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Special Reports: RF & Microwave Electronics
RF & Microwave Electronics - May 2022
In this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Aerospace & Defense Technology and Tech Briefs, read about how advances in RF electronics are enabling new applications in avionics systems,...Articles: Automotive
Battery engineers targeting electric vehicles (EVs) continue to research designs with solid-state electrolyte because of the alluring twin promises of significantly higher energy densities...
Articles: Transportation
From multinational battery developers to commercial-vehicle components manufacturers merging new-age motors with established power-transfer technologies, Battery & Electrification Technology's Fast 40 presents...
Articles: Transportation
After years of lukewarm reception and limited funding, it looks as if the battery electric vehicle (BEV) market is finally going full throttle. According to a recent Forbes article, Schmidt Automotive Research...
Briefs: Unmanned Systems
A continuous flight of small drones over its perimeter could enhance security of the nation's border, but there is one small problem: The battery limitation of small drones (they last about 30 minutes) is...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Micro-supercapacitors could revolutionize the way we use batteries by increasing their lifespan and enabling extremely fast charging. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have...
Briefs: Unmanned Systems
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and Softbank Corp. have developed a lithium-air battery with an energy density over 500Wh/ kg - significantly higher than currently lithium-ion batteries....
Briefs: Energy
In steep mountain regions, the potential for generating electricity from a small stream of water is high, however, the hydropower potential of these regions remains untapped as it...
Briefs: Energy
Researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada, who are members of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), headquartered at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne...
Application Briefs: Materials
Traction inverter power density (KW/L) and efficiency ($/KW) strongly impact electric vehicle (EV) weight, driving range, and cost of ownership. Unfortunately, traditional soldered power...
Products: Connectivity
Battery Management Solution
InnovationLab (Heidelberg, Germany) has launched BaMoS, its battery monitoring solution for automotive applications. BaMoS uses ultra-thin printed pressure and temperature sensors to capture...
Articles: Energy
As the electrification of automobiles continues to accelerate, the need for a safe, reliable, high-power energy-storage technology is greater than ever. Ultracapacitors...
Articles: Energy
Decarbonizing transportation is key for meeting U.S. greenhouse gas reduction targets because moving people and goods is the largest direct source of climate-altering emissions....
Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics
There is already a wide body of work in which assessments of various motion capture systems have produced a wide range of different results. These studies produce useful and relevant results for...
Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics
Most optical networks have many fiber couplings and even minor losses at these junctions will produce significant signal losses that cause problems in data transmission. Precise fiber alignment at the optical...
Application Briefs: Materials
Aspheric lenses let optical system designers improve resolution, reduce the number of lens elements required, and increase system light throughput. Their complex, non-spherical surfaces correct for more...
Application Briefs: Nanotechnology
Micro-optics and nanostructures are key technologies for the latest optoelectronic components in smartphones, smart glasses and vehicles. Some examples used in consumer...
Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics
Inside every cellphone lies a tiny mechanical heart, beating several billion times a second. These micromechanical resonators play an...
Briefs: Imaging
Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision....
Products: Photonics/Optics
Plasma Deposition Process
Alluxa, Inc. (Santa Rosa, CA) recently introduced its next-generation SIRRUS™ plasma physical vapor deposition (PVD) platform offering full spectral coverage from ultraviolet (200 μm) to infrared...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Where the ability to detect mid-wave infrared (MWIR) radiation is mission critical, readiness and the importance of long, maintenance-free infrared (IR) system operation is vital. In...
Articles: Electronics & Computers
High-speed digital imaging expands the benefits of traditional machine vision (MV), transforming it from a process control tool into a diagnostic tool. Traditional MV systems use...
Articles: Software
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 innovation.
Q&A: Research Lab
Professor Kenneth K. O. and his colleagues at The University of Texas at Dallas and Oklahoma State University have developed an innovative and affordable terahertz imager microchip that can enable...
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Behrokh Khoshnevis has always known that 3D printing would make its biggest impact on big structures. While most advances in additive manufacturing...
Articles: Software
We've made some impressive strides from both a societal and industry perspective in the face of this unrelenting pandemic. And while the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry has been hit exceptionally...
Articles: Electronics & Computers
Hypersonic weapons, unlike ballistic missiles, take unpredictable paths and can evade missile defense systems. To counter hypersonic technologies, radar engineers must build systems that have no...
Briefs: Materials
An ultra-sensitive heat sensor was developed that is based on the fact that certain materials are thermoelectric. The electrons in a thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Scientists have developed color-changing, flexible photonic crystals that could be used to develop sensors that warn when an earthquake might strike next. The wearable, robust, and low-cost...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Through the use of magnetic fields, scientists have developed an electronic sensor that can simultaneously process both touchless and tactile stimuli. Prior attempts have so far failed to combine these functions on...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Engineers have created a flexible electronic sensing patch that can be sewn into clothing to analyze sweat for multiple markers. The patch could be used to diagnose and monitor...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Soft pressure sensors have received significant research attention in a variety of fields including soft robotics, electronic skin, and wearable electronics. Researchers have developed a highly sensitive...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Foodborne illness hits about one in six people in the United States every year from more than 31 recognized pathogens including E. coli O157:H7, a particularly harsh strain of E. coli. Researchers...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Methanol is sometimes referred to as ethanol's deadly twin. While the latter is the intoxicating ingredient in wine, beer, and liquor, the former is a chemical that...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Engineers have remotely determined the temperature beneath the surface of certain materials using a new technique called depth thermography. The method may be useful in applications where...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Any space, enclosed or open, can be vulnerable to the dispersal of harmful airborne biological agents. Silent and near-invisible, these bioagents can sicken or kill living things before steps...
Briefs: Wearables
Researchers have developed electronic skin (e-skin) that is applied directly on top of real skin. Made from soft, flexible rubber, it can be embedded with sensors that monitor...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
3D printers working in the millimeter range and larger are increasingly used in industrial production processes. Many applications, however, require precise printing on the micrometer scale...
Briefs: Energy
Living materials made by housing biological cells within a nonliving matrix have gained popularity as scientists recognize that often the most robust materials are those that...
Briefs: Transportation
Substances such as plastics, metals, and wax are used in 3D printers to make products and parts for larger items. Products created through the 3D printing of plastics include every-thing from toys...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Most conventional 3D printing processes rely on replicating a digital design model that is sliced into layers with the layers printed and assembled upward like a cake. A new method...
Briefs: Materials
Scientists have developed a ceramic-based ink made of calcium phosphate to 3D print bone parts complete with living cells that could be used to repair damaged bone tissue. The 3D printer method is...
Briefs: Aerospace
Researchers combined additive manufacturing with conventional compression molding to produce high-performance thermoplastic composites reinforced with short carbon fibers. The approach...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, have achieved efficient quantum coupling between two distant magnetic devices, which can host a certain...
Briefs: Materials
Elastic polymers, known as elastomers, can be stretched and released repeatedly and are used in applications such as gloves and heart valves, where they need to last a long time without tearing. But...
Briefs: Materials
All solid materials, including glass, have a property called elastic stiffness — also known as elastic modulus. It's a measure of how much force per unit area is needed to make...
Briefs: Wearables
Graphene — hexagonally arranged carbon atoms in a single layer with superior pliability and high conductivity — could impact the development of future motion detection, tactile sensing,...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
A Penn State-led team of interdisciplinary researchers developed a polymer with robust piezoelectric effectiveness, resulting in 60 percent more efficient electricity...
Briefs: Materials
A research team developed a thread made of conductive cellulose that offers practical possibilities for electronic textiles. Sewing the electrically conductive cellulose threads into a...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Researchers have developed tiny optical elements from metal nanoparticles and a polymer that could replace traditional refractive lenses to realize portable imaging systems and...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Consumers are looking for augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) glasses that are compact and easy to wear, delivering high-quality imagery with socially acceptable optics that...
Briefs: Lighting
Researchers have developed technology to produce next-generation composite glass for lighting LEDs and smartphone, television, and computer screens. The technology was a step forward in perovskite...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical limiting — a manner of telecom switching without the use of electronics — is an all-optical method that could improve the speed and capacity of Internet communications. A...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A new composition of germanosili-cate glass created by adding zinc oxide has properties good for lens applications. The new family of zinc germanosilicate glass has a high refractive index comparable to...
Briefs: Energy
Decreasing Anode Corrosion in Metal-Air Batteries
Metal-air batteries can be used in a variety of applications ranging from range extenders for electric vehicles to emergency power systems. Metal-sea-water batteries are primarily used for underwater applications ranging from torpedoes to underwater unmanned vehicles. A team of researchers at the...
Briefs: Transportation
Electrification of the transportation sector is critical to future energy and environmental resilience and will require high-power fuel cells (either standalone or in conjunction with batteries) to...
Briefs: Transportation
Electric vehicle batteries typically require a tradeoff between safety and energy density. If the battery has high energy and power density — required for uphill driving or merging on the...
Briefs: Power
Wearable electronic components incorporated directly into fabrics have been developed that could be used for flexible circuits, healthcare monitoring, energy conversion, and other applications. Graphene...
Briefs: Energy
Many technical processes only use part of the energy consumed. The remaining fraction leaves the system in the form of waste heat. Frequently, this heat is released into the...
Products: Motion Control
Dual Locking C14 IEC Connector
The SG03DC from MEGA Electronics, New Brunswick, NJ, contains side locking tabs similar to the Raritan Securelock. It will mate with any standard nonlocking C13 Outlet along with...
Facility Focus: Research Lab
Founded in 1876, the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Bolder) is a public research university in Boulder, CO. The College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder was founded in 1893. With an increased...
Products: Aerospace
Rohde & Schwarz, Columbia, MD, launches its new LCR meter family of high-performance general-purpose impedance testers covering a wide range of applications. With its supported frequency range from 4 Hz to 10 MHz, the...
