For any modern economy, energy is part of the cost structure of pretty much everything. Depending on the specific product, direct energy costs are often the second largest cost of doing business for many industries.  As an example, in electrolytic refining of metals, energy cost can be 10% or more of the final cost for […]

Converting the energy from wind to electricity is a huge mechatronic challenge.  Lots of backyard inventors are trying their hands at it.  At the end of the day, it will come down to what works economically. The issue is that you have to convert the kinetic energy of the wind, which is very low depending […]

The permanent magnetic is a quiet, unobtrusive work horse in so many applications that it, like many things that are mechatronics related, is mind bogglingly (is that a word?) pervasive.  Magnets are the key material technology to enable high efficiency and power dense electric motors.  And electric motors are everywhere. The particular magentic material that […]

Recently I had occaision to discuss the merits of wind power with a colleague.  In particular there is a controversy between horizontal axis wind turbines, the giant propeller driven systems you see in advertisements, and vertical wind, which does not have much presence in the marketplace.  The premise is that horizontal systems can take advantage […]

Battery technology has been getting a lot of focus in the last couple of years.  After all, you can’t have a decent electric car (or hybrid for that matter) without having the right kind of battery.  And, just one more time, battery technology is what prevented the marketing of the electric car after the oil […]

Energy density by itself is not a sufficient measure of anything.  It is only useful in a specific context.  For example, one can refer to the energy density of battery technology.  And that is an extremely useful comparison because the weight of the battery in an electric car is critical to its success.  The General […]

Thinking about the top challenges we face in mechatronics there is one that’s connected and not really obvious.  It’s energy storage.   Our tendency is think in terms of batteries because that’s the form of energy storage that we are most familiar with.  Cell phones, laptop computers and many other portable gadgets of the Internet Age […]

I was talking with some friends about control technology and made the observation that over the last decade the progress in the control field has been really amazing.  Particularly, the processor technology that is available for controlling electric motors is operating 1000 times faster than the control platforms of a decade ago.  We look at […]

Everyone has an opinion about Energy Policy.  Just ask.  They’ll tell you!  And I am glad for the fact that there is a lot of discussion taking place.  We need good dialog and good information. We might be a little lacking on the information side.  Nuclear power for generating electricity is not a popular topic, […]

A friend of mine finally got delivery of a Tesla Roadster.  This prompted discussion of the drive train and the fact that Tesla has had to go from two speed transmissions which were failing to a transmissionless drive train.  The ultimate mechatronic challenge, the electric car, is also a challenger in terms of the precise  […]

Among the many issues facing us today is the cost of personal transportation.  To a large extent, modern American manufacturing was built largely on making cars and all the steel, carpet, glass and all the other products that are required in a car.  Interestingly, the electronics sector of our economy, far bigger than automotive, has […]

There is an interesting problem with applying electric motors that is a constant source of difficulty, the nature of peak power versus continuous power.  The problem is that few systems operate at a statistical average power demand.  Frequently, this causes equipment designers to oversize the motor for the application.  At the same time, however, this […]

I recently wrote on the mechatronic challenge of wind power.  Converting wind into mechanical power that can be harnessed for man’s use has been going on since the 9th Century according to Persian historians.  Certainly wind powered grinding of grains has been around in Europe for several centuries and, lest we forget, wind power pumping […]

So continuing on a theme, there are many ways to describe value.   In order to measure the value of technology, we must measure it’s cost performance.  There are many elements of the value proposition that need to be considered, such as cost to acquire the technology, installation costs, maintenance cost and life expectancy.  And […]

I read constantly on a variety of subjects.  I am interested in electric cars, wind energy, industrial productivity, electric motors, lots of stuff that would seem to be disconnected.  As someone who is involved in the development of technology, it is important to me to look to the future.  For my consulting clients I must […]

As “We the People” wait for Congress to do something to stimulate the economy we are flooded with information about “Green Initiatives” as part of the stimulus strategy.  And its really easy to get dragged along with the tide of enthusiasm.  After all, the electric car has languished in the shadows for over 70 years […]

Energy efficiency is another “hot” topic. And like many topics in technology, its very prone to misunderstanding and misrepresentation. For example, a recent prominent engineering magazine published a cover article on the subject of electric cars, one of my favorite topics. And the cover had a really cool graphic comparing the energy density of lead […]

The USDA Rural Development’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program announced on Tuesday that it is making $6.9 million in grants and loans available to 27 individuals and businesses in seven states. The money is to be used for increasing energy efficiency of developing renewable energy systems. The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency […]

Everybody knows the story of the electric light. Thomas Edison in the shop with his workers trying to come up with the solution for a filament that would last more than a few minutes under load. The first patent issued for an electric light went to Woodward and Evans in Canada. Many other people demonstrated […]