We are proud to recognize all the Regeneron ISEF 2024 Society of Science competition and science fair participants. The Richard F. Caris Charitable Trust II, an event sponsor and grant awardee, supports scientific advancements through global STEAM programs. The first-place winners are Shuhan Luo from Worcester, Massachusetts, and the team of Vishal Ranganath Yalla and Harini Thiagarajan from Bothell, Washington. The entire winning team for the ISEF 2024 Physics and Astronomy Awards impressed the judges with their innovative projects. Congratulations to the second, third, and fourth place winners of the Physics & Astronomy ISEF 2024 Awards, sponsored by the Richard F. Caris Charitable Trust II. Watch the winner’s ceremony here. Interface was founded by Richard F. Caris and incorporated on June 14, 1968, 56 years ago. As part of the sponsorship and grant program, Interface provides the Load Cell Field Guide to all participants to advance engineering prowess and enthusiasm for force measurement. Go forth, future ForceLeaders!
By Will Owen, Editor
A forthcoming surge in demand for clean energy materials is forcing a long-established industry to adapt. The traditional mining sector, with its deep history, needs a rapid shift to meet the growing need for copper, lithium, cobalt, and other vital minerals. To achieve this efficiently and safely, a focus on innovative technology is paramount for both industry players and equipment suppliers. The mining industry relies heavily on a variety of heavy machinery for material handling and supply, including cranes, lifting equipment, and heavy-duty vehicles. To safeguard both the equipment and, more importantly, the miners themselves, this machinery requires rigorous and continuous monitoring of every component. This is achieved through the use of load cells, torque transducers, and multi-axis sensors, providing real-time data with exceptional accuracy. Read the full article here.
Sensors Can Help in Global Push for Critical Minerals in EE TimesContributor Ted Larson, April 12, 2024
The rush to supply the world with critical minerals and the acceleration toward clean-energy sources and products portend a needed sea change in the global mining industry. With roots dating back hundreds of years, the industry must move quickly to meet demand for copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and other rare-earth metals. Industry players and their equipment suppliers need to now focus on tech innovation.
Sensors are integral to ensuring the safety of mining operations, including underground, open surface, placer, dredging, high wall, mountaintop, and in-situ. The global push for critical minerals depends on force- and torque-measurement devices to improve the efficient and safe extraction and processing of core metals.
Relying on precise measurement readings from sensors integrated into mining machinery and equipment provides real-time data that can significantly extend the machines’ lifetimes, reduce safety incidents, and lower the risk of catastrophic failures. These all have an impact on reducing costs and overruns. Read more here.
Interface reveals motivation behind the acquisition of long-time partner LCM Systems. “Interface is a very diverse company,” Ken Bishop, Interface’s senior director of custom solutions, declared, noting that it has a very strong reputation for producing high-quality load cells, load pins, load shackles, torque transducers, multi-axis sensors, and related measurement solutions for a variety of market sectors, including aerospace, automotive, energy, factory automation, and subsea marine. “Our customers need to do lifting and hoisting because a lot of things they measure and test are heavy. Our customers are regularly coming to us for solutions, which is why we developed a business relationship with LCM.” Read more.
Brian Peters at Interface explores how force measurement sensors can make production, storage, and monitoring solutions for hydrogen more efficient. The road to hydrogen becoming a real solution for meeting renewable energy demand has been paved with hundreds of technological advancements. One of the lesser-known but extremely critical solutions to making hydrogen a reality on a large scale is force measurement. Force sensors are capable of being used at every level of hydrogen advancement, from harnessing the power of hydrogen to storing, monitoring, and transporting it – and more use cases for hydrogen applications are being implemented frequently. Read the article here.
