Grinder Last Day On Earth
Rivka Licklider
Pepper Grinder is one of those 2D platform games with a big idea. And its big idea is brilliant. You're a tiny character scampering around roomy levels, the camera pulled a good way out, and you have a drill. A drill! You can use it to chug through sand and dirt and emerge with a burst of speed. You can drill enemies until they're just jaw bones and cute gristle. You can use the drill to power a machine that raises the flag that ends each level. You can use the drill to operate guns, sprinklers, skidoos - you name it. More important than all that, though, Pepper Grinder is a game where the little details matter. And I knew this as soon as I saw the vines.
The vines are introduced pretty early on. They're tangles of barbed foliage that do damage if you get too close. Fine. Obvious, even. But what I love is that when you drill through sand or dirt that the vines are attached to, they shudder in a delightful, frenetic manner. They shiver with the energy that comes from your drill. The game has noticed this might happen, and so it has been made to happen. Bodes well, if you ask me.
Both these elements - big idea, attention to the little things - define a breezy, ever-changing game that has been a treat for me these last few days. You may have read that Pepper Grinder's a short game, and it is. But a short game can still outlive your enthusiasm for it, and Pepper Grinder never does.
At first, levels are happy to relish the sheer fun of chugging into the ground and then racing through the earth. Areas you can drill through are clearly marked, and they'll generally have jewels glinted and acting like Mario's coins, waiting to guide you. Underground, the game is all about uncovering the sinuous racing line: the drill chugs and shudders and you're always aware of its bite, but you can still arc up and down and move in lazy curves.You can loop back and dive out of the ground and attack someone before diving back underground. Press a button and you erupt with a burst of speed too. It should feel like Jaws, really, the shark attacking and disappearing, but it actually reminds me of sewing. In the early stages - and during one memorable mid-game boss - Pepper Grinder feels like a game in which you're a sewing needle, dancing in and out of fabric, precise, artful, joyous.
But Pepper Grinder's also restless, so before long every level is dropping in a new idea. Enemies, little grimace-faced beans with narwhal tusks, start to emerge before taking a hit and expiring. Then some of them get guns, flamethrowers, hover packs, armour. You'll need to attack some from above, perhaps, or behind. Inevitably, they're employed as puzzle elements, even in rooms where they spawn in brisk little hordes. It's one bit of business amongst others.
So alongside enemies you get grapple points, and then you get gauntlets in which you have to grapple, swing in an arc, jet off with your drill, and then maybe connect with another grapple point, another, a bit of dirt you have to arc through, a final point! Then you get the vines. You start to get guns and other jazz that cobbles onto your drill. Every level has its own ideas, as well as five coins hidden villainously throughout their linked spaces, encouraging you to take risks.
There's so much in this game that I've already forgotten a lot of it, which means that most of this review has been spent paging through my Switch screenshots. Oh gosh, the underground bit where I had to navigate a labyrinth of dirt while avoiding moving wheels covered with spikes! Oh god, the lava sections where I needed to cool the magma before I could then drill through it. The boss which was part chase sequence! The frozen lakes where I needed to drill as fast as I could to move between areas of warmth.
The best of these sequences use the drill as both a weapon and a propulsive force. You're chaining those speed bursts together and arcing and dipping across the screen, barely noticing the chaos you're causing as you go. At other times, Pepper Grinder can get a bit fiddly: its gauntlets require movement between drilling and grappling, which means triggers and face buttons, which my addled brain couldn't always handle. There's a sweet spot between flow and intricacy here, and Pepper Grinder hits it more often than it doesn't.
Towards the end of the game, Pepper Grinder reveals itself as a student of Half-Life, with a few ideas that are just pure pleasure, pure over-powered joy. Even when it's all over there are those coins to hunt for and the things they unlock. Then there's just the details to revel in. There's an unlock shop where you buy things from capsule machines which are powered by your drill. There's one level where you're working through a kitchen and all the baddies suddenly have horrible chef's implements and swagger around like Swelter from Gormenghast. I'll always remember Pepper Grinder as the game with the drill - the game that channeled the pure spirit of Drill Dozer. But when I think a bit more, I'll remember it as a game of jewels, a game made from glittering bits and pieces.
