 DVT claims its SmartReader offers a better price vs. performance solution than other readers and includes barcode, 2-D data matrix, and robust OCR capabilities as well as a resolution of 640 x 480. |
Unlike other manufacturing sensors, which simply make decisions based on pass/fail criteria, the new SmartReader from DVT Corp. has built-in communication capabilities like Ethernet and Modbus support so that it can gather data and use it for date/lot code verification, documentation, and part tracking. Profibus and DeviceNet are also available with the DVT SmartLink communications box. The SmartReader offers a robust OCR package that can be used accurately in poor lighting conditions.
"Our vision at DVT is to become a visual data source for manufacturing facilities, and with the new SmartReader, we have taken a giant step in that direction," said Bob Steinke, Chairman and CEO of DVT. "The SmartReader is simply a node on a network that captures information that can be used to increase productivity, efficiency, and accuracy in today's 'smart factory.' The ability to communicate is what makes it a 'smart' reader."
Like other DVT products, the SmartReader—which includes a lens, illumination, and software—is able to monitor inspections without the use of a computer on the factory floor. The software includes Translational SoftSensors that locate the exact vertical and horizontal position, while Rotational SoftSensors track position up to 360° of rotation.
 DVT's Series 600 SmartImage sensor is a stand-alone imaging sensor with onboard image acquisition, processing, digital input/output, and serial and Ethernet communications. |
"The OCR SoftSensor is an extremely powerful industrial reading tool that is designed for reading symbols in the industrial environment," said Michael Schreiber, Director of Applied Engineering for DVT.
The SmartReader includes many of the same tools and specifications of DVT SmartImage sensors, charge-couple-device (CCD) based sensors that can perform automatic identification and data capture by reading bar codes to deliver part tracking and inventory control, communicate coordinate information to robot and motion controllers for positioning, and report inspection results to SPC software packages for quality assurance. DVT has partnered with companies such as Fanuc, IAI, Parker Hannifin, Motoman, and others to create connectivity between devices on the factory floor.
SmartImage sensors' patented technology eliminates the signal conversion electronics, fixed-frame rates, and limited gray-scale quantization of the traditional machine vision system. The technology allows dynamic access of the CCD with no horizontal jitter. Horizontal jitter in frame-grabber-based systems can result in image movement of more than ten times the desired accuracy for an inspection, resulting in distorted geometric shapes and poor repeatability of performance.
 PTC's Pro/ENGINEER Shipbuilding Solutions software enables top-down design methods where critical ship information is controlled from a central location. |
Ships are mankind's oldest form of mass transportation and have been under development since before the Bronze Age. Yet the pressure to develop ships that push technological boundaries has never been stronger.
"Intense demand in the defense and luxury ship markets has generated fierce competition among the major players to be the fastest to market with the most impressive product," said Barry Cohen, Executive Vice President of Marketing at PTC. "PTC's product development solutions allow shipbuilders to address these concerns directly by accelerating the iterative process and allowing the entire corporation to focus synergistically on complex design issues."
 Compartment parts are created from the inner subdivisions of the ship, and tank table calculations are easily obtained and updated to changes in ship geometry. |
PTC's Pro/ENGINEER Shipbuilding Solutions is a computer-aided design (CAD) software developed specifically to meet the engineering needs of the shipbuilding industry. The software is based on PTC's Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) CAD software. "Working with partners like Hyundai Heavy Industries, BAE Systems, and Ingalls, PTC has over 20 years of experience bringing design solutions to the shipbuilding industry with products like CADDS 5i and MEDUSA," said Jon Stevenson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, MCAD Solutions, PTC. "The shipbuilding industry will have access to Pro/E parametric design solutions for designing whole ships."
PTC's offerings are currently used to develop and test products throughout the shipbuilding spectrum, including defense ships such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines as well as commercial ships such as cruise ships and passenger ferries. With the new shipbuilding software, companies will be able to investigate alternative configurations and designs in a much faster development cycle, rapidly exploring iterative results and leveraging existing design knowledge to create more innovative products.
 All pipes and pipelies are routed in the context of the assembly; if the assembly changes, the pipelines will be automatically updated. |
The software contains many of the features and functionality shipbuilders and naval engineers expect in a shipbuilding solution, including robust solid modeling, assembly management, advanced applications such as routed systems or simulation, and a modern user interface. Pro/E Shipbuilding Solutions also features new hull design and outfitting functionality to support the shipbuilding industry.
Pro/E Shipbuilding Solutions enables feature-based, parametric, associative modeling software with customized interfaces and functionality. Design change propagation and management, which reduces costly rework, is at the heart of this new system. Also, users will be able to work in an assembly-centric design environment, creating fully modifiable components. PTC's Associative Topology Bus enables data to be exchanged between all of the PTC solutions, as well as other CAD software packages, which allows changes to the data to propagate across systems. The systems applications are specification-driven and incorporate intuitive routing within the context of the overall 3-D assembly. The new system improves the process of collaboration between design groups and suppliers and simplifies management of complex designs.
 The software's structural plate creation takes advantage of standard Pro/ENGINEER surface analysis tools such as this Gaussian curvature analysis. |
In the hull basic-design module, the completed conceptual ship hull model will have a faired hull surface, a ship's reference framing system (consisting of frame, deck, and bulkhead locations), and a volumetric space allocation layout for compartments. Bulkhead types include planar, corrugated, swedged, and offset. Deck types include planar, fore and aft sheer, and cambered.
The hull structural-design module provides a fully parametric, associative, assembly-centric hull structural-design environment in which the conceptual ship reference model is populated with 3-D structural member components and other solid geometry. Designers can work in manufacturing block zones while the system automatically adds components to the assembly. Changes made to the conceptual ship model will be automatically propagated through the detailed hull structural design. The module provides modeling for all types of planar, curved, and twisted primary structural geometry objects including plates, stiffeners, pillars, and beams in the ship.
 Subassemblies such as this engine room can be created concurrently from a top-level skeleton conceptual model. |
PTC provides a fully parametric HVAC application module in the design software that incorporates design intent by intuitively routing HVAC assemblies within the context of the overall 3-D assembly. This application also provides a consistency check between the 3-D components and their 2-D symbolic representations on the HVAC schematic. There are five other modules as well for piping, electrical systems, routed systems support, machinery and structural outfitting, and accommodations.
PTC's shipbuilding solution is fully integrated with PTCs Windchill software, which can manage product data as well as extend the product information to other enterprise users, such as subcontractors and material suppliers. With Windchill, ship information can be shared via the Internet across departments, divisions, strategic suppliers, subcontractors, ship owners, and other designated users within the extended enterprise.