Additions of Jeff Williams, Rob Cooch, and Chloé Baile Provide Essential Experience in Driving Significant Business Achievements for LCM Systems Customers
Interface, Inc., the world’s trusted leader in technology, design, and manufacturing of force measurement products, announced the acquisition of LCM Systems in June 2023. Today, Interface presents some of its newest LCM leaders and team members playing a key role in its 2023 success and future growth. Interface introduces and recognizes the contributions of LCM’s newest leaders, Jeff Williams, managing director, and Rob Cooch, production and operations manager, along with key team member Chloé Baile, who is LCM’s new strategic sales engineer. Read the complete press release here.
Contributed by Keith Skidmore, Director of Custom Solutions, Sales, Interface
Force sensors allow operators and on-site engineers to verify that equipment is rated to handle the size and weight of various spacecraft components. They are also used for monitoring during operation to identify risk factors before they lead to safety issues. During assembly, force sensors can help align two parts by providing position data on the lifted part. In many disassembly processes, force sensors can ensure that parts are lifted from one another without unnecessary friction or strain. Read the complete article.
Interface and LCM Systems Expand Load Measurement Solutions with Strategic Market Move to Combine Expertise and Excellence
Interface, Inc., the world’s trusted leader in technology, design, and manufacturing of force measurement products, today announced the strategic acquisition of UK-based LCM Systems Ltd, a market leader in specialized load measurement solutions utilized across industries by customers worldwide. The acquisition of LCM Systems accelerates Interface’s growth in global test and measurement by adding critical engineering and manufacturing expertise with an international presence.
LCM Systems is an established and recognized leader in the design and manufacture of specialized load cells and instrumentation, and we are proud to officially welcome them to the Interface family, Adding their quality, proficiency and long history, the LCM team further bolsters our global capabilities in meeting the rapidly growing demands for exceptional products including their load pins, load shackles, load cells and other sensor technologies.”
LCM Systems was founded in 1984 to provide the yachting industry with precision load cells and readout systems. The load management solutions company grew rapidly over the years to provide engineering and design expertise to market sectors including energy, civil engineering, maritime, aerospace, heavy lifting, and process engineering. The company manufactures a comprehensive range of standard and ruggedized load cells and instrumentation, with a considerable proportion of its market share coming from the supply of customized products tailored to meet customers’ specific requirements. LCM Systems also manufactures load cells suitable for Zone 1 and 2 hazardous area applications.
Read the full press release here.
Interface Acquires LCM Systems
by Dan O’Shea
Green hydrogen production is an increasingly important part of the renewable energy movement and a relatively new industry, making it one in which numerous start-ups around the world are playing key roles. It is also just the latest sector to benefit from sensor-based force testing and measurement, which are used in many facets of manufacturing to monitor and optimize machines, keeping them running at their best.
In bringing force monitoring to the green hydrogen production industry, Interface may be catching a tiger by the tail, as the sector is growing rapidly and expanding globally, and in many cases is being led by start-ups that are continually looking to improve and optimize their production processes to become more competitive and gain a better return on their investments in electrolyzers and other equipment.
The exciting thing is just this: this whole market is still in its infancy,” Peters said. “These companies are really just figuring out where they’re going to take this. The functionality is there, the capabilities are there, and now, it’s a matter of bringing optimization into it and making production more scalable.”
READ: Load cells can help optimize green hydrogen production
How can sensors help an electrolyzer provide green hydrogen?
By Randy Franks at Sensor Tips
Energy storage is an essential part of the pursuit for the increased use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power. Electrolyzers enable hydrogen-based storage and avoid reliance on batteries and their raw materials, such as lithium, graphite, and cobalt, which are frequently sourced from China. When renewable energy sources power electrolyzers, the hydrogen produced is called green hydrogen. With a green hydrogen boom underway, electrolyzer sales doubled in 2022 and could triple in 2023, according to BloombergNEF.
“Regardless of the technology used for the electrolyzer, sensors will be essential for monitoring and maintaining the ongoing green hydrogen process,” says Brian Peters, Global Vice President, Interface Inc., a world leader in force measurement solutions.
