I’ve always been fascinated with procedures that can be applied in more than one area of expertise, simply because it intrigues me as to how one item can be used in a variety of manners to create the desired outcome in various industries and have multiple purposes.
Load Cell and Force Transducer
A load cell is a force transducer. It converts tension, compression, pressure, or torque (the force) into an electrical signal that can be measured and standardized. As the force increases, the electrical signals change.
Force transducer and load cells are designed to measure tensile and compression forces and are ideal for use in both laboratory and industrial environments.
In the medical field, a device measuring your heart rate or pulse can detect changes in light within your blood vessels, which reflect the amount of blood as a function of your heart rate. These changes are sensed by photoresistors, which then translate the changes to electrical energy, which then appears as digital numbers reflecting the change in your heart rate.
And you thought that was just an overpriced but rather cool machine, right?
Laser Welding
When you think of welding, you more than likely think of welding two metal objects together. Laser welding is a process used to join together metals or thermoplastics using a laser beam to form a weld.
High-powered lasers use carbon dioxide as the medium traditionally. A laser such as this cannot be transmitted through a fiber optic cable, however, which makes it difficult to automate the process for something like a laser surgery.
Stitches and sutures are still the most common way to close wounds and openings during surgery. However, the risk of contamination and tearing of the tissues are a risk if the stitches are not held tight. Tissue welding uses lasers to remove these complications, leaving minimal scars, no entry for infections, and the regions typically heal faster after surgery.
Interesting, isn’t it? Let’s take a look at one more interesting marvel if you will that has always piqued my curiosity.
Air Water Heat Pumps
Just the name itself makes you go huh when you look at it. Here’s how this works, and almost every home in America has one. The heat from the air is absorbed into the pump at a low temperature and turned into a fluid.
That fluid then passes through a compressor, which increases the temperature. The higher temperature heat is transferred to the heating circuit and the remaining fluid (the hot water) is transferred to the water circuits of the house.
Neat isn’t it? Here’s a diagram of how this all works inside your home to give you hot water, heated flooring, and warms your home:
I take items such as these for granted, as they are not something that I think about on a daily basis. Look around your home though. The different electronics and devices that we use – don’t they make you curious to find out just HOW they achieve the end result? It has always been something I’ve been interested in simply because I admire the individuals who took the time to sit down and mull these items over and create the systems and products we use every day to make our lives easier.
If you want to learn more about each of these systems individually, check out our resources listed below:
- https://disensors.com/products/load-cells-force-transducers/
- https://hydrosolar.ca/pages/air-water-heat-pumps
- https://lasermarktech.com/products-category/laser-welding-systems
