Thermal Materials Protect Priceless Personal Keepsakes

Most of us cannot comprehend the task of building something to withstand temperatures over 4,000 °F, but NASA can. The space shuttles endured such temperatures when returning to Earth’s...

Specifying Actuators for Cleanroom Environments

Selecting the right actuator for use in any manufacturing operation involves a host of application-specific variables, including aspects such as the required stroke length, load capacity,...

Naval Shipyard Automates Dry Dock Operation

Pearl Harbor Naval Station and Hickam Air Force Base have grown up together around the historic port known as Wai’Momi, adjacent to Honolulu. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY), located at Joint...

Robotic Arm

Global Specialties (Yorba Linda, CA) introduced the R700 Vector Robotic Arm that is fully assembled and ready to be programmed in the C language. The robot comes with pre-written example programs that can be downloaded to the...

Optical Encoders

Avago Technologies (San Jose, CA) announced the AEDR-87xx series of 3-channel reflective optical encoder devices for use in low-power miniaturized motion control systems such as stepper motors, electrical actuators,...

Motor Drive Controllers

ElectroCraft (Dover, NH) released the PRO Series integrated motor drive controllers that include brushless motor drives, stepper motor variants, and linear actuators, all incorporating a fully integrated drive with the...

Human-Machine Interface

Mitsubishi Electric Automation (Vernon Hills, IL) introduced the GOT2000 Series human machine interface (HMI) that monitors and controls machine components with a graphical touchscreen. It allows operators to interact...

Shaft Grounding Ring

Electro Static Technology (Mechanic Falls, ME) offers the AEGIS® iPRO-MR ring that combines shaft voltage bearing protection with continuous monitoring of shaft voltage levels from a remote location in real time. It is an...

Force Transducers

HBM (Marlborough, MA) introduced the C10 line of compressive force transducers. The stainless steel version is hermetically sealed, and they have an IP68 rating for use in environments where dirt and moisture can be a problem....

Linear Position Sensors

Macro Sensors (Pennsauken, NJ) offers the CD 375 series of miniature LVDT linear position sensors that attach to a robotic arm to detect position change when an actuator moves the robotic arm, providing an analog voltage...

Shaft Locking Bushings

Zero-Max (Plymouth, MN) offers ETP Techno shaft locking bushings for bore sizes of 110, 120, and 130 mm. They are designed for locking components to large shafts with repeatable precision for applications requiring...

Digital Servo Drive

The SXD 15 digital servo drive from Allied Motion (Amherst, NY) is a compact, modular unit that can drive a DC brush, DC brushless, or AC brushless motor requiring up to 1 kW of power. It can be either panel- or DIN-- rail...

Torquer

Qosina (Edgewood, NY) offers the 97339 one-handed green torquer. Made of ABS, polypropylene, and stainless steel, the torquer fits guide wires 0.018 to 0.038". It is operable with one hand by squeezing (instead of turning) the top...

Fasteners

Fixtureworks® (Fraser, MI) offers Imao® “One-Touch” pin-and-receptacle fasteners used to attach fixtures, plates, machine covers, and more, joining components with moderate clamping force. An alternative to nut-and-bolt...

Motor Drive Software

Teledyne LeCroy (Chestnut Ridge, NY) announced three-phase Motor Drive Power Analyzer software for its HDO8000 oscilloscopes for motor drive embedded control and power section debug. With the addition of three-phase power...

Motor Gate Drivers

Microchip Technology (Chandler, AZ) offers the MCP8025 and MCP8026 3-phase brushless DC (BLDC) motor gate drivers with integrated power module, LIN transceiver, and sleep mode. The devices can power the dsPIC® digital signal...

HEV Motors

Parker’s Electromechanical Automation Division (Rohnert Park, CA) announced the GVM142 HEV motors. The generator and auxiliary motor series is an electric machine intended for use in electric and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV)...

Positioning System

Physik Instrumente (Auburn, MA) offers the H-850KMLD 6-axis hexapod positioning system with 1,000-pound load capacity that provides 1-μm minimum incremental motion over a 100-mm travel range in XY, and 0.5-μm in the Z...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Aeronautics

FACET: Future Air Traffic Management Concepts Evaluation Tool FACET flexible software helps air traffic control centers improve airline safety and efficiency. It includes programs and databases that...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Communications

Electronic Firefighter Escape Trail This technology uses recent advances in Radio Frequency Identification Devices, combined with smart software, to create an electronic firefighter evacuation trail...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program is a true national asset. It brings together the space agency’s most capable problem-solvers with America’s brightest commercial and entrepreneurial leaders in partnerships...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Electrical/Electronics

High-Field Superconducting Magnets This technology represents a significant improvement over commercial state-of-the-art magnets. These superconducting magnets are very versatile and can be...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Environment

Contaminated Water Treatment This method offers a way of processing and recycling liquids to remove contaminants. The two-step process provides a contaminant treatment pouch, called a “urine cell” or...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Health, Medicine & Biotechnology

Atomic Oxygen Texturing and Cleaning Atomic oxygen oxidizes and removes biologically active contaminants, and reduces the contaminant to an inactive ash. Thus, the contaminant is...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Information Technology & Software

Enhanced Project Management Tool This invention is a system for managing a project that includes multiple tasks and workers. Periodic monthly, task plan, schedule, and budget...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Instrumentation

Powder Handling Device for Analytical Instruments This technology provides automated sample handling and movement of coarse-grained powder or other solid materials to enable analysis by a robotic or...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Variable Power Handheld Laser Torch A handheld laser torch was designed for welding and brazing metals to repair hard-to-reach space shuttle engine nozzles. It incorporates various manual...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Materials & Coatings

Shape Memory Alloys Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) can be deformed at low temperature and recover their original shape upon heating. New alloys can operate up to ~300 °C, compared to ~80 °C for...

NASA's Hot 100 Technologies: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Spring Joint Package with Overstrain Sensor This flexible joint provides two degrees of freedom and a tremendous amount of compliance. The overstrain sensor joint has a passive and...