As robotics shifts from innovation showcases to real-world deployment, motion systems play a vital role in this next stage of robotics.

From Prototype to Deployment Designing Motion Systems for Real-World Robotics

Connectivity, Protection, and Power Solutions by TE Connectivity and Avnet Abacus

Building Reliable Battery Energy Storage Systems

The connectivity foundation for advanced driver assistance systems, software-defined vehicles, zonal architectures and electrified powertrains.

Building Reliable High-Bandwidth Automotive Telemetry Systems

<p>Power, and how to use it efficiently, is top of mind for designers in all industries. Between soaring energy prices and tightening sustainability regulations, engineers bear the burden of finding innovative ways to design products that use less electricity. Whereas previously they may have used unidirectional power supplies, which only allow energy to flow from the grid to the load, now they can turn to bidirectional power supplies like the MEAN WELL BIC-5K, which can simultaneously take in and give back energy to the grid. With both AC-toDC and DC-to-AC capabilities in a single device, the MEAN WELL BIC-5K is a versatile and compact solution to many engineers’ power needs.</p><h2>Eliminating Energy Waste using Bidirectional Grid Recovery</h2><h3>Inefficiency of Passive Heat Dissipation</h3><p>Ordinary battery test and storage systems lose significant energy during battery discharging. Typically, these systems dissipate excess energy passively as heat, requiring companies to invest in expensive cooling infrastructure to keep everything running smoothly. The confluence of both of these factors incurs unnecessary, high costs for companies and forces them to waste enormous amounts of electricity.</p><p>When faced with these problems, engineers often implement energy recovery systems. However, they quickly face space constraints because they need to use separate rectifiers to convert AC to DC and inverters to convert DC back to AC. Using two separate devices not only increases system complexity but also introduces more points of failure within the power system.</p><p>Overall, companies that use battery test systems incur additional expenses and require additional physical space to recover energy that may otherwise be lost during discharge. This compounds over time with facilities continuously buying electricity they never recover. These linear, unidirectional power architectures, in which energy flows in only one direction, put companies at a competitive disadvantage, whether or not they attempt to recover wasted energy. The best solution to all these physical and economic limitations is integrated bidirectional systems.</p><h3>The Bidirectional Solution Space</h3><p>Bidirectional power systems enable engineers to treat the AC grid as a virtual battery for storing excess energy. Specifically, these systems manage electricity flowing in opposite directions within a single unit so that engineers can capture energy that would otherwise be lost to heat and return it to the grid. The result is that companies with these systems have a much smaller carbon footprint and a lower cost of ownership for high-power installations.</p><p>Bidirectional systems also simplify thermal management for companies by allowing them to eliminate large resistive load banks. Ordinary unidirectional power systems require load banks to dissipate excess energy as heat. In contrast, bidirectional systems don’t need them, as they can redirect excess energy back to the grid.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784559982726-AdobeStock_1966106615.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Large-format Battery Energy Storage System. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Bidirectional architectures allow the power supply to function as both a source, providing power to a device, and a sink, absorbing power from a device, and adjust dynamically depending on the immediate needs of the application. By feeding captured power back into the local grid, companies can also offset the consumption of other equipment within the same building. All of this enables companies to optimize their resources in ways they would not be able to with ordinary unidirectional systems. Ultimately, bidirectional power architectures empower engineers to design smaller, more efficient installations that are both more cost-effective and sustainable.</p><h2>Industry Use Cases for the BIC-5K</h2><h3>Battery Formation and Grading Systems</h3><p>When manufacturing batteries, engineers need to perform thousands of charge-discharge cycles to verify the stability of each battery’s cell chemistry and its grade capacity. With bidirectional power systems like MEAN WELL BIC-5K, engineers can feed the energy discharged from one battery bank back into the facility grid to power other active charging stations. This capability helps reduce the facility’s total energy usage and keeps it cooler by avoiding the heat-generating resistive load banks required by unidirectional power systems.</p><p>In addition to improving the facility’s energy efficiency, the BIC-5K enables engineers to precisely control batteries' charging and discharging curves so that each cell meets strict current- and voltage-regulation standards. MEAN WELL also designed the BIC-5K for industrial-grade reliability, so engineers can confidently implement demanding applications, such as continuous duty cycling, on their equipment. </p><p>All of these features allow companies to scale their production lines in denser formations without a proportional increase in cooling infrastructure. The result is that the BIC-5K helps companies achieve higher efficiency, higher throughput, lower energy consumption, and lower environmental impact in their battery production processes.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560167977-AdobeStock_193902732.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Charging station for EVs. Source: AdobeStock.</span></span></span></p><p>Bidirectional architectures allow the power supply to function as both a source, providing power to a device, and a sink, absorbing power from a device, and adjust dynamically depending on the immediate needs of the application. By feeding captured power back into the local grid, companies can also offset the consumption of other equipment within the same building. All of this enables companies to optimize their resources in ways they would not be able to with ordinary unidirectional systems. Ultimately, bidirectional power architectures empower engineers to design smaller, more efficient installations that are both more cost-effective and sustainable.</p><h3>Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and V2G</h3><p>Designers of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) systems, which enable electric vehicle (EV) batteries to draw and return power to the grid, need specialized hardware capable of managing bidirectional power flow. With the BIC-5K, engineers can deliver V2G systems with a single unit that also meets utility companies’ safety and synchronization standards. With this feature, designers can form localized microgrids, where each parked EV is an independent energy storage node. </p><p>With microgrids, the broader electrical grid can better handle peak demand by drawing on the collective energy stored in connected EV fleets. The BIC-5K ensures that this power transfer stays clean and perfectly synchronized with the utility frequency by preventing electrical noise or timing mismatches that could otherwise destabilize local power.</p><h2>Kinetic Energy Recovery and Regenerative Loads</h2><p>Industrial automation teams frequently work with high-inertia equipment, such as large motors or elevators, which generate significant back-EMF during braking. Back-EMF is a voltage that occurs when a motor’s internal magnetic fields interact during deceleration, effectively turning the motor into a generator. To prevent damage to drive electronics, historical power systems would force this energy through braking resistors that dissipate excess energy as heat. </p><p>With the BIC-5K, engineers can capture this back-EMF energy and return it to the facility grid rather than dissipate it as heat. As a result, they can reduce their heavy machinery’s net electrical demand, as the recycled energy can later power other machines.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560353337-AdobeStock_1914032654.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">EV showcasing engine, battery, and brakes. