ImaginativePRO Blog

STEVE JOBS ON FOXCONN: "WE'RE ALL OVER THIS. FOXCONN IS NOT A SWEATSHOP. IT'S VERY TROUBLING. WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT."

Of all of the Steve Jobs interviews, and believe me, there are not many videos of the King of Magical Devices being interviewed and put under the hot seat.  Steve Jobs would never subject himself to that, or admit any wrong doing.   However, Steve agreed to be interviewed by All Things Digital at the D8 Conference in 2010, about accusations of horrible sweatshop working conditions, unsafe working conditions, and 13 plant worker suicides at Foxconn International's plant in China, the company that manufacturer's Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod.  

I would've loved to have had Steve Jobs "wired" at the time of the interview.  And just to prove that I have balls, I would've wired the other end to myself.  Everytime Steve lied, it would send a fiew volts of electricity that would give me a nice jolt.  It would've been like the 4th of July.  I would've litup like a candle, and I am sure Apple Evangelists would enjoy the spectacle.   I wonder what other wonderful tidbits of information we could've learned about Time's "Person of the Year for 2010?" 

Here's the video.  Please, no more hateful mail or nasty comments.  

 

Don't get me wrong.  I love Apple products, I think they are beautifully designed and engineered products that people absolutely lust for.   Steve Jobs is without any doubt the greatest entrepreneur and technology innovator of the modern era even though he did get some help from alien technology along the way.  

In a blog post dated March 29, 2012, I reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook had visited Foxconn International's plant in China, and he looked dapper in that yellow rubberized plant worker outfit, don't you think?  I love it when the CEO of a major company "grabs the bull by the horns," and personally takes the time to visit the site of all the carnage and widespread pollution.   If anybody knew what was going on over in China it was Tim, the architect of Apple's outsourced manufacturing model.    

Courtesy of All Things Digital and E.T. 

HOW HERMAN MILLER'S KAIZEN MANUFACTURING PROCESS ADAPTED FROM TOYOTA CAN FINISH A NEW AERON CHAIR IN 340 SECONDS

Completed Aeron Chair (Click Image To Enlarge)

USING TECHNIQUES IMPORTED FROM TOYOTA, HERMAN MILLER HAS ACHIEVED STUNNING EFFICIENCY WHILE EMPOWERING ITS WORKERS.

Amidst all the doom-and-gloom about the death of American manufacturing, the one, simple fact that’s usually forgotten is that we’re still the world’s No. 1 manufacturer. No joke, and not a typo: We produce one fifth of the world’s total manufacturing output.

Herman Miller factory worker assembles Aeron chair (Click Image To Enlarge)

Herman Miller puts all Aeron chairs through stringent quality control tests to insure quality and reliability (Click Image To Enlarge)

Herman Miller puts all Aeron chairs through stringent quality control tests.  Here test chairs backs are pulled by cables numerous times to insure quality and reliability (Click Image To Enlarge)

The difference between how Americans once made stuff and how that stuff is made today is that manufacturing in the U.S. has reached a stunning level of efficiency that can be hard to really comprehend. Unless, of course, you visit a factory like the one that makes Herman Miller’s Aeron chair. We recently did, and saw a process which has yielded a 500% increase in productivity and a 1,000% increase in quality since 1998.  Those numbers sound made up, but bear with me for a second, and I’ll explain.

 

The Kaizen ("continual improvement") process that yielded all those results was imported directly from Toyota, in the 1990s. At the time, Herman Miller was hoping to bring down costs in order to stay competitive across the world. And Toyota was hoping to build better relationships in the U.S., as part of its effort to build more cars in America. Herman Miller’s present EVP of operations, Ken Goodson, eventually cajoled Toyota into making Herman Miller one of the first companies in a pilot program to teach American companies Japanese manufacturing techniques. Toyota eventually sent Hajime Oba, a legendary manufacturing genius, to lead the lessons. (Oba himself, humble to the end, prefers that he be called sensei or coach.)

The sloped feeder that delivers chair bases to the worker use gravity rather than machinery to do the job--thus decreasing the breakdowns. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Herman Miller assembly worker places paper wrapping on completed Aeron chair for packing (Click Image To Enlarge)

Herman Miller assembly worker takes notes on production performance to insure everything is going according to plan (Click Image To Enlarge)

Kaizen, as many people will tell you, isn’t about grand ideas or huge structural changes. Rather, it’s about tiny improvements that accrue over time. So for Herman Miller, these involve adjustments as minute as the placement of a bin of washers so someone has to reach over 6 inches less, or the height of an assembly line, so people don’t waste a fraction of a second bending over.

The process is as important as the results: It’s the individual employees on the line that are suggesting these improvements. At Herman Miller, they average 1,200 "plan-do-check acts"--that is, little proposed changes to the assembly process--ever year. Eric VanDam, Herman Miller's director of operations in seating says.  

"The biggest thing is to empower people to change the work in ways that matter to them." 

All of these tiny improvements, in the course of 13 years, have meant that a new Aeron chair, which used to come off the line every 82 seconds, is now boxed and finished every 17 seconds. A decade ago, an Aeron took more than 600 seconds in total to build. Today, it’s about 340. Meanwhile, safety metrics have improved by a factor of 6. Quality metrics have improved by a factor of 10. A single Aeron takes one fifth of the labor to make that it once did. The actual factory itself is 10 times smaller.

Today, Herman Miller is doing far more with the same labor force that was once producing a sum total of five different office chairs. Today, they produce 17, using roughly the same number of people. And all the while, lead times have shrunk from two months to as little as 10 days.

You might think that all this means that Herman Miller should be running into a practical limit in how efficient they can be. But they’re still getting improvements of a quarter to a half of a second at a time, month by month. They’re on track this year to beat all their records--again.

COMMENTARY:      I wish I could put together a new office chair in 340 seconds.  If you have ever had to put together an office chair, or even a wodden desk, it can be a very time-consuming and frustrating experience, even with a set of written instructions to work from.   SmartFurniture, Herman Miller's San Francisco distributor, makes it look easy in this video.

 

I do love Herman Miller office furniture, especially those ergonomic and comfortable Aeron chairs. I view them as a form of art, not just office furniture.  Plus, they are 100% made in the U.S.A.  They are a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for.  Herman Miller products are sold only through authorized office furniture distributors.    

