Briefs: Imaging

New High-Speed Microscope Can Capture Brain Neuroactivity

A research team has built a super-high-speed microscope.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Low-Cost Imaging System Poised to Provide Automatic Mosquito Tracking

A new low-cost imaging system could make it easier to track mosquito species that carry disease, enabling a more timely and targeted response.

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Extended Dynamic Range Camera Imaging

New surveillance sensors are able to perform better than ever under unpredictable and dynamic lighting conditions.

Technology Leaders: Materials

High Quality Optical Surfaces

Make sure the polished optic meets the requirement of a particular application.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Optical In-Line VCSEL Testing

In-line testing of certain LEDs, using nanosecond pulses, will become more and more relevant with time-of-flight applications.

Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics

ZERODUR: The Highly Technical Glass-Ceramic

Highly technical glass-ceramic delivers optical precision at nanometer scale.

Products: Photonics/Optics

New Products: July 2020 Photonics & Imaging Technology

High-speed cameras, ultra-stable mounts, automated inspection systems, and more...

Articles: Imaging

Understanding Sensitivity in sCMOS Microscopy Cameras

A new iteration of sCMOS camera technology promises even higher sensitivity than prior designs.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Photonic Microwave Generation Using On-Chip Optical Frequency Combs

Using integrated photonic chips fabricated at EPFL, scientists have demonstrated laser-based microwave generators.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Unlocking the Gate to the Millisecond CT

A new CT scan method using intense synchrotron radiation produces higher quality images within milliseconds.

Application Briefs: Lighting

Beyond LPW: Debunking the Myth that More is Better

There’s been a race to the top among industrial LED lighting manufacturers as they scramble to squeeze the maximum possible lumens per watt (LPW) out of their products.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

A Combined Optical Transmitter and Receiver

Researchers at Linköping University, together with colleagues in China, have developed a tiny unit that is both an optical transmitter and a receiver.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Quantum Computing at Room Temperature

Quantum computer circuits that will no longer need extremely cold temperatures to function could become a reality.

Briefs: Materials

Fabrication of Multilayer Ferritin Arrays

This method creates a thin-film electrode for a bio-nanobattery.

5 Ws: Lighting

5 Ws Of LEDs for 3D Metal Printing

In the operating room, you can produce bioresorbable metal implants, such as screws for bone fractures.

Briefs: Nanotechnology

Semiconductors Can Behave Like Metals and Superconductors

This work potentially opens the door to advances like more energy-efficient electronic devices.

Briefs: Propulsion

Electrohydraulically Actuated Valve Train

The new technology demonstrates a 20 percent savings in fuel in typical passenger car low-load operating conditions.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Soft Prosthetic Hand Feels Surroundings via Stretchable Optical Waveguides

Sensors in the hand can actually detect forces being transmitted through the thickness of the robot.

Briefs: Software

Machine-Learning Tool for Developing Tougher Materials

This rapid screening system tests fracture resistance in billions of potential materials.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Hardware Reduces Energy Draw of Artificial Intelligence

A quantum material could offset energy demand of artificial intelligence.

Briefs: Materials

Multi-Polymer Filament Increases Production from Low-Cost Printers

The new filament allows low-cost printers to produce parts with mechanical properties competitive with injection molded plastics.

Briefs: Propulsion

SMART Solar Sail

The miniaturized, autonomous, reconfigurable solar sail is capable of very fine maneuvering by small surface deformation.

Briefs: Propulsion

Machine Learning Enables Rapid Rocket Engine Design

This method provides a fast way to assess rocket engine performance in a variety of operating conditions.

NASA Spinoff: Aerospace

Mission Control Conference System Enables Global Collaboration

Automated systems developed for NASA now serve as office conference bridges.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Robot Automates Blood Drawing and Testing

The device provides quick results and gives healthcare workers more time to treat patients in hospitals and other settings.

Briefs: Energy

Wearable Cooling and Heating Patch

The patch could serve as a personal thermostat and save energy.

