Benefits of Using Encoders to Improve Step Motor System Performance

Step motors are widely used in automation due to their high resolution, precision positioning, minimal control electronics, and low cost. As an open loop system, traditional...

Transparent Eel-Like Soft Robot Swims Silently Underwater

An eel-like robot was developed that can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The...

Sensor-Free Smart Wheel

Technology was developed that not only allows wheels to “know” when and how to rotate, but also enables them to work together in interactive teams. The new technology can be used wherever there is a need for...

Guiding the Way in Automotive Plants

Vision-guided robotics commonly used in today's automotive plants enables robots to “see” the object they are working on so they can perform the required activity accurately on/to an object that is...

Plastic Bearings Reduce Weight and Improve Durability

When engineer Mark Doyle started to put together plans for an exoskeleton to support surgeons in 2012, he wanted to develop a lightweight product that they could wear comfortably for...

Sensing the Future of Pneumatics

Some species of sharks must constantly swim to keep water flowing over their gills to stay alive. That same concept also tends to apply to technology — once a technology stops evolving and moving forward,...

New Products: June 2018 Motion Design

Rotary Position Sensors

Novotechnik, U.S. (Southborough, MA) announced industrial and redundant channel industrial versions of the SP 2800 Series rotary position sensors. The industrial version is...

“Intelligent” Rotor Blades React Quickly to Changing Conditions

The giant rotor blades are one central part of a wind turbine. Researchers developed a rotor blade that makes more efficient use of large fluctuations in wind strength using...

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM), Proven Cost-Effective, Add to Quality of Life for Diabetics

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) offer significant, daily benefits to people with type 1 diabetes, providing near-real time measurements of blood...

Force Sensing — An Addition to the Physical Therapy Toolbox

Undergoing treatment for a physical injury or condition can be a long and frustrating experience. Broken bones, sprains, torn muscles or ligaments, as well as painful conditions...

Tiny Probe Can See and Measure Body Temperatures

A new probe developed at the University of Adelaide, may help researchers find better treatments to prevent drug-induced overheating of the brain, and potentially refine thermal treatment for...

Tiny Injectable Sensor Could Provide Unobtrusive, Long-Term Alcohol Monitoring

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a miniature, ultra-low power injectable biosensor that could be used for continuous, long-term...

New Products: June 2018 Sensor Technology

CMOS Linear Image Sensor

The S13774 from Hamamatsu Corporation (Hamamatsu City, Japan; Bridgewater, NJ), is a CMOS linear image sensor developed for industrial cameras that require...

Automating Personal Safety with Wearable Smart Jewelry

A major challenge to assault prevention is that during an assault, victims often do not have an easily accessible way to call for help. Whether calling 911 or using an emergency alert...

Photonic Biosensors Could Lead to Fast, Super-Accurate Diagnostics and Detection

A team at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering has made a discovery that could lead to Star Trek-like biosensor devices capable of flagging the...

A High(er)-Definition Nose Sensor Could Improve Sensors that Sniff

Sensors that sniff out chemicals in the air to warn us about everything from fires to carbon monoxide to drunk drivers to explosive devices hidden in luggage have improved so...

“Lighthouse” Detectors Minimize Workers’ Exposure to Dangerous Radiation

Innovative “lighthouse” detectors, which use a sweeping beam to pinpoint a radiation source in seconds, are reducing radiation exposure for workers and...

Researchers Deploy Smart Technologies to Detect Blood Pressure and Arrhythmias

Smart technologies, including phones and other personal devices, have grown in popularity around the globe. With built-in sensors and the ability to tap expansive...

How Sophisticated Wearable Sensors are Changing Healthcare

In the traditional model of healthcare, a patient would visit a doctor regularly for checkups or for evaluations when there’s an ailment. This model, however, isn’t ideal for...

Paired Sleep Tracker and Light Therapy Tools Retrain Circadian Rhythms

Spinoff is NASA’s annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and...

Shape Memory Alloys Achieve High Force and Precision

With very little fanfare, a special class of alloys has been finding its way into our daily lives. From indestructible eyewear, to smartphone cameras, to coronary stents, this material is...

Method Converts Cotton Fabric Waste into Aerogel

Aerogels are among the lightest materials in the world, and are highly porous with strong absorption capacity and low thermal conductivity. These unique properties make aerogels highly...

Army Research Laboratory

In October 1992, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) was activated, consolidating the seven corporate labs of the Laboratory Command (LABCOM) with other Army research elements to form a centralized laboratory...

Precision CNT Cutting Mechanism

NASA Langley Research Center has developed a simple mechanism for the clean cutting of high-strength and high-toughness carbon nanotube/poly-mer fiber composites on demand without high blade wear or...

