Special Reports : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Robotics & Machine Vision - November 2018
Advances in robotics and machine vision are transforming the factory floor. To help you keep pace with the latest developments in industrial automation, we present this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs, Automotive Engineering, and Medical Design Briefs magazines.
Briefs : Photonics/Optics
Photonic Communication Comes to Computer Chips
With novel optoelectronic chips and a new partnership with a top silicon-chip manufacturer, MIT spinout Ayar Labs aims to increase speed and reduce energy consumption in computing, starting with...
News : Imaging
New Camera Gives Surgeons a Butterfly's-Eye View of Cancer
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a surgical camera inspired by the eye of the morpho butterfly. The...
Briefs : Photonics/Optics
Shrimp-Inspired Camera May Enable Underwater Navigation
The underwater environment may appear to the human eye as a dull-blue, featureless space. However, a vast landscape of polarization patterns appear when viewed through a camera that is...
Articles : Photonics/Optics
Custom Optomechanics in Industrial UV Lasers
Reliability and longevity directly impact the cost of using Q-switched, diode pumped, solid state, ultraviolet lasers in industrial applications. Damage to the intracavity harmonic crystal is...
MIT researchers have developed novel photography optics that capture images based on the timing of reflecting light inside the optics instead of the traditional approach...
Application Briefs : Photonics/Optics
Ray Optics Simulation of Inertial Navigation Systems
Attitude detection is a crucial element in aircraft and spacecraft navigation. The motion of an aircraft consists of a translational component (motion of its center of mass with respect to...
Antenna...
Articles : Materials
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Grand Prize Winner
Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) has developed a method for creating surface nanotextures that effectively...
Articles : Medical
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Category Winner
The Implantable Myoelectric Sensor (IMES) system transmits localized myoelectric signals...
Articles : Robotics, Automation & Control
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Robotics/Automation/Manufacturing Category Winner
The MELD™ technology enables additive manufacturing (AM) of metals. This patented process is unique because there is no...
Hidden PFM-1 anti-personnel landmines are unexploded ordnance (UXO) devices that pose a difficult challenge to conventional...
Articles : Materials
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Automotive/Transportation Category Winner
Conventional electrical machines suffer from the problem...
Articles : Electronics & Computers
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Consumer Products Category Winner
Aluminum has an incredibly high energy density — double that of gasoline and an order of magnitude greater than...
Articles : Green Design & Manufacturing
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Sustainable Technologies Category Winner
Briefs : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Method Enables Electronic Components to be Printed Like Newspapers
Cellphones, laptops, tablets, and many other electronics rely on their internal metallic circuits to process information at high speed. Current metal fabrication techniques...
NASA Spinoff : Materials
Aerogel Insulation Makes Thinner, Warmer Outerwear
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields...
Briefs : Medical
Wireless System Pinpoints Location of Ingestible Implants
An “in-body GPS” system was developed that can pinpoint the location of ingestible implants inside the body using low-power wireless signals. These implants could be used as tiny tracking devices on shifting tumors to help monitor their slight movements. The system, called ReMix, can...
Briefs : Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Piezoelectric Resonator with Two Layers
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) filters have advantages in being able to reduce the size, weight, and power required when used as part of electronic systems such as radios; however, MEMS-type filters have limitations. For example, thickness MEMS-type filters (e.g., thickness-extensional mode...
Briefs : Nanotechnology
Nano-Additives Increase the Service Life of Concrete
A new method increases the service life of concrete structures by reducing the infiltration rates of deleterious ions. The key is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of...
5 Ws : Transportation
5 Ws of the SAFIRE Lithium-Ion Battery
The Safe Impact Resistant Electrolyte (SAFIRE) fire-resistant battery can be used in consumer electronics such as cellphones, in drones and cars, and in soldiers’ packs.
Articles : Electronics & Computers
Smart Sensor Technology for the IoT
Internet of Things (IoT) applications — whether for city infrastructures, factories, or wearable devices — use large arrays of sensors collecting data for transmission over the Internet to a central,...