Demand is rapidly increasing for rare earth magnets, such as neodymium and samarium cobalt, which are essential to the global economy due to their magnetic strength, energy-producing capabilities, and high energy-to-weight ratio. Neodymium (Nd2Fe14B), the strongest magnet for its weight, is widely used in generators, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and consumer electronics, while samarium cobalt (SmCo5) is utilized in applications such as pumps, motors, machinery, and automation.
Producing rare earth magnets like neodymium or samarium cobalt requires numerous steps before the product can be magnetized and shipped. After the rare earth ore is discovered, mined, processed, and refined, certain elements are added to create an alloy.
Through a series of processes, the alloy is reduced to a powder which is pressed in a mold under pressure. The resulting block is sintered at high temperature in a furnace to densify the material and then annealed in a heat-treating process to relieve stress.
After these steps, the sintered magnetic material must be precisely machined and ground to the required shapes and sizes with minimal waste. Sintered magnets may be ground smooth and parallel, to a specific OD or ID, or sliced into smaller parts. Since the material is brittle and very hard (Rockwell C 57 to 61), slicing and grinding typically requires a diamond wheel. These processes must be performed with care and precision to minimize chipping and cracking.
However, traditional grinding techniques can be slow and require considerable expertise while lacking sufficient control and reliability for the necessary processes, according to Mike Anderson, Product Manager at Winona, MN-based DCM Tech, a designer and builder of industrial rotary surface grinders.
Vintage rotary surface grinders are another option but can be problematic in the hands of less experienced operators. With no control of spindle speeds as well as manual controls, older equipment requires savvy operators that can physically sense machine feedback. Considerable expertise and experience are necessary, which can be a challenge as skilled operators retire.
Industrial magnet manufacturers are discovering a faster, more reliable alternative in modern vertical spindle, rotary table surface grinders, in which the table rotates with the workpiece held firmly in place underneath a vertical spindle. The grinding is not performed by the peripheral edge of the wheel, but by the entire diameter of the abrasive surface, which facilitates grinding performance and consistency.
Today, surface grinders are designed with much more advanced sensors and controls that automatically maintain very tight tolerances, removing material down to within one ten-thousandth of an inch of the final thickness. Digital technology allows for an interface with easy-to-use touchscreen controls. When combined with automation, surface grinder operators are no longer required to be highly trained individuals.
One example of innovation available in this model involves the automation of the initial touch off sequence between the abrasive wheel and the part, which typically has to be finessed by the operator. With this updated option, advanced sensor technology detects vibration, then automatically initiates the grind sequence.
According to Anderson, the automation provided by advanced rotary grinders allows operators to set up the machine and then attend to other tasks. The machine does not need to be constantly monitored because it has built-in load monitoring.
He adds that the automated grinders also contribute to a cleaner shop environment because the grinding is accomplished inside an enclosed shroud that contains the debris and prevents it from entering the work area.
As the tolerances for grinding become stricter and production requirements grow with rising global demand, rare earth magnet fabricators that take advantage of advanced, automated rotary surface grinders will outperform rivals even as experienced operators retire.
As China continues to dominate rare earth magnet resources, the need to secure a domestic supply chain and fabricate industrial magnets will only increase to meet global demand. Magnet fabricators that take advantage of advanced grinding technology will play a key role in streamlining the manufacturing process, reducing waste, and increasing productivity and repeatability. For more information: call (800) 533-5339; email in...@dcm-tech.com; visit www.dcm-tech.com
Freedive, meditate and practice yoga with four-times World Record holding freediver, Sara Campbell. Sara's methods are based on her own experience of becoming the deepest woman in the world, and overcoming major personal set-backs and challenges. Discover Your Depths is transformation, philosophy, exercise, coaching and meditation all wrapped up into one amazing, life-changing parcel.
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