Archive for the ‘business’ Category

How to Create an Electronic Prototype

Posted: November 27, 2020 by datechguy in business, tips

Building an electronic prototype of a device is an extremely important and necessary part of electronic product development. Not only does this step let you see the potential of your product, but it also lets you spot any flaws with it.

Anyone can develop an electronic prototype of a product, regardless of their technical ability. It doesn’t matter if you’re a startup maker, an entrepreneur, a small business owner or an inventor; creating your own electronic prototype is possible. If you want to create an electronic prototype, but don’t know where to begin, then here are some pieces of advice to help you:

1.      Product Development Strategies

While most of us don’t have the necessary skills or knowledge we need to design and build an electronic prototype on our own, don’t let this put you off giving it a go. If you don’t have the necessary skills or technical knowledge to build it on your own, you could always consider asking for help or advice from a specialist. Here are some options available to you:

  • Develop the product yourself – very few people have all of the skills they need to develop an electronic product on their own. Even experienced engineers require help from specialists.
  • Bring in co-founders – ideally those who have technical knowledge
  • Outsource to a freelance engineer – freelance engineers will be able to fill in any gaps in your technical ability. Just remember that most products will need multiple engineers of different specialties and you will be responsible for managing the build.
  • Outsource to a development firm – these firms can be extremely expensive, but they will ensure your project is a success
  • Partner with an overseas manufacturer who already makes similar products – this can save money

2.      Develop Your Prototype

The development of the electronics inside your product can be broken down into the following steps:

  • The preliminary product design – this focuses on the cost, the production components, the performance, the features, the profit margin, the manufacturability, and the feasibility of the project
  • The schematic diagram – The schematic diagram is an extremely important document. It is a picture that shows the significant components of a system. This diagram shows how every component from the resistor to the microchip connects together.
  • The PCB layout – When the schematic diagram is complete you can design your PCB. This is the board that will connect all of your electrical components together.
  • Generate the BOM (Bill of Materials) – this should list every component you will need to use in your PCB. Most of the electrical parts you need to build a PCB can be found at Octopart.

3.      Build Your Prototype

As we mentioned above, you can do this yourself or you can ask a specialist to do it for you.

4.      Test Your Prototype

Once you’ve built your prototype, you will need to test and evaluate it. Check to see if there are any issues with the design or any parts that you’re not happy with. Now is the time to make necessary changes to the design.

5.      Get Your Product Certified

All electronic products require certification. If you plan on selling your product in the future, then you will need to make sure you have the right certification in place.  

Building an electronic prototype can open your eyes to the constraints or possibilities of your product. Prototyping is all about testing your ideas to see if they will work when fully complete. If you want to create an electronic prototype, then make sure you follow our advice above.

Applications of Robots in the Plastic Injection Molding Industry

Posted: November 26, 2020 by datechguy in business, economy
Tags: ,

The never-ending increase in demand for more flexible solutions has led to industrial robots being widely used in the plastic industries today. These industrial robots are being used in almost all areas of the production process, including operations related to injection molding.

Below are some of the areas whereby industrial robots can be used to automate the process of injection molding.

Pick-and-Place

One way that industrial robots can be used in automating the injection molding process is by the use of pick-and-place robots. These robots are used to load plastic parts into the machine. They can also be used to place complete end products onto the conveyor belt.

Quality

Injection molding is a repetitive task, and when performed by human employees, it can leave room for discrepancies. Making use of the robots ensure that production is of the highest quality and ensures that products are well formed, cut with precision and that the finished product is well measured with every process.

Productivity

Incorporating robots into the injection molding process provides the manufacturers with the much-needed viable advantage with visible surges in the produced parts’ quality and productivity.