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Beyond energy savings, this regenerative approach reduces physical wear from mechanical braking. With the recovery unit offering electrical braking to handle much of the deceleration load, the BIC-5K transforms what was once a problematic source of heat waste into a reliable supplemental power source that maximizes energy efficiency for every part of a moving industrial automation system.</p><h2>Technical Capabilities: Fast Switching, Efficiency, and Scalability</h2><h3>Ultra-Fast 1ms Bidirectional Switching</h3><p>One of the most important performance metrics for a bidirectional power system is the speed at which it can switch between AC-to-DC (rectification) and DC-to-AC (inversion)modes. The BIC-5K switches in under 1 ms, which keeps the system's DC bus stable during instant shifts between charging and discharging phases. In this way, the BIC-5K protects the entire system from transient voltage spikes that could damage sensitive downstream electronics.</p><p>The BIC-5K’s high-speed switching capability also enables engineers to implement highly responsive battery grading profiles, especially those that use immediate current reversal to represent real-world usage. With faster switching that reduces lag and gaps, operators can collect more precise data during battery testing. </p><p>To simplify the switching process, the BIC-5K uses a fully digitalized control loop that automatically transitions between inversion and rectification modes. In addition, the internal firmware automatically detects the direction of energy flow, a feature that reduces the external control logic required and simplifies the overall system architecture. Ultimately, with the BIC-5K, teams can create testing environments that are both more reliable and significantly faster than alternatives.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560511364-BIC-5KSourceMEAN+WELL_page6image.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">BIC-5K. Source: MEAN WELL</span></span></span></p><h3>Peak Efficiency and Power Quality</h3><p>At the highest level, with a peak efficiency of 93.5%, the BIC-5K helps teams maximize the amount of energy they can recover and return to the facility grid. But, equally as important, greater efficiency – and, therefore, lower internal heat – means the BIC-5K can sustain full power operation in both directions without heat-related performance degradation.</p><p>Beyond raw efficiency, the BIC-5K maintains a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of less than3% in both conversion directions. The system’s low THD ensures that the power returned to the grid is clean and synchronized, thereby assuring compliance with strict utility power quality standards. This is non-negotiable for preventing electromagnetic interference with other sensitive electronic devices connected to the same local grid.</p><p>The hardware's versatility is further enhanced by a wide AC input range of 180-305 Vac, which lets engineers deploy the system in a variety of 230 or 277 Vac industrial environments. All of these features let the BIC-5K support large-scale energy recovery efforts without compromising the long-term stability or safety of local electrical components.</p><h3>Voltage Range and 3-Phase Scaling</h3><p>To guarantee compatibility with many industrial platforms, the BIC-5K offers four distinct models customized for specific DC bus requirements, ranging from low-voltage 24/48V options to high-voltage 96/380V units. These options give companies the breadth of tools needed to work with a wide array of DC battery chemistries and industrial motor voltages, all from a single product line.</p><p>And, if designers need power beyond a single unit's capacity, they can parallel up to 6 units. MEAN WELL enables this through a built-in active current-sharing function that automatically balances the electrical load across multiple devices. This configuration can achieve a total system capacity of 30kW in a 5+1 setup, where the sixth unit provides redundancy to ensure continuous operation if one module fails.</p><p>With a modular approach, teams can scale their power infrastructure linearly and increase capacity as an application grows without redesigning the power system. Teams can also integrate the BIC-5K into 3-phase 4-wire systems and standard industrial power setups consisting of three hot wires and one neutral by distributing single-phase units across the grid phases.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560708233-AdobeStock_1606918636.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Safety mechanisms and circuit breakers on a bidirectional inverter. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><h2>Streamlined Digital Control and Safety</h2><p>With the BIC-5K, engineers can perform live monitoring and granular parameter adjustment via standard digital interfaces such as CAN bus or Modbus-RTU. They can use these protocols to precisely set both active power, which performs the actual work in a circuit, and reactive power, which maintains steady voltage levels in magnetic fields of motors and transformers. This type of control helps engineers make informed, analytics-driven decisions when managing distributed energy resources, such as localized solar arrays or battery storage units. They can also use the digital control interface to log performance data and diagnostic information, which is key to optimizing long-term system health and predictive equipment maintenance.</p><p>Beyond software control, MEAN WELL designed the BIC-5K to withstand harsh industrial environments while meeting the highest safety standards. It features an Over Voltage Category III (OVC III) rating, meaning it can withstand significant voltage transients common in fixed-plant installations, and a conformal coating that shields the internal circuitry from moisture and contaminants. It also includes internal protections such as AC fail detection and anti-islanding, which prevent the unit from feeding power back into a dead grid during an outage, thereby protecting utility workers performing repairs. The BIC-5K also meetsEN50549-1 grid connection standards.</p><h2>Competitive Advantages of Off-the-Shelf Integration</h2><p>A final benefit of the BIC-5K is that it’s a ready-to-use system. Rather than designing a custom solution from scratch, teams can simply pick the BIC-5K off-the-shelf and integrate it directly into their existing systems. They immediately avoid the exhaustive design and certification cycles typically required to build custom bidirectional power electronics from scratch. They can also trust that the unit is safe, as MEAN WELL has already pre-validated it against global safety standards, including IEC62368-1 for high-tech equipment.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560859191-Sager+MEAN+WELL+WP.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Various systems for integration: water treatment plant, marine battery charging module, EV charging station, &amp;battery cell formation. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Beyond simplifying the initial engineering phase, the BIC-5K can also decrease a system's total cost of ownership. As a standardized unit backed by a five-year warranty, companies can rest assured that their systems will work for a long time, and even avoid the considerable costs and technical risks associated with independent grid-connection testing. Because the BIC-5K includes an extensive global support network and a comprehensive set of safety certifications, engineers can use it to implement a uniform solution that meets worldwide market requirements without ever changing their design to comply with specific regional requirements.</p><p><a href="https://www.sager.com/newsroom/bidirectional-energy-recovery-with-the-mean-well-bic-5k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784652058916-51.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></a></p><h2>Leading the Eco-Friendly Transition</h2><p>The MEAN WELL BIC-5K gives companies a sophisticated and practical path to implement high-efficiency, bidirectional power systems within their infrastructure. As bidirectional power, thermal management, and environmentally-conscious designs become more pressing, a solution like the BIC-5K gives engineers the infrastructure they need to build for a more efficient, resilient, and eco-friendly future.</p><p>To learn more about the BIC-5K or to explore the MEAN WELL product portfolio, visit <a href="https://www.sager.com/manufacturers/mean-well" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.sager.com/manufacturers/mean-well</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.sager.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.sager.com</a></p>

