Testimonials

Comments on how Velmex products have made an impact along with some unique and interesting uses for Velmex Products.

WORLD TRADE CENTER SAILING SHIP

Velmex's TA System for dendrochronology research (study of tree rings) was used in identifying the history of the sailing vessel discovered under the foundation of the World Trade Centers. The system, which utilizes the UniSlide® and VRO™ was used to determine how old the ship was and where it originated from.

Paul Krusic, a world renown leader in tree-ring research, and a team from the Tree-Ring Society and Columbia University's tree-ring research laboratory identified the ship as a Hudson River sloop, believed to be built shortly after 1773 in or near Philadelphia. (One of many articles: World Trade Center Ship. To see video of Paul Krusic preparing the samples for study, click the following: Columbia University text/video – Analysis of World Trade Center Ship. The New Yorker published a follow-up article once the birth date of the ship had been determined. The World trade Center Ship Gets Its Birth Date.

STOP MOTION ANIMATION

Dick Kaneshiro is a renown and respected stop motion camera man, animator and puppeteer that has worked on movies, TV shows, cable shows and commercials. He designed a custom, multi-axis XYZ plus pan and tilt system for his stop motion camera.

He was specifically looking for smooth motion transition, which Mr. Kaneshiro was able to accomplish with Velmex BiSlide®: assemblies. Working with Velmex Application Engineers, he was able to develop the pan and tilt system using several Velmex motorized multi-axis and parallel BiSlide stages. There were combined with a Velmex rotary table to control the minute camera motion required.

Mr. Kaneshiro not only uses the system himself for the work he does, he offers it to other people with stop motion animation projects. They rave about the ease of moving the cameras with the computer control and the smooth motion they achieve. To see more of Kaneshiro's work with the rig visit his website at www.kaneshiro.name or check him out on the IMDb site.


Kaneshiro update 2-2016:

Kaneshiro used the BiSlide/Rotary Table pan and tilt system for a variety of shots for the 2016 Oscar Nominated Animated Film – Anomalisa. The critically-acclaimed film has been nominated and won numerous other awards including nominations for the Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Awards; and winning the Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and runner-up in the Toronto Film Critics awards.

BiSlide system on one of the sets of Anomalisa. Photo by Nate Joski

NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE DISTANCE LEARNING

North Island College, British Columbia, Canada put together a remote science lab for distance learning using BiSlide assemblies and Velmex Rotary Tables. Students can take a regular lab course from home. Via their home computer, they can remotely control the Velmex slides and tables to conduct experiments with beakers, test tubes, telescopes and other typical lab equipment. See the North Island Distance Learning video.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

Velmex UniSlides® are used to position the overhead TV camera that shows the wheel every time Pat says "Spin the Wheel!"

VELMEX PROVIDES POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

Researchers at Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, are seeking new ways to diagnose breast cancer. Using diffuse near infrared tomography, researchers hope to detect pre-cancerous changes in breast tissue. To accomplish this, they needed to coordinate an array of fiber optics in a radial pattern around the breast.

The system designed by Velmex includes 16 small UniSlide® positioners spaced in a radial pattern in order to position the fiber optics. The entire array is also movable in a vertical direction using a Velmex BiSlide® system.

A control system provides for synchronized, simultaneous movement of the 16 linear positioners using low voltage step motors. A separate control is provided for vertical motion. Joystick operation is standard with an optional computer control.

AIRBORNE PHASED ARRAY RADAR (APAR)

Airborne radar is a critical tool for studying weather and related hazards, especially over rugged terrain or the open ocean, where other weather tracking tools can have major limitations. A Velmex BiSlide® System was used to develop a Near-Field Range Station for testing and to calibrate a Line Replacement Unit (LRU) for a Airborne Phased Array antenna. The system was developed by the National Center For Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Photo courtesy of Dr. Jorge L. Salazar C. at NCAR lab.

 

3D PRINTING

MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering uses a Rapid-Advance UniSlide® to position and fabricate a three dimensional sample in a micro 3D printing experiment. The researchers used the Velmex stage to re-position the polymer as the sample was being constructed. Watch the Micro 3D Printing video from MIT.

WIND TUNNEL RESEARCH

UniSlides® and BiSlides® are used in many wind tunnel and similar anechoic test chamber applications at research centers and universities around the world. Watch Velmex Air Flow Testing.