Corrosion and Coating Evaluation System

Aircraft coatings are the first line of defense when it comes to mitigating structural corrosion of an air platform. As new coatings are developed — particularly those that contain non-chrome primers...

Radiation Detection with Plastic Scintillators

It has been established opinion since the 1950s that organic crystals and liquid scintillators can work for detecting neutrons, but that plastics are not suitable for neutron detection. For...

Composite Film Enables Windows that Switch from Transparent to Color

Commercial buildings in the United States account for nearly 40% of the total energy consumption. Among them, electricity is the largest energy source for buildings....

Transistor Material Provides Additional Computing Degrees of Freedom

For several decades, improvements in conventional transistor materials have been sufficient to sustain Moore’s Law — the historical pattern of microchip manufacturers...

New on the Market: June 2018

Laser Sensors

The optoNCDT 1750 laser sensors from Micro-Epsilon, Raleigh, NC, feature measuring ranges of 500 and 750 mm for fast, high-precision measurement tasks that require large measuring ranges. They are...

Fabrication Process Produces Nanostructures for Electronic Devices

Demands for improved computer processing power have led researchers to explore both new processes and other materials beyond silicon to produce electronic components....

Offset Compound Gear Inline Two-Speed Drive

Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a simple, lightweight, inline, two-speed drive that can be used either as an overall transmission, or as a supplemental add-on input...

Cryo-Fluid Capacitor (CFC)

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has created the Cryo-Fluid Capacitor (CFC) that capitalizes on the energy storage capacity of liquefied gases, and the relative simplicity of high-pressure gas bottles while...

Radiation Analysis Software

For emergencies involving radiation, decision-makers must have a means to swiftly assess the situation. Having analysis tools that can quickly and reliably make sense of radiation data is of the essence.

Non-Invasive Intracranial Pressure Measurement

An acknowledged objective of critical-care medicine is a timely, accurate, readily deployable, cost-effective, and, importantly, safe means of assessing and/or monitoring critical...

Nano-Sized Actuator Lifts Many Times its Weight

Actuators are used in a wide variety of electromechanical systems and in robotics, in applications such as steerable catheters, aircraft wings that adapt to changing conditions, and wind...

Affordable Vehicle Avionics (AVA)

NASA Ames Research Center has developed a novel, low-cost, self-contained guidance system for small payload operators. Small satellites are becoming ever more capable of performing valuable missions for both...

Low-Alloy, High-Impact-Toughness Steel

USAF-96 Steel is a low-alloy steel that, when thermally processed with the method described here, has the following typical values: an ultimate tensile strength of 245 ksi, yield strength at 0.2% offset...

Painted-on Coating Transforms Walls into Sensors and Interactive Surfaces

Walls often make up more than half of indoor surface area, especially in residential and office buildings. In addition to delimiting spaces, both for functional and...

Q&A: OSU's Uranbileg Daalkhaijav Researches How to Rapidly Manufacture Soft Robots

Researchers at Oregon State University’s College of Engineering have taken an important step toward the rapid manufacture of stretchable electronic...

Ultra-Wide-Bandgap Power Electronics

Power electronics used for routing, control, and conversion of electrical power traditionally utilize silicon semiconductors. These systems tend to be bulky, require active cooling, and are inadequate for...

Products of Tomorrow: June 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...

VTOL UAV with the Cruise Efficiency of a Conventional Fixed-Wing UAV

NASA Langley Research Center has developed Greased Lightning, the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability with...

Connecting the Digital Twin: From Idea Through Production, to Customers and Back

Rapidly advancing technology and groundbreaking innovations are changing the world of manufacturing. Trends such as Big Data, Cloud Technology, and the...

3D-Printed Parts Key to NASA’s Orion Mission

Stratasys Ltd.
Eden Prairie, MN
www.stratasys.com

Orion is NASA’s spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. Orion’s next test flight, dubbed Exploration...

Ground-Based System Guides UAVs to Avoid Collisions

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) averages more than 100 reports a month of interactions between unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and commercial or private planes. For UAS to fly in...

Airborne Background Oriented Schlieren Technique

NASA has developed a novel method to render visible the density changes in air that cause a refractive index change by an airborne vehicle. These density changes include shock waves, vortices,...

Wearable System Monitors Stomach Activity

A wearable, non-invasive system was developed to monitor electrical activity in the stomach over 24 hours — essentially an electrocardiogram for the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. Monitoring for...

5 Ws of The Sentinel Wrap

Who

Food manufacturers, as well as manufacturers of medical supplies and instruments.

Quick Disconnect for High-Pressure Mate/De-Mate

NASA Kennedy Space Center seeks partners interested in the commercial application of the Quick Disconnect for High Pressure Mate/De-Mate. Designed at KSC, this technology is intended for use in...

