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...
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...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
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: Data Acquisition
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...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Novel Optics for Ultrafast Cameras Create New Possibilities for Imaging
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: Test & Measurement
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: Photonics/Optics
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...
News: Electronics & Computers
2018 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Category Winner
The Implantable Myoelectric Sensor (IMES) system transmits localized myoelectric signals...
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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...
Conventional electrical machines suffer from the problem...
Aluminum has an incredibly high energy density — double that of gasoline and an order of magnitude greater than...
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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: Energy
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: Materials
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: Defense
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: Medical
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: Robotics, Automation & Control
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: Materials
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: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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: Software
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: Data Acquisition
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: Communications
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: Electronics & Computers
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: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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: Electronics & Computers
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: Energy
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: Medical
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: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Two-Dimensional Semiconductor Materials Created Using Artificial “Superlattices”
One current method to build a semiconductor superlattice — materials comprised of alternating layers of ultra-thin, two-dimensional sheets only one or a...
Products: Materials
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: Photonics/Optics
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: Energy
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: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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: Medical
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...
White Papers: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Introducing Able's Finish First Methodology
World class design and manufacturing engineers don’t react to metal finishing problems, they use metal finishing from the start as an advantage for design for manufacturability. In many cases,...
Articles: Test & Measurement
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: Photonics/Optics
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: Medical
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: Automotive
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?”
White Papers: Electronics & Computers
Hermetic Feedthroughs For Magnetic Bearing Chiller Compressors
Magnetic bearings help chiller compressors reach new levels of efficiency. These high-tech bearings, however, need extra signal connections thorugh the pressurized compressor...
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Modular Robots Change Shape – Depending on the Task
INSIDER: Imaging
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: Energy
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: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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...
White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
MVRC: Mark, Verify, Read and Communicate
To keep track of the works-in-progress of a single automobile, up to 20,000 parts require markings. This is just one of the difficulties of traceability – the process of marking individual parts and...
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...
Podcasts: Green Design & Manufacturing
Here's an Idea: Garbage!
White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
Producing Manufacturing Aids with HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing
In the era of mass production and lean manufacturing, companies are looking for ways to help boost productivity and reduce unit costs while maintaining quality and...
Blog: Test & Measurement
After a Successful Landing, What’s Next for the InSight Mission?
INSIDER: Power
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...
White Papers: Automotive
Evolving Manufacturing Connectivity Part II: Single Solution Turns PC-based Machine Brownfields Green
As manufacturers seek to employ IoT technologies to generate Cyber Physical Production Systems connecting all production elements,...
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Answering Your Questions: How Long Should a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Take?
Top Stories
Blog: Electronics & Computers
How to Keep Batteries from Catching Fire? Nanotech Energy Goes with...
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Next Challenge for Soft Robots? Beat the Cheetah
Blog: Materials
Gecko-Inspired: Researchers Find Easier Way to Mass-Produce Adhesives
Videos: Automotive
Design Contest Winner Jon Sumroy Shares Success Story
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Starting In the Garage, NASA Engineer Makes Oxygen Helmet for COVID-19...
Videos: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Question of the Week
How Would You Use Gecko-Inspired Adhesion?
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Medical
Redefining Healthcare Delivery with Robotics-Assisted Therapy
Webinars: Medical
Materials Qualification of Healthcare Products to Radiation...
Upcoming Webinars: Imaging
Back to the Future of Video Compression
Upcoming Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control
Mars 2020: The Legacy Continues for NASA Space Robotics
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Linking FMEA, FMEDA, and FTA for Safety Analysis and Hardware...
Upcoming Webinars: Imaging
Producing Optimal High-Speed Images for Automotive and Industrial...
Trending Stories
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Executive Roundtable: 3D Printing
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Remote Sense Helps Power Sources Accurately Simulate Batteries and Charger...
Articles: Motion Control
Choosing Stepper- or Servo-Driven Actuators to Replace Air Cylinders
Features: Photonics/Optics
Products: Communications
New Products: March 2019 Sensor Technology
