The plant is using the software, from Primavera Systems of Philadelphia, to manage maintenance and capital projects at the same time and to schedule labor and equipment use.

With the software, the refinery's staff members can modify plant schedules as events at the refinery change.

Piezoceramics, which emit an electrical signal, are still used in the automotive industry, and their use has shown a potential for growth.

But high-performance ceramics, especially piezoceramics, are still in use in automotive engineering and their use could grow, according to CeramTec.

The piezoceramic sensors from CeramTec play a role as knocking sensors in cars, ensuring the best combustion possible. The ceramic emits an electrical signal as soon as pressure is applied to it. This characteristic makes it suitable for a large number of new applications, according to the engineers.

One application is as an alternative to electropneumatic valves. Due to its response characteristics and precise regulation, piezoceramic material can be used to adjust antilock braking system, diesel, or fuel-injection valves. The amount of fuel to be injected can be precisely metered, improving combustion and, thus, the environmental impact of the engine.

The company's robots are based on advanced technology that enables them to feel as well as move. Bill Townsend, Barrett's founder and chief executive officer, said he recognized 15 years ago that for robots to break out of niche automation tasks, core technologies would have to be rebuilt from the ground up so that robots could collaborate hand-in-hand with people.

Townsend's work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Artificial Intelligence Lab led to new types of drive mechanisms that let people teach robots by using touch. But the technology depends on powerful computers available at the AI Lab and almost nowhere else.

"That prevented us from address-ing mainstream commercial applications," Townsend said. "So we have been quietly perfecting the technology while we wait for the power of mainstream PCs and the Internet to catch up. And it's close—within a couple of years."

Barrett Technology is now sublicensing its technology in fields such as haptic sensing, surgery, and physical rehabilitation.

"This greatly simplifies the exchange of data with other development units and MAN Nutzfahrzeuge locations," said Klaus Hertel, who is responsible for CAD development at the Nuremberg site. "For us in engine development, further standardization of the process chain means considerable gains in efficiency.

"An even more decisive factor is that we have taken a crucial step forward toward our objective of developing a virtual truck using a single system," Hertel added.

MAN Commercial Vehicles plans the development of a virtual truck by next year.

At Valtra, customers have tractors tailored for them according to their individual needs. Valtra decided to use a single product data management system to keep customers' information in one place.

Customer orders take four to six weeks to deliver, and they generate much paperwork. The system also helps to manage product structure modification procedures.

Now, assembly instructions, tractor test run instructions, and product development department notices are all in real time, and within reach of designers and other research and development personnel at Valta.

The company finds that it's easier to keep track of reused parts using the PDM system. In the future, the system will be connected to spare parts books, to the company's post marketing unit, and to other units abroad. The sales department also will have access to the PDM system in the future.

The software, iSight, from Engineous Software of Morrisville, N.C., will fit with the company's advanced engineering design systems, said Francois Caillot, PSA Peugeot Citroen's director of numerical methods at its technical resources department.

That amusement park analysis led to the invention of actuator element technology that Algor employees say helps simplify stress analysis. Actuator elements enable engineers to simulate complex computer-controlled movement of motion in any direction over time.

"Engineers who need to model real-world events sometimes must invent specialized elements to completely model mechanical systems, the systems' movements, and related stress loads," said Michael Bussler, president of Pittsburgh-based Algor. "Actuator elements allow engineers to simulate axial extension and retraction in 3-D space simultaneously."

The actuator element technology resulted from the Algor client's need to analyze a hydraulically operated cinematic simulator ride. The ride was a platform supported by three pairs of hydraulic cylinders connected to a base.

Edward Pribonic, a consultant, had to verify to Iwerks Entertainment that the bearings supporting the ride would withstand stresses caused by actuator movements over time. The six hydraulic cylinders moved in unique and complex ways independent of each other. The problem led to the creation of the actuator element technology. (A related article, "Twisting and Turning," appeared in the December 1999 issue.)

"Our immediate focus is on the vulnerabilities of the electronic systems that monitor and operate our business systems and provide critical communications within and outside the energy business," said Charlie Siebenthal, who manages the program.

The program will consist of a series of workshops covering a broad range of applicable issues, including electronic security technical issues. Companies involved in the production, transportation, distribution, or sale of energy participate in the program.

