Made By Monkeys

Close escape from exploding wind turbine

2008-07-01T09:30:37Z

In the UK, objections to wind farms are often made on the grounds of "aestheticism", the twisting blades spoiling otherwise perfect countryside views. Hmmm. IMHO this is just NIMBY-ism in another guise...

However, wind turbines can be far from perfect, as this video darkly and dramatically demonstrates.

Thanks to the website GroovyGreen.com for this one: Exploding Wind Turbine Is Worthy Of Slow Motion Replay

The website writes:

"We're thinking that wind turbine manufacturers are less than thrilled with the above video circulating online. Apparently, this all went down in Denmark when a safety breaking system failed in strong winds. Reports say that two engineers were working on top of the turbine to repair the breaking system, but managed to get down before all hell broke loose. A 19 meter piece of the blade was thrown 20 metres away. Smaller pieces were sent more than 500 meters away."

The most provoking Made By Monkey posts

2008-07-01T08:15:34Z

It can be hard for a blogger to interact with readers - generating comments and feedback and such like. One thing that Made By Monkeys can be proud of - even if we say it ourselves! - is the hundreds of comments we have received. Sometimes these may generate more heat than light, but all are welcome.

Reviewing through the blog's comments, across the last year, some posts have certainly generated a sizeable response. How about this as a Top Five for provocative posts?

1. What's Wrong With Lithium-Ion Batteries? (26 comments)
A question prompted by a spate of product advisories and recalls of the technology over the past two years.

2. Switch Failure in Maytag Fridge Causes Kitchen Mayhem (12 comments)
A failed override switch in a Maytag refrigerator brings a whole new meaning to the term "automatic ice dispenser".

How to Submit Your Lousy Designs to Made by Monkeys

2008-06-30T11:16:04Z

Show us the Best of the Worst! If you've had a recent run-in with a cheaply-made, inferior product, tell us about it and you could win a limited edition, high-quality, well-engineered Made by Monkeys tshirt!

Just email us at kfield@reedbusiness.com a photo or video of the defective product, with any witty observations you care to make -- keep it short, simple, and fun. View a good example of what we mean.

We also welcome suggestions on news stories and topics you think merit a closer look by our jaundiced eye. And we'd be delighted to have you to weigh in on anything we present here, particularly when we touch on your particular areas of engineering expertise. Use our handy comments button at the bottom of each blog entry, or email Made By Monkeys Editor Karen Field.

Dishwasher Rack Succumbs to Corrosion

2008-06-12T14:44:45Z

View detailed image

Modern dish racks are constructed of metal wires with a protective coating (typically nylon or polyvinyl chloride) that protects against the highly corrosive world inside a dishwasher. So when Mark Skillings emailed this image of this-dish-rack turned-rust-bucket from his 2003 Whirlpool Gold dishwasher, I briefly wondered just how sharp his knives are.

Clearly, the coating had been compromised. Mark assured me that in the five years he owned the dishwasher, he never washed knives in it because "It's murder on the blades and handles." Maybe that explains all the cuts on his hands!

Rusted dish racks are among the most common consumer gripes about household dishwashers. In addition to the obvious scratching from sharp objects, the causes are numerous, including defects in the coating and degradation due to aging.

Metal Fatigue Causes Bumpy Landing

2008-06-03T12:52:25Z

When it comes to structural integrity, plastic parts often get a bad rap. But when they fail, often the result of metal fatigue, metal parts can fail catastrophically as forensic engineer Ken Russell relates in his Calamities Column in Design News.

In the Case of the Acrobatic Airplane, he describes his investigation into a twin-turboprop airplane that was forced to land on one wheel when the other failed to extend. My worst nightmare, actually.

"The landing gear retraction mechanism involved an up-lock hook that engaged a pin. The hook had partly fractured and jammed so the wheel could not be lowered. Many airplanes of the same model used the same hook without incident. So why did this particular hook fail? Examination of the failed hook with a simple hand lens gave the answer. The fracture was next to a hole that had been reinforced by a washer spot-welded in place. The spot weld was defective in burning a hole through the bracket. Fatigue cracks started at this weld defect and ultimately caused the accident. (The figure above is an SEM photo of a small region on the fracture surface.)"

Read the full analysis here.

RoHS Poses an Ethical Dilemma for Some Engineers

2008-05-20T12:06:40Z

It's the ultimate Catch-22 for design engineers: Comply with RoHS and risk the long-term reliability of their products in some cases. Or break the law.

Some design engineers in the U.K. have privately admitted to me that their designs currently are not in compliance with RoHS regulations, for fear that lead-free alternatives may lead to lower quality and premature failure of their products in the field.

One engineer, whose company makes LED lighting products, says that his engineering team initially investigated alternative lead-free solders, rejecting them one-by-one because of defects. Given that the company's products are used outdoors and the specs call for extremely high reliability and a long life expectancy, they applied for an exemption before RoHS regulations went into effect.

ROHS Exemption on Flame Retardant Revoked

2008-05-19T15:07:32Z

Gary Nevison, director of legislation and environmental affairs for Newark and Farnell, is sharply critical of a ruling to delete a ROHS exemption for Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE), a popular flame retardant used in certain types of plastic used in connectors, enclosures, wiring, and other electronic equipment.

The timetable is a tad, shall we say, aggressive:

The exemption is scheduled to end on June 30th, and Nevison argues on EDN's Critical Links blog that few manufacturers will be to meet this tight deadline:

Maybe when monkeys fly.