The basic price for the Aeron chair is $629.00, and can be customized with lumbar support adjustment, leather arm rests, fully-adjustable arm support and other goodies.  It costs $50.00 extra to buy one fully-assembled.   Beware of cheap foreign imitators.  There are several of them out there, but they are just not the same thing. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 28, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

APPLE CEO TIM COOK VISITS FOXCONN'S CONTROVERSIAL iPHONE PLANT IN CHINA, MEETS WITH CHINA'S VICE-PREMIER LI KEQIANG

Apple Inc's Tim Cook, on his first trip to China as the chief executive officer, has visited an iPhone production plant run by the Foxconn Technology Group, which is being accused of improper labor practices.

China is the world's largest mobile market and already Apple's second-biggest market overall, but its growth there is clouded by issues ranging from a contested iPad trademark to treatment of local labor.

Picture handouts dated March 28 and e-mailed to Reuters show Cook seen smiling and meeting workers in the newly built Foxconn ZhengzhouTechnology Park in the north central province of Hebei. The facility employs 120,000 people, the handouts said.

Foxconn is a major part of Apple's global supply chain, assembling most of its iPhones and iPads, but has been hit by a string of worker suicides in recent years that activist groups blame on tough working conditions.

The group is the Taiwan parent of Hong Kong-listed Foxconn International Holdings and Taiwan-listed Hon Hai Precision.

Cook took the reins at Apple in August after the death of the firm's visionary founder, Steve Jobs. His closely guarded itinerary has included talks with Vice Premier Li Keqiang, Beijing's mayor and a visit to one of Apple's two stores in the capital.

On Wednesday, state media reported that China's vice premier promised Cook the country would boost intellectual property protection.

the official Xinhua news agency cited Vice Premier Li Keqiang as saying.

"To be more open to the outside is a condition for China to transform its economic development, expand domestic demands and conduct technological innovation." 

Apple has tie-ups with China Telecom and China Unicom to sell its iPhone, with the only other Chinese carrier, China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile operator, also looking to clinch a deal.

Apple is embroiled in a long-running dispute with Proview - a financially weak technology company that claims to have registered the iPad trademark - that is making its way through Chinese courts and threatens to disrupt iPad sales.

COMMENTARY:  I would gladly give up one case of Chateauneuf du Pape '04 to find out what Apple CEO Tim Cook told Foxconn management during his visit to the plant concerning their sweat shop conditions, progress on Apple inspections of their plant, and plan to improve worker relations and pay.

Cook's visit to Foxconn makes good public relations--images of the powerful new Apple CEO visiting Foxconn, gives one confidence that finally those sweat shop conditions will end, Foxconn will comply with Apple's Code of Suppliers and everything will be hunky-dorey.  As I said in my post prior to this one, Apple is not a socially conscience company.   They are all about increasing shareholder value and profitability.   

If Apple CEO Tim Cook really wanted to impress me, he would give Foxconn an ultimatum, and if they failed to comply after regular inspections, he would promise to move the manufacturing all Apple products to the U.S.  This would create an estimated 250,000 jobs, many of them right here in Silicon Valley, where we need them the most.   

I would be very interested in hearing from Apple evangelists--owners of Apple magical devices whether the iPhone, iPad or iPod.   Foxconn makes all of them, so you can enjoy that magical experience. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 29, 2012 appearing in Reuters and an article dated March 28, 2012 appearing in Brian Fontenot Blog 

CONCEPT SHED INTRODUCES THE 'AUTOWED WEDDING MACHINE', A PINK COLORED KIOSK THAT CAN GET YOU HITCHED FOR A $1.00

An invention that could save a lot of couples from the astronomical pain, not to mention the cost, of a fussy, traditional wedding.

The average American wedding costs $24,000. The larky contraption you see here lets you say “I do” for $1.

AutoWed is precisely what it appears to be: a vending machine that performs instant marriages, infusing the Big Day with all the romance of a fire hydrant. Insert money, and it’ll mumble through your basic wedding rites (press one for “I do” or press two to “escape”). Then the 8-foot-tall gadget, which designers UK-based Concept Shed describe as “part parking meter, part Cadillac and part cathedral with a little steam punk thrown in,” spits out a pair of plastic eggs with rings inside and a personalized wedding receipt. It finishes up by offering a 10% discount on AutoDivorce.

AutoWed Wedding Vending Machine by Concept Shed from Conceptshed on Vimeo. 

 

Cyn-i-cal! Even by the measure of our cold, black hearts. Obviously, this thing is a big, silly joke. (Concept Shed sold the machine in these photos to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Detroit.) But if it were for real, it could actually save a lot of couples from the astronomical pain, not to mention the cost, of a fussy, traditional wedding. $23,999 could buy you one hell of a honeymoon.

COMMENTARY:   What a cool machine.  In pink too.  It doesn't perform real "legal" marriages, of course, but it's a whole lot of fun.  I can easily see the AutoWed machine in every single's bar and disco, hotel lobby's (just in case you hit it off in Sin City), airport waiting areas, shopping malls.  It's a fun way to express your love. 

The AutoWed wedding machine instructions are relatively straight forward.   I love it when the AutoWed says, "Please select your union. Press "1" for straight, press "2" for gay, press "3" for lesbian.  AutoWed is destined to piss off the anti-gay/lesbian marriage lobby.  

A buck doesn't go a long way any longer.  You can't buy a candy bar or wash or dry your clothes for that amount of cash.    

It's time to credit the young, professional product design and creative team of Concept Shed.  They are experienced in design, education, electronics and engineering.  They have designed some pretty unique and cool stuff.

They enjoy creating simple and effective solutions in the following areas:

• Creative Concept & Idea Generation
• Product Design & Development
• Museum, Educational & Novelty Interactives
• Bespoke Interactive Installations
• Experiential Marketing
• Product Prototyping
• Development of custom short run products
• Electronic Systems Development in
• Embedded Software Arduino / C++ / PIC / Assembler

The Designers:

• Sam Lanyon MEng Hons. MIET. Owner, Inventor & Creative Design Engineer.
• Laurence Symonds BEng. Creative engineer, Product designer & 3D CAD master. [ visit Laurence's blog ]
• Jowan Sebastian MA. Software, application & firmware developer. Arduino & Drupal guru.
• Esmé Maylam BA Hons. Qualified teacher & early years education specialist.
• Sarah Howe BSc. Project administrator, accounts & organiser.
• Paul. model maker & fabricator.

One slight improvement to the AutoWed:  I would've added a built-in camera to take pictures of the "married" couple, that would then dispense the wedding certificate with a picture of the couple.    Thanks guys!!  You made my day.