The power companies using electrolyzers for producing hydrogen will need to create and maintain a real-time monitoring system to measure the tension of the tie rods to ensure heightened productivity, such as: avoiding unnecessary costly preventive maintenance and preventing shutdowns. Read the full article here.
REF: Electrolyzer and Fuel Cell Tie Rod Monitoring
Job Offer By Interface, Inc.: Manufacturing Design Engineer I Or IIWeighing Review highlights new opportunities with Interface, Inc., sharing our recent release of Manufacturing Design Engineer opportunities. Interface continues to add to our growing team. Interface is a Weighing Review Listed Company in their Supplier Directory.
MANUFACTURING DESIGN ENGINEER I SUMMARY:
The Manufacturing Design Engineer I position will develop strain-gage-based transducer products, such as load cells and torque transducers, as assigned. The position will interact with sales, engineering, manufacturing, and customers in the performance of their duties. A desire to learn the methods and techniques behind precision force and torque measurement is essential for success.
MANUFACTURING DESIGN ENGINEER II SUMMARY:
The Manufacturing Design Engineer II position requires a knowledge of strain gage transducer technologies, some familiarity with the different basic transducer designs and materials selection, and a basic knowledge of machining capabilities and joining technologies. This position requires excellent communication skills for interaction with sales, engineering, manufacturing, and customers. The position will develop force and torque measurement solutions to meet customer needs.
Sensing Technology Enables Hydrogen to Be a Renewable Energy SourceBy Randy White, OEM Business Development, Interface
The use of hydrogen as a clean and reliable renewable energy source has been a carrot on a stick for green energy innovators for many, many years. Scientists and technologists have long understood the positive impact of hydrogen, and even harnessed it at times, but the ability to reliably store and harness this energy at a reasonable cost has eluded them. However, hydrogen is back in full force as storage and battery technology have advanced, giving new life to the promise of hydrogen.
Hydrogen is critical to the future of green energy because it is an optimal solution for storing renewable energy from sources such as wind and water. In certain areas, like California, we’re actually producing too much energy from renewable sources, but have no place to store. This is leading to a tremendous loss of resources. Therefore, hydrogen innovation has returned as a storage solution to reduce waste and provide enough energy to power more infrastructure with green energy.
The road to a point where hydrogen could become a real solution to meeting renewable energy demand has been filled with hundreds of technological advancements. One of those solutions is the use of hydrogen electrolyzers. This is a device that uses the process of electrolysis to produce and store hydrogen for an indefinite amount of time. Electrolysis is a promising option for carbon-free hydrogen production from renewable and nuclear resources. Read full article here.
Electrolysis Produces Hydrogen
Electrolysis uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This reaction takes place in an electrolyzer. Electrolyzers can range in size from small, appliance-size equipment well-suited for small-scale distributed hydrogen production to large-scale central production facilities that could be tied directly to renewable or other non-greenhouse-gas-emitting electricity sources.
Battery Load Testing Presents New Opportunities for InterfaceBy Dan Carney at Design News
The Arizona force management specialist is finding new opportunities for its load cell testing batteries. In addition to measuring the strength of the battery case, it is also important for automakers to measure the pressure inside the case. In both situations, force management solutions from Interface, Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.) are beneficial.
“FEA and computerized modeling get the customer most of the way there,” observed Interface vice president of global sales Brian Peters in a phone interview with Design News. “Automotive OEMs are spending more time on various structural development testing,” he said. “They are push-pull, multi-axis, similar to what we see with aerospace fuselage testing.”
This is important because, in addition to the torsional loads normally applied to the battery box during normal driving, it is also necessary to model worst-case crash scenarios.
“You have basic (noise, vibration, and harshness) torsional rigidity requirements, but then you have the crash requirements,” Peters noted. “How do you model, test, and have successful test results? When you run the full system into the barrier, sometimes the outcome is hard to model.”