A sophisticated and practical path to implement high-efficiency, bidirectional power systems.

Bidirectional Energy Recovery with the MEAN WELL BIC-5K

<p id="isPasted">European automotive manufacturing is under structural pressure from multiple directions at once. Experienced metrologists are retiring. EV platforms demand entirely different inspection approaches. Global competitors have already automated. And production lines cannot slow down to wait for quality control to catch up.</p><p>For many facilities, the bottleneck is not the production technology. It is the inspection workflow sitting behind it.</p><h2>Explore the whitepaper</h2><p>This whitepaper examines how automated 3D optical metrology helps automotive manufacturers close the gap between modern production and legacy quality control. It covers the real pressures driving the change, the practical limitations of coordinate measuring machines, and how optical scanning systems can be deployed directly on the shop floor.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-261653944967372" src="https://form.jotform.com/261653944967372" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:1000px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;border-image:initial" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2>You will learn:</h2><ul><li>Why demographic decline across EU manufacturing hubs is making traditional CMM expertise harder to source and retain</li><li><p>How EV platforms, battery enclosures, thin-walled aluminum structures, and reflective surfaces expose the limits of point-based measurement</p></li><li><p>How optical scanners capture millions of geometrically linked data points in a single pass and compare them directly against CAD models</p></li><li><p>What it means to move inspection out of the metrology lab and into production, where feedback reaches engineers before defects compound into large batches</p></li><li><p>How stamping and casting operations can use accumulated scan data to track tooling drift and move from reactive maintenance to predictive intervention</p></li><li><p>What a full Industry 4.0 integration looks like, including MES connectivity, automated reporting, and modular robotic inspection cells deployable in two days</p></li></ul><h2>Why read it</h2><p>Traditional inspection systems were built for a stable, high-volume world with a ready supply of skilled operators. That world has changed. EV production requires validation techniques that CMMs were not designed for. Customizable vehicles mean higher part variability. Supply chains spanning dozens of countries mean dimensional deviations that go undetected in one stage create assembly problems three steps later.</p><p>Late defect detection is not just a quality problem. Every rejected part costs energy, machine time, and labor. In the context of the European Green Deal, it is also a sustainability problem.</p><p>This whitepaper looks at inspection as a complete production system rather than a separate step, and shows how automated optical metrology turns quality control from a bottleneck into an active part of the manufacturing process.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable fr-active"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-261653944967372" src="https://form.jotform.com/261653944967372" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:1000px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;border-image:initial" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2>Case study: stamping inspection at a tier-one supplier</h2><p>A supplier producing 782 different stamped part types for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan was running out of road with CMM-based inspection. Manual setup, slow throughput, and the requirement to work directly on a live shop floor made the existing process unsustainable.</p><p>After deploying an automated 3D optical scanning system alongside the stamping lines, large sheet metal parts could be fully scanned in three minutes. Smaller parts took around one minute. Defects were caught earlier, corrective action happened faster, and scrap and rework both came down.</p><h2>Learn from the source</h2><p>Scanology develops automated 3D inspection systems used in automotive production environments across Europe and Asia. Their systems are certified to ISO 10360 standards and tested in CNAS ISO 17025 accredited laboratory conditions.</p><p>This whitepaper draws on that experience to give engineers and operations leaders a practical guide to modernising their inspection infrastructure.</p>

Why traditional inspection can no longer keep pace with modern automotive production, and what to do about it

Navigating Europe's Manufacturing Dilemma Through Automated Metrology

Nexperia links device-level advantages to application requirements, helping designers choose the best Wide bandgap (WBG) solution for their design.

Nexperia Wide Bandgap Selection Guide

A Monolithic IC for Accurate High-Voltage Measurement

Precision Kilovolt Sensing

<p id="isPasted">Cellular connectivity is one of the most common failure points in IoT deployments. Devices that perform perfectly in controlled environments often behave very differently once installed in basements, vehicles, metal enclosures, or remote locations.</p><p>Missed messages, delayed commands, and unexpected battery drain are rarely application problems. More often, they come down to how connectivity was selected, configured, and validated.</p><p>This white paper gives you a practical framework to avoid those issues before they scale.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-261244210544345" src="https://form.jotform.com/261244210544345" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:800px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2>What this white paper covers</h2><p>This guide is written for engineers and technical teams building connected devices who need clear, field-ready guidance without getting lost in standards documentation.</p><p>Inside, you will learn how to:</p><ul><li><p>Choose the right cellular technology for your specific use case</p></li><li><p>Understand real-world trade-offs between LTE-M, NB-IoT, Cat-1, and emerging 5G options</p></li><li><p>Evaluate performance based on field conditions, not datasheet claims</p></li><li><p>Design pilot tests that reveal issues before deployment</p></li><li><p>Plan for roaming, network changes, and long device lifecycles</p></li></ul><h2>Who should read it</h2><p>This white paper is for engineers and technical teams responsible for how connected devices perform in the real world. That includes hardware and embedded engineers building IoT products, connectivity specialists selecting cellular technologies, and product or engineering leads making deployment decisions. It is especially relevant for teams working across multiple regions or operating environments where reliability, coverage, and lifecycle planning directly impact product success.</p><h2>Why read this white paper</h2><p>Connectivity issues rarely show up in early testing. They tend to surface later, during pilots or after deployment, when fixing them is significantly more complex and costly. This guide helps shift that discovery earlier by focusing on how cellular technologies behave under real conditions rather than ideal scenarios.</p><p>By reading it, you gain a clearer way to evaluate trade-offs, a practical approach to field testing, and a structured framework for making decisions that hold up over time. The aim is to reduce uncertainty, avoid common pitfalls, and ensure your connectivity design performs as expected once deployed.</p><h2>Download the white paper</h2><p>If you are designing or deploying cellular IoT devices, this guide will help you avoid common pitfalls and build systems that perform reliably in the real world.</p><p>Get the full Engineer’s Field Guide to Cellular IoT and start designing with field conditions in mind.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-261244210544345" src="https://form.jotform.com/261244210544345" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:800px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"><span class="fr-mk"> </span><span class="fr-mk"> </span> </iframe> </span></p>

Design connectivity that works beyond the lab

Engineer's Field Guide to Cellular IoT

RECOM scales power architectures without sacrificing performance or reliability

Simplifying Power Architectures with Integrated Modules and Validated Discrete Components

Selecting and validating the right busbar architecture earlier to optimize high-performance power distribution.