Courtesy of an article dated  July 3, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, THE CHINESE COMPANY THAT PRODUCES THE IPHONE AND IPAD, WILL REPLACE WORKERS WITH 1 MILLION ROBOTS

ONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, known for assembling Apple's iPhones and iPads in China, plans to use more robots, with one report saying the company will use one million of them in the next three years, to cope with rising labor costs.

Foxconn's move highlights an increasing trend toward automation among Chinese companies as labor issues such as high-profile strikes and workers' suicides plague firms in sectors from autos to technology.

Contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, which also counts Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Nokia among its clients, are moving parts of their manufacturing to inland Chinese cities or other emerging markets.

They are also boosting research and development investments to lift their thin margins.

Dan Bin, a fund manager at Shenzhen-based Eastern Bay Investment Management, which invests in technology and consumer-related shares in China and Hong Kong had this to say.

"Workers' wages are increasing so quickly that some companies can't take it longer.  Automation is a general trend in many sectors in China, such as electronics. Of course some companies will consider moving their manufacturing overseas, but it's easier said than done when the supply chain is here."

The China Business News on Monday quoted Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou as saying the company planned to use 1 million robots within three years, up from about 10,000 robots in use now and an expected 300,000 next year.

Foxconn, whose listed units include Hon Hai Precision and Foxconn International Holdings Ltd, issued a statement later saying Gou told staff at its campus in Longhua, China, that he planned to move its more than 1 million employees up the value chain beyond basic manufacturing work.

STRIKES, SUICIDES

Foxconn, which has been plagued by a spate of workers' suicides in its Chinese factories since last year, plans to use the robots for simple assembly line procedures, the statement quoted its chairman Gou as saying.

Since last year, China has been struck by a series of labor-related issues, such as high-profile strikes and suicide cases at well-known companies as heady economic growth fueled the need for wage increases.

In southern China, auto and parts factories owned by Japan's Honda Motor and Toyota Motor went on strike.

C.K. Lu, a Taipei-based senior analyst at research firm Gartner said.

"Rising salary costs should be the key reason why Foxconn is doing this. This year's wage increase has been quite significant and I don't expect the pace to slow down next year. If they don't do this, they will have to move their factories elsewhere."

At Foxconn, a worker fell to his death last month at a manufacturing plant in southern China, local media reported.

The worker's death was the latest in a series of apparent suicides by young migrant workers at its factory complexes in the past two years.

Foxconn employs about 1.2 million workers, one million of which are based in mainland China, the China Business News said.

Foxconn said.

"The use of automation is driven by Foxconn's desire to move workers from more routine tasks to more value-added positions in manufacturing such as R&D, innovation and other areas that are equally important to the success of our operations." 

Foxconn plans to buy a set-top plant in Mexico from Cisco Systems and is looking into investing more in Brazil, where it is already making mobile phone handsets.

It has bought LCD TV plants from Japan's Sony Corp in Mexico in 2009 and Slovakia in 2010 and is in cooperation talks with a number of top Japanese hi-tech firms, including Sharp, Canon and Hitachi.

On Monday, Hon Hai Precision's Taiwan shares rise 3.3 percent, while Foxconn's cellphone maker unit Foxconn International's Hong Kong shares ended up 4.3 percent.

Shares of another of the group's unit, Foxconn Technology Holdings Ltd, which mainly makes casings, jumped 6.8 percent.

COMMENTARY:  In a blog post dated October 11, 2011, I was very critical of Apple because of they outsource the manufacturing of their "magical" devices, namely the iPad, iPhone and iPod, to the slave labor camp known as Foxconn International.  Foxconn International is nothing less than Gulag, a slave labor camp, where workers experience intolerable work conditions and long hours for very little pay.  12 workers committed suicide between 2009 and 2010.  

 

MacStories reader Jay Yerex forwarded to Steve an email campaign from LabourStart, which said:

“As many of you will be aware, the Apple iPad (pictured) had its world-wide launch this weekend.

What you may not know is that the factory which produces it, in China, has been the scene of a dozen worker suicides in recent months.

We’ve been asked by unions and NGOs in Hong Kong and Taiwan to launch a big international campaign to put pressure on the factory owners — and on Apple — to probe why this is happening, and to allow workers there to have real, independent unions that can bargain collectively.

Please take a moment to send off your message now.

And please — spread the word!

Thanks very much.”

Together with the forwarded email, he wrote:

“Steve

Apple can do better!

Sent from my iPhone”

Steve Jobs replied later, with this message:

“Although every suicide is tragic, Foxconn’s suicide rate is well below the China average. We are all over this.”

It is unfortunate that Steve Jobs never did anything to end Apple's association with Foxconn International or seriously address the suicides, and basically shrugs it off as their (Foxconn's problem).    

Courtesy of an article dated August 1, 2011 appearing in Reuters and an article dated June 1, 2011 appearing in MacStories  

 

HOW MUCELL® MICROCELLULAR FOAMING TECHNOLOGY FOR INJECTION MOLDING MAKES THINGS STRONGER AND LIGHTER

The MIT-developed technology, called MuCell, makes plastics super strong but extra light.

Here's one thing that often gets lost in the shuffle when debating the sexier points of green transportation: the simplest way to make a car, plane, whathaveyou more eco-friendly is just to make the whole damn thing lighter. All well and good, but how do you make sure that those industrial-grade plastic parts maintain their strength once you lighten them up? A technology developed at MIT called MuCell, and now being explored by automakers like Ford and Cadillac, has an answer. And that answer is: just add bubbles.

No, seriously: adding tiny bubbles of nitrogen or carbon gas into the normal injection-molding manufacturing process results in plastic that's just as rough-and-tumble, but up to 10% lighter (according to estimates from Ford Motors, who's very keen on using the technology). But wait: how does removing material from the part with these bubbles not make it weaker? The truth is that designers always massively "over-spec" the mechanical tolerances for these parts -- usually 50-100%. So the relatively small reduction in material strength introduced by the bubbles is negligible, because the part was designed from the get-go to be much stronger than it'll ever need to be in practice.