Interface’s New S-Type Miniature Load Cell Offers Capacities in a Form Factor 80% Smaller and 50% Lighter for Industry 4.0 Applications
Interface, Inc., the world’s trusted leader in technology, design, and manufacturing of force measurement products, today launched its new SuperSC S-Type Miniature Load Cell. SuperSC is an economical, general-purpose load cell with a compact design, perfect for test and measurement applications in confined spaces and for smaller product dimensions in OEM use cases. The SuperSC is also environmentally sealed and insensitive to off-axis loading. Read the complete press release here.
By Dan O’Shea at Fierce Electronics
In the automotive sector, one of the most important areas where force sensor technology can play a role is in the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and in testing and monitoring batteries for quality assurance.
Brian Peters, vice president of global sales at Interface Force Measurement Solutions, told Fierce Electronics that the need for force sensors in EV battery applications has grown rapidly as more automakers and battery manufacturers have entered the market and consumer interest in EVs has risen.
“There’s a bit of a renaissance right now where you’ve got all these startups that on paper can design an EV, but they don’t have the internal testing capability,” he said. “ So what we’re seeing is increased demand for third-party testing in the automotive sector, because you’ve got all these new players, who, unlike the big three automakers, don’t have massive in-house test labs or testing capabilities.” Read the entire article here.
May the force be with you: Force sensing keeps factories running, product quality highBy Dan O’Shea at Fierce Electronics
“While some sensors are more focused on monitoring equipment or measuring environmental conditions around a manufacturing process, force sensors measure mechanical forces occurring in the equipment and processes, and the products being manufactured. They measure things like load, tension, resistance, weight, or total pressure applied. By employing this kind of sensing technology, manufacturers can monitor the health of their equipment and improve quality assurance for their products.”
“Testing things by applying a force to them is super common,” said Keith Skidmore, engineer and regional sales director at Interface Force Measurement Solutions, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Many products in lots of industries get tested this way, from aerospace to automotive, through to consumer goods. Chairs, furniture, mattresses, ladders–basically, anything that’s being manufactured, there can be a desire to figure out how strong the various parts of those products are.” Read the entire Fierce Electronics article here.
New Product is Designed for High Accuracy and Reliability, While Requiring Little to No Maintenance
“The Interface Pressure Compensated Downhole Load Cell provides critical accuracy, dependability, and flexibility to our customers at a modest price,” said Brian Peters, vice president of global sales, Interface. “Our hard-earned expertise and experience gained over many decades of engineering force measurement solutions for the oil and gas industry, as well as deep collaboration with our customers, enabled us to bring this first-of-its-kind product to the market.”
High-pressure applications for the new IPCD load cell for test and measurement of wireline and slicklines, perforating processes, horizontal drilling, topside and drill-down, as well as offshore solutions. The Interface downhole load cell is also popular with tractor component testing, pipe recovery, plug setting, well servicing and cleaning, tension line testing, and instrument fishing applications. PRESS RELEASE
With a multi–axis sensor design, a single load cell sensor can measure 3 axes of force and 3 torque moments simultaneously. These sensors consist of multiple bridges that precisely measure the applied force in one direction while minimizing crosstalk from the other axes. Using a multi-axis sensor, forces can be measured simultaneously in three mutually perpendicular axes, with the 6-axis load cells also measuring torque around those axes.
The design and test process for a simple chair used in a kitchen table set demonstrates how multi-axis force data helps improve product design. Typically, these chairs are stress tested to simulate the effects of a person sitting down hundreds of thousands of times over many years. According to Keith Skidmore, Custom Solutions Engineer & Sales Director at Interface, “In the past, force sensors were used to simply measure the effects of force on the legs of the chair or the backrest.” Read Randy Frank’s latest post featuring Interface’s 6-Axis Multi-Axis Sensors.
Torque is defined as the rotational equivalent of linear force. It’s a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. This is one of the key measurements for engineers doing design, test, and manufacturing across a wide variety of industries where machines, vehicles, components, and parts include a spinning or rotating motion. It’s critical to understand how to measure torque if you’re doing product development with these types of systems, such as engines, crankshafts, gearboxes, transmissions, and rotors. Read more in Getting the Most Out of Torque Testing in Quality Magazine here.
