August 2015

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Manufacturers in the process industries need to adjust to smaller batches and different types of product in the same plant. Plants based on the “Lego principle”...

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Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Electrochemically Enhanced Mechanical Polishing of Optics

Optical component fabrication using metals or ceramic materials involves many grinding and/or machining and polishing steps to achieve the proper form to the tolerances of imaging or photonic focusing instruments. These instruments range from infrared sensors, through visible and...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Expendable Cooling System for Venus Lander Concept

This innovation is a concept for a novel thermal architecture that would enable a day-long surface mission on Venus. A Venus lander mission could last much longer than a few hours on the surface of the planet by absorbing heat from the Venus environment, and from the electronics within the...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Rapid Quench Furnace for Processing Powder in an Inert Environment

Ongoing work in the development and characterization of sensory materials requires the development of shape memory alloy (SMA) powder or particles. These are embedded in structural material so that the progression of localized damage that occurs during fatigue crack growth will...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

The Centaur 2 (C2) platform is a compact vehicle with four independently steered and actuated wheel pods, allowing the vehicle to pivot in place and tilt in two directions. It is designed to...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Deep space missions, like the ones going to outer planets and those that rely on solar photovoltaic power, need extremely large solar arrays to produce that power for...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Existing technologies [Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) and passive Thermal Control Valve (TCV)] are integrated and made to work together to provide a passive variable thermal link. The...

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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Low-Cost Solar-Simulated Radiometric Calibration Source

An integrating sphere is a spherical shell that has its internal wall coated with a highly reflective, diffuse scattering material. It typically includes both entrance and exit ports where illumination sources and light monitoring sensors are added to produce a well-known uniform light...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Future cryogenic far-infrared (IR) missions will require moderate-resolution far-IR spectrometers operating at the photon background limit. Full utilization of these facilities requires...

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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Nanosensors for Medical Diagnosis

Many diseases are accompanied by characteristic odors, and their recognition can provide diagnostic clues, guide the laboratory evaluation, and affect the choice of immediate therapy. The study of the chemical composition in human breath using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has shown a correlation...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Passive Voice-Enabled RFID Devices

Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a technology that provides automatic identification of objects, and relies on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. The RFID tag is an object that can be applied to and/or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for...

Briefs: Materials
Lightweight, Flexible, Energy-Manageable Polymer Nanocomposites

Solar energy has attracted keen attention because it is a unique, clean, and sustainable energy resource. It is also widely utilized as a power source in space exploration. A lightweight, durable, deployable, and highly efficient all polymer-based solar power panel was developed...

Briefs: Materials
Nanocomposites for Radiation Shielding

Currently, lead and lead-based materials are used to fabricate shields not only for X-rays, but also for other types of radiation. With the growing environmental concern about the toxicity of lead, and the high costs associated with transporting heavy lead-based shields in spacecraft, alternatives are...

Briefs: Materials
Lightweight, High-Strength Nanocomposite Magnesium for Radiators

The next generation of radiators will be designed using a composite with the combination of the lowest density, highest thermal conductivity, and highest strength. A scalable, low-cost process was developed to advance state-of-the-art metal matrix thermal conductors to reach a...

Briefs: Materials
Advanced Protective Coatings for Graphite Substrates

The purpose of this innovation is to develop advanced multilayered coating architectures to protect graphite substrates from hot hydrogen attack. The concept consists of coating the graphite substrate with metallic and non-metallic layers consisting of ZrC; Nb, Mo, and/or Nb-Mo alloy; and/or...

Briefs: Materials
Plasma Extraction of Oxygen from the Martian Atmosphere

Extraction of oxygen from the abundant carbon dioxide present on Mars (96% atmospheric composition) is an important objective in preparation for missions to the planet. Oxygen is not only a fundamental reactant with high-specific-energy chemical fuels such as hydrogen and methane, but,...

