AMT Tech Trends

Episode 46: Benjamin and Stephen actually managed to keep an episode under a half hour for once! Steve jumps right into the global silicon shortage. Ben discusses how to assess the value of investing in robotics and automation. Stephen shares what he learned about laser-assisted tape winding. The boys close by rambling about alloys and how they’re getting old. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A4...

Episode 45: Benjamin and Stephen discuss the best of IMTS spark, from Network Week back in September to Demo Days. - https://www.ctemag.com/news/industry-news/submarines-be-built-australias-largest-machine-tool - https://cymanii.org/ - https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework - https://directory.imts.com/8_0/sessions/#/searchtype/sessionkeyword/search/tlc/show/all - https://cleantechnica.com/2021/02/23...

Episode 44: Stephen and Benjamin go over some of their favorite highlights from AMT’s 2021 Technology forum. Steve mentions a partnership between one of his favorite audio companies and one of his favorite additive companies. Ben closes with how the massive amounts of materials used in wind turbines are recycled. - https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/18/sennheiser-partners-with-formlabs-for-customized-...

Episode 43: Ben wrecked his new RC car! Stephen announces car part manufacturer, Edelbrock, will no longer be manufacturing products in California for all the best reasons. Benjamin nerds out about the latest innovations in machine vision. Steve gets upset about the DOD’s egregious additive spending. Ben pivots and closes with the industry’s shift in AM. - https://www.thedrive.com/news/39112/edelb...

Episode 42: Ben and Stephen open with more egregious spending. Steve bought a new phone when he said he wouldn’t, and Ben bought another RC car. Ben talks about robotic trends for engineering students in 2021. Steve brings up e-waste and how one researcher is developing biodegradable PCBs. Ben has an article saying Stephen was right about his 2018 robot arm predictions. Steve thinks additive could...

Episode 41: Ben and Stephen wrap up their year in review and segue into some articles and expectations for 2021. Stephen flexes his air fryer he got for Christmas. Ben gets things back on topic by talking about metrology and subtractive manufacturing. Steve reflects on his “Road Trippin’ with Steve” adventures and his appreciation for Sandvik. Steve then focuses on the future of automation and rob...

Episode 40: We’ve made it to the end of 2020! Ben and Steve start by conversing their general observations from the year. Next, they get a bit more serious by discussing the year’s impact on the economy. Benjamin and Stephen wrap up by beginning to talk about 2020’s trends in manufacturing technology before realizing they’re going long and need to take this to a second part. Happy holidays! Subscr...

Episode 39: The penultimate episode of 2020! Ben and Steve conclude winter is officially here. Stephen geeks out over a silly Subaru. Benjamin discusses the future manufacturing technology in the auto industry. Steve presents MIT’s method for “visually perfect” additive surface finish. Ben talks about NASA’s latest additive rocket engine testing and challenges with hydrogen embrittlement. Stephen...

Episode 38: It’s the 2020 Thanksgiving minisode that ended up going long and being not so mini! Ben flexes his new car! Stephen talks about his inferior car and how he aspires to the next generation of inferiority. Ben mentions an article about additive made bicycles and their fascinating internals. Steve found an article on Chernobyl and how Boston Dynamics' robot dog, Spot, is being sent in to h...

Episode 37: Ben and Stephen went shooting! Ben got stuck in traffic. Steve is excited about a children’s getting a million buck to put towards additive. Ben says the CDC is putting $1.5 million towards robots and mech suits. Stephen found a CNC machining article from a car magazine. Benjamin closes with a paper on surface metrology. - https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2020/11/16/gift-of-1-milli...

Episode 36: Ben and Stephen FINALLY are NOT talking about the latest GPUs… sorta. They discuss new phones and more importantly, Folding@home’s latest achievements! Ben and Steve are joined by aspecial guest, Sheriff Woo… Russell Waddell to discuss digital twin implementation. Ben segues into model based definition. Stephen closes a new superconductor. - https://www.networkworld.com/article/3587388...

Episode 35: Ben and Steve start by discussing the latest consumer electronics. Steve talks about the advanced manufacturing going into the newest American made hypercar. Ben describes digital twin readiness. Stephen brings up the rights of… robots? Ben introduces two additive techniques used in a single machine. Steve talks about the latest CAM software geared for modern mobile devices and digital...

