Motors, the Economy, and Cyborgs

We have a PASSION for CREATING solutions!

The year is quickly coming to a close. The weather has gotten colder and we've finally received some much needed rain here in Georgia and the South East USA in particular.

In this months addition, we have some interesting articles. The articles vary from sizing motors, to the economy, and even how to make yourself a cyborg. Yep, cybernetics is the future for everyone.

As the year is closing and with the holidays being imminent, the following link might be of interest to those of us who love a memorable ham. From G&G - Anatomy of a Classic: Glazed Ham with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

From all of us here at Hegwood Electric we do sincerely appreciate you, our customers, friends, and family, and wish you all a Happy Holiday, a Happy Chanuka, and a very Merry Christmas.

In Control Design, a reader asked about sizing motors for their applications. C.D. in turn put the question to a number of experts. These experts give us, "calculations, advice and formulas for ensuring you have the right motor for your application."

For their answers and to download the report, see the following links:

Control Design for Machine Builders - How to size a motor. You can also download this report from our website at Hegwood Electric - News.

The economy's effect on the manufacturing industry

Terry Stemler has an article in Plant Engineering on the manufacturing industry. Much of this is known information, however he is correct that the future effects of the economy will force successful manufacturers to improve efficiencies.

Link to the article here -The economy's effect on the manufacturing industry

by: Chris Wiltz in Embedded Systems Conference - San Jose, 3D Printing, Consumer Electronics, Electronics & Test, Medical on November 28, 2016

In this article by Chris Wiltz, he interviews Neil Harbission who has emerged as a preeminent futurists and a self-programmed cyborg. Before proclaiming he's some sort of odd ball, how many people do you know that have pacemakers, hearing aids, and implanted defibrillators? Would or could these people be considered cyborgs? Although fascinating and not necessarily for me, there are large forums for biohacking or bodyhacking including DIY components.

Could it be possible that in the future our jobs or manufacturing plants will be physically networked to our bodies? Will we be able to mentally think of turning a machine on and a bluetooth implanted connection makes it possible? As we walk the plant, will we be able to physically sense the diagnostics of a control system? If we believe our smart phones eat up our time, what happen to time when our actual minds are online!

To view the article in its entirety, the link is here - Designing Ourselves:...

As the year comes to a close, we hurry to finish projects and get those last minute jobs done. We also scurry about with Christmas and the holidays on our mindl. We have gifts to buy, family and friend get togethers to attend, kids to take care of, and much more. It can be too chaotic at times. As the month progresses, I often like to take a deep breath and reflect on all the good. My friend, Alfie Lipshultz of Aquathin, introduced me to Seth Godin's blog. Seth has simple daily emails that are insightful and positive in nature. One I particularly enjoyed that suits the current season follows:

The memories we rehearse are the ones we live with

A million things happened to you today. The second bite of your lunch. The red light on the third block of your commute...

Tomorrow, you'll remember almost none of them.

And the concept that you'd remember something that happened to you when you were twelve is ludicrous.

What actually happened was this: After it (whatever that thing you remember) happened, you started telling yourself a story about that event. You began to develop a narrative about this turning point, about the relationship with your dad or with school or with cars.

Lots of people have had similar experiences, but none of them are telling themselves quite the same story about it as you are.

Over time, the story is rehearsed. Over time, the story becomes completely different from what a videotape would show us, but it doesn't matter, because the rehearsed story is far more vivid than the video ever could be.

And so the story becomes our memory, the story gets rehearsed ever more, and the story becomes the thing we tell ourselves the next time we need to make a choice.

If your story isn't helping you, work to rehearse a new story instead.

Because it's our narrative that determines who we will become.

December comes with family, friends, and many possible memories. My choice is that this will be a great month to fondly remember.

Hegwood Newsletter - December 2016