Briefs: Materials
Application of Carbon Nanotube Hold-Off Voltage for Determining Gas Composition

In this innovation, a method and associated system have been created to vary a voltage applied to an exposed end of a carbon nanotube for a selected time interval to promote gas discharge, and to estimate a gas component involved in the discharge. Each component of a...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A component-level DC transformer was developed in which no alternating currents or voltages are present. It operates by combining features of a homopolar motor and a homopolar generator, both DC devices, such that the output...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Wallops Flight Facility 6U Advanced CubeSat Ejector (ACE)

Six-unit (6U) CubeSats are recognized as the next nanosatellite to be considered for standardization. The CubeSat standard established by California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), which applies to 1U–3U sizes, has proven to be a valuable asset to the community. It has both provided...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Attachment Design for Ceramic Turbine Blades Via Hybrid Concepts

This innovation is a hybrid metal-ceramic matrix composite (CMC) turbine blade in which a SiC/SiC CMC airfoil section is bonded to a single-crystal superalloy root section in order to mitigate risks associated with an all-CMC blade inserted in a superalloy disk. This will...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

This work involved designing a liquid nitrogen cold-plate heat exchanger with a high thermal mass using code-standard, high-pressure tubing. High thermal mass requires a substantial amount of...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Surface Densification of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

PICA (phenolic impregnated carbon ablator) was developed for the forebody heat shield of the Stardust Return Capsule. Conventional thermal protection system (TPS) materials of the time (primarily carbon phenolics) had high densities and thermal conductivities, yielding a TPS mass...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Low-Density Flexible Ablators

NASA has developed a class of low-density, flexible ablators that can be fabricated into heat shields capable of being packaged, stowed, and deployed in space. Several flexible versions have been developed by infiltrating a pyrolyzing silicone resin into flexible, low-density felts made of carbon, polymer, or...

Briefs: Materials
Solar-Powered Carbon Dioxide Conversions with Thin-Film Devices

A nanomaterial thin-film device provides a low-cost, facile fabrication pathway to commercialize the technology to the sustainable energy market. Metal oxide thin films have been fabricated to a photoelectrochemical cell by solar energy. The prototype device uses both low energy...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) are multicomponent materials utilizing metals, fibers, and matrix resins. Tailoring their properties is readily achievable by varying one or more of these...

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Method to Produce Copper Nanowires for Interconnect Applications

Copper replaced aluminum nearly two decades ago as interconnect material in integrated circuit manufacturing due to its better electrical conductivity. The size of the interconnect wire has been steadily decreasing as Moore’s law has been progressing through various feature size...

Briefs: Information Technology
Web Application: Ground Hardware Management Tool

An integrated ground support equipment (GSE) tracking and management tool is designed for tracking and managing GSE data used in support of KSC/Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) planning and launch campaigns. This software (the Ground Hardware Management Tool, GHMT) will be fully...

Briefs: Information Technology

About 2.5 seconds after the launch of STS-114, the first Return to Flight launch after the Columbia accident, a large bird struck the external tank and fell into the exhaust plume. While this particular bird strike did not...

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Briefs: Information Technology
Fully Implicit Ablation and Thermal Analysis Program, Version 3 (FIAT v3)

FIAT v3 simulates one-dimensional thermal energy transport through a multilayer stack of thermal protection materials, bonding materials, metallic or composite structures, air gaps, and/or insulations. The outer surface encounters aerothermal heating from hypersonic flow,...

Briefs: Information Technology
CFD Utility Software Library

Originating as the Aerodynamics Division Software Library of the 1980s and -90s, this software is a collection of more than 100 software applications, many of them for manipulating the grids and flow solutions associated with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Underlying these applications are about 30 libraries...

Briefs: Medical
Improved Detection of Kidney Stones Using S-mode Ultrasound

Ultrasound has been a useful tool in the detection of kidney stones. It is a low-cost solution that does not require ionizing radiation that would be harmful to vulnerable populations such as children and recurrent stone formers. However, it suffers from a broad range of sensitivity (78...

Briefs: Test & Measurement
Vector Network Analyzer Calibration for Quasi-Optical Dual Ports

It is desirable to measure the electromagnetic properties of devices and materials in the millimeter part of the spectrum. For guided wave-based devices and materials (waveguides, coaxial devices), a vector network analyzer (VNA) is an excellent tool for this purpose since it...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

The measurement of structural properties of materials at cryogenic temperatures is a daunting task. The measurement of thin films at low temperatures...