Using Vanadium Dioxide to Create Programmable Electronic Functions

Vanadium dioxide’s unique properties make it ideally suited for outperforming silicon and giving rise to a new generation of low-power electronic devices. This compound can...

All-Terrain Wheelchair

Researchers have developed an innovative design for a wheelchair that can more easily navigate on soft and uneven outdoor terrain such as grass and gravel. The chair uses three wheels — two wheels in the front...

Integrating Optical Components into Existing Chip Designs

Moving from electrical communication to optical communication is attractive to chip manufacturers because it could significantly increase chips’ speed and reduce power consumption,...

Algorithm Provides Early Warning of Pathogen Exposure

Overt symptoms of many diseases often do not manifest until days after a person’s initial exposure to the causative pathogen, typically a virus or bacteria. By then, the disease may...

New Products & Services: June 2018 Aerospace Manufacturing & Machining

Miniature IP68 Rated Data Recorder

The new SLICE IP68 data acquisition system from DTS (Seal Beach, CA) is designed to capture physical signals in challenging...

How to Harness Humidity: Hydrogel Keeps Rooms Cool, Powers Small Devices

There is plenty of moisture in the air — Professor Swee Ching Tan wants to harvest the humidity and put it to good use.

Here's an Idea: How 'Simple' Sponges Are Solving Complex Problems

After a disaster like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf coast, what if a giant sponge could clean up the area and the wildlife around it?

Answering Your Questions: Who Will Integrate 3D Metal Printing — Tiers or OEMs?

A reader asks: Will it be the OEMs or the Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers who will be purchasing 3D metal printing machines?

A 'Missing' Component Could Revolutionize Electronics

A radically new electronic building block is being proposed.

How to Make Your Factory Wireless — A NIST Guide

The just-published NIST Guide to Wireless Systems Deployments in industrial environments was developed by a group of experts on wireless communications from government, industry, and...

New One-Dimensional Material Has Applications in Nanometer-Scale Transistors and Circuits

Quasi-1D materials will play an important role in device miniaturization.

FLAM! Researchers Test Cellulose as Sustainable 3D-Printing Material

Researchers from Singapore University of Technology and Design have demonstrated 3D printing with one of the Earth’s most abundant organic compounds: cellulose.

Studying the Secrets Behind Spider Glue

How does a spider's glue maintain its stickiness, even in high humidity? Researchers in Akron investigated the question.

Will Flexible Solar Cells Soon Power Our Devices?

Professor Jaana Vapaavuori spoke with Tech Briefs about the manufacturing methods that could someday decrease the cost and increase the lifetime of flexible solar cells.

Answering Your Questions: Can CFD Software Simulate 'Wear and Tear' on an Engine?

Simulation tools offer insight into the physical processes of heavy-duty engines. But what about natural wear and tear?

With a Conductive Thin Film, Researchers Test a Silver Screen

PhD student Jes Linnet hopes that a silver-based, transparent conductive electrode film offers a longer-lasting alternative for flexible screens and electronics.

Surveillance Cameras “Talk” to the Public Through Smartphones

A Purdue University Ph.D. student co-developed PHADE, a technology that allows public cameras to send personalized messages to people without compromising their privacy....

Machine Learning Software Improves Robot Interaction

MIT PhD candidate and Amazon Robotics Challenge winner Maria Bauza is helping to improve how robots interact with the world. Bauza has been exploring the notion of uncertainty when...

Following Up: What is the Future of Flexible Solar Cells?

Researcher Jaana Vapaavuori answered an additional question regarding the future of flexible solar cells.

Wireless System Can Power Devices Inside the Body

Researchers have developed a new way to power and communicate with devices implanted deep within the human body.

Self-Assembling 3D Battery Would Charge in Seconds

Instead of having a battery’s anode and cathode on either side of a nonconducting separator, a new battery would intertwine the two.

Future Electric Cars Could Recharge Wirelessly While You Drive

Electric vehicles may one day be able to recharge while driving down the highway, drawing wireless power directly from plates installed in the road.

Paving the Way for Safer, Smaller Batteries and Fuel Cells

Researchers are developing a solid electrolyte that will make safer, better batteries.

To Communicate, Researchers Test the Power of Touch

Could touch be the new avenue for communications? Researchers from MIT and Purdue University think so and are working on a “general-purpose” tactile system that delivers information...

Aerial Robot Morphs in Flight

An aerial robot capable of altering its profile during flight paves the way for a new generation of large robots that can move through narrow passages, making them ideal for exploration as well as search and...

Answering Your Questions: What is Virtual Prototyping (for Optics)?

Just because it's computer simulation doesn't mean it's virtual prototyping. Our expert explains.

A ‘Green’ Concrete Calls for Less Cement, More Ash

Researchers from Rice University are finding ways to use greater amounts of fly ash in an effort to build a “greener” kind of concrete.