Briefs: Software

Elimination of Mission Clock Drift Contribution to Attitude and Celestial Pointing Error in the MSL Surface Mission

This potentially eliminates the need for future re-synchronizations.

Application Briefs: Materials

Development Software Handles High-Integrity Space Applications

NASA needed help accurately measuring Earth-reflected sunlight.

Facility Focus: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Facility Focus: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

NIBIB is committed to integrating the physical and engineering sciences with the life sciences to advance basic research and medical care.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Products of Tomorrow: July 2020

NASA's Dry Goods Delivery System, a lung-heart sensor on a chip, and more.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

System Reduces the Carbon Footprint of Artificial Intelligence

An automated system cuts the energy required for training and running neural networks.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Biohybrid Can Turn Carbon Dioxide into New Products

Applications exist both on Mars and on Earth.

Q&A: Materials

Q&A: Underwater Smart Glue Turns On and Off

An adhesive can be deactivated by applying a small voltage.

Technology Leaders: AR/AI

Enhancing Aircraft System Monitoring and Reducing Unscheduled Maintenance

Aircraft may have a huge amount of data available, but this doesn’t mean it’s the right data to troubleshoot a problem.

Briefs: Unmanned Systems

Autonomous Boats Automatically Target and Clasp Onto Each Other

A fleet of “roboats” could transport people, collect trash, and self-assemble into floating structures.

Briefs: Materials

Super-Fast Method for Ceramic Manufacturing

Scientists have reinvented a 26,000-year-old manufacturing process into an innovative approach to fabricating ceramic materials widely used in batteries, electronics, and extreme environments....

Briefs: Energy

Sodium-Ion Batteries

These can replace rechargeable lithium-ion batteries commonly used in robotics, power tools, and grid-scale energy storage.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Single-Atom Transistors

Linking multiple copies of these devices may lay the foundation for quantum computing.

Articles: Electronics & Computers

5 Important ESD Protection Considerations for Augmented Reality Wearables

How to design for safety, reliability, and connectivity using the latest circuit protection technologies and board layout strategies.

Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing

Nature-Inspired Green Energy Technology

A new design enables artificial photosynthesis to generate fuel that can power homes and vehicles.

Products: Test & Measurement

New on the Market: July 2020

Photoelectric sensors, cable connectors, power monitors, and USB3 cameras.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Product of the Month: July 2020 Tech Briefs

Tektronix announced new digital storage oscilloscopes.

Blog: Photonics/Optics

Answering Your Questions: Will the 2020 Mars Rover Have Back-Up Features?

A reader asks our NASA expert: "What kind of redundancy is built into the Mars 2020 rover?"

Blog: Software

Even NASA Needs Effective Parts Sourcing

You can design the best product in the world but what if the parts, assemblies, and sub-components for your idea aren’t there?

Tech Talks: Software

From System to Software: A Study in Efficient, Robust Design for Electric Vehicles

In the fast-growing domain of electric vehicle development, many challenges exist. Range anxiety and cost are adoption barriers, in addition to...

Podcasts: Robotics, Automation & Control

Here's an Idea: A Morphing Airplane Wing Built by Tiny Robots

Ben Jennet is a PhD student at MIT and a former space research fellow at NASA. He is working with NASA to develop a new kind of aircraft wing that's flexible and changes mid-flight.

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Answering Your (Mars 2020) Questions: Will the Perseverance Rover Carry Around NASA's Mars Helicopter?

The Mars rover Perseverance has a helicopter. Will the rover have to carry it around?

Webinars: Medical

Sensor Technology: A Flexible Solution for Wearables

The market for wearable technology in healthcare is exploding.

On-Demand Webinars: Aerospace

Understanding O-ring Complexity in the Aerospace Industry

O-rings are a ubiquitous, uncomplicated sealing solution for virtually millions of products. They seal out moisture and environmental contaminants, separate surfaces to...

