February 2021

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Briefs: Energy
A stretchable system can harvest energy from human breathing and motion.
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Articles: Automotive
Inficon’s lithium-ion battery cell test can detect a leak many times smaller than current methods identify.
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Briefs: Energy
Adding polymers and fireproofing to a battery’s current collectors makes it lighter, safer, and about 20% more efficient.
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Articles: Electronics & Computers
SAE J2954 paves the way for electric vehicle charging without a plug and enables alignment for manual/autonomous parking.
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
The method could be key to designing more efficient batteries for specific uses such as electric cars and airplanes.
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Briefs: Automotive
This technology charges lithium batteries faster and reduces the risk of device explosions.
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Briefs: Energy

Computers or smartphones with folding screens, smart clothing, and wearable sensors all require an energy source, which is usually a lithium-ion battery. These are typically heavy and rigid, making them...

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Products: Semiconductors & ICs
Board-to-board connectors, supercapacitors, li-ion batteries, and more.
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Articles: Software
When it comes to the research and development of batteries, modeling and simulation (M&S) provide an efficient and low-cost approach.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Battery reuse systems could be profitable for both electric vehicle companies and grid-scale solar operations.
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Articles: Electronics & Computers
NASA-funded research by Clemson University scientists could lead to the creation of lighter, faster-charging batteries suitable for powering a spacesuit or even a Mars rover.
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Articles: Internet of Things
Energy is absorbed in the diamond through a process called inelastic scattering, which is used to generate electricity.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This device fits on a computer chip but can analyze infrared light in the same way as a conventional spectrometer.
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Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
By emulating the natural cellular architecture of wood, green products such as clothes, packaging, and furniture can be manufactured with unique properties.
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Briefs: Software
This tool provides faster and more detailed composite damage simulation results.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Wafer-Scale Membrane Release Process
This process fabricates thin dielectric membranes with high mechanical yields.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A newly developed architected metamaterial has the ability to change shape in a tunable fashion.
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Briefs: Software
Additive Manufacturing Automated Process Planning Software
The software automatically maps designs from CAD software to additive manufacturing to help cut unnecessary steps.
Facility Focus: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Some of the technologies coming from the UT labs include COVID antibody tests, self-watering soil, and the "DRACO" robot.
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Articles: Test & Measurement
Learn about the kinds of wireless meters that can provide precise test data.
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Briefs: Materials
The material could help protect both civilian and military personnel in earthquakes.
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
This quantum language is the first of its kind that is as elegant, simple, and safe as classical computer languages.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The sensor is suitable for both overt and covert applications, and can detect multiple and variable targets.
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Briefs: Aerospace
High-Fidelity Sonic Boom Propagation Tool
The sBOOMTraj software tool predicts and mitigates ground noise generated during supersonic flight.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
This integrated nanosensor is printed on a daughter board using 3D printing techniques.
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Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics
The improved rectennas could operate low-power devices such as temperature sensors.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The technology welds adjacent 3D-printed layers more effectively, thereby increasing the reliability of the final part.
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Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Tech Briefs asks industry experts about cybersecurity, the cloud, wireless devices, and securing a remote workforce.
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Briefs: Software
Space Weather Database
The DONKI application provides daily interpretations of space weather observations, analysis, and models.
Briefs: Imaging
Ultra-thin and flexible metalenses could replace traditional camera lenses.
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
This system provides low-cost, reliable 3D LiDAR images in nearly any lighting condition.
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Briefs: Materials
These nanomaterial strain sensors are ten times more sensitive when measuring minute movements compared to existing technology.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The polyimide composites have uses in aerospace, automotive, construction, electronics, mechanical systems, and industrial machinery.
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Briefs: Materials
A new method manufactures complex shapeshifters for soft robots and biomedical implants.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Applications include terahertz medical imaging and communications.
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NASA Spinoff: Wearables
With a technique first used at NASA, researchers are making glasses that can improve your concentration.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This rapid and cost-effective technique yields a uniform etched surface with 99.5 percent emissivity.
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5 Ws: Robotics, Automation & Control
The battery can be used in flexible, stretchable electronics for wearables as well as soft robotics.
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Briefs: Wearables
Material for Wearable Biosensors
Electrospinning is used to make porous silicone that allows sweat to evaporate.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This system treats light-responsive disorders or deficits such as eating disorders, sleep problems, hormone-sensitive cancers, and cardiovascular disorders.
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Briefs: Materials
A new method of linking materials with unique mechanical properties could enable robots made of robots.
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Briefs: Software
A new machine learning algorithm could make smartphones charge faster and increase the time between charges for electric vehicles.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This concept could help break through the present-day data-return bottleneck in deep space missions.
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Q&A: Energy
USC researchers found a way to use idle oil and gas wells for energy storage.
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Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Disconnect terminal blocks, oscillioscope probes, test modules, and more.
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Application Briefs: Materials
“The disruption promised by Industry 4.0 has already begun,” says Jason Melcher from the aerospace manufacturing company Ingersoll.
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Briefs: Nanotechnology
The stretchable sensor has applications in environmental monitoring and healthcare.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
This optical-based device measures position, velocity, and torque.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A smart fiber being tested on the International Space Station could be used to develop space dust telescopes and allow astronauts to feel through their pressurized suits.
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Compared to a LED, the omnidirectional laser light is much brighter and better defined.
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Briefs: Materials
Applications include detection of explosives, navigation, and aerospace altitude sensing.
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Briefs: Lighting Technology
The material could enable cheaper and more environmentally friendly displays and large-area lighting.
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Industrial robots, motor disconnect switches, position sensors, and more.
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Articles: Test & Measurement
Once confined to the role of machine visualization, modern unified HMI software now delivers better user interfaces, containerization, and remote device management.
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Briefs: Nanotechnology
A technique enables manufacturing of minuscule robots by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way.
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
New online tools — coupled with online libraries of pre-selected and tested component specifications — simplify machine design.
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Briefs: Motion Control
This system can track the motion of the entire body with a small sensory network.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The integrated tool eliminates the need for manual operators or additional custom fixtures.
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Articles: Motion Control
When specifying servo motors for applications like a new machine or CNC retrofit, there are many considerations regarding servo motor performance and sizing.
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Articles: Electronics & Computers
As 5G arrives, devices will need to expand I/O counts at the controller, as well as overall networking capabilities.
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Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
See why Mohawk Innovative Technology, Inc. is excited for the potential of additive manufacturing.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Applications include aiding patients with impaired hand muscle strength and in manufacturing for operating tools for extended periods of time.
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Articles: Packaging & Sterilization
Next-generation solar panels, 3D-printed composites from NASA, and a new way to sterilize medical devices.
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Products: Software
The Agile Engineering Design System® is an integrated suite of software modules for CAE/CAM of turbomachinery.
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Special Reports: Test & Measurement
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Test & Measurement - February 2021

