Engineer's Picks: A Platinum-Gold Alloy 100 Times More Durable than High-Strength Steel

[engineering.com](  Engineer’s Picks  In the latest issue of the engineering.com communique, we answer these questions and more:  • How do you make the world’s most wear-resistant metal? • Why is solid-state LiDAR such a big deal in the auto industry? • What can a $6,500 exoskeleton do for a Ford assembly worker? • And how do we rebuild infrastructure after wildfires?   August 29, 2018 [Most Wear-Resistant Metal Alloy in the World Could Change Car Engines and Electronics]( By: Meghan Brown [sandia_Fighting_Friction_smallsize_saauk0.jpg]( Materials scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have created a platinum-gold alloy that is two orders of magnitude more durable than high-strength steel, putting it in the same class as diamond and sapphire. According to its creators, this ultra-durable coating could save the electronics industry more than $100 million a year in materials alone. Although the composition of the alloy is well-known, the approach to designing it was a modern one. Conventional wisdom says a metal’s ability to withstand friction is based on how hard it is. The Sandia team proposed a new theory that says wear is related to how metals react to heat, not their hardness. The theory was bolstered by simulations that calculated how individual atoms affected the large-scale properties of a material. [Read the full story →]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  August 30, 2018 [Canadian Company Has a Foot in the LiDAR Race]( By: Nadia Krieger [image001_lbb5kh.jpg]( Tesla notwithstanding, the general consensus is that LiDAR is the way forward for autonomous vehicles. Unfortunately, the technology is bulky, sensitive and adds about $70,000 to the price tag of a car. That’s why many within the industry believe that solid state LiDAR (SSL) is the key to practical self-driving. Canada-based LeddarTech, Inc. is in a race with several other companies to release SSL chips that could substantially reduce the price of this technology. This month, the company released an evaluation package of its SSL system-on-a-chip to an undisclosed automotive partner. Assuming the evaluation goes well, LeddarTech will begin mass production in the first half of 2019. [Read the full story →]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  August 30, 2018 [Ford Equips Assembly Workers with Exoskeletons]( By: Matthew Greenwood [1510232832829_wugknk.jpg]( Some autoworkers on assembly lines are required to be constantly reaching overhead, which is a real pain in the neck, shoulders and back. Fortunately, relief is on the way for workers in 15 Ford plants around the world after successful trials of exoskeletons in two facilities. The EksoVest, developed in partnership with Ekso Bionics, elevates and supports the arms of workers performing repeated overhead tasks. The vests use spring assistance to provide five to 15 pounds of lift support per arm, which means it’s unpowered, so workers can move about freely. The objective of the exoskeleton is to reduce fatigue and injury to workers that spend the day reaching overhead with power tools while working on the underside of cars. Some workers perform these actions an estimated 4,600 times a day. [Read the full story →]( ---------------------------------------------------------------  August 30, 2018 [Under Fire: How We Rebuild After Wildfires]( By: Emily Pollock [image001_aaxzmb.jpg]( We’ve seen two years of intense wildfires in a row, prompting concerns that, as one Canadian politician put it: “This may be the new normal.” If that’s the case, the most pressing question is how best to rebuild. The first line of defence against wildfires starts outside the home—clearing away dry vegetation and other combustibles. Roofs need to be constructed from Class A fire resistant materials, and that goes for the eaves, overhands and soffits as well. Best-practices materials for exterior walls include concrete, stucco, brick masonry and metal. Because windows are the weakest point, FEMA recommends automatic roll-down metal shutters held in place by fusible mechanical links that will melt under extreme temperatures and release the shutters. [Read the full story →](  We hope you enjoy these stories. Here are a few more of our top picks for this week. Enjoy.  More Stories [Icon](  Massive Library Structure Yields New Wood Composite Technology [Read →](  [Icon](  Late Registration: What’s Recently New to SOLIDWORKS in 2018 [Read →](  [Icon](  We Tried Real-Time Rendering. Here’s What We Found Out. [Read →](  Resources [Icon](  3D Print Real Tools, Not Toys [Read →](  [Icon](  White Paper: Designing a Product Strategy that Leverages Industry 4.0 [Read →](  [Icon](  Research Report: The Core Issues that Frustrate Product Development Teams [Read →](  That’s it for today. 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