Busbar Solutions: Optimizing High-Performance Power Distribution

<h1 id="isPasted">The Future of Manufacturing Is Already Taking Shape</h1><p>Engineering teams today are under pressure to move faster than ever—from concept to production—while managing increasing complexity, cost constraints, and supply chain uncertainty. At the same time, a new generation of digital technologies is reshaping how products are designed, validated, and manufactured.</p><p>Protolabs’ latest report, <strong>“Innovation in Manufacturing 2026,”</strong> explores this shift in depth. It shows how tools like artificial intelligence, digital twins, and on-demand manufacturing are no longer emerging concepts, but are already delivering measurable impact across the product lifecycle.</p><p>For example, the report reveals that <strong>72% of manufacturers using machine learning report improved efficiency and reduced costs</strong>, while digital twin technologies are enabling teams to cut development time by as much as <strong>20–50%</strong>. At the same time, AI-enabled digital workflows are helping organizations achieve up to <strong>50% lower development costs</strong> and <strong>30% faster time-to-market</strong>.</p><h3>Download the Report:</h3><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260843208468462" src="https://form.jotform.com/260843208468462" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:539px;border:none" scrolling="no" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2>From Concept to Scalable Production</h2><p>The report highlights a fundamental shift in how products are developed. Instead of linear processes, engineering teams are moving toward <strong>parallel, data-driven workflows</strong>, where design, simulation, and validation happen simultaneously.</p><p>In early-stage development, AI-powered tools are enabling engineers to explore a far broader design space and collaborate more closely with stakeholders. This is reflected in the growing adoption of co-creation models, with <strong>58% of companies already piloting collaborative design approaches</strong>.</p><p>As products move closer to production, however, challenges remain. Despite advances in digital tooling, <strong>97% of companies still report delays or failures when scaling from prototype to full production</strong>—highlighting a persistent gap between design validation and manufacturability.</p><h2>Manufacturing in a More Flexible, Connected World</h2><p>To address these challenges, manufacturers are increasingly turning to more flexible production models. Today, <strong>72% of manufacturing leaders rely on on-demand manufacturing</strong> to adapt to changing requirements, reduce risk, and accelerate time-to-market.</p><p>At the same time, production environments themselves are becoming more intelligent and connected. AI-driven systems, IoT-enabled monitoring, and digital twins are enabling real-time optimization, predictive maintenance, and improved quality control across manufacturing operations.</p><p>This shift is also laying the foundation for more sustainable practices, from reducing material waste to enabling circular manufacturing models such as remanufacturing and reuse.</p><h2>Why This Matters for Engineers</h2><p>For engineers, these changes are not abstract trends—they directly impact how products are designed, tested, and brought to market.</p><p>A more connected, digital-first manufacturing approach enables:</p><ul><li>Faster iteration and validation cycles</li><li>More accurate simulation and performance prediction</li><li>Reduced reliance on costly physical prototyping</li><li>Greater flexibility when scaling production</li></ul><p>Understanding how these technologies fit together is becoming essential to navigating modern product development.</p><h2>Download the Full Report</h2><p><strong>“Innovation in Manufacturing 2026”</strong> provides a detailed look at how these trends are reshaping engineering workflows, supported by real-world data and practical insights.</p><p>Download the full report to explore how AI, digital twins, and on-demand manufacturing are enabling faster, more efficient, and more resilient product development.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260843208468462" src="https://form.jotform.com/260843208468462" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:539px;border:none" scrolling="no" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p>

Learn how manufacturing's digital adoption is transforming the product life cycle – download the new report today.

