Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Quantum Radio Aids Communications and Mapping
GPS signals do not penetrate very deeply or at all in water, soil, or building walls, and therefore can’t be used by submarines or in underground activities such as surveying mines. GPS also...
Briefs: Transportation
System Enables Direct Data Transmission Between Underwater and Airborne Devices
Today, underwater sensors cannot share data with those on land, as both use different wireless signals that only work in their respective mediums. Radio signals that travel through air die very rapidly in water. Acoustic signals, or sonar, sent by underwater devices...
Briefs: Materials
See-Through Film Rejects 70 Percent of Incoming Solar Heat
A heat-rejecting film was developed that could be applied to a building’s windows to reflect up to 70 percent of the Sun’s incoming heat. The film remains highly transparent...
NASA Spinoff: Power
Organic Compound Turns Toxic Waste into Harmless Byproducts
Spinoff is NASA’s annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in...
Briefs: Aerospace
Signal Combiner for Wideband Communication
NASA’s Glenn Research Center has devised an efficient new method of combining primary and secondary signals with minimal loss and noise. With its ability to reduce system noise, this novel signal combiner delivers the best opportunity to receive a desired signal not easily distinguished from...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pre-Treatment Solution for Water Recovery
The Pre-Treatment Solution for Water Recovery technology was developed by NASA Johnson Space Center innovators to increase the amount of potable water recovered from the International Space Station’s urine processor assembly system. The solution increased the water recovery rate in the ISS distiller...
Products: Photonics/Optics
New on the Market: April 2019
Smalley, Lake Zurich, IL, announced a Nested Spirawave Wave Springs series. The multiple-turn, flat wire wave springs are coiled in parallel to produce two to three times as much force as...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Polarization Imaging Sensor for Enhanced Scene Analysis
Along with intensity and color, polarization is a property of light that can provide useful information for scene analysis; however, the human eye and most cameras cannot detect...
Briefs: Materials
Wear-Resistant Platinum Gold Alloy
From cellphones to satellites, industry spends millions on traditional gold alloy electrical contact coatings. While gold and other metal alloys have been an industry standard to protect metal components...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Wake Vortex Avoidance System and Method
NASA Langley Research Center scientists have developed a microphone that detects infrasound, i.e., acoustic waves ranging from 20-Hz frequencies down to DC. Infrasound is emitted in a number of...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Transparent Test Patch Determines Food Contamination
A transparent test patch, printed with harmless molecules, signals food contamination as it happens. The patch can be incorporated directly into food packaging, where it can monitor the contents for harmful pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella. The new technology has the potential to...
Briefs: Materials
Virtual Test Laboratory
The mechanical properties of sheet metal materials are directional. Their deformation behavior and their strength differ significantly depending on the viewing direction; for example, in the direction of rolling, or...
Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics
Passive RFID Tag with Long Range and Wide Coverage Capabilities
Researchers at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed the RFID Tag with Long Range and Wide Coverage Capabilities technology that allows a RFID tag to direct a RFID reader beam signal back in the direction of arrival. This technology requires no added power to provide telemetry...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Measurement Technique for Continuous-Wave, Modulated, and Pulsed Monochromatic Radiation
In many applications, such as remote sensing of atmospheric trace gases, monochromatic radiation with multiple discrete wavelengths is required. To date, there no instrument or technique that measures the wavelength jitters and fluctuations in real time.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The Teletenna — a Hybrid Telescope Antenna System
Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a hybrid telescope antenna system — Teletenna — to deliver high-data-rate communication over great distances. Teletenna has...
Titanium is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal’s atoms are stacked but random defects that arise in the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Self-Healing, Fluid-Inspired Material
Even tiny cracks can cause bridges to collapse, pipelines to rupture, and fuselages to detach from airplanes due to hard-to-detect corrosion in tiny cracks, scratches, and dents. A new coating strategy for metal self-heals within seconds when scratched, scraped, or cracked. The novel material could prevent...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Laser Ranging Can See 3D Objects Melting in Fires
Optical range measurements, already used in manufacturing and other fields, may help overcome practical challenges posed by structural fires, which are too hot to measure with conventional...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Chip Measures Quantities with Quantum Precision
Many devices use light to probe the quantum states of atoms in a vapor confined in a small cell. Atoms can be highly sensitive to external conditions, and therefore make superb detectors....
Products: RF & Microwave Electronics
Product of the Month: April 2019 Tech Briefs
nanotron, Munich, Germany, introduced 360° Edge Analytics tools and location-aware wireless sensors for manufacturing and healthcare. The products automatically extract event information...
Special Reports: Aerospace
RF & Microwave Electronics - April 2019
In this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Aerospace & Defense Technology and Tech Briefs, read about how high-frequency electronics advances are enabling new applications in space...
Special Reports: Test & Measurement
Automotive Manufacturing - April 2019
Factories are getting smarter thanks to advances in robotics, analytics, simulation, metrology and more. To help you keep pace with the latest developments, we present this compendium of recent articles...
Special Reports: Medical
Medical Manufacturing - April 2019
How are advances in 3D printing, robotic assembly, molding and other fabrication technologies shaping the future of medical device manufacturing? Find out in this Special Report – a compilation of recent...
Products: Electronics & Computers
New Product: TRACO POWER’s TIB 80-EX Power Supplies
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Answering Your Questions: Can Collaborative Robots Help Manufacturers Looking to Scale Their Business?
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Self-Contained Wheel Units Cut Vehicle Costs
Vehicles could be affordably produced for a wide variety of specialized purposes using a self-contained wheel unit that combines a wheel and an electric motor with braking, suspension,...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robots Quickly Track Moving Objects with Precision
Robots using a system of RFID tags can locate tagged objects within 7.5 milliseconds on average with an error of less than a centimeter. TurboTrack could replace computer vision for some...
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Energy Monitor Helps Coast Guard Find Faulty Electrics on Board
Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Have You Used Sleep Tech Products?
This month’s Here’s an Idea podcast featured a variety of Sleep Tech products, including the Hupnos snore-preventing sleep mask, the temperature-controlled Ooler mattress, and the brain-activity-monitoring Dreem headband. Listen to our episode to learn more about each of the inventions.
Top Stories
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Can We Trust A.I.? Modeling Tool Quantifies How Much a Machine Doesn't Know
Podcasts: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Here's an Idea: An ‘Aerodrome’ Testing Ground for Unmanned Aircraft
INSIDER: Design
Biomorphic Batteries Could Provide 72 Times More Energy for Robots
Videos: Sensors/Data Acquisition
SQUID 2.0: Autonomously-Stabilizing, Ballistically Launched Drone
Videos: Test & Measurement
'Spot' Robot Measures Patients' Vital Signs — Contact-Free
Blog: Imaging
Question of the Week
Will 'Biomorphic' Batteries Support a Future of Tiny Robots?
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Medical
Making Medical Device Designs Possible with Innovative Silicone...
Upcoming Webinars: Motion Control
High-Voltage Arteries: How Connectivity Gives Life to Electric...
Upcoming Webinars: Medical
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
The Power of the Hollow: Using Hollow Aluminum Extrusions to Meet...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Helping HEV/EV Batteries Go the Distance and Stay Cool Under...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Standardization for Automated-Vehicle Testing and Simulation
Trending Stories
5 Ws: Wearables
5 Ws of the Sign-to-Speech Translation Glove
Briefs: Materials
A Technique for Injecting Ag+ Ions as Biocide into H2O
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Metallic Glass Shatters Gear Limitations
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Snapshot High-resolution Hyperspectral Imaging
Articles: Motion Control
The Modern Industrial Workhorse: PID Controllers
