Hey everyone, I’m Fin—your new curator of the Hardware Roundup Newsletter. Every month, I’ll scour the internet to bring you the top hardware news, articles, and community updates. If you’d like more regular updates, you should join our Facebook Group to connect with other engineers and designers, post hardware questions, and learn about job opportunities.

Want to share an interesting article, job posting, or event in the Hardware Roundup? Submit your link here, and we’ll do our best to include it in the next issue with a credit to you.

Industry News

  • DARPA announced its new Radio Frequency Machine Learning Systems (RFMLS) program; GCN looked at how DARPA plans to manage IoT devices to autonomous vehicles’ RF signals by using the program to address the need for enhanced situational awareness. [via GCN]
  • By adding microscopic “nanodiamonds” to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, engineers have found a way to prevent lithium batteries from bursting into flames. This will enable manufacturers to build larger and more complex batteries than can store even more. [via EurekAlert]
  • Avnet acquired Dragon Innovation, a hardware consulting firm, for an undisclosed price. Dragon is known for their design for manufacturing expertise and BOM management tools; the two companies recently announced a partnership with Kickstarter to help companies assess manufacturing before launching. [via The Verge]
  • China is leading the rise of hardware unicorns and is home to 11 of the 18 hardware unicorns. [via VentureBeat]

Hardware Knowledge

  • TITANS of CNC visited a Swiss 7th Generation Machine Shop founded in 1846. Today, they specialize in small watch and medical parts, and every day, they produce 2 million precision parts, with 250 employees running 600 machines.
  • AvE explains how quenching, the rapid cooling of steel to change its material properties works. [via CoolNews #39]
  • When looking for shaft and linear bushings that will steadily perform, engineers & designers can run into difficulties. Machine Design and NB resolve those difficulties by explaining how to get the right fit between linear bushings and shafts. [via Machine Design]
  • Brian Garvey writes about the hidden design features within a Formula 1 Timing Gear Damper, which can be found in all F1 engines to smooth vibrations in the gear train and reduce failed valve and gear trains. [via F1 technical]
  • 275,000 liquid glitter iPhone cases were recently recalled for causing serious chemical burns to users. Instrumental did a technical failure analysis on a couple of the recalled cases and uncovered the glue process and susceptibility to internal pressure as the root cause.

Events

  • Fictiv Presents: DC Motors and Motion Control Systems.Next Thursday in Sunnyvale, CTO of Simplexity Product Development Doug Harriman will present on  electric motors for medium to high production volume products and delve into details about how to use DC motors in motion control systems. [Free Registration via this link]
  • Future of Hardware: Innovations in 3D Printing next week includes speakers from Autodesk, FormForge, and Carbon 3D. [Register for free here]
  • Tickets are still available for Product Realization Group’s 2017 Annual Hardware Symposium on Thursday, September 14th.This year’s theme is “Artificial Intelligence – Hardware Revolution or Evolution?” [Register here] for a 15% discount.

Community

Women in 3D Printing want more speakers for their online and offline events to give as many women as possible the opportunity to share their expertise & knowledge with their peers and the general public. [Register as a potential speaker]

Fictiv Builders Coffee: Every month, I hand-pair members of the Fictiv Facebook Group based on their location, interests, and industry for a coffee (paid for by Fictiv). The next one is happening very soon, and you can [sign up here].

The Urban Manufacturing Alliance, a network of 600 practitioners across 200 cities, is conducting a State of Urban Manufacturing report to identify gaps in services that can help the sector to thrive and scale in cities. If you’re a maker or manufacturer based in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, or Portland, OR, [fill out the survey].

For the Love of Engineering

The Concorde had a droop nose that tilted down because the pilot couldn’t see over it during takeoff or landing, but it also helped to reduce drag and improve aerodynamic efficacy. [via Machine Pix]

That’s all for now!

Fin, Hardware Evangelist at Fictiv