative to enhance visitor experience and support cycling across the North York Moors National Park, Spelsberg’s BCS Smart e-bike charging stations have been chosen to revolutionise the cycling experience. This strategic move not only caters to the increasing popularity of e-bikes but also aligns seamlessly with the National Park’s commitment to sustainable tourism and environmental stewardship.

The North York Moors National Park is one of the UK’s most breathtaking landscapes, a beacon of natural beauty and conservation spanning more than 554 square miles. To help with its ambition to become the premier family and recreational cycling destination in the north of England, the North York Moors National Park Authority has chosen to install Spelsberg’s e-bike charging technology.

Smart Cycling, smarter charging

Spelsberg’s BCS Smart e-bike charging stations exemplify both technological innovation and environmental responsibility. These stations, equipped with built-in Shimano and Bosch charging points along with standard UK plug sockets, cater to a wide range of e-bike models.

The charging stations are designed with UV-resistant, high-quality materials, ensuring durability and reliability in all weather conditions. Their easy-to-mount, halogen-free structure with IP54 protection guarantees safety and longevity. Additionally, the integration of a management portal for monitoring and control demonstrates Spelsberg’s commitment to providing smart, user-friendly solutions.

 Spelsberg’s BCS Smart e-bike charging stations, with their robust and user-friendly design, are more than just a technical innovation; they’re a significant step forward for the North York Moors National Park and its visitors. The deployment of these stations has delivered a range of benefits in line with the National Park’s objectives and visitor needs. 

They’ve made the North York Moors more accessible, allowing all kinds of visitors, including those who may find long cycling trips challenging, to enjoy its special landscapes. The stations’ complimentary use further promotes sustainable travel, aligning with the National Park’s ambition to reduce carbon emissions and embrace greener transportation. 

Enhancing eco-tourism

Chris Lloyd, Managing Director at Spelsberg UK, commented on the collaboration, saying, “Working with the North York Moors National Park Authority is a proud moment for us. The implementation of our BCS Smart e-bike charging stations in such a prestigious and beautiful setting is a testament to our commitment to sustainable technology and innovation. We have designed these stations to offer e-bike users reliability and convenience, while also promoting eco-friendly solutions for outdoor recreation. We’re excited to see how this project enhances the visitors’ experience of the National Park and sets a new standard for integrating technology with nature conservation.”

The enthusiastic response from visitors, along with interest from local businesses indicates a boost in community engagement and potential economic benefits. Alongside other facilities, such as bike repair stations, racks and locking points, these charging points are helping enhance the National Park’s reputation as cycling destination. Looking ahead, based on feedback and usage data, the North York Moors National Park Authority has aspirations to extend the network of charging points, to meet visitor needs while improving other cycling infrastructure and encouraging more visits by bike.

Dom Barry, Cycling Development Manager at the North York Moors National Park Authority concluded: “We are delighted to work with Spelsberg UK on this initiative. The introduction of its BCS Smart e-bike is a great step in promoting the cycling offer in the North York Moors National Park. Not only are these smart chargers a practical solution for e-bike users but also embody our dedication to enhancing the visitor experience and moving towards our goal to reduce carbon emissions and minimise our impact on this nationally cherished landscape.”