Sensors to search for ancient life on Mars...nano-thermometers that could revolutionize temperature measurement...a major advance in semiconductor testing. These are just a few of the technologies you'll...

Special Reports: Automotive
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LIDAR Technology - February 2021

LIDAR sensors and systems are the "eyes" of ADAS and autonomous vehicles. Read about the latest advances in this compendium of articles from the editors of Automotive Engineering and Autonomous Vehicle...

Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Can 'Bluebots' Preserve Coral Reefs?

A team of Harvard researchers have developed fish-inspired robots that can synchronize their movements like a real school of fish, without any external control. (Watch the robots in action on Tech Briefs TV.)

INSIDER: Materials

A research team from National University of Singapore (NUS) has taken a first step towards improving the safety and precision of industrial robotic arms by developing a new range of...

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INSIDER: Physical Sciences

A hacker can reproduce a circuit on a chip by discovering what key transistors are doing in a circuit — but not if the transistor “type” is...

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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Light-emitting diodes — LEDs — are important in many more applications than just illumination. These light sources are useful in microelectronics too. Smartphones, for example,...

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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Scientists around the world are working to develop electronic skins that attach to the body and monitor vital signs. These E-skins need to be comfortable, breathable, and flexible for...

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Blog: Photonics/Optics
Should you replace your big coordinate measurement machine with laser radar? Or should you just add a laser scanner with a CMM? A reader asks our expert.
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Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will ‘Bubble Robots’ Catch On?

A group of researchers are using a surprising ingredient in their robot design: Bubbles. (Watch the demo on Tech Briefs TV.)

Podcasts: Robotics, Automation & Control
In this episode of Here's an Idea, we look at a set of robots already helping out hospitals in the fight against COVID-19.
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Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Design engineers should be cautious in how they design and deploy mixed-reality technologies, says an industry expert.
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Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Do You Like the Idea of Robots in the Hospital?

Our brand-new episode of Here’s an Idea highlighted a growing use of robots and robotic arms in the hospital. While technologies like “Tommy” and “Tiago” are helpful in completing tedious, repetitive tasks, the robots do lack a certain human touch, says our editor Sherrie Trigg.

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Watch as the Perseverance rover lands on Mars.
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Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
What can you do with a credit card sized pump? "Power clothing!" Prof. Jonathan Rossiter tells Tech Briefs?
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Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Darin Skelly spoke with Tech Briefs about how he felt during the landing of the Perseverance rover, and what he's most looking forward to finding out about Mars.
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Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Dr. Axel Krieger from Johns Hopkins University explains how he is getting a robotic system ready for the fight against COVID-19.
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Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Would You Use the 'LaserFactory?'

A technology from MIT known as the "LaserFactory" integrates 3D printers and laser cutters to fabricate wearables, robots, and electronics components like sensors and actuators.

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
To move, a new UCSD robot just needs a constant source of pressurized air.
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INSIDER: Motion Control

Perseverance – the largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world – touched down on Mars last week after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles. About the size of a car,...

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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