Different robots are used in various areas in the automation of plastic injection molding, they include;

  • 3-Axis Cartesian robot; Due to their high-speed processes, they are usually used for horizontal plastic injection molding machines.
  • 6-Axis Articulated robot; This injection molding robot is usually used for both the vertical and horizontal injection molding machines. They are suitable for floor space or ceiling height constraints as they allow for a larger work envelope
  • 6-Axis Collaborative robot; The 6-axis collaborative robot operates safely alongside human operators, although it cannot compete with the other 6-axis robots in terms of precision and speed.
  • 4-Axis SCARA robot; The SCARA 4-axis robot usually provides a circular work envelope, and it is mainly used for loading and unloading vertical injection molding machines.
  • Side Entry robot; The side-entry robot is best for faster cycles. It is also suitable for areas with space constraints.
  • Sprue Picker robot; The sprue picker is usually used for the removal of sprue. It can also be used for part and runner separation in the automation of plastic injection molding.

Below are some of the areas where these robots can be applied in various production processes.

Machine Tending

One of the most common applications of injection molding robots is the machine tending process. Machine tending is a labor-intensive task that involves the handling of heat-sensitive material being molded. This requires a high level of consistency when handling developed materials. As such, a robot can be used to relieve human operators from this tedious task while also minimizing the risks of being injured.

The use of robotics in machine tending has been attributed to improved production capacity and product consistency. To avoid damages to newly injected molded parts, robots fitted with inflated grippers or vacuum can guarantee careful handling of the elements.

Insert Molding

Inserts are usually metal objects such as; pin, blade, or threaded rod. They are generally put inside the plastic mold either before or after the injection process. The 6-axis robots that are often used to load/unload an injection molding machine, can add these inserts into the molding.

Plastic Over-molding

This process is where two or more separate molded parts are joined together to form one finished product. Plastic over-molding requires different degrees for fast and accurate placement of components. Robots can be used to lift molded parts from the machine and place them onto another device for the over-molding process.

In-mold Labeling

In-mold labeling is a process for decorating or labeling plastic molded parts. It is usually done during the injection molding cycle. Robotics can be used to load pre-printed labels directly into the open plastic injection molds. Tags and decorations are then permanently engraved within the molded parts, hence becoming an essential part of the end product.

Conclusion

As a manufacturer, telling the different types of robots in the market and their applications can go along way in helping you make an informed decision. This article is intended to give you an insight into how the different types of robots are used in injection molding, and the various areas in which they can be applied.

3 Days and Waiting Twitter’s New Tina Brown Strategy

Posted: November 24, 2020 by datechguy in blogs, business, elections, media, News/opinion
Tags: , ,

I’ve never liked Twitter even though I’ve used it. I was a late adopter, and with good reason. It’s the crystal meth of social media — addictive and destructive, yet simultaneously unsatisfying. When I’m off it I’m happier than when I’m on it. That it’s also being run by crappy SJW types who break their promises, to users, shareholders, and the government, of free speech is just the final reason. Why should I provide free content to people I don’t like, who hate me? I’m currently working on a book on social media, and I keep coming back to the point that Twitter is far and away the most socially destructive of the various platforms. So I decided to suspend them, as they are suspending others. At least I’m giving my reasons, which is more than they’ve done usually.

Glenn Reynolds

Apparently Twitter has decided that even though their written accusations against me are patently false it’s much too embarrassing to grant my appeals quickly only to have their apologies and claims of “mistakes” be illustrated as false.

In fact given the text of my last appeal...

For what is now the 6th time in under 20 days you have locked me out claiming that I was spreading intimate images when I was in fact each time tweeting out a link to a post on Benford’s statistical law which demonstrates the impossibility of Joe Biden’s magic ballots.

Moreover Every time I have appealed you have upheld said appeal apologized and claimed my lockout was an error. YET EVERY SINGLE TIME AFTER THESE “apologies” I HAVE RETWEETED THE VERY SAME LINK TO THE VERY SAME PIECE AND WAS LOCKED OUT WITH THE VERY SAME FALSE ACCUSATION AGAINST ME.

To say this is despicable and dishonorable is to not only repeat myself from previous appeals but to say something that is so apparent that it almost doesn’t need saying. That you still do this demonstrate why other alternatives like Parler are doing so well.

