Wohlers Talk

My wife, daughter, and I visited Costa Rica last week and part of this week. We spent our time in the western half of the country near Playa Hermosa and Lake Arenal. Our previous visit to the country was 11 years ago, so the trip served as a reminder of how much Costa Rica has to offer. The following are facts about the country and its people.

• It takes about 4.5 hours to travel from San Jose to the northwest coast, which is about 300 km (186 miles). A similar distance takes about 2.5 hours on an Interstate highway in the U.S. and 1.5–2 hours on the autobahn in Germany. A main (two-lane) highway stretches across the length of the country from the southeast to the northwest.
• The Eco Lodge Hotel, located near Lake Arenal, was created as a pilot in Latin America using economical development from the World Bank. It was formed to preserve the environment and offer a rich ecotourism program. Eco Lodge kept 218 hectares of primary rain forest as a private reserve and is a pioneer in conservation and eco-friendly adventure sports. We spent three nights at the lodge.
• A community of about 600 Maleku Indians in Costa Rica is working to preserve its tradition, culture, and language. The Eco Lodge has formed a partnership with the Maleku people to help with its efforts.
• Canopy tours by zip line (cables, pulleys, and harnesses) originated in Costa Rica. The Eco Lodge was among the first to offer it. Zip lining has become popular in many regions of the world, including North America and Africa.
• A pure form of Spanish is the primary language throughout much of the country. Relatively few people from Costa Rica can speak English fluently.
• Costa Ricans are friendly and helpful and the country is a safe place, but petty theft (i.e., pick pocketing and car theft) is a problem in many areas.
• More pineapple is exported from Costa Rica than from anywhere else in the world.
• Arenal Volcano is one of the world’s most active. It erupts once every nine minutes, on average, and can be seen and heard from 30 miles away. It is the rainy season in Costa Rica (an understatement), so clouds and fog were frequent, but it cleared for a couple hours while we were near the mountain and we saw impressive activity from the volcano’s spout.
• According to Wikipedia, Costa Rica ranks 5th in the world in the 2008 Environmental Performance Index, up from 15th place in 2006. In 2007 the government of Costa Rica stated that it hopes to be the first country to become carbon neutral by 2021.

Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Mike Mullane chronicles much of his life leading up to his three shuttle missions into space. An engineer friend, Boris Fritz of Northrop Grumman, highly recommended the book. He said, “I picked it up and couldn’t put it down.” Boris and I heard Mullane speak at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ RAPID conference in Chicago, Illinois in May 2003. Mullane has appeared on major television shows and is an outstanding motivational speaker, but he is an even better writer.

Nearly every paragraph gripped my attention with fascinating insight and vivid detail. Mullane recounted countless stories from decades ago as if they happened yesterday. He must have kept a log or journal over the years, thinking that he may someday write about his days as an astronaut. Late in the book, he mentioned that he looked forward to writing assignments in school, suggesting that he had aspirations of writing. Most people would not be able to recall enough detail to fill 360 pages. Mullane did it and made it incredibly interesting.

Mullane didn’t hold back much in the book and he had me laughing out loud several times. His story about getting sized for a urine collection device was hilarious. He talked a lot about an astronaut’s life that included enormous highs and lows, saying good bye to his wife, the misery of waiting for a launch, and seemingly endless delays, as well as parties, pranks, and encounters with celebrities. He was brutally candid and not afraid to tell it like was, even if his words offended others. Mullane’s comments emphasized how much astronauts live on the edge and often flirted with death. His remarks on the female astronauts were intriguing. Through much of the book, he criticized NASA management for sharing so little information, deliberately keeping him and other astronauts in the dark for years.

If you’re looking for some very good, entertaining summer reading, get this book. I promise, you won’t want to put it down. And, you don’t need to be an engineer, scientist, or “techie” to enjoy it. I give Riding Rockets five stars.

Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, California) is the home of the National Center for Rapid Technologies (RapidTech), a four-year program funded by the National Science Foundation. NSF approved the Center in September 2007. RapidTech will assist industry and education with rapid technologies for prototyping, tooling, manufacturing, and reverse engineering. A major emphasis of RapidTech is the preparation of technicians for the world of work.

Many excellent colleges are active in rapid technologies across the country, so why did NSF select Saddleback for the Center? Saddleback’s Advanced Technology Center is at the forefront of offering hands-on experiences in additive fabrication (AF) technologies. The Center currently operates large-format stereolithography from Sony, two 3D printers from Z Corp., a Dimension machine from Stratasys, two 3D printers from 3D Systems, a laser cutting system, a CNC router, a vacuum forming machine, three laser scanners, and several CAD systems. What’s more, Saddleback is planning to acquire additional equipment.

For several years, Saddleback has offered weeklong National Teacher Training Workshops for colleges across the U.S. Over the past few years, 50-60 instructors and administrators have attended each year. This important activity has led to the adoption of AF technology by more than 80 institutions of higher education into their instructional programs.

Saddleback College also works extensively with private industry. It processes 2–3 industrial projects per week (an estimated 120 annually), which provide financial support to the institution. The projects involve new product development and prototyping across many industries, including consumer products, aerospace, motor vehicles, medical, architecture, and entertainment. After introducing new methods and technologies to companies, Saddleback refers them to those who offer commercial services, thus reducing the likelihood of competing with service providers.