New Report: Innovation in Manufacturing 2026

<h2>Executive Summary</h2><p>This white paper investigates the increasing need for high-precision metrology in highly regulated industries such as automotive and civil aviation. Where current metrology solutions are falling short in terms of efficiency, completeness, and scale, high-performance 3D scanning is emerging as a powerful solution. SHINING 3D’s 3D scanning systems offer myriad benefits to engineers and quality assurance (QA) teams in both the automotive and civil aviation sectors, including full-field, micron-level data capture, accelerated inspection times, repeatability, and traceability. This white paper illustrates these benefits and more in case studies from the automotive and aviation sectors, while also presenting different application areas for the technology. Finally, the white paper explores the question of integrating 3D scanning into existing QA or inspection processes with the goal of streamlining workflows and enhancing results.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260782481285464" src="https://form.jotform.com/260782481285464" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:1000px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2><br />Introduction</h2><p>Precision has always been fundamental to manufacturing, but the way it is achieved has changed dramatically. Even as far back as the building of the pyramids in Ancient Egypt, measurement standards were used to ensure a consistent size of limestone or granite block, which resulted in a deviation of a mere 0.05% comparing all the sides of the structure. [1]</p><p>In today’s era of digital transformation, smart manufacturing, and zero-defect production, metrology has evolved from a supporting function into a core, data-driven capability. Today, advanced production technologies, such as Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining and Additive Manufacturing (AM), have brought with them new design possibilities, such as highly complex assemblies whose performance and functionality are dependent on extremely tight tolerances. The proliferation of high-precision components has introduced an array of challenges for traditional quality assurance tools like calipers, gauges, and even coordinate-measuring machines (CMMs). As many manufacturers have experienced firsthand, these tools fall short when it comes to measuring and qualifying complex surfaces with extreme precision in a scalable, repeatable way.</p><p>Enter 3D metrology. 3D metrology solutions, such as SHINING 3D’s 3D scanners, have emerged as a powerful solution. Capable of capturing accurate surface data in a fast and non-contact manner, 3D metrology tools are transforming quality assurance workflows for the better and providing more exacting insights into a part’s form, fit, and function.</p><p>As we’ll explore in this white paper, advanced 3D metrology solutions are becoming increasingly indispensable in industries like automotive and civil aviation, where critical components require ultra-tight tolerances in order to ensure optimal safety and performance as well as regulatory compliance. Moreover, as both sectors pursue greater efficiency through the development and production of ultra-lightweight parts, engineers are discovering that many of these parts are susceptible to deformation during handling and contact-based inspection processes. 3D metrology tools provide a safe, non-contact solution in these cases.</p><p>Additionally, the integration of 3D metrology enables manufacturers to align the pace of quality control with that of production. In other words, 3D metrology solutions facilitate rapid, automated inspections that match with takt time requirements and unlock high-throughput production without compromising on precision or quality. Beyond qualification in automotive and aviation production lines, 3D metrology is also facilitating the inspection of legacy parts and supporting reverse engineering applications.</p><p>In this white paper, we will first look at the limitations of traditional metrology tools when it comes to advanced production applications in automotive and aviation. From there, we will examine the benefits of 3D scanning and explore specific applications in both industries where 3D metrology is playing a game-changing role. Finally, we will illuminate the impacts of integrating 3D metrology solutions into engineering and quality assurance workflows.</p><p><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzczNzk2MTU1MzkxLUZyZWVTY2FuX0NvbWJvXzkxMUdUM1RvcnVpbmdfMi53ZWJwIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></p><h2>The Metrology Gap: The Limitations of Traditional Contact-Based Metrology</h2><p>Before delving into the transformative capabilities of advanced 3D metrology, it is helpful to first understand how traditional metrology tools are falling short of modern manufacturing expectations. Though handheld instruments like calipers, gauges, and templates have long been used in quality control workflows and have the benefits of being simple to use and relatively low cost, their functionality, repeatability, and scalability are limited.</p><p>These rudimentary metrology tools effectively work by measuring a part’s dimensions (calipers) or checking whether a particular feature or dimension falls within allowable limits (gauges and templates). A major shortcoming with these metrology tools is that they can only measure individual dimensions and do not provide full-field data. Moreover, these tools are used manually and therefore bring with them the risk of human error and lack of repeatability, an issue that is magnified when extreme accuracy is required. These tools are also fundamentally unsuited for the inspection of freeform geometries and compound-curved surfaces, which limits their use to simple geometric structures.</p><p>Even sophisticated metrology technologies like coordinate-measuring machines (CMMs) present limitations when it comes to inspecting critical, high-precision parts in the automotive and aviation sectors. CMMs use a tactile probe to measure discrete points on a part, leveraging coordinate technology to determine dimensional accuracy in multiple axes.</p><p>While CMMs are known for their high level of accuracy, the approach has workflow limitations that hinder its adoption for many applications. For one, coordinate-measuring technology is slow and can create bottlenecks in fast-paced production environments. CMMs are also limited in size, meaning that they are unsuitable for inspecting body-in-white (BIW) structures, body panels, aerospace skins, and other large structures. The fixed nature of CMMs, which must operate in a controlled, vibration-free environment, also limits how and where they can be used. Similarly, long setup times inhibit flexibility and make CMMs inefficient for high-mix production and iterative development cycles.</p><p>Considering the limitations of these widespread metrology tools and the growing demand for high-precision, complex parts in demanding industries like automotive and aerospace, there is a strong need for fast, full-field, high-accuracy metrology. In many cases, 3D scanning is the answer. </p><p><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzczNzk2MjEzNzUzLTE3NzM3OTYyMTM3NTMucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></p><h2>The Need for High-Accuracy 3D Scanning for Metrology</h2><p>With technological roots dating back to the 1960s, 3D scanning is today at the cutting edge of industrial metrology. [2] On a basic level, the technology works by projecting light onto an object. Based on the way the light bounces back from the object, the scanning technology captures full-field data of the object’s surface and geometry. This data, in the form of thousands or even millions of points, can be used for metrology purposes or to reconstruct a high-fidelity digital twin of the object. </p><p>Professional and industrial-grade 3D scanning solutions, such as SHINING 3D’s dynamic tracking 3D measuring system, handheld laser scanning, and high-precision inspection systems, offer several benefits over traditional metrology approaches. With micron-level repeatability, broad material compatibility, dynamic tracking, and environmental robustness, SHINING 3D’s advanced scanning tools enable manufacturers across the most demanding industries to inspect and qualify parts with confidence.</p><p>One of the greatest benefits of 3D scanning is full-field, high-density data capture. While CMMs are the gold standard for point accuracy, their sparse measurements often miss global deviations. In contrast, laser scanners capture the entire surface geometry, enabling comprehensive shape and dimension analysis. This high-density data allows for the generation of chromatic deviation maps, which instantly visualize form errors like warpage or shrinkage. Instead of just checking isolated points, manufacturers can assess the entire surface profile to identify exactly where and by how much the part deviates from the CAD model.</p><p>The <strong>superior data density </strong>unlocked by 3D scanning is not only transformative for quality assurance and metrology, it also plays a critical role in informing engineering decisions related to geometric dimensioning &amp; tolerancing (GD&amp;T), part analysis, reverse engineering, computer-aided engineering (CAE) validation, and tool compensation loops.</p><p>SHINING 3D’s solutions offer manufacturers additional advantages, including <strong>markerless</strong>, <strong>dynamic tracking for large structures</strong>, ideal for inspecting BIW, fuselage, monocoque, and chassis structures without the setup hassle of placing markers or stickers. This, along with the elimination of any manual measurement, results in <strong>faster metrology workflows </strong>and overall fewer Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) bottlenecks.</p><p>Moreover, scanning systems that feature blue light laser technology can scan traditionally challenging parts, such as those with dark or shiny surfaces, with a high level of accuracy. This capability extends scanning <strong>material compatibility </strong>to dark carbon fiber composite structures as well as shiny metal surfaces, and beyond, without surface preparation.</p><p>In industries like automotive and civil aviation, which are bound by strict regulatory standards and frameworks, 3D scanning tools must meet stringent requirements when it comes to accuracy and repeatability. SHINING 3D solutions deliver <strong>repeatability <strong>and <strong>traceability </strong></strong></strong>backed by <strong>ISO 17025</strong>, <strong>VDI/VDE 2634</strong> and <strong>ISO 10360 certifications</strong>. This is paired with a higher level of <strong>environmental robustness</strong> than sensitive metrology tools like CMMs.<br /><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzczNzk2MjY5NjMzLTE3NzM3OTYyNjk2MzMucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></p><h2><br /></h2><h2 id="isPasted"><strong>Unlock the Full Potential of High-Accuracy 3D Scanning</strong></h2><p>You’ve seen how 3D scanning is transforming inspection and quality workflows—but this is only the starting point.</p><p>In the full whitepaper, explore detailed automotive and civil aviation applications, including carbon fiber monocoque validation, sheet metal deformation analysis, and aircraft damage detection. Learn how leading manufacturers are deploying high-precision 3D metrology to reduce inspection time, improve accuracy, and streamline production.</p><p>Download the complete whitepaper to access real-world use cases, technical workflows, and the measurable impact of integrating advanced 3D scanning into engineering and QA processes.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable fr-active"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260782481285464" src="https://form.jotform.com/260782481285464" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:1000px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><p><br /><br /><br /></p>