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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Estimation of Algae Growth Stage, Growth Rate, and Lipid Content

This invention provides a method using light of different wavelengths to estimate freshwater and marine algae growth stage and algae growth rates as well as lipid content in standard media. Light absorption by the algae is measured for a specified light intensity in each of two or...

Briefs: Test & Measurement
Isotopic Biomarkers for Rapid Assessment of Bone Mineral Balance in Biomedical Applications

Development of new treatments for metabolic bone disease, and evaluation of the effectiveness of existing therapies in individual patients, are severely hampered by the lack of any reliable tool for quickly measuring changes in bone mineral balance in...

Briefs: Test & Measurement
Optically Modulated Miniature Magnetometer

The optically modulated miniature magnetometer (OMMM) is intended to replace two separate instruments (each with their respective mass and power allotments) that are commonly needed together for scientific studies of magnetic fields — a triaxial fluxgate vector magnetometer and an optically pumped...

Articles: Aerospace

The technologies NASA develops don’t just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety,...

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Articles: Aerospace

The civil aviation market comprises commercial passenger planes, cargo planes, private planes, private jets, and helicopters. Design engineers strive to reduce aircraft weight and costs,...

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Application Briefs: Aerospace
Servo motors
MICROMO (the FAULHABER Group)
Clearwater, FL
800-807-9166
www.micromo.com

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) builds economical launch vehicles like...

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Application Briefs: Aerospace
KA Series PCB connectors and D-Sub Series connectors
Smiths Connectors
Costa Mesa, CA
714-371-1100
www.smithsconnectors.com

Development of NASA’s Orion...

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NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA Technology

Like a desert caravan, a space flight crew has to bring with it everything it will need over the course of its journey into an utterly barren environment. This has...

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Products: Aerospace

Microchip Technology, Chandler, AZ, offers the PAC1921 high-side current/power sensor with both a digital output and a configurable analog output that can present power, current, or voltage over a single output...

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Articles: Motion Control

In the automation industry, engineers strive every day to advance their process and products. Engineers have to select components, learn and use many tools to construct their...

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Application Briefs: Motion Control

Hydraulic and pneumatic systems have traditionally been the market leader in providing power in the aerospace and defense industry because of their low cost and...

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Articles: Test & Measurement

One important requirement for instruments like oscilloscopes is the ability to detect and trigger on an event of interest within a stream of unsuspicious signals fast and reliably. The quicker a...

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Articles: Test & Measurement

With advances in technology, ATE systems are becoming more widely used across a range of industries including manufacturing, avionics, aerospace, military, and defense. ATE systems are...

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Application Briefs: Test & Measurement

A flexible hydrostatic test system for the oil and gas industry must precisely measure a wide range of pressures. Because the items tested vary widely, most testing is done manually. A...

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Products: Test & Measurement

AMETEK Taylor Hobson (Leicester, UK) offers the Surtronic Duo surface measurement system, which consists of the Surtronic R-Series roundness and form tester (for bearing parts) and the Surtronic S-100 portable roughness...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

The AQM-103 series of carbon monoxide monitors from OMEGA Engineering (Stamford, CT) are designed to measure CO concentration, humidity, and air temperature. The CE-compliant devices feature a large LCD display that...

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Products: Test & Measurement

Paul N. Gardner Co. (Pompano Beach FL) introduced the Fowler Xtra-Value II electronic micrometer with a choice of measuring range, and an LCD with an inch/metric switchable resolution. A switchable resolution of...

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Products: Test & Measurement

Yokogawa Corporation of America (Sugar Land, TX) introduced the GS820 multi-channel source measure unit (SMU) that features isolated 2-channel source and measurement functions. The unit sources up to 50 Volts and 0.6 Amps...

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Products: Test & Measurement

The V616 digital transceiver from Innovative Integration (Camarillo, CA) supports one or two plug-in modules, each featuring four independent channels of DDC, two DUC, and one spectrum analyzer embedded in the Xilinx...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Keysight Technologies (Santa Rosa, CA) announced a new capability that adds a high-performance spectrum analyzer to the PNA and PNA-X Series of microwave vector network analyzers (VNAs). This capability reduces test...

