A synthetic leather material delivers a durable touch-feel. The design is based on the way that the human fingertip interacts with surfaces along four different axes of material properties. The fingertip determines whether a surface is soft or hard, smooth or coarse, wet or dry, and warm or...

The PACE Hf, a high-flow proportional valve utilizing a Parker Advanced Technology actuator, delivers 180 slpm of air at 30 psi. The product has low power requirements: steadystate 0.6 Watts max, cycling 15 Hz, 1.2 Watts. The Viva piezoelectric actuator provides repeatability...

An organization seeks innovative processes or coatings for steel. The application requires that a normal force be applied between two lubricated steel surfaces. Excessive normal force results in system power losses and increase in wear; the desired solution will permanently increase the coefficient of friction so...

A company must achieve standard, non-halogenated fire retardancy on cabling. Methods may include plastic compounds, coatings, polymers, or additives. The UL tests define the fire-retardant properties that the cable must exhibit after treatment — notably, ignition resistance, flame spread resistance after ignition,...

The most accurate astronomical data is available from space-based observations that are not impeded by the Earth’s atmosphere. Such measurements may require spectral samples taken as long as decades apart, with the 1 cm/s velocity...

This software allows one to down-sample a measured surface map for model validation, not only without introducing any re-sampling errors, but also eliminating the existing measurement noise and measurement errors.

Thin, lightweight mirrors are needed for future x-ray space telescopes in order to increase x-ray collecting area while maintaining a reduced mass and volume capable of being launched on existing rockets. However, it is very difficult to determine the undistorted shape of such thin mirrors because the...