Briefs : Medical
Kit Containing Stem Cells and Cytokines for Use in Attenuating Immune Responses
Stem cells have two distinct characteristics that distinguish them from other cell types. First, they are unspecialized and can self-renew for long periods without significant changes in their general properties. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental...
Articles : Sensors/Data Acquisition
2018 Create the Future Design Contest Special Awards Section
The Create the Future Design Contest was launched in 2002 by Tech Briefs Media Group (publishers of Tech Briefs magazine) to help stimulate and reward engineering innovation. Since...
Briefs : Electronics & Computers
Self-Healing Metal Oxides for Corrosion Protection
Most metals, with the notable exception of gold, tend to oxidize when exposed to air and water. This reaction — which produces rust on iron, tarnish on silver, and verdigris on copper or...
Briefs : Sensors/Data Acquisition
A Biologically Inspired Method of Improving Systems and Survivability Through Self-Sacrifice
In human beings, the self-destruction behavior of human body cells is considered as an intrinsic safety mechanism of the human body. It seems that the lifetime of a cell is programmed, and that cells know when to commit suicide. This self-destruction is...
Articles : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Products of Tomorrow: November 2018
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...
Products : Test & Measurement
New on the Market: November 2018
Advanced Thermal Solutions, Norwood, MA, announced the tvLYT™ liquid crystal thermography system that provides a portable solution for temperature measurement of...
Briefs : Energy
Energy-Storing Material Folds Onto Itself
Eagles can store energy in their feet without having to continuously contract their muscles to then jump high or hold on to prey. New materials have been created that can store energy this way. The...
Briefs : Imaging
Super-Resolution Image Reconstruction (SRIR)
Many low-cost sensors (or cameras) may spatially or electronically under-sample an image. Similarly, cameras taking pictures from great distances, such as aerial photos, may not obtain detailed...
Briefs : Medical
Machine Learning Method Detects Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the U.S., one in every four deaths is a result of heart...
Briefs : Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Method Trains Robots to Collaborate Through Demonstration
Robots that are adapted to respond to physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) traditionally treat such interactions as disturbances, and resume their original behaviors when the...
Briefs : Materials
Synthesis and Development of Polyurethane Coatings Containing Fluorine Groups for Adhesive Applications
Accumulation of insect strikes on the leading edge of airplane wings is a more serious problem than one might realize. Depending on the magnitude, such accumulation changes the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing, causing a change from...
Briefs : Test & Measurement
Cell-Sized Robots Sense Their Environment
Colloids — insoluble particles or molecules anywhere from a billionth to a millionth of a meter across — are so small they can stay suspended indefinitely in a liquid or even in air. Robots about...
Briefs : Materials
Inorganic Compound for Use in Quantum Computing
Quantum computers will be able to solve problems well beyond the reach of existing computers while working much faster and consuming vastly less energy. An inorganic compound was developed that...
Q&A : Aerospace
Q&A: University of Virginia’s Patrick Hopkins Studies How to Regulate a Material’s Thermal Conductivity
Professor Hopkins and University of Virginia colleagues — in collaboration with materials scientists at Penn State, the University...
Briefs : Materials
Bacteria-Fighting Polymers Created with Light
Hundreds of polymers that could kill drug-resistant superbugs in novel ways can be produced and tested using light. The new method may help identify antimicrobials for a range of applications from personal care to coatings.
Briefs : Materials
One-Dimensional Material with High Current Density
Current density is the amount of electrical current per cross-sectional area at a given point. As transistors in integrated circuits become smaller and smaller, they need higher and higher...
Facility Focus : Software
Facility Focus: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL, Liver-more, CA) was established in 1952 at the height of the Cold War to meet urgent national security needs by advancing nuclear weapons...
Briefs : Materials
Retinal Prosthesis Stimulates Nerve Cells
Fabricated using inexpensive and widely available organic pigments used in printing inks and cosmetics, an artificial retina was developed that consists of tiny pixels like a digital camera sensor on...
