Wires are some of the most basic components of the modern world, which practically guarantees that most of us take them for granted. But as English Russia so kindly shows us, the process behind our messy heaps of wiring is anything but ordinary.
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Wires or rods are integral parts of many structures or products. While we’ve seen early versions of 3D printers that can work with metals, many times all that a tinkerer or an artist needs is a way to bend existing wire to his will. That’s where Pensa Labs’ DIWire comes in. It’s a machine that bends wires based on curves drawn in a computer.
DIWire’s complementary software accepts SVG images of continuous curves. The machine itself connects to your computer via USB and can typically finish bending a piece of wire in minutes. DIWire can bend wires between .040″ – .125″ in diameter, depending on the wire’s composition. It can bend steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass and more. To help users put their bent wires together, Pensa Labs also came up with a series of plastic clips that can be used to hold wires together without having to permanently solder or weld them outright.
Pledge at least $2,950 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a DIWire as a reward.
[via Core77]
On your typical automobile if the vehicle has a door or flap that needs to be opened automatically, it requires little motors and other components to operate. Chevrolet has announced that the 2014 Corvette is the first General Motors automobile to use a lightweight “smart material” that is able to replace heavier motorized parts. The smart material in this case is a shape memory alloy wire that is used to open a vent to make closing the trunk lid easier.
The shape memory alloy wire opens the hatch when the deck lid is opened using heat created from an electrical current in a method similar to how truck lights are activated. When electrical current flows through the wire, it changes shape activating a lever that opens the vent. When the current is removed, the wire cools and the vent closes.
This particular vent on the new Corvette is used to allow air to escape when the trunk lid is closed making it easier to close than previous Corvette models. General Motors says that there about 200 motorized movable parts in the typical vehicle that could eventually be replaced with these shape memory alloys. These high-tech materials could ultimately help reduce the weight of vehicles and improve fuel economy.
I have to admit that my cable management system is basically non-existent, and the cable squid is set to take over the rest of my apartment if I don’t manage to do something about it soon. Maybe the Smart Guide cable management system could help me out.
Smart Guide was created by Albanian designer Marin Myftiu. His solution addresses many concerns that people have with their bowl of cable spaghetti, and should eradicate at least part of yours. Its modular structure and rainbow color-coding make it pop, and help you keep track of what wire is running where. It will work with cables of virtually any size, shape, or length.
The system can be used for power cable management, PC cables and rack servers, as well as the wiring of a PC. For now, this is a concept, but someone needs to put these into production ASAP.
[via designboom]
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