DEVELOP3D - Technology for the product lifecycle

As Britain experiences a minor heatwave this week, the country that buys more convertible cars per person than any other will be dreaming of taking to the open road with the hood down.

Sadly, Carroll Shelby, the designer of one of the most brilliant topless beauties passed away this month, so we’d like to remember his contribution to automotive legend by posting this as our Prime Cuts choice - the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake.

One of only two built (the other was driven off a cliff), the former ride of Bill Cosby sold for $5.5 million in 2007. Using lightweight British AC Ace bodies, he strapped two superchargers to a Ford V-8 engine to develop an 800hp sledgehammer that looked and sounded amazing - not a bad legacy to leave behind.

This little white box is the device you’ve been dreaming of since watching the swooshy-hand-gesturing of films like Minority Reports and Iron Man - a device that truly relays hand gestures.

The Leap Motion is claimed to be 200 times more precise than the Microsoft Kinect, distinguishing individual fingers and tracking user movements down to a 1/100th of a millimetre, and simply plugs into your USB.2.0 port, and at $70, it seems like a great additional tool for showing off 3D models on screen, or even going the whole hog and designing a part with it.

“Leap represents an entirely new way to interact with your computer,” explains the blurb from Leap’s website. “It’s more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen. For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.”

live.leapmotion.com

Changes as part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, announced today by the Government, will in practice means that owners of any copyrights in classic designs will be able to use copyright law to prevent the sale of unauthorised copies of such designs.

The repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which currently restricts copyright to 25 years on artistic works that are exploited through an industrial process, means that designs that qualify for copyright protection is to be enforceable to a term of ‘life of the creator plus 70 years’.

Legendary British design figure Sir Terence Conran has welcomed the changes, saying: “By protecting new designs more generously, we are encouraging more investment of time and talent in British design. That will lead to more manufacturing in Britain, and that in turn will lead to more jobs – which we desperately need right now.

“Properly protected design can help make the UK a profitable workshop again. We have the creative talent – let’s use it.”

Read more…

Design Engineer - Rotaflow

Job Type: Permanent
Software: SolidWorks
Location: Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire

This week’s job involves the design and preparation of models and drawings for pressurised containing pipework for the oil, nuclear, food and other industries at expert firm Rotaflow.

Experience with this type of work would be beneficial, and there are opportunities for progression into hands on R&D work, FEA modelling, quality control or sales support.

Sound like the job for you? Apply here

If you have a vacancy that you are wanting to fill, get in touch here