Still, that 10% weight reduction could help Ford meet its goals of eventually shaving off anywhere from 250 to 750 pounds from an average car. Ford is hoping to incorporate the MuCell-made plastic into all its vehicles by 2020. Luxury brands like Cadillac are circling, too. So why are they suddenly interested in MuCell's microcellular foaming technology, which was actually invented nearly two decades ago at MIT before being commercialized by Trexel? Two simple words that matter now much more than they did in 1995: "Sustainability initiatives," says Levi Kishbaugh, VP of Engineering at Trexel. "Automakers like Ford have sampled the MuCell process over the past decade and have achieved good results, and now they are taking the next steps toward widespread adoption." Kishbaugh says that when MuCell is incorporated into part design and mechanical tolerances from the get-go (rather than applied downstream in the process), even greater weight reductions can be achieved while maintaining part strength: "20% or even more in many cases."

Bonus: Not only does MuCell result in weight-optimized designs, it also uses less manufacturing material too. (Bubbles are mostly empty space, remember.) This isn't to say that car manufacturers should give up on next-gen battery technology and other gee-whiz green engineering initiatives. But the small stuff -- like zillions of microscopic nitrogen bubbles in a Ford manufacturing facility -- matters, too.

COMMENTARY:   The MuCell Molding Technology is licensed by Trexel, Inc., Woburn, MA, the world leader in the development and commercialization of the MuCell Molding Technology. MuCell Molding Technology is available as a retrofit to installed injection molding equipment and as an option on selected new injection molding machines (only on licensed OEM's). All MuCell-capable machines--new and retrofitted--are also capable of conventional, non-foaming operation.

According to Trexel engineer Levi Kishbaugh, the Trexel MuCell™ microcellular plastics injection molding technology conversion kits average between $150,000 to $300,000 per plastic injection molding machine.  All installation and training is done onsite by Trexel engineers.   

Trexel's MuCell microcellular plastics injection molding technology is patented, offers barriers to entry, offers lower plastics material melting viscosity (energy savings and faster injections), generates savings in both materials and producing cycles, does not require any changes to existing raw materials, and the payback period is quite impressive.

Trexel markets the MuCell foam injection molding technology products to OEMs and end-users through a network of sales representatives located in the U.S., Germany, Australia, Japan, China, Korea and Singapore. 

Trexel began as Axiomatics Corp in 1982 and changed its name to Trexel, Inc. in 1996.  Trexel is located in Woburn, Massachusetts, investor and employee privately owned, claims to have over 300 MuCell plastic injection models installations, and the President and CEO is Steve Braig.   Revenues are not available.

Courtesy of an article dated April 1, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

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The following information was "lifted" off of Trexel's website.   Looks like the techies at MIT are on to something, and Trexel is going to make a lot of money, while helping manufacturer's make things faster, lighter and more economically.

The MuCell™ Molding Technology

The MuCell™ Molding Technology uses low-cost, environmentally friendly supercritical fluids (SCFs) of atmospheric gases (CO₂ and N₂) as physical blowing agents to produce a low viscosity polymer melt. This low viscosity melt is subsequently used advantageously by the molder to reduce cycle times, improve dimensional stability, produce microcellular foam and to reduce weight of most injection molded parts. Initially developed as a method of producing relatively thin extruded sheet and tubes, the MuCell Molding Technology now encompasses a broad range of patented molding techniques that can reduce product costs, improve processability and increase the performance of molding machines.

Processing Improvements

Many processing enhancements are possible with the new MuCell Molding Technology, resulting in attractive cost savings for molders. For example:

• The use of SCFs as blowing agents with the MuCell process lowers the viscosity of the material by up to 50%, which allows for substantial decrease in melt temperatures (as much as 78^o on the centigrade scale, 140^o on the Fahrenheit scale)¹ while maintaining flowability.^{2 
  1}In tests, polypropylene (PP) dropped from approximately 430^o to 300^o F (approximately 220^o to 150^o C), polystyrene (PS) dropped from approximately 430^o to 260^o F (approximately 220^o to 125^o C), and polysulfone dropped from approximately 700^o to 560^o F (approximately 370^o to 295^o C). 
  ²With 0.020 in (0.5 mm) PS plaque, the standard mold filling flow-to-thickness ratio improves from 50:1 to 270:1.
• Because of the low melt viscosity in the MuCell process, the injection pressure can be reduced up to 50%, as shown in Figure 1:

• The low melt viscosity in the MuCell microcellular process permits molders to reduce clamp tonnage up to 60%. Consequently, molders can increase the number of cavities without increasing clamp tonnage, which can significantly improve production efficiency. Likewise, larger parts can be molded without increasing clamp tonnage, which also can improve production efficiency.
• Because of the uniform and controlled internal gas pressure inherent in MuCell Molding Technology, the MuCell process can eliminate sink marks while either reducing or eliminating hold time.
• The combination of low viscosity, uniform internal gas pressure, and low molded-in stress results in much lower post-mold warpage. Because of these attributes, the MuCell process typically results in a significant reduction in cooling time and thus cycle time.
• Because of the low injection and clamp pressure requirements of the MuCell process, it is possible to switch from steel molds to aluminum or other lower-cost materials and more-cost-effective methods of manufacturing.

Product Improvements

The advantages of microcellular foam material result from the uniformly sized and evenly distributed microscopic cells. With the MuCell Molding Technology, molders can foam complex, three-dimensional objects with solid skins and microcellular foamed cores (skin/core cross sections) with excellent dimensional tolerances. The MuCell process permits molders to produce parts with substantially lower densities than with conventional foam molding technologies.

The controlled weight reductions characteristic of the MuCell process can be quite impressive, as illustrated later in this paper in the applications section.

The MuCell™ Process Expands Molding Capabilities

Generally molders use foamed materials and weight-reducing processes (such as gas-assist) for two primary purposes: to reduce product costs and to improve product quality. Cost reductions and product quality improvements are achieved in a number of ways, including reducing raw material, improving processing (e.g., reducing fill pressure and reducing cycle time), and enhancing product characteristics (e.g., eliminating sink marks). The application and effectiveness of conventional foaming, gas-assist, and other technologies, however, are often constrained by cost limitations, control complications, product-design challenges, and other factors. Trexel's successful adaptation of the MuCell™ technology for injection molding gives molders expanded capabilities. With the MuCell process, product designers can specify lightweight, polymer-saving molded foam materials for products for which conventionally foamed materials would be impossible and for which other lightweighting techniques (such as gas-assist) might be ineffective or not cost effective.

MuCell Molding Technology and Conventional Foaming

Only a very small percent of injection molded products are foamed today, perhaps less than 5%. In addition, injection molded products that are foamed are generally limited to 0-5% weight reductions. In comparison, the MuCell microcellular molding technology can achieve density reductions of up to 60%.