Bottom line you’re accusation is false and I’m not only not going to delete the tweet but after this appeal is won I will test to see if your upcoming “apology” and assertion of a “mistake” is worth any more than it was the last five times you sent them.

At least my next lockout for that same link will be lucky number 7

emphasis mine

they have clearly concluded that there is no percentage in handling my appeal in a timely manor.

So I am now on day three of my lockout awaiting the results of my appeal and counting. For Twitter it’s the best of possible worlds in the sense that they keep me silent while pretending that they are carefully considering the nuances of my appeal but they keep the Benford’s law post from spreading, at least on their platform, while always dangling the carrot that if I just delete the tweet in question I’ll be welcomed back.

Now if I was 14 or 21 or maybe even in my 30’s that might has some oomph, alas dear twitter I’m nearer to my 70th birthday than I am to my 45th and thus lived many decades without twitter, and while it is a convenience I can continue to function without it.

While the in the short term such a plan will achieve goals in the long term discouraging your product (that’s folks like me) from being on your platform while encouraging them to go to other places such as Gab (Parler wants a cell phone number that I don’t have) might not be appealing to one’s customer base (advertisers) which is likely to have as bad an effect on shareholders as encouraging your voter base to not reproduce with the same predictable results.

The problem exemplified by the case of Lena Dunham is that the “r strategy” (parents having fewer children, with the idea of more “quality” in their offspring) pursued past a certain point, involves an increased risk of eventual reproductive failure. This is what I mean by taking into account secondary and tertiary consequences, thinking forward to the third generation down the line. Suppose this hypothetical:

John and Jane have two children.

If both of their children have two children of their own, John and Jane will have four grandchildren.

If all four grandchildren each have two children, then John and Jane will have eight great-grandchildren.

Now a slightly different hypothetical:

John and Jane have three children.

If each of their children have three children of their own, John and Jane will have nine grandchildren.

If all nine grandchildren each have three children, then John and Jane will have 27 great-grandchildren.

In other words, increasing average family size from 2 to 3 — which is not much, really, in terms of r/K theory — produces a third generation of descendants more than three times larger. This fact is obvious from simple arithmetic, yet its social consequences are profound.

Now if your business model is to attract users so that you can sell exposure to them to advertisers the exile of those who actually reproduce might be a bad idea if you wish to have your company last like a Ford or a McDonalds for generations after you are founded.

But if you are merely using a publicly traded company as a means to an end either social acceptance or to advance a narrative a /la Tina Brown then it all makes perfect sense…to all but the shareholders who were looking for profit rather than status that is.

Those guys are into Parler and Gab

Closing thought, one must also consider that depending on who the shareholders are they might not CARE about profit as long as conservatives are silenced consider:

That’s the real point here. Economics isn’t what’s driving this ideology and status is. Jack and the big investors who back him don’t care about the money, they’re never going to be hurting or needing. It’s all about the stuff money can’t buy and by leaning on conservatives you remain acceptable to the “right” people.

Seriously did you think Tina Brown got all those people to lose all that money over the years because they thought she was brilliant or was putting out to get it? Nobody’s that brilliant and there are plenty of woman who would put out for less. It was all about getting the bona fides and entree to the right parties, and the right people and believe me those “right” people who hate our guts will use that for the fullest effect.

Jack and twitter aren’t going to change because of economic pressure or anything else. He’s virtue signaling and that signal is being seen by the people that he wants to see it.

If the primary goal isn’t profit it’s all good to them.

Ach-ptooie, Twitter and Facebook hate conservatives–Hello Parler

Posted: November 8, 2020 by John Ruberry in business, culture, elections, News/opinion, politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

By John Ruberry

I’ve had my fill of Facebook and Twitter blocking friends of mine from posting there and having their accounts suspended. These two social media giants unapologetically back liberal political figures while using their might to crush conservative leaders–as well as rank-and-file supporters of the right side of the political spectrum.

The most recent victim of Twitter bumptiousness is Da Tech Guy himself, simply because he questioned the veracity of the presidential recounts in swing states. It happened today.

