Introduction to Engineering and Technology Concepts

1
Introduction to Engineering and Technology
Concepts

• Optical and Fluid Technologies

2
Objective

• Students will define optical and fluid
  technologies.

3
Optical Technologies

• Could you imagine a trip to the grocery store
  and having to manually punch in the bar code
  numbers for each type of food item you purchase
  instead of scanning it? What other types of
  scanning devicesmake our lives easier?

4
Optical Technologies

• Optical Technologies consider the reaction to
  visible light waves
• Optical properties include color (waves that are
  reflected), optical transmission (ability to pass
  light waves), and optical reflectivity (ability
  to reflect light waves)
• Think about microscopes, lasers, fiber optics,
  bar code readers, and scannershow do they play a
  role in our lives?

5
Optical Sensors

• Optical sensors can be used as a monitoring
  device, in which levels of light or changes in
  the intensity of light can be measured

Photo Cell
Voltmeter
Light
6
Optics and Communication

• Weve been seeing how science and other subjects
  relate to technology.
• In truth, communication and optics have a lot to
  do with each other.
• Information has been transmitted with light for
  many years.
• One of the first kinds of methods used was smoke
  signals.
• More recently, flags and flashing lights have
  been used to convey information

7
Fiber Optics

• Still, the aforementioned techniques are limited
  by the distance the information can be sent.
• Fiber optics are channels that guide light waves
  through internal reflection over some distance.
• Internal reflection means that when the light
  waves strike the outer edge of the fiber, they
  are reflected back towards the center.
• Optical communication of this type is called
  guided optical transmission, which began
  development in the 1960s

8
Fiber Optics (continued)

• A typical fiber-optic cable has three layers.
• The outside layer is a protective plastic
  coating.
• The middle layer is called cladding, which
  reflects light waves back into the glass fiber.
• The inner layer is a strand of glass called the
  core. The individual core strands are as small
  as human hairs.
• Several hundred of these strands are bundled
  together into larger cables, with each of these
  waveguides carrying numerous messages.
• In fact, billions of bits of information per
  second can move down an optical fiber.
• Besides communication, fiber optics are finding
  their way into the medical field in the endoscope
  device, which can look inside the human
  bodypossibly preventing unnecessary surgery

9
Fluid Power Systems

• Fluid Power Systems use either liquids or gases
  to transfer power from one place to another
• Systems that use air are called pneumatic
  systems.
• Liquids are used in hydraulic systems

10
References

• Wright, R. (2004) Technology The
  Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc.