Robots have been with us for well over a century, at least in fiction. From Maria in the German silent masterpiece Metropolis to the familiar C3PO in the Star Wars universe, writers and filmmakers have dreamt about intelligent, human-shaped robots to serve as our everyday companions. Imagine our disappointment when the first real robots started appearing in our factories. Not only were these robots unintelligent, they were not even shaped like a human. The automotive … [Read more...]
Samtec and the Smart Factory
A modern production line is a ruthless machine. In the pursuit of efficiency, no hint of compromise can be allowed. When Henry Ford spoke about the Model-T, he famously said that customers could have “any color they like, as long as it’s black.” While this might sound like a sensational marketing ploy, there was a practical reason. For the production line to run at full speed, Ford needed to use quick-drying paint. And black was the only quick-drying paint … [Read more...]
Video Games Taught Me Skills
I am a child of the 80s. I grew up when the idea of home computing was very new. My first experience of any kind of computer was an Apple II that my Dad brought home from work. It was the only computer his company possessed, and every few weeks he would need to create a report that took nearly all weekend. I would wait patiently for Dad to finish because that’s when he would let me load the 5 ¼" floppy disc into the machine and play Galaxians. I loved that game. As … [Read more...]
Is it Uncomfortable at the Cutting Edge?
Innovation can sometimes be an uncomfortable business. The history of invention is filled with examples of ideas that were dismissed at the time, and it is the measure of the inventor whether they can bounce back from rejection. From Alexander Graham Bell with his telephone to Thomas Edison with the electric light bulb, there is a distinguished group of famous names who struggled to be taken seriously. There is something noble, or even romantic, about the idea of the lone … [Read more...]
When Connector Standards Are Not Standard…
There are some products that have become so familiar that their name has entered everyday language. The Hoover Company became so successful in the vacuum cleaner market that its name has entered the language to describe the task they perform. Here in the UK, many Brits of a certain age do not do the vacuuming. Instead, they “hoover”. The same is true of more up-to-date technology. In the world of the internet, Google now receives more than three-quarters of all … [Read more...]
The Future of Trade Shows
As I write this in early July, we are looking at the calendar of events and trade shows for this year, and there are few survivors. The Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has seen almost all public events cancelled, from the Olympics to the Eurovision Song Contest. Less well reported, but of more importance to manufacturers like Samtec, is the almost total collapse of the trade show calendar. Trade shows are an important channel of communications with customers. A booth at a trade … [Read more...]
Providing the Highway for the Information Superhighway
The name “information superhighway” was familiar at the beginning of the internet age. At the time that the internet was introduced, the most common communication used a point-to-point system. A user would dial the telephone number of the recipient, and all communications took place between one and the other. The electrical connection between the two was a series of wires travelling via telephone exchanges, connected for the purpose of that call, and broken once it … [Read more...]
Take a Little Time
Now more than ever it is important that we take the time to do something we enjoy. It is also the perfect time to catch up with some of the engineers who are doing fascinating work on the internet. And so, to help you spend some time, I am going to take a look at a few blogs, podcasts and videos that you might have missed. Grant Imahara Let's start with someone you might have seen before. Grant Imahara is a well-known engineer and technology presenter whose career serves as an … [Read more...]
Engineers, Assemble!
There are many historical innovations that are the product of adversity, and the current situation is an extreme example. While it is not the first time that humanity has faced a truly global challenge like the COVID-19 pandemic, this time the world is connected by technology in a completely unprecedented way. The response has been incredible. Within hours of the true scale of the current emergency becoming apparent, engineers around the world had started to collaborate, innovate … [Read more...]
Three Dimensions for Everyone
When the Boeing 777 first entered service in 1995, it ushered in a new era for commercial aviation. For the first time, Boeing had worked closely with the airlines in the development of a new jet to ensure it satisfied the needs of the end customer. It was also the first Boeing product to incorporate fly-by-wire technology, the flight control system that had been so successful in military aircraft and Boeing's largest competitor, Airbus. More importantly for engineers, the … [Read more...]
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