"This will be a significant issue for component suppliers as some of their customers will no longer accept plastics with DecaBDE, due to the timescale from buying parts to putting finished products on the market. It will also be a significant problem for manufacturers who have stocks of parts containing DecaBDE that cannot be used in ROHS compliant equipment that is put onto the EU market from July 1, 2008."

RoHS Regulation Causes Angst in Mil-Aero Market

2008-05-12T12:30:28Z

Many Department of Defense programs will not go lead-free because of uncertainties and the risks associated with the current science and materials, reports Military and Aerospace Electronics in an article titled "Lead-free issues continue to plague mil-aero market, says DMEA engineer." Speaking at the Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum in San Diego in March that engineer, Vance Anderson with the Defense Microelectronics Activity in Sacramento, CA, described the effect of the lead free regulation on the military procurement process for COTS. (COTS stands for commercial-off-the-shelf-products, which the DOD depends on because they are cheap and reliable. Problem is, most COTS parts have gone lead-free. And though military contractors can opt for high-rel military parts, they are costly -- as much as 10X as COTS parts.) And therein the dilemma lies: "Many DoD programs will not go lead-free because of uncertainties and the risks associated with the current science and materials. "There are failures, but we're not always hearing about it; most of the reporting is coming from government bodies. But believe me," Anderson says, "it is hitting all the major primes right now, very hard." The automotive, medical, and telecommunications markets are not immune, and have also experienced the same failures. Such failures are common, but not often revealed, perhaps due to stockholder pressures."

Some Bloody Fun IT Humour, Really

2008-04-21T15:24:22Z

And you think you're having a bad day? A witty, entertaining, and rather gorey take on life at work -- courtesy of our IT department. Click to play

Fake Flashlight: No Trace of Circuit Traces

2008-04-21T14:51:08Z

A candidate for the fake shake-to-light flashlight hall-of fame. Note that the circuit board has no actual traces! See more examples at Instructables.

When Dev Kits Hit Dead Ends

2008-04-21T13:26:29Z

Jon Titus, Senior Reviews Editor over at the DEV-monkey site, is one of the most knowledgeable editors (and engineers) around on development kits and tools. But even experts can always use more help, as he points out in a recent blog post about the dev kit phenom he calls "Getting thrown over the cliff." Better yet, he offers vendors ideas on how to improve the usefulness of their kits. "Often when I complete work with a development kit, I feel as though its vendor has led me to a dead end where I face an abyss. Most instructions lack a final warning, such as, "Good Luck. You're now on your own. Few of even the best dev kits explain what to do next with software tools or hardware. Maybe they assume after you work through a simple code-and-load example, you're an "expert." But because developers may have bought a dev kit to learn about new tools and hardware, manufacturers should assume buyers and users are NOT experts. Even the smartest engineers need some help now and then." Judging by the responses from readers, they clearly agree.

Motion Sensor Leaves Office Workers in the Dark

2008-04-21T11:39:19Z

David Mery works in an office where the light is controlled by a single motion sensor that is relatively far from most of the desk-bound employees. When he wrote to the people managing his office to complain that one had to stand and flail about or lob a basketball at the sensor else work in the dark, particularly in the short days of winter (and sent this photo in to prove it), he received this illuminating explanation:

"The sensitivity of the sensors is set centrally for the whole building and is fine for most.

Oh well, David, there's always night vision goggles! Here's a look at David's office with the lights on and the mal-positioned sensor:

Buzzwords Behind $100M SAP Lawsuit

2008-04-21T11:25:07Z

Anyone who thinks the use of buzzwords is criminal should get immense satisfaction from the fact that software maker SAP is being sued by a customer for falling short on the deliverables on what can only be described as a jargon-filled contract. According to the WSJ: "SAP AG is being sued for failing to deliver an "out-of-the-box integrated end-to-end solution that increases...effectiveness." Amazingly, the meaning of these buzzwords are at the heart of a claim seeking more than $100 million." Brad Thompson says that the article calls to mind the venerable "fuzz-phrase generator." He writes:

A Faraday Cage For Your Wallet

2008-04-07T14:18:34Z

And you thought those aluminized mylar wallets were just for geeks? Turns out they could be playing a much more useful role, as chronicled in this Washington Post article "The Electronic Pickpocket Stoppers." "According to some security gurus, even when there is no receiver in the vicinity, your digital secrets are leaking merrily from the cards in your wallet, like sound from a radio that you can't turn off....As weird as it sounds, wrapping your passport in tinfoil helps. The tinfoil people, in this case, happen to be correct.”

A Faraday Cage for Fido

2008-04-03T11:36:59Z

Warning: EMI, that silent and pernicious killer, may be stalking your chihuahua. Thank goodness the people over at the Bargains Xtreme website are now offering a pet-specific device designed to keep Fido fit and free from dangerous electromagnetic waves. It's especially recommended if your dog has daily cell phone usage!:

"That’s right the company that brings you the Q-Link for humans has just introduced the Q-Link for animals. A Q-Link pet trial was conducted with the idea that new Pet specific Sympathetic Resonance Technology can help protect animals from harmful Electro Magnetic Frequencies, hip aliments, along with many other beneficial effects. The results were overwhelming. Did You Know? Q-Link technology has been used on racing horses for years to reduce stress and increase performance? The all new Pet-Link is compact and light enough for every size pet (22mm x 22mm, 8mm thick - 6.4 Grams) and features a durable waterproof rubber casing with fitted clip ready for your pet's collar."

Of course you could save yourself the $59.95 and wrap your dog in aluminum foil.