Today’s Technology Center sneak peek: IMTS 2016 Booth #W-20

Aerospace

Airbus Helicopter’s H130

The Airbus Helicopter’s H130 incorporates state-of-the-art technologies, materials, systems, and avionics. Its Turbomeca Arriel 2D turbine engine offers 10% more average power and lower fuel consumption. It is operated by a next-generation, dual-channel full automatic digital engine control (FADEC) system. Built at Airbus Helicopters’ assembly and manufacturing sites in Texas and Alabama, the H130’s main and tail rotor systems incorporate technologies for performance, ruggedness, reliability, and safety. The Airbus Helicopters’ signature Fenestron shrouded tail rotor design reduces vulnerability to impact damage, enhances safety for ground personnel, and contributes to the H130’s low external sound level. Its Starflex main rotor head and impact-resistant composite material blades also help make it the quietest helicopter in its category.

The 7-passenger interior of the H130 can be customized for many requirements, making it popular with law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, tourist flight operators, and business aviation.

Automotive

Cadillac CT6

The size of a BMW 7-Series sedan, yet lighter than the 5-Series, Cadillac’s new flagship is a demonstration of modern lightweighting technology. A showcase for multi-material design, the CT6 uses die-cast, extruded, and sheet-formed aluminum to shave weight out of every exterior system. Marrying those components with advanced high-strength steel forced the development of new laser-welding technologies (http://goo.gl/wybCGP).

The result – about 220 lb less weight than similarly sized luxury cars, and a large luxury sedan that can get more than 30mpg in some configurations. A plug-in hybrid version is due in late 2016, offering increases to fuel economy and power.

Medical

Latest medical tools and equipment

Pushing the medical industry toward growth, to support an aging population, are the latest medical tools and devices. Today’s Technical Center will display the industry’s most advanced precision instruments that underpin technology innovation in this sector. Explore the materials and tools used to optimally manufacture these medical devices and learn what elements are shifting in the medical industry to adapt to a world of connected devices. Knee, hip, and shoulder implants will be featured in addition to stents, pacemakers, defibrillators, bone screws, plates, and other durable equipment.

Miles 4 Manufacturing

Sign up for the Miles for Manufacturing (M4M) 5K Run/Walk, returning to IMTS on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016 at 7:00 a.m. M4M, which debuted at IMTS 2014, is an excellent opportunity to get moving while benefiting manufacturing education! The recipient schools prepare young men and women for success in life-long learning and work by providing them with customized programs in selected career pathways based on their interests, offering programs in CNC machining, CAD, and welding, along with courses in automotive repair and computer design.

Energy

The Ohio State University EcoCAR 3 Camaro

Keeping the muscle car cred of the Chevrolet Camaro intact when turning the car into a plug-in hybrid for the U.S. Department of Energy’s EcoCar challenge is no easy task, but the students on The Ohio State University’s EcoCAR 3 team say they’re up to the task. Winners of EcoCAR 2, the team has added a full electric drive system to the Camaro and a belt-alternator starter to give it start-stop capabilities when the engine is running.

And they’ve still managed to keep 0 to 60mph acceleration to less than 5.6 seconds.

In addition to reworking the car’s engine, transmission, and electrical system, students have reworked its suspension and are swapping wheels and other components.