Special Reports: Materials
Advanced Materials & Coatings - May 2022
Breakthroughs in plastics, composites, metals, and other materials technologies are enabling exciting new applications in industries ranging from aerospace to automotive to medical. Read more in this...Articles: RF & Microwave Electronics
Thanos Yiagopoulos, Chief Technology Officer of Momentive Performance Materials, discusses how engineers can determine the best product for their application.
INSIDER: Imaging
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s expertise in developing high-energy lasers is being tapped to provide a key component of a major upgrade to SLAC National...
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Software
CRAIC Technologies (San Dimas, CA) announced that CRAIC Technologies microspectrometers will now feature Windows 11 operating systems in which CRAIC Lambdafire™ instrument control and spectral analysis software will...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Researchers at Oxford University have used a sapphire optical fiber – a thread of industrially grown sapphire less than half a millimeter thick – that can withstand temperatures...
INSIDER: Semiconductors & ICs
Everyone is talking about quantum computers. By interconnecting as many qubits (two-state quantum systems) as possible, massive amounts of data can be processed more easily, quickly and securely in...
Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Will We Use Our Clothes to Monitor Heartbeat?
A recent Tech Briefs story highlighted efforts by MIT Professor Yoel Fink and his team to create a fabric microphone. The computing material offers wearers the ability to someday monitor their heartbeat, as well the heartbeats of soon-to-be newborns.
Podcasts: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is adding function to fibers. We speak to MIT’s Dr. Yoel Fink about acoustic fabrics.
INSIDER: Medical
What if your next surgery was planned and performed by a robot? A team at Johns Hopkins University is working to turn this idea into reality.
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Inspired by the natural dexterity of the human hand, a team of engineers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has created a reconfigurable hybrid robotics system that is able to...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Engineering researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
MIT engineers have developed a telerobotic system to help surgeons quickly and remotely treat patients experiencing a stroke or aneurysm. With a modified joystick, surgeons...
Question of the Week: Design
Do you think internal imaging of materials could become a practical design tool?
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a technique to determine material properties, like stress and strain, based on an image of the material showing its internal structure.
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
It is 5 p.m., and you arrive home from work when it is peak demand for the grid. Your electric vehicle (EV) is 50% charged — you could either plug it in and charge right away or, if it...
INSIDER: Energy
In a new study, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have turned to machine learning to predict the lifetimes of a wide range of different battery...
INSIDER: Power
In a paper published in American Chemical Society’s ACS Photonics, a University of Surrey team detailed how they used characteristics of sunlight to design a disordered honeycomb layer to...
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Are soft machines an important technology for the future?
Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g., prosthetic limbs).
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
How a German manufacturer of screening machines discovered a low-cost solution for a collaborative robot that assists in the welding process.
Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Will inserting lenses inside blood vessels become a practical tool for diagnosing disease?
Researchers have developed a camera-like imaging device that can be inserted into blood vessels to provide high-quality 3D images to help scientists better understand the causes of heart attack and heart disease progression and could lead to improved...
Articles: Automotive
Hyliion’s system can decrease fuel consumption and reduce emissions by capturing wasted energy and storing it in a battery pack.
Special Reports: Imaging
Aerospace Manufacturing - May 2022
Demanding applications in the aerospace industry require products and systems that are manufactured using advanced technologies – in additive manufacturing, machining, metrology, and more. To help you keep...INSIDER: Research Lab
With their stretched bodies, immense wingspan and iridescent coloring, dragonflies are a unique sight. But their originality doesn’t end with their looks: As one of the...
INSIDER: Motion Control
A mechanical jumper developed by University of California Santa Barbara engineering professor Elliot Hawkes and collaborators is capable of achieving the tallest height — roughly 100 feet (30 meters)...
INSIDER: Physical Sciences
Specialists in fluid dynamics at Rice University and Waseda University in Tokyo have developed their computer simulation methods to the point where it’s possible to accurately model moving...
Top Stories
Blog: Energy
Beyond Lithium: The Rise of Calcium-Ion Energy Storage
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The Kitchen Tech Hack Aiming to Revolutionize 3D Printing
Blog: Design
A Shield for the Next Generation: Lithium Batteries Get a Major Upgrade
Blog: AR/AI
Trailblazing Innovators: Meet Rising Star Award Winner Sadiyah Sabah...
Quiz: Aerospace
How Much Do You Know About Jet Engine Components?
INSIDER: Motion Control
Webcasts
Webinars: Unmanned Systems
Driving Reliability: Simulation Driven EMI Techniques for Modern Vehicle...
Editorial Webinars: Software
Smarter Aerospace Manufacturing & Design with Digital Twins and Agentic AI
Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Superior Environmental Protection with Ultra-Thin Parylene and Multilayer...
Webinars: Communications
Where Time and Frequency Converge: Multi-Channel RF Analysis for Radar and...
Webinars: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Over-Engineering Trap: Aligning Custom Equipment Specs with Operational...
Podcasts: Electronics & Computers
How AI Acceleration Strategies Are Changing Embedded Computing Architectures