Indeed, Saddleback is a community college that stands out. Having attended the first RapidTech Industry Advisory Board meeting last month and last week’s NSF National Visiting Committee meeting, both at Saddleback College, I can say without reservation that the Center is on track. I found that these two volunteer groups from industry and education have offered RapidTech nothing but support and excitement. Stay tuned because I expect that you’ll be hearing more about Saddleback College and RapidTech in the future.

I’ve listed my favorite products and services in the past and it’s time to do it again. Some companies provide good quality, but many do not. The following, listed at random, are a few of those that have met or exceeded my expectations over the past year or so.

1) PdaNet. This is an excellent application that runs on Palm Treo handheld devices. A one-time cost of $34 turns your Treo into a broadband modem for your laptop or desktop computer. Read about it in an April 2007 Wohlers Talk blog commentary.

2) tryda. This free “directory assistant” operates on a Treo running the Palm OS. (A Windows Mobile version is coming soon.) The application permits you to quickly search for names, addresses, and phone numbers of companies and individuals nationwide. Looking for a pizza restaurant? Just enter “pizza” and a zip code or city and tryda will list pizza restaurants in the area. What’s more, it links to Google Maps and displays locations and directions. Did I say that it’s free?

3) OnlyMyEmail. I’ve tried many spam filtering programs and services and this one is the best, especially for small companies and individuals. At $4 per month, it’s a bargain.

4) Shure Sound Isolating Earphones. This $150 product (Model SE210) is worth every penny, if you’re looking for compact, in-the-ear quality sound. The product dramatically reduces the ambient noise when on a plane or in other noisy environments. It’s easy to fit the earphones to your ear canals because they come with many types and sizes of rubber and foam sleeves. I prefer earbuds over bulky headsets, but most do not stay securely in my ears. These do and they are comfortable.

5) Panasonic Plasma Television. In high definition (HD), this 50-inch screen (Model TH-50PX75U) is the next best thing to being there. You will see detail that you’ve never seen before on a television. The price continues to drop, making it affordable to a broader range of customers.

6) Philips Home Theater System. This $200 product (Model HTS3544/37) is near the low-end of the home theater system-in-a-box price range, but you wouldn’t know it when hearing its 1,000 watts of power.  In fact, I would bet that most blindfolded listeners would guess that it’s priced 3-5x higher. A DVD player with HDMI upconversion is built in.

These products and services from six companies stood out from the pack. Check back at this time next year to see what makes the list.

I’m a big fan of Google. If I need to find something quickly, Google is my search engine of choice. It even works as a spell checker for cities, famous people, and so on—names that may not be in a dictionary. Want to check the spelling of Zambezi (as in the Zambezi River in Africa)? Just enter it into Google and it will suggest an alternative spelling if it’s incorrect.

Over the past year, I’ve found Google Maps to be an excellent tool. Previously, I would use MapQuest, but not anymore. Google Maps is better. If I need to find a map or location, it’s a few seconds away. When trying to locate a soccer field in Denver, Colorado, I entered the cross streets “Oxford Ave and Lowell Blvd” into MapQuest. It needed more information, so I entered “Denver.” Still not enough information. It wanted the state or postal code. In Google Maps, I entered the cross streets—nothing else—and it found the location. And, it displayed a map immediately. No need for additional clicks.

Want to know where Palm Cove, Australia is located? Just enter Palm Cove. Google Maps will immediately display a map of the small village. Want to view it as a satellite image? Just click the Satellite button and you’ll get a beautiful picture. Where is Palm Cove in relation to Cairns, Brisbane, and other cities in Australia? Just drag the slider bar to zoom out and a new view appears quickly. And, if you wish, click and drag the current view to pan around. For me, the tool is very useful. If you’re not familiar with Google Maps, give it a try. You probably won’t go back to MapQuest.

I bumped into a guy recently at an industry event that had the following to say: “The single most important piece of information I picked at this time last year was the availability of Google Alerts.” The tip came as a response to a question from a CEO that asked, “What can users of 3D printing do to stay up-to-date and educated on some of the latest announcements and events in our industry?”

I’ve been using Google Alerts for years. The free service works like this: At www.google.com/alerts, indicate the term(s) that you’d like to have the service track for you. You can indicate the frequency (as they occur, daily, or weekly) and ask that it consider news, blogs, video, or groups. Or, you can request that Google follows all of these categories. Google then emails to you a link to the web page that contains the term, along with a couple lines from the page that includes the term.

Google Alerts is one of the most useful web-based tools. The fact that it is free is surprising to its users. It is easy to use and the information it uncovers is invaluable. It’s like having an army of researchers at your disposal, around the clock, seven days a week. Even they would not be able to canvas the world in such detail and breadth.