Learn how Shining3D is driving precision in automotive and civil aviation.

New Whitepaper: Advancing Quality with High-Accuracy 3D Metrology

<p id="isPasted">Position, navigation, and timing systems depend on precise timing to function correctly. While most development effort goes into positioning algorithms and sensor fusion, timing is what keeps the entire system aligned. When timing becomes unstable, navigation drifts, sensors fall out of sync, and control loops start to behave unpredictably.</p><p>These problems often appear even when sensors and software are working as expected. In many cases, the root cause is timing error rather than a failure in the algorithm or hardware. This becomes especially clear when systems operate in environments where GNSS signals are blocked, degraded, or untrusted.</p><p>For engineers building reliable PNT systems, timing is not just a supporting function. It is a core requirement that determines how well a system performs under real-world conditions.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260634120340341" src="https://form.jotform.com/260634120340341" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:900px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe> </span></p><h2><strong>Explore the whitepaper</strong></h2><p>This whitepaper explains why precision timing should be treated as a system-level requirement in PNT design. It looks at how timing affects positioning accuracy, sensor alignment, and system stability, and how robust timing solutions help maintain performance when external references are unavailable. You will learn how to:</p><ul><li><p>Understand how timing stability affects positioning accuracy and system behavior</p></li><li><p>Maintain reliable operation when GNSS signals are unavailable or degraded</p></li><li><p>Reduce timing-related drift in navigation and sensor fusion systems</p></li><li><p>Design systems that recover quickly after timing disruptions</p></li><li><p>Improve reliability under vibration, temperature shifts, and EMI</p></li></ul><h2><strong>Why Read It</strong></h2><p>Timing problems rarely show up as obvious failures. Instead, they appear as gradual performance loss. Navigation accuracy slowly degrades. Sensor data becomes harder to correlate. Control loops begin to oscillate or drift.</p><p>These effects are difficult to diagnose because they often look like problems in software or sensors. By the time the symptoms are visible, timing margins are often already exhausted.</p><p>This whitepaper explains how timing errors propagate through PNT systems and how stable local timing improves reliability. It also shows why relying entirely on GNSS as a timing reference creates risk in real-world deployments.</p><h2><strong>Learn from the Experts</strong></h2><p>SiTime develops MEMS-based precision timing solutions designed for systems that must operate reliably outside controlled lab environments. These devices are built to maintain stability under vibration, temperature changes, and other environmental stress.</p><p>This whitepaper explains how precision timing solutions support reliable PNT architectures across aerospace, defense, and industrial systems.</p><h2><strong>Whitepaper Introduction</strong></h2><p>Position, navigation, and timing systems rely on precise timing to coordinate sensing, computation, and control. Many designs assume timing will take care of itself, but this assumption breaks down in distributed or high-dynamic environments.</p><p>When GNSS signals are disrupted or unavailable, the local oscillator becomes the primary timing reference. The quality of this local timing determines how quickly navigation accuracy degrades and how well the system recovers once signals return.</p><p>Timing also plays a central role in distributed systems where sensors and processors operate at different update rates. Without a shared time reference, data from different sources loses alignment and becomes harder to interpret. This loss of coherence can destabilize control loops and reduce overall system reliability.</p><p>Because of these dependencies, timing should be treated as a design constraint from the beginning of development. Systems that treat timing as an afterthought often face synchronization issues late in integration, when they are difficult to isolate and resolve.</p><p>This whitepaper explains how precision timing supports reliable PNT operation and how stable timing sources help systems maintain performance under real-world conditions.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260634120340341" src="https://form.jotform.com/260634120340341" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:900px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe> </span></p>

