An autonomous and automated spacecompliant diagnostic system concept was developed for condition-based maintenance (CBM) of rocket motors for space exploration vehicles. The system will provide real-time information on the integrity of critical structures on launch vehicles,...

Imaging system exit pupil characteristics are typically difficult and expensive to measure directly. In most cases, the exit pupil in an optical system is a virtual image of the system’s aperture stop and requires additional powered optical elements, such as lenses and...

This system provides one or more sensors for selected chemicals (all using nanostructure sensors with small physical sizes), one or more sensors for physical parameters (e.g. voltage or current), a multiplexer to receive and interleave the measured data stream values from the sensors according to a...

The most common means of remote scientific collaboration today includes the trio of e-mail for electronic communication, FTP for file sharing, and personalized Web sites for dissemination of papers and research results. With the growth of broadband Internet, there has been a desire to...

A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (

The purpose of the MDMLT is to improve the reliability and speed of loading multiplexers/ demultiplexers (MDMs) in the Software Development and Integration Laboratory (SDIL) by automating the configuration management (CM) of the loads in the MDMs, automating the loading procedure, and providing the...

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a new kind of tiny motor — which they call a “microrocket” — that can propel itself through acidic environments, such as the human stomach, without any external energy source. Joseph Wang and...

A robot installation developed by artists in the Robotlab at the Center for Art and Media ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany - some of whom are now employed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies, and Image Exploitation IOSB - successfully sketches human portraits. “We have used an...

The Tongue Drive System is a wireless device that enables people with high-level spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and maneuver an electrically powered wheelchair by moving their tongues. The latest prototype of the system, developed at Georgia Tech, allows users to wear an...

By touching a small piece of Power Felt – a promising new thermoelectric device developed by a team of researchers – body heat can be turned into an electrical current.Potential uses for Power Felt include lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service electrical needs,...

For years, scientists had searched for the secret to making tiny implantable devices that could travel through the bloodstream. Engineers at Stanford have demonstrated a wirelessly powered device that can be implanted or injected into the human body and powered using electromagnetic radio...

The new design example (DER-302) from Power Integrations (San Jose, CA) describes a non-isolated, high-efficiency, high power factor (PF), TRIAC dimmable LED driver designed to drive a nominal LED string voltage of 36 V at 200 mA from an input voltage range of 185 VAC to 265 VAC (47 Hz — 65 Hz).

The TLV710 and TLV711 series of dual, low-dropout (LDO) linear regulators from Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX) are low quiescent current devices with excellent line and load transient performance. These LDOs are designed for power-sensitive applications. These devices provide a typical accuracy of 2% over...

Summit Microelectronics (Sunnyvale, CA) has expanded its family of programmable DC-DC integrated circuits with the SMB206A and SMB210A. The SMB206A and SMB210A support advanced power management for ENERGY STAR® applications. These include digital LCD/LED/plasma/IP televisions, digital cable/satellite/IP...

Plant and computer scientists can now study the underground world of plants with more accuracy and clarity. The revolutionary technique will improve chances of breeding better crop varieties and increasing yields.Developed at The University of Nottingham by a team of experts from the Schools...

A system, being developed by researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), allows robots to navigate through constantly changing surroundings. The technology builds and continuously updates a three-dimensional map of an environment using a...

Using a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon crystal, physicists have built a working transistor, laying the groundwork for a quantum computer that is smaller than today's silicon-based machines, and may one day function in nanoscale environments. Quantum computers may make it possible to quickly simulate...

Stanford University Unstructured is an open-source software package that gives advanced engineering students a crucial leg up on the time-consuming process of writing their own code to optimize aerospace design.

Leaner, greener flying machines for the year 2025 are on the drawing boards of three industry teams under contract to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project. Teams from The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman have...

Aviation researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia are developing an information system to help Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) make safer emergency landings and better enable their wider commercial use. Dr. Luis Mejias Alvarez said UAVs could not fly in...

University of Manchester mathematicians have developed the theory for a ’cloaking’ device which could protect buildings from earthquakes. By cloaking components of structures with pressurised rubber, powerful waves such as those produced by an earthquake would not...

Arizona State University engineers are working on technological advances that promise to help enhance infrared photodetection used in sophisticated weapons and surveillance system, industrial and home security systems, medical diagnostics and night vision equipment for law enforcement and driving...