Stories

Mobility limitations in a wheelchair can present challenges for individuals getting around town. David Padgett, a quadriplegic who uses a power wheelchair for daily mobility, needed a solution that was both functional and visually compelling. He set out to build a custom wheelchair trailer capable of securely transporting his chair while maintaining a compact height suitable for hospital parking garages. In this article, we will highlight his ...

In wildfire management, few tools are as essential—and as potentially hazardous—as the drip torch. Drip torches are used to start controlled fires safely during prescribed burns to manage forest fuel loads and help prevent uncontrolled wildfires, however, even these essential tools can be improved. That’s exactly what our customer, Ricky Heflin, set out to do when he designed his adjustable torch system using our PA-01 Linear Actuator. In this...

In the world of custom furniture, innovation often arises from a combination of inspiration and problem-solving. For Ryan Wilson of Wilson Custom Designs (@wilsoncustomdesigns), a chance discovery of Progressive Automations set the stage for an extraordinary project—an awe-inspiring conference table for Turtlebox Audio. This table, which seamlessly integrates a hidden speaker lift system into a reclaimed cypress slab, is a true testament to cr...

In an insightful webinar hosted by Progressive Automations, we are proud to have Mike Senna, a renowned robotics innovator and engineering mentor as our guest speaker. Senna, well-known for creating iconic robots such as Wall-E, R2-D2, and BB-8, shared his experiences, career lessons, and key principles that aspiring engineers should adopt for success. This article encapsulates the valuable insights from the webinar, touching on skill developm...

Dozer blades and bucket loaders often require heavy-duty components to maintain optimal efficiency and operations in harsh conditions. One of our customers, Shawn, uses his ATV Dozer Blade and Bucket Loader Combo system with our PA-17 heavy duty linear actuators to enhance versatility and efficiency. This combination allows for maintaining snow parks, tubing chutes, and cross-country ski trails in the Montreal region during winter and excavati...

This dynamic duo has created one of the most interesting ideas using two miniature actuators that we've seen - using Twitter. The TwitterDog System Part I. Have you ever wished your Twitter could keep an eye on your dog while you were away? Javon Felder and his partner, Allison Lenzi, have come up with an automated system using linear actuators and sensors that will feed your dog, let him outside and even send you Twitter updates whenever he ...