Briefs : Semiconductors & ICs
A Robust Waveguide Millimeter-Wave Noise Source
A noise source is an enabling technology for passive millimeter-wave remote sensing applications such as atmospheric sounding, and precipitation and ice cloud measurements. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a packaged noise source that will allow calibration of the front end at the...
Briefs : Photonics/Optics
Ultra-Thin Camera Creates Images Without Lenses
Traditional cameras — even those on the thinnest cellphones — cannot be truly flat due to their optics. The lenses require a certain shape and size in order to function. A new camera design...
One current method to build a semiconductor superlattice — materials comprised of alternating layers of ultra-thin, two-dimensional sheets only one or a...
Products : Software
Product of the Month: November 2018
COMSOL, Burlington, MA, introduced COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.4 that features the new COMSOL Compiler™ for creating standalone simulation applications and digital twins for the...
Briefs : Sensors/Data Acquisition
On-Chip Optical Filter Processes Wide Range of Light Wavelengths
MIT researchers have designed an optical filter on a chip that can process optical signals from across an extremely wide spectrum of light at once, something never before...
Articles : Photonics/Optics
Simplifying Access to High Energy Sub-5-fs Pulses
In order to make ultrafast pulses accessible to the broadest possible field of applications, Coherent has been implementing a comprehensive program of design methodologies, materials...
Products : Test & Measurement
New Products: November 2018 Photonics & Imaging Technology
The SpectraLock Optical Monitoring System from Eddy Company (Apple Valley, CA) provides in-situ monitoring and deposition rate control to produce...
Briefs : Imaging
Next-Generation Photodetector Camera to Deploy During Robotic Servicing Demonstration Mission
An advanced, highly compact thermal camera that traces its heritage to one now flying on NASA's Landsat 8 has been mounted in a corner of NASA's...
Application Briefs : Software
Imaging Innovation for Spinal Care
Motion capture (Mocap) is a technique used in the film industry to digitally track a human actor's movements and precisely transfer those motions to an animated figure. But it has other applications as...
Articles : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Inside Story: S. Himmelstein and Company
S. Himmelstein and Company (Hoffman Estates, IL) has been designing and manufacturing torque measurement transducers and instrumentation since 1960. The company’s products offer significant...
Blog : Aerospace
Answering Your Questions: For an Electric-Aircraft Future, Do We Need to Rethink Design?
News : Photonics/Optics
3D Imaging Opens Door to Fascinating Leaf Complexity
The field of plant science is in the process of being profoundly transformed by new imaging and modeling technologies. These tools are allowing scientists to peer inside the leaf with a clarity and resolution inconceivable a generation ago.
News : Photonics/Optics
CT Expands Possibilities of Imaging Ancient Remains
Researchers in Sweden using computed tomography (CT) have successfully imaged the soft tissue of an ancient Egyptian mummy's hand down to a microscopic level. Non-destructive imaging of human and animal mummies with X-rays and CT is a boon to the fields of archaeology and paleopathology. They...
News : Medical
Chemists Create Circular Fluorescent Dyes for Imaging
University of Oregon chemists have created a new class of fluorescent dyes that function in water and emit colors based solely on the diameter of circular nanotubes made of carbon and hydrogen. The six-member team is now exploring their potential use in biological imaging.
News : Photonics/Optics
Enhanced 3D Imaging Advances Brain Treatments
Researchers have developed a combination of commercially available hardware and open-source software, named PySight, to improve rapid 2D and 3D imaging of neuronal activity in the living brain and other tissues. PySight serves as an add-on for laser scanning microscopes. Such an advancement in...
Question of the Week : Imaging
Will AR and VR Help Automotive Manufacturers?
A reader recently asked our automotive expert: “How will the use of augmented reality and virtual parts impact the role of automotive parts manufacturers, such as PCB manufacturers, in prototyping and production?”
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Modular Robots Change Shape – Depending on the Task
INSIDER : Photonics/Optics
New Products: November 2018 Photonics & Imaging Insider
Edmund Optics (EO) (Barrington, NJ) has introduced TECHSPEC® MercuryTL™ Liquid Lens Telecentric Lenses. These integrated lenses utilize the unique...
