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Special Reports: Energy
Power Electronics - August 2021
This compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech Briefs and Aerospace & Defense Technology looks at the latest advances in power electronics and energy storage for a range of applications including...Articles: Motion Control
Learn the differences between bipolar and unipolar motors, their driving methods, and advantages and limitations.
Articles: Motion Control
A new generation of long-life electric linear actuators has emerged to give designers more flexibility.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Oscillatory and rotational motions of different parts are combined to pave the way to developing super-miniaturized mechanical devices.
Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Linear motion bearings, magnetic angle encoders, isolation valves, and more.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A connection between electricity and mechanical motion in soft, rubber-like materials could improve robot range.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This artificial muscle technology enables more human-like motion.
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
RightHand Robotics combines machine vision with an intelligent gripper design to make more adaptable robots.
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
These common pneumatic circuits can be used alone or as building blocks in larger pneumatics systems.
Application Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An OEM must think about how to build a machine that will work on any kind of power system.
Briefs: Transportation
This below-the-hook device enables gentle crane placement to decrease the risk of property damage.
Briefs: Materials
SMA tube elements drive rotary and ring gear motion in compact, powerful actuators.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
The chemical process turns plastic into biodegradable chemicals for surfactants and detergents.
Briefs: Aerospace
The tough circuits could withstand the grueling demands of energy production, space exploration, and more.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Applications include vehicle and aircraft tires, sports helmets, military equipment, and seals and couplings.
Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Epoxies, reverse-engineering software, temperature loggers, and more.
Briefs: Packaging & Sterilization
This treatment has the potential to remove from drinking water nearly all viruses that have an “outer fortress.”
Briefs: Aerospace
Applications include anti-fouling and anti-contamination, aerodynamic and hydrodynamic drag reduction, and adhesive joining of composite parts.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Battery Identity Global Passport could be accessible as a scannable QR code or a computer chip.
Briefs: Energy
This technology can be used for large production volumes such as fuel-cell-powered vehicles.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Applications include manned deep space exploration and terrestrial CO2 removal systems.
Briefs: AR/AI
Gait data and machine learning help to monitor and predict disease progression.
Briefs: Nanotechnology
Applications include aerospace and automotive components, prosthetics, sporting goods, and other uses where strength-to-weight ratio is important.
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Material for shoe bottoms could help prevent falls in icy or slippery conditions.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
This invention enables improved carrier mobility for solar cells and other electronic devices.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The switch has uses in circuit protection systems in the electric power grid, high-power military applications, and power for materials processing.
Briefs: Materials
High-quality coated components can be integrated into complex systems in a sustainable way.
Briefs: Wearables
The soft, stretchy skin patch can monitor cardiovascular signals and multiple biochemical levels at the same time.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Learn about widely used communications technologies for motion control.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
By reclaiming polymers in plastics, the process could cut down on millions of tons of plastic waste.
Briefs: Materials
The material sets the stage for new forms of electric power in the future.
Briefs: Energy
Chilled panels use less energy than conventional A/C and work in open spaces.
NASA Spinoff: Test & Measurement
NASA’s need to contain hazardous lunar dust led to technology that senses other pollutants.
Briefs: Materials
The technology recovers pure and precious metals from alloys in cellphones and other electrical waste.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The robot firmly but gently grasps objects as small as 1 millimeter in diameter.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This novel gel-creation method could open applications in water filtration, batteries, and smart windows.
Briefs: Automotive
Applications include sensor signal conditioning in harsh conditions such as automotive, oil and gas operations, and firefighting.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
The solution increases water recovery, prevents mineral scaling, and cuts the volume of brines in half.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
The desalination method produces clean water while, at the same time, potentially capturing valuable metals such as gold.
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A triboelectric generator made of flexible circuit boards creates electricity when the wearer moves.
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The Earth Imaging Spectrometer instrument is heading to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The organic composite material is soft, stretchable, and has good thermoelectric properties for many wearable applications.
Q&A: Electronics & Computers
Kristin Sampayan from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found a fast way to switch high voltages.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
This new technique shields electronics from ionizing radiation in applications such as military and space exploration.
Briefs: Energy
Applications include wind turbines, solar arrays, commercial space mobile launchers, and industrial process stacks and equipment.
5 Ws: Packaging & Sterilization
A specially designed hydrogel works against all types of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant ones.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The microchips are about 100 times smaller than conventional microchips.
Briefs: Materials
The battery is smaller than a traditional lithium-ion battery due to the elimination of dendrites.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The oscillator is designed for localized clock signal generation and data transmission in telemetry systems and remote sensing.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Superalloys that withstand extremely high temperatures could be finely tuned for specific properties such as mechanical strength.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The circuitry uses race logic to solve complex problems with a minimum expenditure of energy.
Briefs: Energy
These organic solar cells can be useful where constant, low power generation is sufficient.
Briefs: Medical
The patch can replace blood draws to test for antibodies that signal a viral or bacterial infection such as SARS-CoV-2.
