Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Products: September 2018 Sensor Technology

Digital Variable Impedance Transducer

With its user-friendly new graphical user interface (GUI) for easier setup and connectivity, and cloud-based data access/monitoring, the digiVIT digital...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Keeping Data Fresh for Wireless Networks

For wireless networks that share time-sensitive information on the fly, it's not enough to transmit data quickly: that data also needs to be fresh. Consider the many sensors in your car. While it may...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

The Ultimate ‘Smell Test’: Device Sends Rotten Food Warning to Smartphones

When it comes to the “smell test,” the nose isn't always the best judge of food quality. Now in a study appearing in ACS’ journal Nano Letters, scientists...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

A Nanotech Sensor Turns Molecular Fingerprints into Bar Codes

Infrared spectroscopy is the benchmark method for detecting and analyzing organic compounds. However, that requires complicated procedures and large, expensive instruments, making...

Briefs: Software

NIST/NASA Study Shows One Detector Doesn't Fit All for Smoke in Spacecraft

What had been a peaceful and productive mission for the six men aboard the Russian space station Mir, including U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger, nearly became a tragic...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

An Artificial Nerve System Developed at Stanford Gives Prosthetic Devices and Robots a Sense of Touch

Stanford and Seoul National University researchers have developed an artificial sensory nerve system that can activate the twitch reflex in...

Briefs: Imaging

Deep Learning Transforms Smartphone Microscopes into Laboratory-Grade Devices

Researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated that deep learning, a powerful form of artificial intelligence, can discern and enhance...

Articles: Photonics/Optics

What's Ahead for Machine Vision Cameras?

Throughout the history of the electronics industry, the old refrain that systems will continuously become faster, simpler, and cheaper has remained true. In the early days of computer vision, a frame...

Application Briefs: Defense

Specifying Coatings for Military and Aerospace Applications

Optics are employed in virtually every area of military operations, from vision systems and target designators used by troops on the ground, through guidance systems utilized in...

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Products: September 2018 Photonics & Imaging Technology

Embedded Imaging Platforms

Critical Link LLC (Syracuse, NY) recently introduced an Embedded Vision Development Kit (VDK) that integrates Basler's dart BCON camera with...

Briefs: Nanotechnology

COSMIC Impact: Next-Gen X-Ray Microscopy Platform

A next-generation X-ray beamline now operating at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) brings together a unique set of capabilities to measure the...

Articles: Software

Advanced Materials Help Lasers Beat the Heat

Laser diodes are one of a number of different types of electronic devices that generate heat during normal operation. Some power applied to such devices is lost as heat energy. To ensure stable...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

A Paper-Like LCD — Thin, Flexible, Tough, and Cheap

Optoelectronic engineers in China and Hong Kong have manufactured a special type of liquid crystal display (LCD) that is paper-thin, flexible, light, and tough. With this, a daily...

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Researchers Create Precision Optical Components with Inkjet Printing

Researchers have developed an inkjet printing technique that can be used to print optical components such as waveguides. Because the printing approach can also fabricate...

Application Briefs: Imaging

Three Popular Machine Vision Standards

Advancements in machine vision have augmented industrial automation and provided a platform to advance imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis applications. This technology, however, comes with...

Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Product of the Month: September 2018 Tech Briefs

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, North Kingstown, RI, announced a new release of HxGN SMART Quality software that combines connectivity, statistical evaluation, and resource...

Blog: Imaging

How to Evaluate a Vision System Integrator

Many manufacturers are relying on vision system integrators to implement machine vision. Our expert tells a reader how to find the right one for you.

News: Medical

Intelligent Machines: Can You Build a Robot You Can Trust?

For social robots to become commonplace in clinical settings, engineers will need to build both technology improvements as well something slightly more complicated: Trust.

INSIDER: Motion Control

Cageless Bearing Design Reduces Friction

A cageless bearing with rolling separator elements was developed for applications including portable medical devices, toys, and robotic applications with medium force requirements. The normal...

INSIDER: Motion Control

“Actuated” Paper Bends, Folds, or Flattens on Command

A thin layer of conducting thermoplastic, applied to common paper with an inexpensive 3D printer or even painted by hand, serves as a low-cost, reversible actuator. When an...

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

How to Authenticate a 3D-Printed Part: ‘Explode’ and Embed a QR Code

Researcher Nikhil Gupta tells Tech Briefs why "exploding" a QR code inside a 3D-printed part makes counterfeiting practically impossible.

Blog: Software

Are There Limitations in Autonomous-Vehicle Simulation Methods?

A reader asks our expert: As autonomous vehicles enter the market, where are the weak spots in simulation?

Blog: Software

How to Simulate an Avalanche – And All Its Subtle Mechanics

Simulation is a helpful go-to tool for assessing risk, but what if the event being simulated is an avalanche – a complex event with countless parameters and physical...

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

How to Power Robots with Popcorn

Cornell researchers have discovered a novel – and delicious – way to power simple robots: Popcorn.