JUNE 18, 2020 BY RANDY FRANK
An example of force measurement testing automation in practice is in the mobile phone and tablet industry. Manufacturers can use a force sensor, such as an Interface ConvexBT miniature–sized load button load cell, to test the pressure sensitivity of a touchscreen. By using an actuator, phone manufacturers can set up an automated test line with an integrated actuator/load button load cell to test each screen as they go across the line. This combination helps the manufacturer quickly and automatically conduct the test, while personnel can be devoted to monitoring and analyzing data or used in other areas on the production floor, rather than having to initiate and oversee the test. Read more.
In this latest feature in Quality Magazine, February 2021 Issue, Ken Vining highlights the key factors related to force measurement and data quality. Here is a quick highlight from this feature: Force measurement devices like load cells, torque transducers, and data acquisition devices are used across industries to design and test hardware. They’re a key factor in the product development process because the force, torque, and weight data they collect help to ensure products are accurately constructed, work as intended, are safe for use, and can withstand the test of time. In highly regulated and complex industries like medicine and defense, this data becomes even more important because even a minor miscalculation in product design can put lives at risk. Read the entire article here
OCTOBER 28, 2020 BY RANDY FRANK
A smaller form factor is frequently on the must have list for many next generation products. However, compromising performance is usually not an acceptable tradeoff. This is especially true in medical products such as force sensors where both precision and miniaturization are required. Read more…
Device Uniquely Uses Multi-Point Calibration for Testing Force on Miniaturized Products Critical to Medical Devices, Robotics, and Industrial Automation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Leveraging its 52-year history of engineering and manufacturing the most accurate and reliable force measurement solutions, Interface today introduced its new, ultra-precision line of ConvexBT™ Load Button Load Cells. ConvexBT is the most advanced and capable load button on the market targeted for compact designs and use cases, such as medical devices. The accuracy and reliability of ConvexBT is made possible by Interface’s multi-point calibration process, an industry first for micro-sized load cells.
FEATURED IN WEIGHING REVIEW MAGAZINE
A video overview of ConvexBT is available on Interface’s YouTube channel here.
PRESS RELEASE ConvexBT is available now under the product family of Interface Mini® Load Cells. The product is part of a growing line of Interface Load Button Load Cells. The new ConvexBT model LBSU specifications are available at /product-category/load-button-load-cells/.
Enabling Fast and Efficient Force Measurement Product Verification On-Demand, Interface Announces New Force Verification FrameInterface’s Force Verification Load Frame is Lightweight, Easy to Use and is Compatible with a Wide Range of Interface Test and Measurement Products
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Providing customers with a quick and easy way to conduct load cell verification in real-time, Interface today announced the launch of its new Interface Force Verification Frame. The new Interface load frame is lightweight and can be customized with multiple adapters to fit a wide range of different load cells. It is being sold in three different models based on the capacity needs of the user; the IFVF-1K provides a capacity of 1,000 lbf, the IFVF-2.5K provides a capacity of 2,500 lbf and the IFVF-5K provides a capacity of 5,000 lbf.
Multi-axis wireless load cells and digital technology have changed the face of force sensors.
Until about 10 years ago, the force test and measurement industry had been fairly unimaginative. It had developed a standard way of building analog load cells, torque transducers, and other devices, and it worked for many years. However, as most of the rest of the technological world advanced and big data changed how engineers and manufacturers work, this age-old force measurement analog technology stood out, with no way to improve data collection or make it more efficient. Read more…
The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and “Big Data” has had a tremendous impact on almost every industry, including force measurement. Up until about ten years ago, the industry had remained steady and predictable. There was a widely accepted standard way of building load cells using analog technology, and they served their purpose well.
