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Briefs: Software
Program Merges SAR Data on Terrain and Vegetation Heights
X/P Merge is a computer program that estimates ground-surface elevations and vegetation heights from multiple sets of data acquired by the GeoSAR instrument [a terrain-mapping synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) system that operates in the X and P bands]. X/P Merge software combines data from X-...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Elmo Motion Control (Westford, MA) has announced the integration of its SimplIQ core servo technology with plug and play capabilities into the Duet series of brushless DC servo motors. The Duet can support resolver feedback,...
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Briefs: Information Technology
Two Algorithms for Processing Electronic Nose Data
Two algorithms for processing the digitized readings of electronic noses, and computer programs to implement the algorithms, have been devised in a continuing effort to increase the utility of electronic noses as means of identifying airborne compounds and measuring their concentrations. One...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Linear Actuator
Bishop-Wisecarver Corp. (Pittsburg, CA) has released the SRX-150, an aluminum profile linear actuator in belt- or ball-screw-driven versions. Both versions are available in 400, 600, 1000, 1500, and 1900 mm stroke lengths. The SRX-150 provides to 66kN dynamic load capacity, roll moment capacity to 3,380 Nm, and speeds to 5 m/s. A...
Briefs: Software
General-Purpose Front End for Real-Time Data Processing
FRONTIER is a computer program that functions as a front end for any of a variety of other software of both the artificial intelligence (AI) and conventional data-processing types. As used here, "front end" signifies interface software needed for acquiring and preprocessing data and making the...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
TOPBALL® slide products from NB Corp. (Hanover Park, IL) offer 27 times more travel life to automation equipment, machinery, optical, and measuring instruments. Since the slide products have three times the load capacity,...
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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
It has been proposed to equip future microprocessors with electronic cumulative timers, for essentially the same reasons for which land vehicles are equipped with odometers (total-distance-traveled meters)...
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Products: Motion Control
Midwest Motion Products (Watertown, MN) has released the Model MMP-TM55-12V GPk52-124, a DC gearmotor that accepts any 12-volt DC source including battery power. This gearmotor measures 2.14" in diameter by 7.7" in length, and has...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Nanocomposite Photoelectrochemical Cells
Improved, solid-state photoelectrochemical cells for converting solar radiation to electricity have been proposed. (In general, photoelectrochemical cells convert incident light to electricity through electrochemical reactions.) It is predicted that in comparison with state-of-the-art photoelectrochemical...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
AMETEK Technical and Industrial Products (Kent, OH) offers the PITTMAN® Series 1300 slotted brushless DC servomotors that are available in three lengths: 1.5", 2", and 2.5". The servomotors are housed in...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Whenever a data acquisition (DAQ) system is moved from the controlled environment of the laboratory to validation testing or the manufacturing floor,...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Vector Fields (Aurora, IL) has announced a design software for rotating electrical machinery that is part of the OPERA electromagnetic design tool. The software combines finite element analysis modeling with a design...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure depicts a portable, handheld power drill with its attached powersupply unit, in which ultracapacitors, rather than batteries, are used to store energy. This ultracapacitor-powered drill is a...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Kerk Motion Products (Hollis, NH) offers the VHD Series anti-backlash assemblies suitable for eliminating drag and wear associated with high pre-load forces. The VHD assembly uses Kerk’s patented axial take-up mechanism,...
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Briefs: Materials
Photocatalytic/ magnetic composite particles have been invented as improved means of exploiting established methods of photocatalysis for removal of chemical and biological pollutants from air and...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
LM76 (East Longmeadow, MA) offers micro-positioning stages available in travel lengths from 10 mm to 200 mm. The Micro Stage linear positioning stages are available with 6-mm anti-backlash lead screws or 4-mm lead ball...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A special double-wall container and a process for utilizing the container are being developed to enable (1) acquisition of a sample of material in a "dirty" environment that may...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The ULT Series of direct-drive frameless motors from Applimotion (Loomis, CA) is available in sizes down to 27 mm in diameter with axial length to 8 mm and up to a 20-mm through hole. They operate from traditional...
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Briefs: Medical
The figure schematically depicts a system of electronic hardware and software that noninvasively tracks the direction of a person’s gaze in real time. Like prior commercial noninvasive eye-tracking...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Helical Products (Santa Maria, CA) offers miniature couplings, u-joints, and machined springs with integrated attachment components. The line includes couplings with an unlimited variety of customized ends. All of these...
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Briefs: Medical
Detergent-Specific Membrane Protein Crystallization Screens
A suite of reagents has been developed for three-dimensional crystallization of integral membranes present in solution as protein-detergent complexes (PDCs). The compositions of these reagents have been determined in part by proximity to the phase boundaries (lower consolute boundaries) of...
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Haydon Switch & Instrument (Waterbury, CT) has added the size 14 hybrid to its line of linear actuators. The devices are available with a 0.9-degree step angle and come in all four designs: captive, non-captive, external...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Railguns, which propel a projectile using electromagnetic forces instead of chemical explosions, promise to revolutionize projectile launchers. Such guns have been...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Beswick Engineering (Greenland, NH) has released the PCFCD-1N1, an ultra-miniature pressure-compensated flow control valve with low-friction diaphragm. The device is designed to maintain a constant flow...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
In a proposed scheme for coupling light into a quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP), an antenna or an array of antennas made of a suitable metal would be fabricated on the face of what would otherwise...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
The AEGIS SGR™ Conductive MicroFiber™ Shaft Grounding Ring from Electro Static Technology (Mechanic Falls, ME) is suitable for predictive maintenance programs on VFD-controlled AC and DC motors. By protecting bearings...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Suits cooled by evaporation of water have been proposed as improved means of temporary protection against high temperatures near fires. When air temperature exceeds 600 °F (316 °C) or...
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Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
Aerotech (Pittsburgh, PA) offers the ABRT series rotary air-bearing stages that provide 360-degree continuous travel with resolution to 0.027 arc sec. Payload capacity is up to 69 kg.
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Electronic tongue 2 (E-tongue 2) represents the second generation of the apparatus described in "Electronic Tongue for Quantitation of Contaminants in Water" (NPO-30601), NASA Tech...
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