This white paper explains why precision timing should be treated as a system-level requirement in PNT design.

Improving PNT Reliability with Precision Timing Solutions from SiTime

<p id="isPasted">Portable and IoT devices run on tight energy budgets. At the same time, they are expected to support more processing power, more sensors, and more wireless communication. The result is a constant tension between performance and battery life.</p><p>In many designs, the limiting factor is not the battery itself but how power is managed. Inefficient conversion wastes energy. Poor regulation introduces noise. High standby current slowly drains the battery even when the device is idle. Over time, these issues shorten runtime, reduce reliability, and make thermal and mechanical design more difficult.</p><p>For engineers building battery-powered devices, power design directly determines how long a product can operate and how reliably it performs in the field.</p><h2><strong>Explore the whitepaper</strong></h2><p>This whitepaper explains how to design efficient and stable power systems for portable and IoT devices. It focuses on practical design choices that improve battery life and maintain stable operation across changing load conditions. You will learn how to:</p><ul><li><p>Select converters that remain efficient from sleep current to peak load</p></li><li><p>Build power architectures that behave predictably across operating modes</p></li><li><p>Maintain clean supply rails for radios and analog circuits</p></li><li><p>Reduce standby losses with low quiescent current regulation</p></li><li><p>Manage layout and thermal constraints in compact devices</p></li></ul><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260843278583366" src="https://form.jotform.com/260843278583366" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:780px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><br /></h2><h2><strong>Why Read It</strong></h2><p>Portable devices rarely operate at a constant load. Most spend long periods in sleep mode, interrupted by short bursts of activity when sensors wake or radios transmit. Power systems need to handle both extremes efficiently.</p><p>Small inefficiencies add up over time. A few extra microamps of standby current can cut battery life significantly. Poor transient response can reset processors or disrupt radio operation. Excess heat can limit enclosure size or component placement.</p><p>This white paper looks at power as a complete system, including converters, regulators, and power domains. The goal is to help designers avoid common pitfalls and build devices that run longer and behave predictably.</p><h2><strong>Learn from the Experts</strong></h2><p>Semtech develops power solutions used in a wide range of portable and connected devices. Their converter and regulation technologies are designed for systems that need to operate efficiently across a wide range of load conditions.</p><p>This white paper shows how these building blocks fit together into practical power designs for battery-powered products.</p><h2><strong>Whitepaper Introduction</strong></h2><p>Portable and IoT systems continue to push power design in new directions. Devices must operate longer on the same battery capacity while supporting more functionality. As a result, power behavior has become a defining factor in system performance and lifetime.</p><p>Many power-related issues come from interactions between components rather than from a single part. Converters, regulators, PCB layout, and operating modes all influence efficiency and stability. If these elements are not considered together, the result can be excessive standby drain, unstable rails, or unnecessary thermal stress.</p><p>A structured approach to power design helps avoid these problems. Efficient converters handle the main voltage conversion. Power architecture determines which parts of the system remain active and when. Low-noise regulators support sensitive circuits that require stable supply rails.</p><p>When these elements are planned together, devices can achieve longer battery life, stable wireless performance, and predictable behavior across operating modes.</p><p>This white paper examines three areas that shape efficient power design for portable and IoT devices: converters, power architecture, and regulation.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe id="JotFormIFrame-260843278583366" src="https://form.jotform.com/260843278583366" frameborder="0" style="min-width:100%;max-width:100%;height:780px;border:none" scrolling="yes" class="fr-draggable"> </iframe></span></p>

Converter, Architecture, and Regulation Solutions from Semtech

Efficient Power Management for Portable and IoT Devices

Learn how Shadow Robot combines deep dexterous robotics expertise with transparent collaboration to move from concept to scalable manipulation systems.

Trusted Hands: Engineering Collaboration with Shadow Robot

Whitepaper

Whitepapers

Latest Posts