ENERGY TECH EDITION, FEBRUARY – 17 – 2020, ISSN 2644-237X, CIOREVIEW.COM
Like every other industry, the energy sector has also witnessed the latest technological trends being implemented into its operations, making it more productive and accountable for energy consumption and energy loss. Although every energy firm and service provider must have an undivided focus on boosting operational efficiency and achieving substantial returns, this does not diminish the major business opportunities that may arise in the energy market. An insight from one of PwC’s reports on energy says that enterprises must double down on digitization to drive efficiency and open new opportunities in the energy sector.
Interface: Bringing Accuracy to Force Measurement
“Today, Interface has a pool of 32000 products to offer across the globe, which includes standard test and measurement tools, custom designs, as well as OEM force measurement solutions.”
Moving forward, Interface intends to contribute more deeply to the energy sector by introducing more cost-effective and durable force measurement solutions to the market. “We plan on introducing wireless capability into most of our solutions to focus on the issue of expensive cable damage and cable routing for topside instrumentation,” says Peters. Above all, Interface wants to continue to grow its global roots as a trusted technology provider and explore the technological developments shaping the energy tech domain.
The new Interface Bluetooth Telemetry System features a free iOS and Android app to allow users to view data from multiple sensors in real-time on a smartphone or tablet. Providing its customers with a more accessible solution for viewing and downloading force measurement data, Interface has introduced its new Bluetooth® Telemetry System (BTS) solution. At the heart of Interface’s BTS solution is the powerful Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) strain-bridge transmitter module, which provides access to high-quality measurements on a mobile platform such as a phone or tablet. BTS joins Interface’s Wireless Telemetry System (WTS) in the growing demand by manufacturers and integrators who need flexibility and freedom from the restraints of wired systems. The Interface BTS is available now, and details of the solution can be found here. PRESS RELEASE
Contributor Ken Vining, Jan. 9, 2020 – Accuracy is a critical factor in modern engineering. It can mean the difference between a solid, reliable, high-quality product and one that fails or quickly becomes a liability to its users. But, as important as accuracy is, it’s quite an ambiguous term in engineering. When someone expresses the importance of accuracy, a lot of questions inevitably follow, especially when it comes to load cells. Load cells are important for testing and measuring force, weight, and torque on practically any product you can imagine. They are installed on finished products to track force factors in real time, and in the long term, they assist with preventive maintenance and data collection for future products.
A Free iOS and Android App Allow Users to View Data from Multiple Sensors in Real-Time on a Smartphone or Tablet
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Providing its customers with a more accessible solution for viewing and downloading force measurement data, Interface today introduced its new Bluetooth® Telemetry System (BTS) solution. At the heart of Interface’s BTS solution is the powerful Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) strain-bridge transmitter module, which provides access to high-quality measurements on a mobile platform such as a phone or tablet. BTS features high measurement resolution, simple integration into iOS and Android Apps, achievable ranges of up to 90m line of sight, extended battery life and the ability to view data from multiple sensors all at once. FULL PRESS RELEASE
July 2, 2019
Trends are not typically something that come to mind when we think about metrology; however, there have been some recent shifts in the industry worth taking note. Although these moves happen slowly over time, we are starting to see some significant changes unfold. Read more…
AxialTQ Redefines the Category of Torque Measurement Systems in Terms of Function, Accuracy, Customization, and Compatibility
PHOENIX, Oct. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire – To address the demand for a more accurate, reliable, customizable, and easy-to-use force measurement device, Interface has introduced the pioneering AxialTQ torque measurement system. At the heart of AxialTQ’s innovation is the rotor and high-precision sensing element technology, which, when combined with next-generation electronics, produces industry-leading accuracy. READ THE FULL RELEASE
PHOENIX, October 17, 2018 — Providing automotive, aerospace, and industrial professionals in need of easy-to-use wireless data communication between a force or torque sensor and a receiver, Interface today announced the expansion of its Wireless Telemetry System (WTS). Interface’s WTS includes sensor transmitters, receivers, displays, accessories, and free software, which operates on a standard 2.4 GHz signal, making it FCC compliant. READ THE FULL RELEASE