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Products: Test & Measurement

The GSM-60 from ENMET, LLC (Ann Arbor, MI) is a microprocessor-based gas monitor designed for use in industrial process, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor applications. The system incorporates an internal sample draw...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

The MS-70 400-Watt halogen moisture balance from Tovatech (Maplewood, NJ) is designed for quality control when testing materials such as plastic resins, where moisture content specifications are tight. The thermogravimetric...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Micro-Epsilon (Raleigh, NC) offers the optoCONTROL 2520 compact laser micrometer with integrated controller and a Web interface that runs on HTML5 instead of Java. It features a 46-mm measuring range and a maximum...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

The Thermo Scientific Gemini analyzer from Thermo Fisher Scientific (Tewksbury, MA) provides FTIR and Raman spectroscopy in a single, handheld instrument. The analyzer is designed for chemical response personnel, explosive...

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Products: Test & Measurement

Data Translation (Marlboro, MA) announced the DT7837 ARM-based dynamic signal analyzer module for noise and vibration measurement. The computer portion of the module uses a ruggedized BeagleBone Black ARM processor....

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Products: Test & Measurement

The ThermoCam LC (TCLC) from EVT Eye Vision Technology (Karlsruhe, Germany) detects surface defects such as cracks, pores, stripes, dents, and corrosion. The infrared camera detects corrosion that is invisible under the...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Dean Technology (Carrollton, TX) announced the HVM40B digital voltmeter for measurement of positive or negative voltages up to 40,000 Volts. It features an LED display, solid-state design, and dual-range measurement providing...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Microchip Technology (Chandler, AZ) introduced the MCP39F511 single-phase power monitoring IC designed for real-time measurement of AC power. It is designed for use in high-performance commercial and industrial products such...

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Products: Motion Control

ABB (Auburn Hills, MI) introduced YuMi, a collaborative dual-arm industrial robot designed for small parts assembly environments. It features dual arms, flexible hands, a universal parts feeding system, camera-based part...

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Products: Motion Control

Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) offers the PlanarHDX planar air-bearing platform for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced test and inspection. Structural elements were designed using a silicon carbide ceramic. The...

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Products: Test & Measurement

PCB® Automotive Sensors Division (Depew, NY) offers MEMS DC response accelerometers for improving the precision of low-frequency vibration and motion in automotive applications. Available in full-scale ranges from ±2g to...

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Products: Motion Control

Aimess Services (Braunschweig, Germany) offers the R3Dscan 3D infrared scanner as an automated solution with direct connection to industrial robots. The scanner can be integrated into production lines to inspect...

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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

High Torque Density Brushless DC Motors from BEI Kimco (Vista, CA) are available in multiple designs. The motors use proprietary low magnetic circuit design techniques and feature a frameless motor design composed of a...

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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

AeroGo (Seattle, WA) introduced the Air Caster Rigging Kit that contains everything necessary to move heavy, awkward, or delicate loads using compressed air. The kit is housed in a rugged and lockable storage box, and can be...

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Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

The Tolomatic ACS actuator control solution from Tolomatic (Hamel, MN) is a servo or stepper driver and controller developed for use with electric actuators. The system is ODVA™ conformant for EtherNet/IP™. The...

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Products: Motion Control

Haydon Kerk™ Motion Solutions (Waterbury, CT) offers linear stepper actuators as replacements for solenoid valves in critical applications such as security door actuation systems. With over 200 thread designs and four...

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Products: Motion Control

maxon precision motors (Fall River, MA) offers the EC-I 40 DC brushless motor in a high-torque version for applications demanding very high torque. The iron-core internal rotor drive is available with a diameter of 40 mm, and...

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Products: Motion Control

Gardner Denver Thomas (Sheboygan, WI) offers the 1610 diaphragm pump that provides fast evacuation times for applications where speed is key. Volume flow rate is up to 8.0 l/min, vacuum up to 90%, and pressure up to 2.0 bar....

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Products: Motion Control

Nanotec (Feldkirchen, Germany) introduced the SC3518 series stepper motors that feature high torque and EMC properties. The 2-phase hybrid stepper motors feature frame size NEMA 14 (35 mm) and a 1.8° step angle; torque is...

