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Look Ma, No-Hands Fasteners!

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the assembly-liners dept.

theodp writes "Inspired by a daughter who suffered a serious infection from an IV feeding apparatus, the Trib reports an Australian architect has developed high-tech bolts and latches, which can be operated remotely without being touched. The first commercial applications are intended for aircraft, allowing crews to quickly reshape interiors to maximize payload space. BTW, smart fasteners hit Slashdot's radar almost two years ago."

15 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Hacker's Delight by Captain+Chad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't wait until some enterprising hacker duplicates the signal to release the fasteners, and does it in mid-flight. Talk about chaos...

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    1. Re:Hacker's Delight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Here's predicting the day when womens' bras can be remotely undone - perhaps en-masse - by a cheeky hacker over WiFi.

    2. Re:Hacker's Delight by jesseck · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No more laptops or PDAs in flight...

  2. Easily Hacked by ResQuad · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Now, I think this is really nifty, but... its easily hacked. Why? Because anything transmitted over open air can be hi-jacked. They claim otherwise, but I find it hard to belive that a unit thats small and simple enough to replace standered fixing devices (like bolts) would be smart enough to handle and nearly unbreakable encryption scheme.

    Oh well, time will tell.

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  3. Secured against unauthorized parties? by cbiffle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Call me paranoid, but they mention the fasteners being secured against access by unauthorized parties.

    Why do I have a sneaking suspicion this will include the user, and/or third-party techs?

    I can hear the coins rolling in now.

    1. Re:Secured against unauthorized parties? by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 4, Insightful
      This is the future, where you will need the manufacturer's permission to do anything to an item that you supposedly own.

      Capitalism is an equal opportunity for wealth.

      You seem not to realise that the quote above is the direct outcome of the one below. The ultimate purpose of Capitalism, from a perspective of a powerful participant, such as a multi-national corporation, is to enslave everybody who can be enslaved by making them dependant on your products and destroy or marginalize the rest, by any means one can get away with. An ability to deprive the consumers of control of the things they supposedly own, or ensuring that such things have built-in obsolesence and are as disposable as possible, to be replaced with even less controllable and more disposable "goods", are perfectly valid strategies from a purely capitalist perspective, where greed and bottom line are the only overriding concerns and where definitions of the nature of "private property" are simply naive holdovers from earlier, simpler times and easily circumvented by technological chickanery.

  4. AHA! by Rhinobird · · Score: 5, Funny

    So THAT'S what a self sealing stem bolt is for...

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  5. Intelligence!! by William+Robinson · · Score: 4, Funny
    Giving intelligence to bolts and latches wouldn't occur to most people

    Most people are less intelligent than bolts and latches:)

    *ducks*

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  6. Umm, batteries? by Spy+Hunter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Don't these require batteries which will eventually go dead, rendering them unable to be released remotely, and possibly difficult to remove at all? Also, if anyone believes these things are truly hack-proof, they must be pretty gullible.

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  7. I'll take it by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cost doesn't seem to be an issue here, especially if it'll save man-hours. Labor is usually the most expensive part of a business, especially when Unions are involved (like the airline industry) or when you take your car into the dealer.

    So, if this mechanism means that bolts won't back out due to vibration, I'll take it. As long as it means I don't have to dick around with loctite threadlocker anymore. I mean, what genius decided to put the red loctite in a blue tube and the blue in a red tube?

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  8. Telezygology? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everyone knows the proper term for a remote control screw is teledildonics.

  9. Ob. Slashdot Paranoia by tangledweb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While there are no doubt many interesting uses that this can be put to, the one that should chill slashdotters is the example of preventing "unauthorised" removal of vehicle airbags.

    Because the DMCA makes hacking the encrypted communication to the fasteners a crime in its own right, only people who the vehicle manufacturer authorises can undo them. They presumably are their franchised dealer service centres and will not include the owner of the vehicle or their chosen unaffiliated repairer.

    But why stop at the airbag? Why not bolt the hood down with the same things so that only the dealer can service the vehicle?

    Heck, why not bolt the fuel filler cap shut with the same things. I imagine you could afford to give cars away if for their lifetime, they could only be refuelled at a Ford owned gas station.

    If the devices become cheap enough, you might never be able to take the cover off anything you own again.

  10. New competition at next HOPE convention? by mianne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Teams are locked into cages secured by these bolts. Each with a PDA and an RF scanner. First team out wins and losers PWN'd?

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  11. Electronic "Bolts"? by EMIce · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From the article:
    "What Rudduck developed are fasteners analogous to locks in doors, only in this case messages are sent electronically to engage the parts to lock or unlock. A quick electrical charge triggered remotely by a device or computer may move the part to lock, while another jolt disengages the unit.

    Instead of nuts and bolts to hold two things together, these fasteners use hooks, latches and so-called smart materials that can change shape on command."


    This sounds like nothing more than radio controlled solenoids, similar to what we see in remotely controlled apartment building entrance doors and in automobile power locks. A solenoid is just a coil that is electro-magnetized on demand to push or pull a metal bar through it's center. This bar usually moves something attached to it or touches a contact to close a high current circuit loop, like in a car starter motor. My guess is that the solenoid in a "smart fastener" would push open a latch or release some hooks.

    So why all the talk about "smart materials", "intelligent bolts", and materials that "change shape on demand"? It sounds like a bunch of pie in the sky market speak to me, not unlike what is heard in articles written by corporate PR agencys. Such articles are often given to lazy, disinterested journalists as neat & easy pre-packaged stories.

    This story has no substance - buzzwords are rampant and technical detail is non-existant. Yet the slashdot editors are proudly proclaiming they broke the story 2 years ago. Even worst, the story is being pitched as using exotic technology that allows self-threading bolts of some kind. The same false pitch was used last time as well. I bet this sort of "mistake" generates lots of $$$^H^H^H click thoughs though.
  12. This is Bolt 2.0 by bxbaser · · Score: 5, Funny

    If your data center doesnt use Bolt 2.0 in its racks you are just gonna lose in online ecommerce.

    BOLT 2.0 is future of internet hosting.

    Call my company now to find out how not to get left behind.