Speed Part (Sweden) has developed a process called Selective Mask Sintering that sinters an entire layer of plastic powder at once. The company uses glass-filled nylon powder, an infrared lamp, and masks to produce each layer. The masks are generated using a Xerox photocopying process and represent the inverse of the cross sections being produced. The time to produce a layer is 10-20 seconds, which is fast. Using an IR lamp instead of a laser and galvanometer significantly reduces cost. The current system builds parts up to 300 x 210 x 500 mm (11.8 x 8.3 x 19.7 inches) and sells for €149,000 (~$198,000). Parts from the system are impressive.

Loughborough University (England) is also working on a layer-at-once plastic sintering process. It is called High Speed Sintering and it jets dark liquid (likely black ink) onto the surface of white nylon powder. The darkened regions represent the cross section that is to be sintered. The surface is then exposed to IR radiation. The dark regions are sintered because they absorb much more heat than the white regions, which is a clever approach.

As these processes are refined, they could impact the sales of laser sintering machines due to their potential speed and cost advantages. Loughborough University has not yet commercialized its process, but Speed Part sold its first three systems last year. It will be interesting to watch the development of these two systems. 

Fab@Home has been receiving a lot of attention lately. What is it? Fab@Home is an open source 3D printer development at Cornell University. Hod Lipson, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Evan Malone, a PhD candidate in Lipson’s Computational Synthesis Lab, are working together on the project. The plans for the machine are available at fabathome.org for anyone to download. Also, a kit is available from Koba Industries, a machine shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for $2,975.

About a dozen people are building one and three are complete and running, according to a March 5, 2007 story published by The Engineer Online, a web-based publication in the UK that quoted Lipson. Two of the assembled machines are at the University of Washington and one is in Innsbruck, Austria.

To some degree, the academic project has already succeeded. Will it become commercially viable? It may, if on-going improvements are made to the system. Currently, the quality of the parts from the machine is questionable. At fabathome.org, you can see parts made from silicone rubber, chocolate, and cake icing. Part quality aside, I believe that engineers, students, and others would enjoy assembling and experimenting with the machine and custom tailoring the process for a specific application and/or material. If the momentum continues, the development could grow into something much bigger and of commercial interest.

Lipson and Malone refer to the 3D printer as a “fabber,” a term that was introduced about 15 years ago. It received a cool reception back then and few have since warmed up to it. With the attention that Fab@Home has been getting, the guys at Cornell could popularize the term. More importantly, they could popularize 3D printing among those who would never consider a more expensive system.

A short time ago, I downloaded and installed PdaNet on my Treo 700. It allows you to use the smartphone’s broadband Internet connectivity as a wireless modem for your laptop computer. So, anywhere you get a cellular signal, you have free Internet access on your laptop. This includes hotels, airports, and traveling down a highway.

The download and installation of PdaNet was fast and simple. The product is available for a one-time cost of $34 at junefabrics.com. It works with several smartphones, including devices from Palm, Motorola, Samsung, T-Mobile, Cingular, and others. After installing PdaNet on my Treo 700, I was surfing the web within seconds with my laptop. The connection between the Treo and laptop is made using the sync/charge cable. One click (tap) on the Treo connects your laptop to the Internet.

Using the Treo 700 with Sprint cellular service, my laptop registered download speeds of about 150–250 kilobits per second, which is almost 3-5 times faster than the best dialup connection. Upload speeds were about 25–70 kbps. I did the speed tests at speedtest.net, an excellent website for checking the speed of an Internet connection. PdaNet also works with the older Treo 650, although speeds are closer to a dialup connection.

If you have a smartphone and are tired of paying Internet fees at airports and hotels, consider PdaNet. I found it to be much easier than using the Internet services offered at most hotels, which can be a hassle. You could even use it as your regular Internet connection at your home office or as a backup in case your regular Internet services go down. It is the best $34 I’ve spent in a long time.

I’m not. XP Pro is just fine, thank you. My first in-depth experience with Vista will likely occur when I purchase a new desktop computer. The one at my desk is about three years old, so it may happen in the next year or so. Am I excited about working with a new OS? Not really. 2006 was the first time in 20 years that Wohlers Associates had all of its computers running the same OS. Many years ago, we were running DOS, Windows, Mac, and UNIX—at the same time—and the computers were networked, although not as smoothly as they are today. Life in the office is much better now.

Ralph Grabowski reported in his February 3, 2007 upFront.eZine newsletter that CAD software runs dramatically slower on computers equipped with Vista. Compared to XP, Pro/E runs 6.7x slower, SolidWorks 9x slower, and UGS NX an unbelievable 50x slower. Grabowski goes on to say that the reason for the poor performance is Microsoft’s decision to abandon support of the OpenGL graphics library in Vista. Most CAD software companies use OpenGL, so until they support Microsoft’s Direct3D graphics system, CAD software performance will be horrible.

According Grabowski’s February 10 issue of his newsletter, UGS stated that it plans to support Vista and expects to complete testing later this year. With new graphics drivers, UGS does not anticipate performance to be an issue for NX, Solid Edge, and other UGS products.

In the same newsletter, Grabowski pointed out that OpenGL is only one reason for the terrible performance. Vista’s file system checking takes up valuable resources. Also, he explained that Vista checks all computer hardware 30 times per second to ensure that its digital rights management (DRM) hasn’t been compromised—another reason for its lackluster performance.