Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

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INSIDER: Energy

Compact Medium-Voltage Converters Enable Advanced Grid Architectures and Operations

As we trend toward more renewables and distributed energy resources (DERs), the design of the electric distribution system itself imposes physical...

INSIDER: Materials

Prize-Winning Technology for Large-Scale Energy Storage

Safe, cheap, and sustainable technology for energy storage has been developed at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Linköping University (LiU). It is based on two major...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

High-Performance Mxene Electrodes for Next-Generation Powerful Battery

Scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently developed battery-like electrochemical Nb2CTx MXene electrodes.

Question of the Week: Transportation

Will Automotive and Aerospace Industries Adopt Self-Healing Composites?

An INSIDER story this month highlighted how researchers from RPI and the University of Washington have created a composite that reverses fatigue damage — after applying some heat.

INSIDER: Motion Control

Non-Contact Tip/Tilt Sensor

NASA Kennedy Space Center developed the Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor for motion control applications. The sensor was designed to monitor the precise movements of an optical inspection system that...

INSIDER: Motion Control

Autonomous Robot Opens Doors, Finds Wall Outlets

University of Cincinnati researchers developed an autonomous robot that can open a door for itself. It uses an appendage on a simple motorized lift the robot can raise and lower to reach a...

Blog: Transportation

Can Material Choices Impact Gear Noise in a Vehicle?

A reader asks our industry expert:""Do the materials of construction have a big effect on gear generated noise?"

Blog: Materials

Biocompatible Adhesive Gel Works Underwater

With some help from mussels and spider silk, a team of researchers has developed a strong, biocompatible adhesive that works well underwater.

Articles: Photonics/Optics

2021 OEM Photonics & Imaging Directory

See top suppliers and manufacturers in over 20 categories, including high-speed cameras, sensors, and optical components.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Dexterous Robotic Hands Manipulate Thousands of Objects

A robotic hand system was developed at MIT that can reorient over 2,000 diverse objects with a hand facing both upward and downward, in a step toward more human-like manipulation. This...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Personalized Exosuit Provides Customized Assistance

Researchers from Harvard University developed a new approach in which robotic exosuit assistance can be calibrated to an individual and adapt to a variety of real-world walking tasks in a...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Autonomous Robotic Rover Helps Monitor Climate Change

An autonomous robotic rover, Benthic Rover II, has provided new insight into life 13,100 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. The data collected are fundamental to understanding the...

Question of the Week: Aerospace

Will Mars Habitats Be Made from Blood?

Transporting a single brick to Mars is extremely expensive. The high cost presents a challenge for those planning the future construction of a Martian colony.

Blog: Materials

With Help from Heat, A Carbon-Fiber Composite Self-Heals

A team has created a new type of carbon fiber reinforced material that reverses any fatigue damage -- you just need a little heat.

Special Reports: Electronics & Computers

Medical Manufacturing & Outsourcing - November 2021

In this new report from the editors of Medical Design Briefs and Tech Briefs magazines, discover how the latest advances in 3D printing, machining, molding and more are changing the way...

Question of the Week: Aerospace

Will Spinning Magnets Clean Up Space Debris?

Our lead story today highlights an effort from the University of Utah to use spinning magnets – and robots – to someday retrieve scraps and bring them to a decaying orbit.

INSIDER: Lighting

Metal-Halide Perovskite Semiconductors Compete with SilicMetal-Halide Perovskite Semiconductors Compete with Silicon Counterparts for Solar Cells, LEDson Counterparts for Solar Cells, LEDs

Climate change and its consequences are becoming...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

NASA’s Webb Will Join Forces with Event Horizon Telescope to Reveal Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

On isolated mountaintops across the planet, scientists await word that tonight is the night. The complex coordination between dozens...

INSIDER: Imaging

New Products

Time-of-Flight Camera LUCID Vision Labs, Inc. (Richmond, BC, Canada) recently announced its new Helios™2+ 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera offering two new on-camera depth processing modes: High Dynamic Range Mode (HDR) and...

INSIDER: Materials

Seeing the World Through Different Eyes

Infrared (IR) light is invisible to humans. However, some animals, such as rattlesnakes or bloodsucking bats, can perceive IR radiation and use it to find food. But even for humans, the ability to see...

Blog: Transportation

Vehicle Simulation Software: How to Test Radar and Lidar in Snow

A reader asks a simulation expert: How do you compensate for the interaction of rain or snow storms on lidar sensors?

Blog: Materials

A New Idea for Cleaning Up Space Debris: Magnets

Prof. Jake J. Abbott is leading a team that has discovered a way to manipulate orbiting debris with spinning magnets.

Question of the Week: Nanotechnology

Can Borophane Beat Graphene?

A Tech Brief in our November issue highlights a new material that’s super-thin and super-strong. By combining hydrogen with an atom-thick sheet of boron known as borophane, researchers from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have created a potential alternative to the breakthrough 2D material graphene. The Argonne...

Articles: Aerospace

Inside Story, November 2021: Momentive Materials in Space, Defense, and Aviation

Thanos Yiagopoulos, Chief Technology Officer of Momentive Performance Materials, discusses how engineers can determine the best product for their application.