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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

The MILE inductive encoder from Maxon Motor USA Inc., Fall River, MA, delivers up to 64 pulses at up to 120,000 rpm. Measuring 6mm in diameter, it is said to be the smallest inductive encoder available.

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Articles: Motion Control

Today’s pumps, valves, and flow meters are being designed with greater accuracy and flexibility to handle a wide range of fluids, chemicals, and other materials. Demands for more...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A proposed system in a gondola containing scientific instruments suspended by a balloon over the surface of the Saturn moon Titan would quickly acquire samples of rock or ice from the...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A proposed alternative design for the balloon- borne ground-sampling system described in the immediately preceding article would not rely on free fall to drive a harpoonlike...

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Briefs: Information Technology

A digital signal-processing algorithm has been devised as a means of aligning (as defined below) the outputs of multiple receiving radio antennas in a large array for the purpose of...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Enhanced Video-Oculography System

A previously developed video-oculography system has been enhanced for use in measuring vestibulo-ocular reflexes of a human subject in a centrifuge, motor vehicle, or other setting. The system as previously developed included a lightweight digital video camera mounted on goggles. The left eye was illuminated by...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A method has been proposed to increase the degree of synchronization of a radio receiver with the phase of a suppressed carrier signal modulated with a binary-phase-shift-keying (BPSK) or...

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Products

Dewetron USA, Wakefield, RI, has introduced the DEWE-43-V, an ultra-portable data acquisition system that includes eight 24-bit dynamic analog input channels with >100 dB dynamic range; eight...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A proposed heterodyne receiver would be capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation in both of two orthogonal linear polarizations, separating sidebands, and providing...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A new approach to masterless, distributed, digital-charge control for batteries requiring charge control has been developed and implemented. This approach is required in battery chemistries that need...

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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Generic structures have been conceived for multiplexer blocks to be implemented in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) based on four-gate field-effect transistors...

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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

A system comprising very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits is being developed as a means of bioinformatics-oriented analysis and recognition of patterns of fluorescence...

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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

A three-stage monolithic millimeter-wave integrated-circuit (MMIC) amplifier designed to exhibit low noise in operation at frequencies from about 100 to somewhat above 180 GHz has been built and tested....

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Inert Welding/Brazing Gas Filters and Dryers

A system has been designed to reduce the hydrogen molecule content in inert gases that are used for shielding the welding arc and molten weld area during the manual fusion, automated welding, and induction brazing process. Two desiccant pipeline dryer cartridges are connected together using either...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Fabricating Copper Nanotubes by Electrodeposition

Copper tubes having diameters between about 100 and about 200 nm have been fabricated by electrodeposition of copper into the pores of alumina nanopore membranes. Copper nanotubes are under consideration as alternatives to copper nanorods and nanowires for applications involving thermal and/or...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

The use of hybridized carbon/silicon carbide (C/SiC) fabric to reinforce ceramic matrix composite face sheets and the integration of such face sheets with a...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Some simple structural modifications have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing aerodynamic drag on vehicles that have empty open cargo bays. The modifications were originally...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

The term “rotary percussive autogopher” denotes a proposed addition to a family of apparatuses, based on ultrasonic/sonic drill corers (USDCs), that have been described in...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermostatic Valves Containing Silicone-Oil Actuators

Flow-splitting and flow-mixing thermally actuated spool valves have been developed for controlling flows of a heat-transfer fluid in a temperature-regulation system aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Valves like these could also be useful in terrestrial temperature-regulation...

Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Assembly Machines Produce Optics for NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope
Cylindrical optics module assembly machines
ABTech
Swanzey, NH
603-358-6431
www.abtechmfg.com

ABTech has completed the first of two cylindrical optics module assembly machines for Columbia University’s Nevis Astrophysics Laboratory. The multi-axis air...

Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
CCD Imaging Sensors Aid Hubble in Exploring the Universe
Charge coupled device (CCD) imaging sensors
e2v
Chelmsford, UK
44 (0)1245 493493
www.e2v.com

e2v CCD imaging sensors were launched recently on the Space Shuttle Atlantis as part of a mission to upgrade and repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The imaging sensors...

NASA Tech Needs

John C. Stennis Space Center is embarking on a very ambitious era in its rocket engine propulsion test history. The first new large rocket engine test stand to be built at Stennis Space Center...

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Techs for License
Fluorinated ZDDP Improves Mileage and Reduces Engine Wear

This technology takes ZDDP — Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophos - phate, an anti-wear oil additive — and enhances it by adding fluorine to the chemical backbone. The resulting new molecule improves engine fuel economy by 3%, reduces engine wear from that available with conventional ZDDP, and...

Techs for License: Imaging
Real-Time Dogfight Guiding System

Successful performance of BFM (Basic Flight Maneuvers) presents the greatest challenge facing combat pilots. Acquiring and maintaining the required skills for dogfights is a long, complicated and costly process. The solution is a system that provides automatic assessment of a situation and automatic...

Tech Needs
Anchoring Technology to Hold an Active Ingredient Within a Targeted Depth of Soil

A company seeks technologies that enhance the duration that herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and similar products are held at a targeted depth within the top layers of soil. Duration should be between 30 and 60 days. The targeted depth varies with the crop...

Briefs: Materials
Cyclic Oxidation Behavior of CuCrAl Cold-Sprayed Coatings for Reusable Launch Vehicles

The next generation of reusable launch vehicles is likely to use GRCop-84 [Cu-8(at.%)Cr-4%Nb] copper alloy combustion liners. The application of protective coatings on GRCop-84 liners can minimize or eliminate many of the environmental problems experienced by...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Modular exploratory robotic vehicles that will be able to reconfigure themselves in the field are undergoing development. These vehicles at the initial concept stage were described in...

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Briefs: Materials
Ceramic Fiber Structures for Cryogenic Load-Bearing Applications

This invention is intended for use as a load-bearing device under cryogenic temperatures and/or abrasive conditions (i.e., during missions to the Moon). The innovation consists of small-diameter, ceramic fibers that are woven or braided into devices like ropes, belts, tracks, or...

Briefs: Materials
Elastomer Reinforced With Carbon Nanotubes

Elastomers are reinforced with functionalized, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) giving them high- breaking strain levels and low densities. Cross-linked elastomers are prepared using amine-terminated, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), with an average molecular weight of 5,000 daltons, and a...

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