Wednesday, May 21, 2014

How to copy MS Visio drawing to MS Excel

For those who are looking usually for scalable vector drawings (best quality) in their documents like me :), the following is the easiest way - I guess- that you can copy MS Visio drawing to MS Excel. Just 3 steps:

(1) First of all, copy your drawing from MS Visio (Ctrl. + C)


(2) Open a blank MS Word file, then paste the drawing in it (Ctrl. + V)

(3) Finally, copy the drawing from the word file and paste in Excel.... It is done



Note: Copying drawing from MS Visio to MS Excel will copy it as a picture.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Multi-layer thickness | distance gauge (accelerometer) concept

I was always looking for a thickness or distance gauge that can measure thickness (in millimeters) of multi-layered (different materials) objects having relatively large span that can't be measured using rulers, vernier calipers, micrometers, or other traditional tools used for measuring thickness or distance.

To give a clear example of what I needed precisely, I was interested in measuring local thickness of fridge insulation at some points. Refrigerators don't have uniform insulation thickness in all points. A traditional ultrasonic gauge can't be used because there are at least three materials that it have to consider in measuring thickness: plastic liner, foam, and steel sheet. 

Therefore, I thought about a thickness gauge using accelerometer concept which was initially adopted by Russian navy as Inertial Navigation System INS to track ship location on offline maps (before using GPS). Modern smart phones have accelerometers in three directions that are used in speedometer applications.

My idea of multi-layer thickness gauge is to use the previously mentioned concept, but this require very accurate high-speed accelerometers and a well formulated double integrator. The idea simply is a pen, that will be referenced at the start point by pressing start button, then it will be moved to the end point and the displacement in three directions will be calculated. The following image shows the simple concept of the pen multi-layer thickness gauge. The pen gauge should be capable of calculating displacements for any random shaped paths.



I hope if this application will come true to the real world.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Fatek PLC simulation (simulator)

I am not a PLC programmer, but I was interested in programming PLC. I had Fatek PLC programmer software, so I was looking for simulating code before burning it on PLC. Actually, there are no tutorials over internet on how to make simulation in this software. Therefore, in this post I will show how to make a simulation, just follow the few steps below:

- Open WinProLadder software of Fatek PLC and create a new file.

- Write your ladder diagram

- Go to menu bar -> PLC -> Simulation and click it.


- When simulation is active, press the button "Run PLC"


- Now, you will be able to simulate the PLC and you can interactively configure the status of contacts and relays.


Monday, May 5, 2014

3D printing processes, concepts, and methods

3D printing is a fascinating technology to produce objects by building them up instead of machining them out. It saves material and can produce complex shapes that may require 6-axis CNC machines to be produced. The following are some concepts that used or may be used in 3D printing.