Mars: Past, Present, Future

Since the dawn of the space race, the idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies. From the successful flyby of NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1964 to the Perseverance rover in 2020, the missions to Mars have come a long way.

NASA’s New, Resilient Approach to Moon, Mars Exploration

As NASA builds a blueprint for exploration throughout the solar system, the agency is doing it with staying power in mind. The agency's new analysis process is designed to align its Moon to Mars exploration strategy and codify the supporting architecture.

Robotic Exploration of Caves on Mars

University of Arizona engineers have developed a system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts. Their robust platform could allow robotic explorers to operate underground or even submerged in liquid environments.

Developing High-Fidelity Martian Regolith Simulants

Researchers at the Exolith Lab, University of Central Florida, are simulating realistic materials to be used for testing a range of technologies for Martian surface interactions and operations.

Astronaut Smart Glove for Mars EVA Spacesuits

One of the most demanding needs for dexterous and sustained subtle control inputs during EVA could be the operation of drones as robotic assistants. The Astronaut Smart Glove amplifies the effects of subtle finger, hand, and wrist gestures while wearing existing rigid pressurized spacesuit gloves.

Earthly Twin Offers Test Bed for NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover

OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, on Earth is helping NASA assess the risk of potential driving hazards on the surface of the Red Planet.

3D-Printed Mars Habitat Simulated on Earth

CHAPEA is a series of analog missions that will simulate year-long stays on the surface of Mars. Insights from these missions will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars.

5Ws of ‘Talking’ Concrete

A new technology allows concrete to “talk,” decreases construction time and how often concrete pavement needs repairs while also improving the road’s sustainability and cutting its carbon footprint.

How Much Do You Know About Additive Manufacturing?

How much do you know about additive manufacturing? Test yourself with this quiz.

Tensegrity Robots to the Rescue

Squishy Robotics’ tensegrity sensor robots gather data at the scenes of fires, crashes, explosions, and other disasters to help first responders determine their approach to a disaster scene.

Building a Better Prosthetic to Restore Mobility for Amputees

Prosthetic technology has seen incredible advancements over the past three decades, but the socket, one of the device’s most important parts, has remained relatively unchanged.

Automating Warehouse Inventory Monitoring with Drones

Gather AI is using drones to automate inventory monitoring processes for warehouse operators to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity and boost revenue.

Magnetic Bearing Technology Enables Environmental Control for Human Space Exploration

Leveraging a high-speed permanent magnet motor, an environmental control system aboard the ISS represents a step change toward electrification and optimization.

How Much Do You Know About Integrated Circuits?

Integrated circuits (IC) are the fundamental building block of all modern electronic devices. So, how much do you know about ICs? Find out with this quiz.

Taking Industrial Robot Automation to New Heights

Combining an industrial robot, computerized vision system, AI, and machine learning, Skyline Robotics has succeeded in automating window washing for the world’s skyscrapers.

Turning Old Maps into 3D Digital Models of Lost Neighborhoods

Researchers have developed machine learning tools that can extract details about individual buildings from maps to make 3D digital models.

How to Diagnose an Ailing Bridge

A solar-powered wireless sensor system developed by a Drexel University team can continuously monitor bridge deformation and could be used to alert authorities if the bridge performance deteriorates significantly.

How Much Do You Know About PLCs for Industrial Control?

Industrial PLCs were first used in 1969 and are still in wide use today. Test your PLC knowledge with this quiz.

Power Electronics Workshop Invites Industry to Collaborate Around Grid Stability Challenges

Growth in renewable energy has initiated an era of power electronics for the grid, and engineers are grappling with the change. That is why the...

New Technology to Find EV Charging Vulnerabilities

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) intern Jake Guidry has developed a cybersecurity research tool that could improve the security of electric vehicle charging. The AcCCS tool provides access...

Small Power Modules, Building Blocks of The Electric Grid

The U.S. electric grid is more than just power plants and transmission lines — it’s a web of connections among millions of small components, working together to allow you to...

AI in MedTech

AI can enhance healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and enable personalized treatments.

A Step Toward Safe and Reliable Autopilots

In the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is charged with training young pilots to complete a seemingly impossible mission — to fly their jets deep into a rocky canyon,...

Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Drone Swarms

It’s a long-held notion, proven in fact, that robots are the perfect instrument to free humans from jobs that are dull, dirty, and dangerous — the “3 Ds” in industry speak — with...

New Bioinspired Robot Flies, Walks, and More

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

Clean, Sustainable Fuels Made from ‘Thin Air’ and Plastic Waste

Researchers have demonstrated how carbon dioxide can be captured from industrial processes — or even directly from the air — and transformed into clean, sustainable fuels using just the energy from the sun.

Sensors — the Heart of the IoT

Sensors are getting smarter and smarter. Without them there would be no IoT, or IIoT, or Industry 4.0.

The Rise of Autonomous Mobile Robots

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) for warehouse and industrial operations are surging, and this growth is expected to increase for the foreseeable future. Test your knowledge about AMRs in this quiz.

'Toggle Switch' Could Help Quantum Computers Become More Versatile

Quantum-computer designers are constantly faced with challenges, but a new device from a team at NIST may make them easier to solve.