Meanwhile there is another social media site, Parler, where free speech is encouraged. I’m @marathonpundit there. Please follow me. While I haven’t deleted my Facebook and Twitter accounts–I’ll be spending much less time there. Besides, I don’t want someone to steal my handles there.

On his show radio show Friday night Mark Levin announced his social media transition. Today on the platform he announced, “Hurry and follow me at Parler. I’m trying to encourage as many of you as possible to immediately join me there as I may not stay at Facebook or Twitter if they continue censoring me. And one day I’ll have left their platforms. Parler is a wonderful alternative and is growing, and we need you there ASAP. It believes in truly open speech. Thank you!”

In his well-deserved grilling by the US Senate last month, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey couldn’t come up with a solid answer on why he continually blocks President Trump’s Tweets about controversial COVID-19 treatments and election fraud. Meanwhile, a post from the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, questioning whether the Holocaust occurred, remains on the microblogging platform. When asked about if any other world leader, besides Trump, has had Tweets blocked, Dorsey couldn’t come up with any examples. 

Twitter is a Trump-hating and a conservative-hating site. I can’t think of a single incident of a liberal–famous or not–having their posts deleted or their accounts blocked. Just last week, for instance, reputed comedian Kathy Griffin reposted on Twitter her notorious photo where she holds the bloody head of President Trump. Don’t forget, threats of violence against the president violates federal law. What would happen to my Twitter account if I posted a similar shot with Joe Biden?

It’s not just “the guy in his pajamas” Tweeting at home who gets bullied. The New York Post, America’s oldest daily newspaper and its fourth-most read, saw its Twitter account suspended for 13 days because of stories it wrote and Tweeted regarding email revelations alleging graft gleaned from Hunter Biden’s laptop. The Twitter “gods” deemed these reports unsubstantiated–even though the Biden-Harris campaign never denied the Post’s stories. Another reason given by Twitter for the Post’s suspension was its claim that the paper was publishing “hacked” information. But Hunter’s laptop was obtained legally.

Contrast that behavior with Twitter’s non-response to the New York Times’ stories on President Trump’s federal income tax returns. Those returns were possibly retrieved by hacking–and that tax information was almost certainly illegally obtained by somebody.

Facebook isn’t quite as bad as Twitter in regards to censorship but it has a shameful free speech record too. Many of my friends have ended up in “Facebook jail” for pushing the envelope a bit as they challenge the leftist dogma. I’ve never hear about liberals being tossed into “Facebook jail.” And yes, I have liberal friends.

Twitter makes money on ads, mainly thru “Promoted Posts” that appear on its feed. If I am not on Twitter, I don’t see them. Just as when my television is switched off I don’t see commercials there. 

Facebook is downright creepy in its ad strategy. If I click “like” on a story for a sports team, shortly afterwards I’ll see ads on my Facebook page promoting hats and shirts for that team. A few hours after I arrived in Alaska this summer for a vacation this T-shirt ad on my FB page. “I may be in Anchorage but my heart is with the Chicago White Sox.” Does Facebook know when I use the men’s room? It gets worse. A couple of years ago–just five minutes after leaving the wake for a friend of mine–I was requested to write a review on Facebook for the funeral home that hosted the wake.

Facebook takes the predilections and overall activities of its users and essentially sells them to advertisers. In fact they are selling you to advertisers. Yep, you.

But if I’m not there, or not there very much, Facebook and Twitter will suffer. If millions of conservatives follow the same action they’s suffer a lot more.

Let’s think of social media hatred of conservatives this way. Imagine you are a member of an ethnic group that is disliked by the proprietors of the only two restaurants in town. You still eat at these places because sometimes you are hungry and you just don’t have the energy to prepare your down dinner. That is, until you find out that the cooks always spit into your sandwiches. 

Ach-ptooie! 

That’s what Facebook and Twitter is doing to conservatives. Spitting on them. 

Over 70 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. Let’s see if Facebook and Twitter can endure angering such a large segment of America. 

Patriots, it’s time to spit back.

Ach-ptooie!

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit. You can follow him on Parler @marathonpundit.

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