Enabling Robots to Interpret Surroundings Quickly and Accurately

MIT engineers have developed a method that enables robots to make similarly intuitive, task-relevant decisions. The team’s new approach, named Clio, enables a robot to identify the parts of a scene that matter, given the tasks at hand. Read on to learn more about Clio.

Mastering Physical Contact with New Algorithm for Robots

Penn Engineers have developed a new algorithm that allows robots to react to complex physical contact in real time, making it possible for autonomous robots to succeed at previously impossible tasks, like controlling the motion of a sliding object. Read on to learn more.

Cat’s Eye-Inspired Vision System for Autonomous Robotics

Researchers led by Professor Young Min Song from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology have unveiled a vision system inspired by feline eyes to enhance object detection in various lighting conditions. Featuring a unique shape and reflective surface, the system reduces glare in bright environments and boosts sensitivity in low-light scenarios. Read on to learn more.

How a Standardized Platform Delivered Precision Motion Control

To upgrade its existing line of laboratory and high-speed production equipment, Genesis called on Moxley Electronics, a trusted distributor of automation components from Mitsubishi Electric. Read on to learn what happened.

Revolutionizing Seafood Production with Adaptive Robots

Robotic automation technology is reshaping food manufacturing, packaging, and handling by driving significant improvements in efficiency, quality, and flexibility. By integrating advanced artificial intelligence, computer vision, and proprietary force-sensing technology, Flexiv has introduced cutting-edge automation to the food processing sector. Read on to learn more.

Solving the Battery Recycling Challenge

The surging global popularity of electric vehicles is creating a new challenge: a mounting pile of spent lithium-ion batteries. In just a decade, more than 1.2 million tons of lithium-ion batteries will reach their end-of-life, creating an urgent need for efficient and profitable recycling solutions. This impending battery waste crisis presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Read on to learn more.

DC-DC Converters for High Reliability eVTOL Auxiliary Power Systems

eVTOL power system architectures are not yet well defined, and with the wide variety of possible configurations, from small, unmanned drones through multiseat passenger craft, there may never be one standard. Read on to learn what this means.

Product Showcase

See what's in the product showcase, including Miba Resistors' RST5N resistor series; Luxinar's femtosecond lasers; Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' cell caps; CPEG's durable equipment to safely handle and process lithium and other minerals for lithium-ion batteries; and much more.

Folded or Cut, This Lithium-Sulfur Battery Keeps Going

To address stability and safety issues, researchers have designed a lithium-sulfur battery that features an improved iron sulfide cathode. One prototype remains highly stable over 300 charge-discharge cycles, and another provides power even after being folded or cut. Read on to learn more.

Second Life of Lithium-Ion Batteries Could Take Us to Space

The global use of lithium-ion batteries has doubled in just the past four years, generating alarming amounts of battery waste containing many hazardous substances. The need for effective recycling methods for spent lithium-ion batteries is becoming increasingly critical. Scientists from various Polish research institutions presented a promising solution to this issue. Read on to learn more about it.

Dormant Capacity Reserve in Lithium-Ion Batteries Detected

Using transmission electron microscopes, Researchers at Graz University of Technology were able to systematically track lithium ions as they traveled through battery material, map their arrangement in the crystal lattice of an iron phosphate cathode with unprecedented resolution, and precisely quantify their distribution in the crystal. Read on to learn more.

New Battery Cathode Material Could Revolutionize EV Market and Energy Storage

A multi-institutional research team led by Hailong Chen has developed a new, low-cost cathode that could radically improve lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) — potentially transforming the electric vehicle (EV) market and large-scale energy storage systems. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Unveil Scalable Graphene Technology to Revolutionize Battery Safety and Performance

Researchers have developed a pioneering technique for producing large-scale graphene current collectors. This breakthrough promises to significantly enhance the safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), addressing a critical challenge in energy storage technology. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Discover a Surprising Way to Jump-Start Battery Performance

In a study published in Joule, researchers at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center report that giving batteries a first charge at unusually high currents increased their average lifespan by 50 percent while decreasing the initial charging time from 10 hours to just 20 minutes. Read on to learn more.

Crafting Safe, Long-Cyclable Lithium Metal Batteries for High Temperatures

A research team led by Professor Dong-Myeong Shin of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hong Kong has developed a new generation of lithium metal batteries, representing a significant advancement in the field. Here, an interview with Shin to learn more about the technology.

Where Do EV Batteries Go When They Die?

Some go to Cox Automotive’s battery solutions center in Oklahoma City, where the company works with OEMs on their post-sale needs. Others get recycled, with lots of OEMs teaming up with Redwood Materials. Read on to find out what happens to the others.

How Pratt & Whitney Uses a Robot to Help Build Jet Engines

Kevin Kirkpatrick, Vice President of Aftermarket Global Operations, Pratt & Whitney, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.

My Opinion: Sustainability Depends on Understanding System Interrelationships

My Opinion: Sustainability depends on understanding system interrelationships. Read on to learn more about SAE Media Group's Ed Brown's opinion on the matter.

The First Non-Electric Touchpad

Researchers at Tampere University have developed the world’s first soft touchpad that can sense the force, area, and location of contact without electricity. The device utilizes pneumatic channels, enabling its use in environments such as MRI machines and other conditions that are unsuitable for electronic devices.

Scaling Manufacturing and Production for 'Data as a Service' Electric Drone

Fatema Hamdani, co-founder of Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.

Test Your Knowledge About Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

How much do you know about how hydrogen-powered aircraft work and the companies that are researching and developing hydrogen-powered aircraft programs? Find out with this quiz.

Controlling Prosthetic Hands More Precisely by the Power of Thought

Researchers at the German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, have developed a novel training protocol for brain-computer interfaces in a...

First Toroidal Micro-Robot to Swim Autonomously in Viscous Liquids

A peek through an optical microscope reveals a hidden universe teeming with life. Nature has devised ingenious methods for micro-organisms to navigate their viscous...

Backup System Can Keep an Airplane on Course When It Cannot Rely on GPS Satellites

Dangling from a weather balloon 80,000 feet above New Mexico, a pair of antennas sticks out from a Styrofoam cooler. The antennas are listening for signals...

Looking to Kirigami to Shape Modern Wireless Technology

Researchers showed how kirigami — a variation of origami — can transform a single sheet of acetate coated with conductive MXene ink into a flexible 3D microwave antenna whose transmission frequency can be adjusted simply by pulling or squeezing to slightly shift its shape.

2024 Product of the Year

Each month, our editors choose a Product of the Month that has exceptional technical merit and practical value for our design engineering readers. Those 11 products are the nominees for the 2024 Tech Briefs Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. You’re invited to cast your vote for the one product among the 11 listed in this article that you feel was the most important new product introduced to the engineering community in 2024.