Episode 34: Ben and Steve start by blabbing about the latest GPUs. Ben asks Steve if he would fly on a hydrogen-powered plane. Steve drools over Oak Ridge National Lab’s experiments with robotic fiber placement. Ben talks about the automation of ammunition production and triggers a rant from Stephen on why small arms cartridges need to be brass cased. Steve cools down with printed diamond cutting...

Episode 33: Now with extra rambling! The boys start by talking some smack about 5G. Stephen is learning about atomic force microscopy and then how COVID test swabs are being reinvented. Ben goes on about General Motors getting something right and linear algebra. Steve introduces a new robot OS that can turn conventional robot arms into cobots! Ben says the U.S. Army has a new additive policy. Stev...

Episode 32: Ben’s back at the library but the automation isn’t. Ben teaches Stephen about ductility. Stephen brings up tiny sensors. Ben talks about the supply chain, manufacturing extension partnerships (MEPs), and cybersecurity. Stephen brings up a recent ransomware attack on whiskey! Ben puts additive myths to rest. - https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/ptgs-std082620.php - https://...

Episode 31: Stephen went to a racecar factory! The testbed robot final has a gripper, too bad we can’t use it yet. Ben talks about flexible ERP systems. Stephen announces the Army’s first additively produced… wrench? Meanwhile Ben brings up that the Air Force is printing gaskets! Stephen also mentions that Jaguar has teamed up with HP so they can print replacement parts for the long-out-of-product...

Episode 30: Stephen opens with his upcoming work trip to New England to visit a museum and tour some factories. Ben brings up Porsche… again. Stephen talks about layering magnetized metal with AM. Ben emphasizes the importance of prototyping and material contamination. Stephen closes with John Deere’s use of AI. - https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33289636/porsches-3d-printed-pistons-911-gt2-rs/...

Episode 29: Ben enjoys watching his neighbor struggle with their sprinkler system. Stephen hopes to have the end-of-arm-tooling (EOAT) for the xArm soon. Ben and Stephen host Russ Waddell, the Managing Director for MTConnect at AMT for some standards learning. Ben brings up an article on the future of robot safety. Stephen closes by drooling over the Sony PlayStation production line. - http://mtcu...

Episode 28: Stephen declares that pickling and oiling techniques used in manufacturing is like seasoning and cleaning cast iron. Ben is considering buying an expensive pure breed robot dog. Stephen talks about Porsche using carbide cutting tool tech for their new brakes. Ben closes with on-machine metrology for mass additive applications. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1WXlHONorw - https://www...

Episode 27: Stephen announces testbed operations will resume! Stephen then talks about the Swiss and their weird see-through face mask. Ben introduces a new way of thinking for additive. Stephen congratulates 3DEO for their accomplishments in additive. Benjamin talks of vision systems and AI. Stephen wraps things up with 4D printing. - https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-develop-first-see-through-m...

Episode 26: These two clowns kick things off blabbing about cars again, GO FIGURE! Ben brings up a recent whitepaper Virginia Tech published with the help of the AMT Testbed! Stephen talks about some often-overlooked but very important standards. Ben shares an article from Modern Machine Shop regarding the transition from machine monitoring to AI/ML. Lastly, Steve talks about picking the President...

Episode 25: Ben and Stephen nerd out about the proxy medical research they are helping with using Folding@home. Steve got clearance to use the testbed recently! Ben talks about what Williams F1 is up to currently and their innovations to bring carbon fiber parts to mass production. Stephen shares an update on the America Makes face mask competition. Ben declares that the Canadians have unlocked th...

Episode 24: Ben finally got his home automation running seamlessly… for now! Steve caved and replaced his overheating Raspberry Pi 4 with a liquid-cooled gaming computer that he promises will be used for some work. Stephen then opens with some cool ML work MIT has done implementing a vision system to monitor social distancing. Ben shares a cool video highlighting the usability of Boston Dynamic’s...

Ben and Steve’s spirits have been lifted as they are getting in the groove of working from home. Stephen opens with some podcasts he has been featured on lately, one of which was with Ben! Stephen has also shut down and unplugged his Raspberry Pi 4 it’s been overcooked with cooling issues. Then these two nerds start geeking out about computers and changing the coolant. Ben finally gets the convers...

Ben and Steve discuss the difficulties of working from home. Stephen laments about the testbed being shut down until they are back in the office, but talks about his experiments with his new single board computer. Ben highlights an article about vision systems. Steve waxes poetic about micro additive advancements. Ben talks about developments in… manual machining? Steve announces his observations...