The Natilus Blended-Wing-Body Autonomous Air Cargo Aircraft

Natilus CEO Aleksey Matyushev explains his vision for autonomous air cargo operations.

Enabling Ambitious Battery Production at Scale

The battery industry is forecasted to grow tenfold by the end of the decade. This growth is driven by increasing demand for Li-ion cell batteries, predominantly for electrified transportation and energy storage.

Key Design Considerations for Automated Production of EV Batteries

Examining an EV battery degassing automated cell that is widely installed across the industry exemplifies many design features.

Decarbonizing the EV Battery Supply Chain

A report from consultants at McKinsey & Co. strikes an optimistic tone that major reductions in carbon emissions from the electric vehicle battery supply chain can be attained in the next five to 10 years.

Controlling Electric Double Layer Dynamics for All-Solid-State Batteries

Researchers have employed a novel technique to investigate and modulate electric double layer dynamics at the solid/solid electrolyte interface.

Increased Storage Capacity in Water-Based Batteries

Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered a 1,000 percent difference in the storage capacity of metal-free, water-based battery electrodes.

Oxygen-Ion Battery: A Solution for Large Energy Storage Systems

TU Wien has developed an oxygen-ion battery that has some important advantages. Although it does not allow for quite as high energy densities as the Li-ion battery, its storage capacity does not decrease irrevocably over time.

New Polymer Coating Could Boost EV Batteries

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a conductive polymer coating – called HOS-PFM – that could enable longer lasting, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

New Products

See the new products, including a battery management system, a battery simulator, a battery charger, and much more.

Battle for the Box

Whether you call them packs, boxes, or trays, the structures that envelop and protect EV battery cells and their supporting electrical and thermal-management hardware are among the industry's top subsystem priorities.

Designing Shock-Mitigating Seats for Boat Operators

Products for nautical applications face an unusual set of design challenges. The corrosiveness of salt water can cause premature degradation, and the impact of fast-moving vessels bouncing up against forceful ocean waves can also damage equipment.

A Harvesting Robot Automates Apple Picking

“AurOrA” is a small autonomous vehicle, which in the future will move independently around fruit orchards and detect full fruit boxes, pick them up, and take them to a defined unloading point.

Robotic Hand Can Identify Objects with Just One Grasp

Inspired by the human finger, MIT researchers have developed a robotic hand that uses high-resolution touch sensing to accurately identify an object after grasping it just one time.

A Four-Legged Robotic System Can Move on Tough Landscapes

Researchers from MIT’s Improbable Artificial Intelligence Lab have developed a legged robotic system that can dribble a soccer ball under the same conditions as humans.

Chip-Free, Autonomous OrigaMechs with Conductive Materials

Roboticists have been using a technique similar to origami to develop autonomous machines out of thin, flexible sheets. These lightweight robots are simpler and cheaper to make and more compact for easier storage and transport.

Head-Worn Assistive Teleoperation of Mobile Manipulators

New research from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI) aims to increase autonomy for individuals with motor impairments by introducing a head-worn device that will help them control a mobile manipulator.

New Products

See the new products, including a crossed-roller linear bearing, a lifting column, a motion-sizing tool, and more.

Design Techniques for Efficient Power Transmission

Power transmission is critical in industrial automation as it enables machines to work together seamlessly, reducing downtime and maximizing productivity.

Videos of the Month

Watch the videos of the month, including one on the DARPA RACER program, one on a NASA supercomputer's theory on the Moon's formation, and more.

Multiphysics Simulation Drives Smart City Technology

Ishant Jain, Principal Researcher in R&D at Raychem RPG, applied his years of simulation experience to the challenge of creating a smart city-ready and space-conscious power box. The team enlisted multiphysics simulation to tackle the engineering challenges that accompanied the creation of this radical new design.

Optimizing Torque Measurement in Robotics Applications

With the advent of lower-cost robots that are easier and cheaper to deploy, collaborative robots or cobots are finding new industrial and consumer applications.

Hydrodynamic Effect Helps Motorized Objects Navigate Inclines

The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.

Chemically Driven Wheels “Morph” Into Gears

A catalytic reaction causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously morph into a three-dimensional gear.

Micromotor Winding Technology Uses AI to Improve Motor Performance

Achievable coils increase the capabilities of the micromotors.

Extractor for Chemical Analysis of Lipid Biomarkers in Regolith (ExCALiBR)

NASA Ames Research Center has developed a novel technology that provides an autonomous, miniaturized fluidic system for lipid analysis.

Flow-Through Transducer for Wind Tunnel Analysis

To enable key aerospace R&D applications, NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a single-piece flow-through transducer design capable of measuring all six components adding in the Axial force measurement.

Cohesive Circuit Protection for Wearable Electronics

The cellulose nanofiber coating counters bending damage and retains electrode function under water.

Solid-State Thermal Transistor

A research team at Hokkaido University has developed the first solid-state electrochemical thermal transistor. It's more stable than, and just as effective as, current liquid-state thermal transistors.

Implantable Chip Uses Machine Learning to Detect Neural Disease

Boasting a 256-channel high-resolution sensing array and an energy-efficient machine learning processor, NeuralTree can extract and classify a broad set of biomarkers from real patient data and animal models of disease in-vivo.

Bio-Magnetic Device May Enhance Mammalian Tissue Repair

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have designed a therapeutic device that applies a time-varying electromagnetic force to damaged mammalian tissue and is intended to enhance healing.