Briefs: Nanotechnology
The technology potentially enables a new generation of miniaturized electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Briefs: Nanotechnology
High-frequency sound waves can be used to build new materials, make smart nanoparticles, and even deliver drugs to the lungs for painless, needle-free vaccinations.
Briefs: Materials
By introducing defects to a common material, a highly efficient capacitor offers dramatically increased energy density.
Facility Focus: Robotics, Automation & Control
WPI supports research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, cybersecurity, and fire safety.
Briefs: Aerospace
The lightweight brake rotor design with high heat dissipation uses novel surface cooling technology.
Briefs: Energy
Solid-state batteries offer a higher level of safety and potentially longer life than lithium-ion batteries.
Briefs: Energy
A flexible device worn on the wrist harvests heat energy from the human body to monitor health.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
By capturing more cancer cells than blood draw screening, this device could help doctors understand a tumor’s biology and make decisions about treatment.
UpFront: AR/AI
NASA's Landslide Reporter, a smarter cement, and a way to track microplastics in the ocean.
Application Briefs: Aerospace
After rigorous ground testing, NASA’s Four Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber will be installed on the ISS.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A new COVID test, a "ChromoUpdate," and NASA's brake rotor.
Briefs: Materials
Prototypes show promise as a low-cost, natural filtration option.
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
The high-quality bioplastics can be molded into a film that can be used in plastic bags and packaging.
Briefs: Energy
An enhanced polymer could be used for more energy-efficient systems with a smaller carbon footprint.
Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
An extrudable thermoplastic 3D printing filament allows users to create lightweight, sponge-like foams.
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will ‘Air Power’ Boost the Use of Soft Robots?
Our second INSIDER story today highlighted William Grover and his UC Riverside team’s efforts to swap electronics with air.
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
USC researchers unveiled a new simulator for robotic cutting that can accurately reproduce the forces acting on a knife as it slices through common food such as fruit and vegetables. The...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
MIT researchers have designed a sharp-tipped robot finger equipped with tactile sensing to meet the challenge of identifying buried objects. Digger Finger was able to dig through granular media such as...
Blog: AR/AI
A team of researchers at USC is helping artificial intelligence imagine the unseen.
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Researchers at North Carolina State University demonstrated a low-cost technique for retrieving — and then reusing — nanowires from electronic devices.
Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Could Digital Twins Be Used on ‘Any System?’
An INSIDER story this month highlighted efforts to use sensors to improve the virtual design model known as a digital twin.
INSIDER: Design
Ultrathin, flexible computer circuits have been an engineering goal for years, but technical hurdles have prevented the degree of miniaturization necessary to achieve high performance....
INSIDER: Medical
When you pick up a balloon, the pressure to keep hold of it is different from what you would exert to grasp a jar. And now engineers at MIT and elsewhere have a way to precisely...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A study by researchers at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health shows that inexpensive and convenient devices such as silicone wristbands can be used to yield quantitative air...
INSIDER: AR/AI
Researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) fabricated brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor neurons and...
Articles: Motion Control
Explore manufacturers and products in over 25 motion-design categories.
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A new pressure-sensor from MIT detects small and fast changes in pressure at the fingertip, such as from lightly rubbing fingers together.
Blog: Materials
Researchers from the University of Minnesota discovered a way to convert "stubborn" metals like platinum and tungsten into thin films.
Question of the Week: Software
Does A.I. Need to Be Able to ‘Imagine?’
An INSIDER story this month highlighted efforts from USC researchers to train artificial intelligence to imagine the unseen. The artificial-intelligence system uses the attributes that it "knows" to then think up a never-before-seen object.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
A new algorithm finds robots the best path across uneven terrain — and the best placement for a robot’s arms and feet.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robotic floats — 4,000, in fact — are in the ocean, monitoring oxygen levels.
Question of the Week: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Would You Use a ‘Cold Tube?’
Our August issue of Tech Briefs highlighted a technology that offers an energy-efficient alternative to the air conditioner: The Cold Tube.
Special Reports: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Aerospace Manufacturing - August 2021
Demanding applications in the aerospace industry require products and systems that are manufactured using the latest technologies – from design and simulation, to fabrication and final testing. To help...INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Engineers at MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have designed a soft, lightweight, and potentially low-cost neuroprosthetic hand. The prosthetic, designed with a system for...
Top Stories
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
2025 Holiday Gift Guide for Engineers: Tech, Tools, and Gadgets
Blog: Power
Using Street Lamps as EV Chargers
INSIDER: Semiconductors & ICs
Scientists Create Superconducting Semiconductor Material
Blog: Materials
This Paint Can Cool Buildings Without Energy Input
Blog: Software
Quiz: Power
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
Upcoming Webinars: Motion Control
Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
Podcasts: Manufacturing & Prototyping
SAE Automotive Engineering Podcast: Additive Manufacturing
Podcasts: Defense
A New Approach to Manufacturing Machine Connectivity for the Air Force
On-Demand Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Streamlining Manufacturing with Integrated Digital Planning and Simulation
On-Demand Webinars: Automotive