The use and expansion of conventional thermoplastic foams is limited primarily by the large size of the cells that characterize materials produced by standard foaming techniques and the lack of uniformity of those cells. Large cells necessitate relatively thick part cross sections to ensure that the cells are contained within the material, which prevents thin-wall foaming. (Thin cross sections are often flawed by breaks and holes.) In addition, large, non-uniform cells introduce brittleness, which decreases mechanical properties (e.g., strength, toughness, and fatigue). In contrast, the microcellular foam material produced with the MuCell Molding Technology does not contain large voids. For instance, while thin wall foaming below 0.100 in (2.54 mm) is seldom successful with conventional foaming processes, the microscopic, uniformly sized cells produced by the MuCell microcellular foam process enable molders to foam materials with cross sections as thin as 0.020 in (0.5 mm). With the MuCell Molding Technology, molders can produce high-volume, thin-wall parts without significant loss of mechanical properties.

Traditional foam processes also can produce material inconsistencies due to the inherent difficulty of controlling the levels, uniformity, and release of blowing agents (such as in the use of CBAs). The precisely controlled-MuCell process, however, improves consistency and reduces variability.

The MuCell microcellular foam process is less sensitive to material composition than conventional foaming processes, which enables molders to use more cost-effective resin grades. Since the blowing agent is not "ignited" to liberate the gas in the MuCell Molding Technology, all materials can be foamed with the same atmospheric-gas blowing agents, without limitations caused by high processing temperatures. For example, high-temperature materials such as polysulfone and polyehterimide-which are difficult to foam with conventional techniques-are suitable for the MuCell process. (With the MuCell Molding Technology, weight reductions of up to 25% on parts with wall thicknesses of 0.100 in/2.54 mm have been achieved with these high-temperature materials.)

The MuCell Molding Technology and Gas-Assist

Although gas assist is an effective technique for both reducing product weight and improving product functionality, the technology is limited by bubble placement, bubble size, and part complexity, which generally restricts the use of gas assist to the production of thick parts (unless special part designs are used). With the MuCell Molding Technology, the entire part is foamed with microscopic cells, without requiring the injection of holes or voids, as in gas-assist. Because the MuCell molding process is a precisely controlled density-reduction process, weight reduction is achieved without the need to address either gas bubble placement or size. In addition, control of closed-loop gas voids is eliminated since the cross-section structure is homogeneous.

The MuCell process is not limited by part complexity. Because the MuCell microcellular foamed structure is homogeneous, it is not necessary to design methods of injecting gases. (Few if any modifications are required to existing molds to apply the MuCell Molding Technology.) With the MuCell Molding Technology, the weight reduction is uniform and consistent and occurs throughout the part.

As noted above, the MuCell process is suitable for thin walling. While gas-assist generally is not effective for parts thinner than 0.150 in (3.8 mm), the MuCell technology can be applied to complex, three-dimensional parts, with sections as thin as 0.020 in (0.5 mm), and once again no major mold modifications are required.

Advantages attributed to gas-assist processes--such as a reduction in fill, pack, and hold pressure and a resultant reduction in clamp tonnage--are also realized by the MuCell process, but for different reasons. In gas-assist, the injected gas provides some of the fill, pack, and hold pressure (thereby reducing the overall pressure); in MuCell processing, the overall pressure is reduced because of the low melt viscosity and internal gas pressure.

Applications of the MuCell™ Molding Technology

The MuCell Molding Technology is suitable for a broad range of thermoplastic polymers. Because the MuCell process uses an inert gas it is less sensitive to material composition than conventional foaming processes and more-cost-effective resin grades often can be applied.

Trexel has applied the MuCell™ microcellular foam process to numerous applications on commercial injection molding equipment in Trexel's production-scale test laboratory. To date, the high-temperature engineering resin polyphenylsuflone (trade name Radel), nylon, polycarbonate (PC), polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS), polyethylene (PE), Acetal, polypropylene (PP), and thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), such as Santoprene and Kraton, have been foamed.

Currently, extruders and molders around the world are developing and introducing new and innovative microcellular foam products for a variety of industries, including the automotive, medical device, consumer goods, and electronics industries. Applications for injection molding microcellular foam material include a wide range of automotive, food service, and electrical markets.

Analysis of cost reductions due to MuCell

Figure 5 demonstrates from actual applications how MuCell has reduced costs. Obviously, cycle time and material reduction has been the greatest benefit for the applications run to date, but other significant cost reductions include colorant reduction, energy consumption reduction and tooling costs.

On each commercial trial run with MuCell, the customer has performed a Return on Investment analysis. Figure 6 is a summary on some of the parts run along with their savings / year and payback of the initial investment in terms of time. As you can see, the savings per year is based only on cycle time or material savings. Ancillary savings such as reduced energy consumption or reduced capital cost is not considered.

Implementing the MuCell™ Molding Technology

The MuCell™ microcellular foam process follows four basic steps:

1. Gas dissolution: A supercritical fluid (SCF) of an atmospheric gas is injected into the polymer through the barrel to form a single-phase solution. Equipment designed for the MuCell process allows for the rapid dissolution rate required.
2. Nucleation: A large number of nucleation sites are formed (orders of magnitude more than with conventional foaming processes) where cells will grow. A large and rapid pressure drop is necessary to create the large number of uniform sites.
3. Cell growth: Cells are expanded by diffusion of gas into bubbles. Processing conditions provide the pressure and temperature necessary to control cell growth.
4. Shaping: Mold design controls part shape. No modifications are required for most molds.

Equipment

The MuCell™ molding technology can be retrofitted easily to installed equipment with low-cost hardware and software modifications. Adapting the MuCell process to injection molding requires the following changes or additions:

• A SCF metering system with sufficient capacity to deliver the blowing agent to the screw at the volume and pressure required for the MuCell process. (Trexel's Equipment Division supplies properly configured pump systems for SCF delivery and other proprietary components to licensees.)
• A Trexel-designed screw for creating a single-phase solution of the blowing agent and polymer and possibly a new barrel.
• Minor software and system modifications to create and maintain the uniformity of the single-phase solution throughout the injection molding cycle.

Trexel has entered into commercial license agreements with Engel, Inc., Milacron, Arburg, Ferromatik, to supply new injection molding equipment capable of utilizing Trexel's proprietary MuCell™ microcellular foam process. Retrofit packages for installed equipment are also available on selected equipment. Additionally, EPCO has also taken licenses and is capable of retrofitting installed equipment. As noted above, all MuCell-capable machines--new and retrofitted--are also capable of conventional, non-foaming processing.

