Haven't quit my day job yet...

So with all these travel posts, I suppose it is not obvious that I'm still working here in Germany. I am in fact holding down my full-time job just fine. The work is still quite interesting and varied. The most notable thing I've done is build my first ultrasonic motor. It is a very simple design, but upon throwing ~120 volts at 26 KHz at it, the rotor spun at a decent 150 RPM or so. It's certainly not the most effecient motor (the heat generated melted the first generation plastic tensioning device!), but its a clean, simple demonstration of ultrasonic power.

My first ultrasonic motor (1st gen). If you are interested in how it works, email me.

I'm already hard at work on a more complex but much stronger linear motor. The realtime labview computer system still hasn't shown up, so I haven't been able to play with closed loop control of these motors yet. I still enjoy the people I work with, as well. The annual BBQ for my institute (maybe 10 working people plus students and families) was last Thursday out at a park, and was quite enjoyable.