"The program is intended to give member companies a way to discuss issues, problems, and potential solutions," Siebenthal said. "Initial topics to be addressed include the security of existing operating systems and potential security issues related to operating systems now under development."

Kinetic Concepts' products are used in hospitals and in long-term care and home care settings.

The company is moving to a three-dimensional design platform to reduce design time, to transfer design data throughout the company, and to provide a digital link to outside suppliers, said Barry Crandall, vice president of engineering at Kinetic Concepts.

The company will also use feature-recognition software from SolidWorks that will help import legacy data from pre-existing designs. Also, Kinetic Works will use photo-realistic rendering software from the same software vendor to create how-to-assemble videos and online service manuals that will take the place of the traditional hard copies produced by the technical publications department, Crandall said.

These areas included rule-based systems, integrated object-inference tools, domain-rule learning, and expert-level advising.

Speakers surveyed the impact of research done at the Heuristic Programming Project, an early parent program of the Knowledge Systems Lab. The research was done on programs that employ heuristic reasoning, a term defined by George Polya, a Stanford mathematician, as the art of good guessing. Heuristic knowledge is used by artificial intelligence programs for reasoning.

"These knowledge-based programs solve complex, real-world problems, such as chemical analysis, medical diagnosis, engineering design, manufacturing scheduling, and computer diagnosis," said Edward Feigenbaum, the Kumagai Professor of computer science at Stanford, who organized the symposium.

"They're beginning to play a role as advisors to consumers on the World Wide Web," he added.

Equipment for these applications is continually pushed for optimal speed and performance. Generally, these machines are custom designed. Recently, however, Kimberly-Clark, a paper-products manufacturer in Irving, Texas, installed a new, high-speed production line for facial tissues at a manufacturing plant in Australia. Some of the equipment used on this line was designed in-house.

One aspect of the design involved a high-speed registration device for handling the clips of folded tissues that are placed in cardboard containers later in the process. Engineers at the plant had no experience with the design of this process.

To verify the functions of the various moving parts, including the clips of tissues, engineers modeled these components and studied their motion at various speeds. They used Mechanical Desktop software from Autodesk of San Rafael, Calif., to design the equipment and used integrated Dynamic Designer/Motion simulation software from Mechanical Dynamics of Ann Arbor, Mich., to study the motion.

Based on component geometry defined in the CAD system, engineers used the motion modeling software to add connecting joints along with component forces and motion generators to produce a fully functioning computer model of the mechanical system of these packaging machines.

The technology, from Analogy of Beaverton, Ore., allows the truck maker to include electrical analysis in harness design before manufacture. The company's previous in-house design tool only allowed for purely mechanical analysis.

"This means we can eliminate the ongoing overhead and maintenance costs we were encountering with our in-house harness design system," said Anna Limell, a Scania project leader.

Alibre of Richardson, Texas, has introduced Alibre Design for public preview. The software allows collaborative design and data management via the Internet.

Fakespace of Kitchener, Ontario, has formed a strategic relationship with Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, Calif., to make visualization software available to companies involved in produce development and manufacturing.

International TechneGroup Inc. of Milford, Ohio, has released CADScript, which gives CAD software developers access to CAD data, regardless of its source of platform.

Cyco Software of Atlanta has released AutoManager Meridian 2.0, which is electronic document management software.

Pathtrace of Ontario, Calif., has announced that CATIA-generated designs can now be loaded directly into the com-pany's EdgeCAM computer numerical control programming system.

Axium of Beaverton, Ore., has released a demonstration compact disc that shows the capabilities of Protrax version 5.3, which tracks project information.

Delta F of Woburn, Mass., offers a free software download from its Web site that allows users to download oxygen data from the NanoTrace II Oxygen Analyzer's short-term log.

CNC Software of Tolland, Conn., has released Mastercam Version 8 of its CAD/ CAM software.

Concurrent Analysis Corp. of Encino, Calif., has released CAEFEM Version 6.0, which supports a list of element and analysis types, including linear static, frequency, and mode shapes.

Cyra Technologies of Oakland, Calif., and Leica Geosystems of Heerbrugg, Switzerland, have formed an agreement under which Leica will invest in Cyra.

Vision InfoSoft of Encinitas, Calif., which manufactures estimating and billing software, has announced its expansion into the United Kingdom.

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