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Products: Motion Control

ADVANCED Motion Controls (Camarillo, CA) introduced the AZBH10A4 and AZBD10A4 micro-sized analog plug-in brushless servo drives that add Hall Velocity mode and Duty Cycle mode capabilities to the μZ series. The drives are...

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Products: Motion Control

Clippard Instrument Laboratory (Cincinnati, OH) introduced the DV-3 Minimatic® electronic 3-way valves that use a patented valving principle. The valves are suited for applications across numerous industries, and are...

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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control

Allied Motion (Buffalo, NY) released the Megaflux MFH170i series of 170-mm (6.7-in) diameter housed brushless torque motors. The series is comprised of the 170 series brushless torque motor, a digital servo drive, and...

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Podcasts
Walt Bruce, Convective Heating for Improvement for Emergency Fire Shelters (CHIEFS) Senior Engineer, and Anthony Calomino, Materials and Structures Engineer

After a 2013 wildfire led to the loss of 19 elite Arizona firefighters, Langley Research Center engineers, including Walt Bruce and Anthony Calomino, worked with the U.S. Department of...

Articles: Test & Measurement

There are a variety of reasons we need to know the temperature of an object or a process — to prevent product damage, ensure sterilization, determine biological health, ensure...

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INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

It’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention. Such was the case for Ames Laboratory physicist Adam Kaminski who took a challenge he was facing and turned it...

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INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

A research team has realized one of the long-standing theoretical predictions in nonlinear optical metamaterials: creation of a nonlinear material that has opposite refractive...

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INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics

Zygo Corporation (Middlefield, CT) has introduced the ZeGage™ Plus optical profiler, a full-featured instrument for the 3D measurement of surface topography and roughness. The ZeGage Plus utilizes ZYGO’s...

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INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics

Spark Lasers, a start-up currently in incubation at ALPhANOV (Talence, France), has introduced two new industrial picosecond lasers. Sirius and Vegas provide excellent beam quality with a linear...

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INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics

LASER COMPONENTS‘(Bedford, NH) FLEXPOINT® laser module series now includes dot and line lasers with 488 nm, in addition to 405 nm and 450 nm wavelengths in the blue spectral range. Depending on the beam profile, the output...

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INSIDER Product: Photonics/Optics

Princeton Optronics Inc. (Mercerville, NJ) has introduced a VCSEL-based miniature line generator. The wavelength of the line generator is in the 820- 840nm range, has a 20mW CW power output, a fan angle...

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Question of the Week
Will Google Glass make a comeback in the workplace?

This week's Question: According to The Wall Street Journal, Google has been distributing a new version of its smart eyewear, Google Glass, to companies, engineered specifically for professionals in workplaces like health care, manufacturing, and energy. The new version will have improved...

INSIDER: Materials
Simulations Reveal Material with Record-Setting Melting Point

Using advanced computers and a computational technique to simulate physical processes at the atomic level, researchers at Brown University have predicted that a material made from hafnium, nitrogen, and carbon would have the highest known melting point: 4,400 kelvins (7,460 degrees...

Question of the Week
Can an app improve your mood?

This week's Question: Smartwatches allow users to track exercise, heart rate, and other health factors, but what about mood? The design studio Ustwo has a new app that aims for a more approachable model of delivering psychological therapy. The technology, called Moodnotes, acts as a basic journaling app. The user...

INSIDER: Test & Measurement
'Electron Camera' Reveals Nature's Fastest Processes

Using a method known as ultrafast electron diffraction (UED), a scientific instrument from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reveals nature's fastest processes, including the rapid motions of atoms and molecules.

News: Aerospace

NASA's New Horizons probe performed the first-ever flyby of Pluto, zooming within 7,800 miles of its frigid surface. The close encounter is giving researchers their first up-close looks...

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News: Test & Measurement

Vibration machines are crucial to test the forces that make things fall apart in the bumpy real world, from small components to complete systems like airplanes or nuclear weapons. Large,...

