How Accu Customers Are Building Tomorrow With Creative And Innovative Engineering

The 21st of April is World Creativity and Innovation Day, an annual celebration which highlights the positive impact that creative and innovative thinking can have on sustainable development.

Innovation is essential to our development as a society, in fact, many - if not all - historical breakthroughs in engineering would not have been possible without it.

The same can be said for creativity. Creative minds around the world, whether that be engineers, scientists or artists, have found new and exciting ways of building, creating and developing for the greater good of society. 

Whether it’s robotics, prosthetics or health and fitness, Accu is proud to support thousands of engineers who are building and designing incredible advancements everyday. 

Today we wanted to take the opportunity to shine the light on a select few, taking a dive into what they do and how they are building tomorrow through creative and innovative engineering.

PIVOT

Developed by software engineer Colin Montgomery, PIVOT is an innovative and space saving solution for at-home workouts.  

There are many things that can keep us from working out at home, common factors being lack of usable space, equipment or time. 

Being a lover of exercise, Colin Montgomery recognised this challenge and was motivated to find a solution. 

As his role in consultancy became increasingly busy, travelling to the gym became harder to do and finding the space at home was almost impossible. 

Whilst he struggled to clear the space he needed, Colin decided to swap the bed in his spare room to a wall bed.

This sparked an idea “why not make a wall bed which was massively strong, lockable in the upright position and had integrated exercise equipment?”

Launching the PIVOT bed in 2020, that is exactly what he did. 

As a dual-purpose fitness and sleeping solution, the PIVOT bed ingeniously flips 90 degrees to transform from a bed into a fully functional home gym.

With a smart design, the bed allows for the convenient storage of fitness equipment, ensuring they are concealed when not in use, but accessible enough for when they are needed.

In light of the global pandemic, the PIVOT bed acts as a more convenient option for exercising, without having to step into shared or public spaces.

Though the pandemic has now receded, the PIVOT bed remains an accessible and practical solution for those who prefer to exercise in the comfort and privacy of their own home.

Want to try out the bed in action? 

From the 29th April until the 7th May, 2023, PIVOT is going to be at Grand Design Live at the ExCel, London available for anyone to try in both bed or gym mode.

TASKA Prosthetics

Using lightweight and durable components from Accu, TASKA demonstrates incredible creativity and innovation to develop life-changing prosthetic technology. 

The TASKA Hand is the first waterproof, multi-articulating prosthetic hand on the market. It is intricately designed with the end user in mind, helping them to build confidence and develop abilities that they may have lost. 

Being a high-quality and high-performance prosthetic, The TASKA Hand was engineered as a solution to the problems faced by other myoelectric hands on the market at the time, many of which were fragile and difficult to use.

The project began with TASKA’s Founder and Engineer, Mat Jury, who glimpsed the daily struggles of individuals with limb differences after suffering from a mountain bike accident that resulted in the breaking of both of his arms.

This experience sparked the beginning of a new career path for Mat, with the ultimate goal of creating technology that had the potential to change lives.

This sentiment remains at the heart of TASKA to this day.

“For us, innovation has never been about creating a piece of new technology – it is all about delivering real-life practicality that improves people’s lives” - Mat Jury, Inventor & Director

Read more about TASKA and their design-centric approach to myoelectric prosthetics in our Case Study, ‘High Quality Components For High Performance Prosthetic Hands’.

Arribada Initiative

From time lapse cameras to marine enclosures, Arribada develops high impact technological solutions for field conservationists and researchers. 

As an open-source research and development organisation, Arribada provides the global conservation community with accessible technologies to break barriers and better protect our planet. 

Led by Director and conservationist Alasdair Davies, Arribada specialises in conducting investigative research to design new hardware from the ground up.

With extensive R&D, the team utilises innovative and creative thinking to explore new concepts, develop new hardware, and find new ways to accelerate conservation technology.

The technologies in question include enclosures, cameras and electronics which are designed to survive in extreme environments, such as the ocean depths, or the Antarctic winter. 

These enclosures require components that are robust enough to withstand such conditions and thus, owing to their high-quality reliability, Arribada choose Accu.

In fact, their recent endeavour, which involved attaching telemetry equipment to oceanic manta rays, required the use of marine grade stainless steel fasteners and assembly components from Accu. 

With a higher salt-water corrosion resistance, these A4 components provide a secure seal and long-lasting performance at sea. As a result, Arribada can trust that their research will not be stifled by enclosure failure. 

Hear from Alasdair Davies and learn more about Arribada’s innovative research in our Case Study, ‘Arribada: Creating Open & Accessible Conservation Technologies’.

Dave Stapley and the Johnny 5 Robot

Having sold the KITT car that he made from Knight Rider, Dave Stapley was on mission to find inspiriation for his next project, to build a replica of the Johnny 5 robot, as seen in the ‘Short Circuit’ films.

In his search, he stumbled upon Input Inc, who had - as Dave observed - "stripped the real Johnny 5 apart and documented everything".