INSIDER : Photonics/Optics
Solar Cell Does Double Duty for Renewable Energy
In the quest for abundant, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, scientists have sought to harvest the sun’s energy through “water splitting,” an artificial photosynthesis...
INSIDER : Photonics/Optics
Invention Opens Door to Safer, Less Expensive X-Ray Imaging
New lead halide perovskite nanocrystals developed by researchers from NUS Chemistry could soon mean cheaper X-rays and computerized tomography (CT) scans involving lower levels...
INSIDER : Materials
Laser-Activated Silk Sealants Outperform Sutures for Tissue Repair
Tissue repair following injury or during surgery is conventionally performed with sutures and staples, which can cause tissue damage and complications, including...
INSIDER : Photonics/Optics
Enabling “Internet of Photonic Things” with Miniature Sensors
A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis was the first to successfully record environmental data using a wireless photonic sensor resonator with a...
INSIDER : Internet of Things
A Step Toward Personalized, Automated Smart Homes
Developing automated systems that track occupants and self-adapt to their preferences is a major next step for the future of smart homes. When you walk into a room, for instance, a system...
INSIDER : Internet of Things
Light it up: Purdue NSF-funded Technology Flips the Switch on the Future for Sustainable Smart Homes and $1.3 Trillion Market
IoT devices need a wireless means of communications to be truly seamless so they can be easily integrated in...
Blog : Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers Convert Plastic Bottles into Aerogels that Insulate and Absorb
Question of the Week : Energy
Will Stretchable, Printable Solar Cells Catch On?
A Rice University lab is making solar cells that are stretchable, printable, and paintable. Watch the demo on Tech Briefs TV.
This week's Question: Will Stretchable, Printable Solar Cells Catch On?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Answering Your Questions: How Good are Automotive Sensor Simulation Models?
Question of the Week : Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Can ‘The Ocean Cleanup’ Clean Up the Ocean?
The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit effort begun by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, wants to clean up 50% of “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in five years, with the aim of a 90% reduction by 2040.
Using a 600-meter long floater, or collection platform, called System 001, the Cleanup technology...
Blog : Electronics & Computers
New Metal-Air Battery Design Offers a Potential Boost to Electric Vehicles
Podcasts : Green Design & Manufacturing
Here's an Idea: Garbage!
Blog : Test & Measurement
After a Successful Landing, What’s Next for the InSight Mission?
INSIDER : Aerospace
Plane Flies with No Moving Parts
Since the first airplane took flight, virtually every aircraft has flown with the help of moving parts such as propellers, turbine blades, or fans that produce a persistent, whining buzz. MIT has built...
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Answering Your Questions: How Long Should a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Take?
Top Stories
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Small, Precise Gyroscope Navigates Without GPS
Blog: Packaging & Sterilization
Medical Robots' Role Expands as COVID-19 Outbreak Continues
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
How One Engineer is Supporting the Coronavirus Response with a Hands-Free...
Videos: Medical
Tactile Robotic Finger Uses Optics for Multicurved Surfaces
INSIDER: Internet of Things
Ultra-Low Power Chip for IoT Wi-Fi
Videos: Electronics & Computers
A.I. Method Could 'Supercharge' Electric Vehicle Battery Development
Question of the Week
Is Anonymization the Best Way to Protect Personal Data?
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Photonics/Optics
High-Powered Directed Energy Laser Projects: Destroy the Target,...
Upcoming Webinars: Photonics/Optics
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Rapid Decompression and Sealed Containers: Why Choose Magnet...
Upcoming Webinars: Motion Control
Advantages of Smart Servo Steppers vs. Smart Brushless Servos
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Large Cable, Large Problems: Considerations for Innovation
Upcoming Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control
Trending Stories
Briefs: Materials
High-Temperature SMAs for Actuator Applications
INSIDER: Automotive
Fast-Charging Supercapacitor is an Energy Storage Breakthrough
Articles: Motion Control
Dynamic Force Control and Advanced Electropneumatic Positioning Systems in...
5 Ws: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Foldable Robots for Future Moon Mission