INSIDER: Materials

Transparent Graphene Electrodes Might Lead to New Generation of Solar Cells

A new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells, and to new classes of...

INSIDER: Imaging

Using Sunlight to Save Satellites from Becoming ‘Space Junk’

Carolin Frueh is among only a handful of researchers who have persisted in using a complex technique that can diagnose a problem from thousands of miles away based on how a...

INSIDER Product: Imaging

New Products: July 2020 Photonics & Imaging Insider

Ultraviolet-Enhanced Circular Photodetector

Opto Diode Corporation (Camarillo, CA) has introduced the UVG5S, an ultraviolet-enhanced photodiode with a 5 mm² circular active area....

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Comb on a Chip Could Revolutionize Clocks, Telescopes, Telecommunications

Just as a meter stick with hundreds of tick marks can be used to measure distances with great precision, a device known as a laser frequency comb, with its...

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

Guided by Light, A Mini Robot Catches Particles Underwater

A tiny underwater robot may someday filter out water contaminants by catching them with its tentacles.

On-Demand Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

The Path to High-Level Autonomy for Commercial Vehicles

Automated-driving technology experts continue to project commercial vehicles as the most promising early adoption sector for high-level automation. But ever-evolving technology...

Blog: Test & Measurement

Answering Your Questions: How Does the Mars Rover Camera Stay Clean?

The Perseverance rover has an almost human-like way of keeping its lenses clean.

Blog: Motion Control

Robotic Gripper Gets a Handle on a Challenging Object: Cables

We plug in our headphones everyday. Now a robot can perform the task.

Webinars: Medical

COVID-19: The New Design Paradigm and Emerging Technologies

As COVID-19 has spread throughout the world, it has ushered in a new era of medical device design — one that involves open-source designs, shared design specifications,...

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

Answering Your Questions: How Automated is the Mars Rover Landing?

Can NASA "joystick" the landing of the next Mars rover? A Tech Briefs reader asks our NASA expert.

Blog: Aerospace

Watch: NASA's Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing

Watch NASA experts review this week's preparations, as the Perseverance rover launches and begins its journey to Mars.

On-Demand Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

Why Multiple Sensing Modalities Are Required to Achieve Level 3 to 5 Vehicle Automation

In the past 24 months, there has been increased skepticism regarding the ability of the automotive industry to deliver fully functional Level 3...

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Watch: NASA's Mars 2020 Sample Return Briefing

Watch below as NASA experts review how they plan to return samples from the surface of Mars back to Earth.

Blog: Aerospace

Watch Live: A Mars 2020 Briefing with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

Mars 2020 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other NASA experts offer a briefing on this week's launch of the Perseverance rover.

INSIDER: Motion Control

Self-Latching Piezocomposite Actuator

NASA Langley has developed a self-latching piezocomposite actuator with power-off, set-and-hold capability. If integrated into an aerodynamic control surface or engine inlet, deflections could be...

On-Demand Webinars: Aerospace

Aviation Electrification: Choosing Your Motor Topology and Material Advancements

As the aerospace industry continues to evolve toward more energy-efficient systems, new technologies are emerging. An example is the need for very large...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Human-Like Hands with Flexible, Hybrid Actuators

In industrial settings, robots often are used for tasks that require repetitive grasping and manipulation of objects. A humanoid hand design that is a soft-hard hybrid flexible gripper can...

Blog: Aerospace

Watch: The Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch

Watch below as the Perseverance rover and its Ingenuity helicopter make their way to Mars.

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

With Satellite Data, NASA Shows COVID-19 Impact on Food Supply Chain

“Food supply” goes beyond just crop production. See how NASA is offering a more comprehensive look at food security and agriculture.

On-Demand Webinars: Robotics, Automation & Control

Collaborative Robotics: Sharing the Workspace

Manufacturing robots were kept in cages previously, programmed by specialists, and often used for a single task. Today’s collaborative robots are being used by manufacturers to automate...