Everyday, people encounter problems as they go about their normal
business. Engineers like Jonathan Smith at Boa Systems can solve
many common problems. The solutions provided by these independent
designers can be as diverse as the problems themselves. "We often
get requests to solve some novel problems, but even I was surprised
when asked to design a machine to count penguins", says Mr Smith.
By applying the same skills that Boa Systems use to design parts
for racing cars the company has recently shipped just such a machine
to the Falkland Islands for use by the New Island South Conservation
Trust. The machine, a combination of electronic and mechanical
components, was developed entirely in-house. By using the latest
Computer Aided Design tools the company was able to show the customer
in the Falkland Islands, via the Internet, exactly what the fully
weather proofed product would look like. Review of the CAD models
allowed customer approval for the design to be agreed before any
manufacture commenced. This in turned saved valuable days and
permitted delivery to be achieved before the start of the breeding
season. If you have a problem that needs an engineering solution
Boa Systems can be contacted on 07000-262000.
The illustrations below are available as JPEG files suitable
for publication. You may obtain these illustrations by downloading
the file pr99-04.zip (145
KBytes), which also contains the above text.
3D computer aided design model of
the Wildlife Counter developed by Boa Systems to count penguins
in the Falkland Islands.
An exploded view of the Wildlife Counter
developed by Boa Systems.
A 3D computer model illustrating the
sensor arrangement used to count penguins.
For further details of the New Island
South Conservation Trust contact the secretary Mrs Sarah Jones-Parry.