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News: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Smart Building Responds to all Climate Conditions

A grid of sensors embedded into an innovative building insulation activates specific façade components to optimize energy savings while improving aesthetics. This high-tech kind of retrofitting approach uses several types of modules that allow real-time monitoring. The multifunctional modular...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

As scientists continue to hunt for a material that will make it possible to pack more transistors on a chip, new research from McGill University and Université de Montréal adds to evidence that...

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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Fujitsu has developed a new smartphone with iris recognition, and a Clarkson University professor says she expects the technology to be available in the United States in the near future....

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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

The heat that builds up in the shuttling of current in electronics is an important obstacle to packing more computing power into ever-smaller devices; excess heat can cause them...

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INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers

ADLINK Technology (San Jose, CA) introduced the VPX3G10, featuring a discreet VPX graphics blade with the 384 CUDA core NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M GPU matched with the NVIDIA VPX GPGPU card for multi-core parallel processing...

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INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers

The ADM-XRC-KU1 from Alpha Data (Denver, CO) is a high performance reconfigurable XMC (compliant to VITA Standard 42.0 and 42.3) based on the Xilinx UltraScale range of platform FPGAs. The ADM-XRC-KU1 features 8GB of...

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INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers

LDRA (Wirral, UK) has released version 9.5 of its LDRA tool suite. The new updates automate manual processes and provide easy-to-use visibility into the relationships between software artifacts at all stages of the...

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INSIDER Product: Electronics & Computers

Xsens (Enschede, The Netherlands) recently expanded its successful 4th generation MTi product portfolio by releasing a new series of complete, self- contained 3D IMU/VRU/AHRS motion tracking modules for high volume...

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Question of the Week
Are Internet-connected cars worth the risk?

This week's Question: Last week, researchers from the University of California - San Diego discovered a vulnerability that allowed a 2013 Corvette to be hacked. The security flaw was found in dashboard hardware commonly used by insurance firms and transportation companies to monitor location, speed,...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
3D Projection Improves Robot-to-Human Communication

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way for robots to project their next action into the 3D world and onto any moving object, such as car parts on an assembly line. The achievement will help to improve human and robot safety in manufacturing scenarios.

News: Software

One of the largest composites manufacturing robots created in America will help NASA build the biggest lightweight composite parts ever made for space vehicles. The robot will...

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INSIDER: Motion Control

Researchers at the University of Georgia are helping NASA determine if a key rocket component can withstand the rigors of the next generation of spaceflight. The bellows...

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News: Manufacturing & Prototyping

A hybrid technology mixes traditional electronics with flexible, high-performance electronics and new 3D printing technologies. The system takes a razor-thin silicon integrated...

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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Depth-Sensing Camera Works in Bright Light and Darkness

A new imaging technology from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Toronto operates in both bright sunlight and darkness. A mathematical model programs the device so that the camera and its light source work together efficiently, eliminating extraneous light, or “noise,”...

Who's Who: Materials
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Question of the Week
Will elevators take us to the edge of space?

This week's Question: Last month, the Canada-based company Thoth Technology received a US patent for its 12-mile space elevator design. The elevator, enclosed in a tunnel, includes a landing pad on its roof. Spacecraft would refuel and take on passengers and cargo from the pad. Some of the elements of...

INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
'Snap' Design Mimics Venus Flytrap

A team led by physicist Christian Santangelo at the University of Massachusetts Amherst uses curved creases to give thin shells a fast, programmable snapping motion. The technique – inspired by the natural "snapping systems" like Venus flytrap leaves and hummingbird beaks – avoids the need for complicated...

Question of the Week
Will we colonize Mars by 2039?

This week's Question: Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is teaming up with the Florida Institute of Technology to develop a "master plan" to colonize Mars within 25 years. Aldrin envisions using Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, as preliminary stepping stones for astronauts. The program would...

Webcasts

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On-Demand Webinars: Defense

From Data to Decision: How AI Enhances Warfighter Readiness

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

April Battery & Electrification Summit

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Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Tech Update: 3D Printing for Transportation in 2024

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Upcoming Webinars: Materials

Unleashing Epoxy's Potential: Ensuring Hermetic Sealing in Modern...

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Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement

Building an Automotive EMC Test Plan

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Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

The Moon and Beyond from a Thermal Perspective

Videos