 

 

Conclusion

The MuCell™ molding technology permits molders to produce new and innovative products while reducing product costs. The MuCell process can be used to mold complex, thin-walled microcellular foam parts with dramatic weight reductions. Product improvements include the elimination of sink marks, lower post-mold warpage, and skin-core cross sections. Process improvements include reduced processing temperature, reduced injection pressure, reduced clamp tonnage, and reduced cycle time.

The MuCell Molding Technology uses supercritical fluids (SCFs) of atmospheric gases as physical blowing agents--not CBAs, hydrocarbon-based physical blowing agents, nucleating agents, or reactive components. The MuCell process, which can be retrofitted to existing equipment, is available in selected new injection molding machines; all MuCell-capable machines also can be used for conventional, non-foaming processing.

The materials and process savings associated with the MuCell Molding Technology will become even more pronounced during the next 3-5 years as products and tooling are specifically designed for this breakthrough technology.

Patents and patents pending in Asia, Europe, and North America cover Trexel's MuCell Molding Technology. 

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

MIT AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERS INVENT THE TERRAFUGIA TRANSITION FLYING CAR, PRODUCTION STARTS SOMETIME IN LATE 2011

The Jetsons-inspired future that we all dream of inched a little closer to reality today with news that the Terrafugia Transition, a flying car developed by MIT-trained aeronautical engineers and MBA's, will begin limited production in late 2011. The vehicle will be produced in Woburn, Massachusetts--just down the road from company headquarters--with help from 50 lucky workers who will be able to say that they build the futuristic vehicles we were all promised as kids.

The Boston Herald reports that Terrafugia needs to deliver 30 aircraft each year to stay in the black. That's not an easy feat for an entirely new breed of vehicle that costs up to $350,000 a pop. But Terrafugia already has 85 orders for the FAA-approved flying car, so the company can at least make a go of it.

It's street-legal, remember, but that doesn't mean any public road can be cleared for takeoffs and landings. Still, we're a little wary of the Transition's potential to wreak havoc on the roads. Drivers (or pilots) need to have a Sports Pilot license to operate the Transition, but that's an easy requirement to fulfill--20 hours of flight time and a practical test are all that is needed to become certified. With a cruising speed of 115 mph and a 400 mile-range, there is plenty of room for pilots to enter dangerous airspace, either accidentally or on purpose. So here's hoping that Terrafugia works out the logistical kinks of this thing before the first big flying car accident.

 

COMMENTARY:  This car reminds one of that flying car in the James Bond movie "The Man With The Golden Gun".  

Designed by a team of MIT graduates, the Ferragugia flying car converts from a street-legal automobile to a Light Sport aircraft in 30 seconds. A 100 hp, four-cylinder engine powers both the craft's three-bladed propeller for a maximum airspeed of 115 mph and its continuously variable transmission, rear-wheel drive to above 65 mph when on the road. When the wings are folded, the craft easily stores in a home's garage. It can be driven to one's preferred airfield on four DOT-approved tires with full road suspension. An electro-mechanical system is activated from inside the two-person cockpit to deploy the self-locking wings into place for take-off provided by a 1,700' runway. Built to fly within VFR conditions, sophisticated modern avionics aid navigation from a touch-screen LCD. Dual pedals and a joystick manage the craft's flight control surfaces--dual rudders, ailerons, and stabilator--while a steering wheel, accelerator, and brake control its road movement. Its 23-gallon gas tank provides a 425 nautical mile range (35 mpg on the road), indispensable for easy day trips from Long Island to Martha's Vineyard. Carbon fiber, titanium, and aluminum construction. Includes comprehensive familiarization with craft. Requires a Sport Pilot Certificate. Special conditions and guarantee limitations apply. Car mode 6' 8" H x 7' 6" W x 19' 6" L; Aircraft mode 6' 6" H x 26' 6" W x 19' 9" L. (Empty weight 970 lbs.)

If you want to order online click HERE  or call 1-800-227-3528 for details.

Courtesy of an article dated September 9, 2010 appearing in Fast Company Design and Hammacher Schlemmer

By TwitterButtons.com  

 

NO LONGER SCIENCE FICTION: ROBOTIC SUITS THAT CAN TRANSFORM HUMANS INTO SUPER STRONG CYBORGS

Sankai Yoshiyuki, a professor at Tsukuba University, and President and CEO of  Cyberdine, Inc is the inventor of  "HAL", a wearable strap-on Cybor-robotic exoskeleton that can expand and improve physical capability.  

When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence. At this moment, very weak biosignals can be detected on the surface of the skin. "HAL" catches these signals through a sensor attached on the skin of the wearer. Based on the signals obtained, the power unit is controlled to move the joint unitedly with the wearer's muscle movement, enabling to support the wearer's daily activities. This is what we call a 'voluntary control system' that provides movement interpreting the wearer's intention from the biosignals in advance of the actual movement. Not only a 'voluntary control system' "HAL" has, but also a 'robotic autonomous control system' that provides human-like movement based on a robotic system which integrally work together with the 'autonomous control system'. "HAL" is the world's first cyborg-type robot controlled by this unique Hybrid System.

"HAL" is expected to be applied in various fields such as rehabilitation support and physical training support in medical field, ADL support for disabled people, heavy labour support at factories, and rescue support at disaster sites, and in the entertainment field. 

Cyberdine has just shown a broader range of its HAL robots--strap-on exoskeletons that boost a user's strength with electric motors. As well as the headline-grabbing medical version (below), there's an industrial edition and an arm-booster for repetitive tasks.

These technologies belong to the new field of cybernics, in which Professor Sankai is a pioneer.

"The word cybernics comes from cybernetics, mechatronics, and informatics. But this field also requires neurology, behavioral science, robotics, IT, physiology, and psychology. It also involves law, so it even extends as far as the social sciences. We're going to develop this field by looking at all perspectives, from fundamental research to the real world."

Cyberdyne's HAL legs have been gaining attention for a while now, thanks to the fact that they offer an astonishingly promising medical boost to certain types of patients with reduced mobility. Also, they're actually being used in the field as a commercial product. Just before the Japanese earthquake struck last week, Cyberdine was exhibiting at the Cybernics International Forum and demonstrated an increased range of HAL systems, including a full body-assist suit and a "lite" HAL version intended for single-arm boosting in industrial situations.