Revolutionizing High-Performance Computer Memory Storage

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field, microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

Multi-Material Digital Light Processing 3D Printing

Researchers from Japan and Singapore have developed a new 3D-printing process for the fabrication of 3D metal–plastic composite structures with complex shapes.

Using 3D Printing to Strengthen Jet Engines

Skoltech engineers have used a 3D printer to fabricate — and investigate the mechanical characteristics of — samples of bronze-steel alloys previously unknown to materials science.

Making High-Performance Parts Inexpensive and Durable

Idaho National Laboratory has developed world-class capabilities to help industry design efficient SPS manufacturing processes. The lab’s newest addition makes it possible to manufacture new materials at industrially relevant scales.

Augmented Reality Headset Provides X-Ray Vision

MIT researchers have built an AR headset that gives the wearer X-ray vision. The headset combines computer vision and wireless perception to automatically locate a specific item that is hidden from view.

New Microchip Sensor Measures Stress Hormones from Drop of Blood

A Rutgers-led team of researchers has developed a microchip that can measure stress hormones in real time from a drop of blood.

New Nanoparticle-Based Sensors Can Measure Residual Herbicides in Food

The work shows the real-world viability of their easy-to-use and inexpensive methods of testing.

Can Your Phone Tell if a Bridge Is in Good Shape?

A new study suggests mobile data collected while traveling over bridges could help evaluate their integrity.

Automatic Observation Management System, New Tool to Coordinate Telescope Network

The "AOM" performs complex observations with ten observation modes and 175 strategies.

Researchers Acquire 3D Images with LED Room Lighting and a Smartphone

Researchers are tapping into dynamically controlled LEDs to create a simple illumination system for 3D imaging.

Coherent Correlation Imaging Helps Understand Changes in Magnetic Materials

Scientists used a novel analysis technique — called coherent correlation imaging (CCI) — to image the evolution of magnetic domains in time and space without any previous knowledge.

New on the Market

See the new products on the market, including a ruggedized portable HMI mount, a high-efficiency power amplifier, embedded antenna models, and much more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including foldable robots, quantum internet, and sensor-free valve control.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: A highly intuitive human-machine interface (HMI). The PACSystems RXi HMI has projective capacitive touchscreen technology that allows users to interact with the visual display with 10-point multitouch capabilities.

How Much Do You Know About Green Design and Manufacturing?

Green practices help organizations become more efficient, competitive, and profitable. How much do you know about green design and manufacturing? Find out with this quiz.

AI Can Run 10,000 Microbial Experiments per Day

The artificial intelligence platform — BacterAI — mapped the metabolism of two microbes associated with oral health — with no baseline information to start with.

Sensors that Operate at High Temperatures and in Extreme Environments

Extreme environments in several critical industries — aerospace, energy, transportation, and defense — require sensors to measure and monitor numerous factors under...

The World’s First Wood Transistor

Transistors are considered by some to be an invention just as important to humanity as the telephone, the light bulb, or the bicycle. Today, they are a crucial component in modern electronic devices, and...

Engineers “Grow” Atomically Thin Transistors on Top of Computer Chips

Emerging AI applications, like chatbots that generate natural human language, demand denser, more powerful computer chips. But semiconductor chips are traditionally...

3D-Printed Talking Robot Heads Could Improve Audio Tech

The Augmented Listening Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is using 3D-printed, humanoid robots for research to improve acoustics.

How Much Do You Know About MEMS?

MEMS sensors are being integrated into more and more kinds of devices. Although we might not be aware of it, most people rely on them every day. How much do you know about MEMS? Test yourself with this quiz.

'Artificial Memory' Can Help Robots Find Missing Objects

Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia locate objects they need but have lost.

A Wearable Lab on a Patch

Nutromics breakthrough technology combines multiple DNA sensors with microneedles.

How Much Do You Know About Satellite Communications?

The use of satellites for wireless and mobile communication applications has become a widespread practice across multiple industries. How much do you know about satellite communications? Test yourself with this quiz.

Q&A: Are Satellites Vulnerable to IoT Cyber Attacks?

Phosphorous VP of Product Sonu Shankar outlines the xIoT approach to cyber protection for satellites.

An EV Battery that Works in Sub-Zero Temperature

Many owners of EVs worry about how their battery will perform in extremely cold temperatures. However, a new battery chemistry may have solved that problem.

Sustainable Aviation: The Race to Net-Zero

The global aviation industry is pursuing the goal of net-zero carbon emissions, driving momentum for aircraft electrification. How much do you know about sustainable aviation? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Superlubricity Coating for Nearly Friction-Free Surfaces

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving...

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Help Electrify Aviation

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Physics-Aware Neural Networks Improve Camera-Based Machines

Researchers from UCLA and the United States Army Research Laboratory have laid out a new approach for enhancing artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by...

Smart Material Challenges Newton’s Laws of Motion

The team has developed a prototype metamaterial that uses electrical signals to control both the direction and intensity of energy waves passing through a solid material.

Sensors Vs. Disasters

Safety sensor systems require lots of special attention to their design and operation, everything that should be considered in any kind of design, but with double the attention. And there are also unique safety requirements as well.

How Much Do You Know About Quantum Computing?

Think you know quantum computing? Test your knowledge about it with this quiz.