Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong compete with pneumatics

Mario, Donkey Kong, and other classic Nintendo characters have been collecting coins, tossing barrels, and jumping over obstacles since 1981. For those 34 years, all of that action has taken place on video screens, something that Georgia Tech Mechanical Engineering professor Dr. William Singhouse considered to be a problem.

“Video games… are almost entirely devoid of physical motion and forces. Due to lack of interaction with the real world, long-term vidiots tend to su?er from muscular atrophy, mental illness, and bad hygiene,” Singhouse writes in an assignment description to students. “In order to address the need to reintroduce these lost souls into human society and improve their health, we will develop a physical, 3D version of Super Mario Brothers.”

With the support of the National Fluid Power Association’s Education and Technology Foundation, Singhouse’s students created physical video game recreations using pneumatic actuators and control valves. Student-built machines pushed Donkey Kong and Bowser away from action in the game, collected golden coins, rescued Princess Peach (by grabbing her with pneumatically powered pincers and removing her from the action), and sent Mario and Luigi down green tubes.

Signhouse says the popularity of the mechanical engineering class ME2110 has been growing each year as word gets out about the fun, problem-solving applications of pneumatic and hydraulic technologies.

“Support provided by this project has enabled us to purchase additional components to accommodate the larger number of students,” Singhouse says.
 

Fluid power shipments flatten out in second quarter

After showing booming numbers to start the year, climbing by nearly 10%, growth in fluid power shipments slowed in April, increasing only 3.4%, a slight decrease from March. Industrial hydraulic and pneumatic shipments increased, while mobile hydraulic shipments decreased in April 2014 when compared to April 2013. Mobile hydraulic and industrial hydraulic shipments decreased from March 2014 to April, while pneumatic shipments increased when compared to the previous month.
 

NFPA events

Aug. 11-13: NFPA Industry and Economic Outlook Conference (IEOC), Westin North Shore, Wheeling, Ill. Topics to include a heavy truck forecast, construction machinery discussion, agricultural machinery talks, industrial market outlooks, and several economic trend reports.

Sept. 8-13: IFPE Fluid Power Zone, McCormick Place, Chicago. Part of the Motion, Drive, & Automation North America (MDA NA) event, co-located with the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), the zone will showcase new and recently launched fluid power and machine control design technologies.

Oct. 13-15: Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power Annual Meeting, Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. Events include fluid power technical presentations, more than 50 student researchers’ technical posters, tours of Vanderbilt’s newly built Laboratory for Systems Integrity & Reliability, and an optional tour of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, including its Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, the National Transportation Research Center, and the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility.
 

About the NFPA

With more than 350 member companies, the NFPA provides a forum for the fluid power industry’s channel partners – manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, customers, and educators. Its U.S. and multinational members work cooperatively in advancing hydraulic and pneumatic technology through the association’s many programs and initiatives. www.nfpa.com