 

The HAL system is an off-shoot of research at Tsukuba university by professor Sankai, and he spoke to DigInfoTV at the Cybernics forum to explain the thinking behind the robot: Most interesting among the discussions was the fact that the robotic full-body suit, which is capable of letting an operator lift weights and maneuver objects that would otherwise be at or beyond their own physical limits, is aimed at industrial manufacturing needs. As the average worker's age increases, this could be a very good thing.

As an offshoot of the technology, Sankai also imagines there would be uses in fields such as gaming in the future--the suit could contribute to in-game experiences, and the clever way it works (by reading electrical signals in muscles) could even be used to record "human techniques and skills" so that the information could be saved.

HAL's not the only robotic exoskeleton suit.  

• Berkeley Bionics developed eLEGS, an artificially intelligent bionic exoskeleton that helps paraplegics to walk, and when it was first unveiled, created quite a stir throughout the tech community.  Everyone wondered: Could this be the big breakthrough that gets wheelchair users back onto their feet?

• Lockheed Martin developed HULC, a titanium hydraulic-powered "anthropomorphic exoskeleton" that may ultimately go a little way toward transforming soldiers into superhumans.

 

In the light of the ongoing disaster in Japan one can't help but wonder if, in the future, rescue efforts will be ameliorated by clever robots like these. Lifting sections of a collapsed building would be much simpler for cyber-assisted rescuers.

COMMENTARY:   Wow, that's impressive.  I have been researching robotics for the last two years for business opportunities, and it appears that the science of robotics has now advanced from the laboratory into real world applications where it can enhance and aid mankind.  These robotic exoskeleton suits are great examples.

The robotics industry is divided into two segments:

• Industrial Robots - Robots used for industrial and manufacturing purposes and includes articulated robots, cylindrical robots, linear robots (including cartesian and gantry robots), parallel robots and SCARA robots.  Industrial robots are heavily used in manufacturing assembly lines like those in the automotive and electronics industries, consumer packaged goods industries, and in the shipping and transportation industry.

• Service Robots - Robots used for personal private use, includes domestic household robots, entertainment and leisure (toys, hobby systems and education and training) robots, and bionic robots for assisting the handicapped. 

Industrial Robots

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the industrial robots sold in 2009 decreased by 39% or $3.8 billion due to a worldwide decline in manufacturing due to the recession.  It should be noted that the figures cited above generally do not include the cost of software, peripherals and systems engineering. This may result in the actual robotic systems market value to be about two or three times as large. The world market for robot systems in 2009 is therefore estimated to be $12 billion.  Industrial robots are expected to recover in 2010 as the world economies recover from the recession.  

In terms of units, it is estimated that the worldwide stock of operational industrial robots will increase from about 1,020,700 units at the end of 2009 to 1,119,800 at the end of 2013, representing an average annual growth rate of less than 1% between 2011 and 2013.  In 2010, the stock will increase by 7%. In the traditional markets: North America, Japan, and Western Europe, the stock is stagnating or decreasing while it is surging in the emerging markets

Service Robots

According to the IFR, the total value of professional service robots sold up to the end of 2009 was $13.2 billion.  Service robots for personal and private use: about 5.6 million units for domestic use and about 3.1 million units for entertainment and leisure sold up to end of 2009.

So far, service robots for personal and domestic use are mainly in the areas of domestic (household) robots, which include vacuum cleaning and lawn-mowing robots, and entertainment and leisure robots, including robotic toys, hobby systems and education and training robots.

The market for robots for handicap assistance is still small, but is expected to increase substantially in the next 10 years.  Robots for personal transportation and home security and surveillance robots will also increase in importance in the future. 

Courtesy of an article dated March 16, 2011 appearing in Fast Company, DigInfo TV and Cyberdine

By TwitterButtons.com  

MODULAR ROBOTICS' UNIQUE 'CUBELETS' ROBOTIC TOY BLOCKS CAN MOVE, SENSE AND THINK AUTOMATICALLY, AND ARE SIZZLING HOT

 

And they teach you the basics of programming while you're at it.

Everyone knows about those big brightly colored blocks that babies and toddlers play with. Well, those are sooooo 20th century. Now parents can give their little geniuses-to-be Cubelets: toy blocks that snap together with magnets and unlock interesting electronic powers, like sensors, motors, and data displays. Take that, Baby Einstein!

Cubelets Engineering Prototypes from eric schweikardt on Vimeo.

 

Cubelets are a spin-off project of Carnegie Mellon's Computational Design Lab, which developed them as "modules of a computational construction kit to scaffold learning math, science and control theory." Which is is a less-fun way of saying "blocks that let you build awesome robots and stuff."

The genius behind Cubelets lies in their flexibility: each block's function is extended and defined by the other blocks you magnetically attach to it. Snap a knob cube to a bar-graph cube, and boom, you've got a cool little light-toy. Even better: snap that to a motor cube with some wheels, and presto, instant robot. Using a kit of 20 blocks, you can build all kinds of funky little machines and doodads -- no instruction manual required.

That last part is what separates truly educational toys like Cubelets from tricked-up junk like Baby Einstein: kids learn by playing and exploring the design of the system on their own, not according to some adult's proscriptions. Do they need to know that Cubelets contain intense techno-stuff like actuators, logic boards, and photosensors? Nah. All they need to know is that when you snap 'em together, they seem to come alive -- in predictable, but surprising and complex, ways.

The electronic "brain" of a Cubelet.

If that sounds suspiciously like Computer Programming 101, that's because it is. But who says you need fancy programming languages to learn how to code? By making programming abstractions concrete and physical, Cubelets intuitively introduce kids to one of the most powerful creative tools that humans have ever invented.

The Cubelets will be available next month, and the set costs $300 here.

COMMENTARY:   WOW!  Robotic leggo's.  The kids (and adults) will go crazy over Cubelets.  I am predicting that Cublet's will become the hottest new toy to hit the market since Star Wars and Transformers.  

Quick Overview

The standard kit of cubelets has 20 blocks and contains an assortment of sensor, action, and operator blocks. With it, you can experiment and create mobile robots and logic constructions.

Details

The cubelets standard kit comes with 20 magnetic blocks that can be snapped together to make an endless variety of robots with no programming and no wires. You can build robots that drive around on a tabletop, respond to light, sound, and temperature, and have surprisingly lifelike behavior. But instead of programming that behavior, you snap the cubelets together and watch the behavior emerge like with a flock of birds or a swarm of bees.

Each cubelet in the kit has different equipment on board and a different default behavior. There are Sense Blocks that act like our eyes and ears; they can sense light, temperature, and how far they are away from other objects. Just like with people, the senses are the inputs to the system.

On the flip side, the Action Blocks act as outputs. They do things. Some have little motors inside of them so that they can drive around or spin one of their faces. There are blocks that make noise, shine a flashlight, or display their information through a light-up bar graph.

Which cubelets are in the Standard Kit?

• Action Blocks: 2 Drive, 1 Rotate, 1 Speaker, 1 Flashlight, 1 Bar Graph
• Sense Blocks: 1 Knob, 1 Brightness, 2 Distance, 1 Temperature
• Think/Utility Blocks: 2 Inverse, 1 Minimum, 1 Maximum, 1 Battery, 2 Passive, 2 Blocker

Each cubelet has a tiny computer inside of it and is a robot in its own right. So when you put blocks together, you're actually making a robot out of several smaller robots. Each block communicates with its neighbors, so you know that if two blocks are next to each other, they're talking. If you make a simple robot by connecting a Light Sensor block to a Speaker block, they'll start to talk, and when the light in the room gets brighter, the Speaker will get louder. Actually, you'd need a third block to make this work: every robot needs a Battery block to run. Next, you could swap the Speaker for a Drive block, and when the light gets brighter, the robot will drive faster. A third category of blocks is the Think Blocks: maybe you’d want to put an Inverse block in between the Light Sensor and Drive blocks. Then, the robot would drive slower as the light gets brighter. This simple communication between adjacent blocks is what gives the kit a little bit of magic.

Cubelets are designed for people age 8 and older.

Questions? Find some answers in the Cubelets FAQ.

Courtesy of an article dated March 7, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

By TwitterButtons.com 

RUSSIAN INVENTOR PRODUCES A 'FREE ENERGY' GRAVITY WHEEL POWER GENERATOR FOR CLEAN AND CHEAP ENERGY

Russian inventor, Mikhail Dmitriyev contacted me on January 28 to let me know about his gravity motor. He has apparently devised a mechanism whereby static gravitational pull can be harnessed to generate useful energy.

He has been working on various iterations over the years. A more recent one is shown to the right. In it, a small motor shown at about the 2-o-clock location spins a deflector mechanism clockwise. The deflectors push dangling weights to the right. Being on a counter-clockwise ratchet, this causes those evenly-spaced weights to stay outward long enough to cause the larger wheel to be imbalanced and thus turn clockwise.

 

The claim is that the energy required to turn the small motor is much less than the energy gained from the imbalanced larger wheel turning a generator. It reminds me of the system devised by British inventor, Bobby Amarasingam, the AOGFG, which he is in process of taking commercial. From what I can gather, AOGFG is further along in engineering market-ready iterations which can produce substantial power.

As I look at the photos and the animation of Mikhail's setup, it seems to me like it would be very easy to build. I could do it. A junior high student could do it from a kit.

He said that "Many enthusiasts in Russia have already made the device for home use." I asked him to give me an example of the input/output power, to which he replied:

A typical instance in the range 0.5 - 5 kW. The average size (1500 * 1500 * 700) mm. The average weight of 200 kg. Rotational speed (60 - 120) rpm. Design-folding. Costs here in the $(500 - 2000). This handmade mechanical part, without the electrical generator (output). Industrial production (assembly line) should be much cheaper. The most expensive items - overrunning clutches, Niodim strong magnets and output electrical generator (alternator).

Now, under my leadership, a firm builds an instance of an output power of 50 kW. This will be a multistage amplifier (4 stages). At the entrance of only 100 watts needed. An electric generator is only at the last output stage.

The PCT patent application describes this mechanism as a torque amplifier, but doesn't mention that more energy comes out than what is put in.

Mikhail said that he is NOT planning to take his device commercial because of the corruption in his country which would steal the technology away from him. Meanwhile, he says he has been helping many people to implement the technology into power generators they can use at home – sometimes powering those homes entirely.

I've approached him about helping him open source the technology, to expedite the process of validating, replicating, characterizing, optimizing, and improving the design for rapid worldwide deployment; with some revenue opportunities along the way in selling plans, kits, components, and finished units. I would ask up front here that anyone who goes commercial with this design remit a 7% royalty, a majority of which we at PES Network, Inc. will remit to Mikhail, retaining some to help administer this project and promulgate the knowledge, including providing income to the key players in the project, such as those who prepare the plans, do the translations, find local parts, etc….

On January 20, 2011 6:26 AM MST, Mikhail wrote:

Hi Sterling,

Yes, I'm willing to work with you to open source the technology.

This will be discussed in future correspondence.

I think that first you need to personally make sure that the device works as claimed. To do this, make a demo version directly at your workshop. This will be the most persuasive and credible evidence.

If you agree, then I'll send you a very simple scheme which you can make in just a couple of days. Compact desktop version (components only) will cost about $100.

Of course I told him yes.

COMMENTARY:   The Mikhail Dmitriyev free energy gravity wheel power generator certainly has the appearances of a commercial free energy generator.  I am impressed with the 50-to-1 ratio of energy imputs to energy produced by the generator, but like Sterling Allan, would require a live demonstration under different working conditions to prove feasibility, scalability and energy output levels.  The Dmitriev gravity wheel power generator has a lot going for it, including simplistic design, scalability, low production costs, and very high energy output at relatively low RPM's.    

Dmitriev provdes a table showing different configurations of his gravity flywheel energy generation, including different sized flywheels, watts produced, energy input requirements, energy input to output ratios and energy output produced.  Unfortunately, everything is in Russian.

I had a look at the Alpha Omega Galaxy Freefall Generator (AOGFG), and it is of a completely different design than the Dmitriev gravity wheel power generation, and uses one flywheel with four arms extending outward from the flywheel, each arm holding a rotor and powerful magnets to produce energy.  The AOGFG is a lot more complex, requiring precision machined bicycle parts and magnets, and it would take a unit the size of a washing machine to generate enough energy to supply a house.  I assume that you can increase energy output by adding additional flywheels in parallel or adding more arms to the flywheel and adding additional rotors.  No specifications were available for the AOGFG.

From the looks of things, there is no shortage of flywheel gravity energy generators that use magnets and an initial power source to crank up the flywheel.   They all claim that the energy output exceeds the amount inputed.  All the inventor's appear to be in a rush to get to market, but in my opinion, these flywheel gravity energy generators should be thoroughly beta-tested under different environmental and working conditions for an extended period before commercialization. 

Courtesy of an article dated January 30, 2011 appearing in Pure Energy Systems (PESWiki)