What's New

We at Meccanotecnica Riesi are proud to have contributed our manufacturing expertise for crucial parts in a terramechanics research project. The discipline of terramechanics, studying the interaction between vehicles and deformable terrain, was introduced in the 1960s. Recently, various agencies have been trying to use terramechanic methods and technologies to develop small, lightweight robots to act as planetary rovers.   

Aluminium wheel MR machined for MIT

The Italian machine-tool, robot and automation industry has claimed a spot amongst the top five nations in the world as a manufacturer and exporter. Italian companies are able to successfully penetrate the robotics market worldwide with distinguished features and flexibilities unmatched by other countries.  

We were approached by the Robotic Mobility Group Laboratory of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the production of the wheel prototype. We manufactured a unique piece of equipment that will help MIT, in conjunction with NASA-JPL, to understand the underlying mechanics of wheel-terrain interaction.  

Current Project Spotlight 

Our former intern, Oreste, along with a group of students from Embry-Riddle University's aerospace engineering department have finished their senior design class project. They were in charge of the design, development,

Finished Chamber Liner and Methane Dome

manufacture, and testing of an LOX/Methane rocket engine. This project, titled Aquila Liquid Propulsion Development,

involved the construction of a regenerative cooled third stage engine to sit atop a sounding type rocket. The EV-2 engine consists of a liquid rocket motor to be powered by a liquid methane and oxygen mixture.

Meccanotecnica Riesi, through our relationship with Oreste, partnered with these student engineers to manufacture the chamber liner and methane manifold dome. These two parts were completed using a variety of our machines, including our 5-axis CNC machine. Our combination of industry experience and a fully equipped workshop offered a high level of precision manufacturing for the team. 

Aquila Project with Meccanotecnica Riesi Check out this short video showing some of the production for this project

We will tell you more about this project in our next newsletter. Stay tuned!

Bella Sicilia - Finding One's Sicilian Heritage

Our intern, Megan, interviewed Tony and Penny for this article

 

Tony and his wife Penny had decided to take a dream vacation to Italy. Tony has always known about his Sicilian heritage and decided to take a chance at finding the town his ancestors came from. His search began with an old marriage certificate of his great-great-grandparents. Through that document he was able to figure out the town his ancestors came from: Riesi. Thanks to facebook, Tony was able to leave a message on the page of the city's town hall asking for some help with finding birth certificates of his relatives, Giuseppe Alfonso and Palma Pascia. 

 

Tony, Penny, and Rosy with Father Di Pasquale

Our own Rosy Trovato was quick to reply to Tony's message. She too had undergone an intensive genealogical search for relatives in America and was eager to offer her help in any way. Other than his request for the birth certificates, Tony was hoping to find the address of the family's old home. After a few different visits to browse through the city hall archives, and with the help of the city clerk Giuseppe Cinque, Rosy was able to locate the requested documents, find the address of the old home, and even discover a distant relative still living in Riesi.

Read On and find the Personal Interview with Tony