Founded by Terry Andrews, Input Inc are a group of innovative engineers who are devoted to designing and building a movie-accurate replica of the "Johnny Five" robot.

With strong ambitions to build his own robot, Dave was pleased to be accepeted onto the Input Inc team after sharing his progress and advancements.

Building the robot, Dave used Accu’s Socket Cap Head Screws “to attach Johnny 5’s lower eye flaps to the servos hidden in the lower section of his head.”

The Johnny Five replica is not only an impressive feat of engineering, but it also pays homage to the iconic robot character that captured the hearts of audiences in the 80s. 

The attention to detail is evident in every aspect of the robot's design, from the intricate wiring and mechanical components to its lifelike movements and sound effects.

Innovation and creativity, combined with modern engineering and technology, have given us the phenomenal ability to bring these beloved films to life. 

"As ever, these projects are never really finished, although Johnny 5 is complete and getting out to events here in the UK, im always developing new things to improve or add to his features like voice and face recognition, and telemetry based control just like they had in the movies."

For more information about the robot you can visit their website, here.

Temple Cycles

Temple Cycles are an eco-centric bike manufacturer that is based in Bristol, UK. 

To craft their dynamic and adaptable cycles, the team employs a range of Accu’s fasteners and fixings, such as our Full Thread Cap Head Screws, Socket Button Screws and Flat Washers.  

Unlike many companies in modern mainstream cycling, Temple Cycles aim to counteract the throw away, upgrade culture by developing a range of bikes that are designed to become vintage.

Inspired by the simplicity and durability of vintage bikes from the 60s through to the 80s, Matt Mears - founder and engineer - launched Temple Cycles in 2012.

After examining the vast selection of modern bicycles available on the market, Matt noticed how challenging it can be to find a bike that does everything you need it to do.

With so many bikes available for different types of riders, it is not uncommon for novice cyclists to feel overwhelmed or for seasoned cyclists to encounter uncertainty while searching for their ideal bicycle.

To address this issue, Matt proposed a simple solution. He believed that, through meticulous design and skilled craftsmanship, he could produce a collection of bikes that are robust enough to become vintage whilst also being comfortable and versatile enough to accommodate all types of cyclist.

By joining a resilient vintage style with modern technology and innovative engineering, Temple Cycles are carving a sustainable future for the cycling industry. 

Learn more about Temple Cycles and how they design and build their bikes in our Case Study, ‘Temple Cycles: The Bike That’s Built To Last’.

Alex Kirkpatrick and The Voyager Sculpture

Artist and engineer, Alex Kirkpatrick uses a range of Accu components to design and build incredible sculptures that truly demonstrate the potential of creativity.

In a recent project, aptly named ‘The Voyager’, Alex combined science, engineering and creative flair to tell a story of human achievement. 

This project was inspired by an exploratory NASA spacecraft launch in the 1970s. 

During the launch, four spacecrafts were sent to tour the outer planets with the possibility that they would be discovered by intelligent life, Voyager 1, being the very first man-made object to leave the solar system in 2013.

Each of these crafts were equipped with what they called ‘Golden Records’, containing messages such as where they had come from and who they had been sent by. 

Being fascinated by these messages, Alex was set on a journey of his own; to collect examples of human progress and to create a pair of bronze sculptures depicting a timeline of scientific human development.

He shared, “These new ‘golden records’ would show our voyage of discovery from the beginning of time to the unknown future ahead of us, and in reference to classic creation myths but with a scientific spin, I nicknamed them Atom and eV.”

Building The Voyager, Alex used Accu’s A4 Marine Grade Flanged Bolts to secure connections and High Tensile Bolts for lateral support.

Alex commented, “Engineering that level of trust is part of the reason I sourced the major fixings from Accu, I needed to know exactly what I was buying and how it would function, with the assurance that it conformed to the spec required.

Some of the bolts used in the sculpture may well be there for thousands of years and the others are directly responsible for people’s safety.”

Alex's creativity and workmanship has given us the opportunity to experience human history in a new and unique way and we are delighted to be a part of such an innovative project.

More information about Alex Fitzpatrick and The Voyager can be found here, ‘The Voyager Sculpture: A Golden Record Of Human Achievements’. 

You can also find more of his work - such as his range of nautilus sculptures - on his website, here. 

Optima Projects

Led by David Kendall, Optima Projects is a specialist engineering and design consultancy making fantastic advancements in sustainable technologies.

In their most recent project, the Optima team have been working on an innovative range of electric cruising boats, designed to be ultra-efficient and low-resistance.

Being reliable and comfortable with the EV benefit of silent cruising, these eco-centric boats are carefully engineered to provide users with a luxury boating experience. 

Excitingly enough, the team have recently developed and launched their first ultra-efficient electric boat, the Optima e10, built with Accu’s High Tensile Stainless Steel Hexagon Bolts.

For more information about the new range of electric boats, or to find out about more projects from Optima, you can visit their website, here.