Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

How to Power Robots with Popcorn

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

Podcasts: Green Design & Manufacturing

Here's an Idea: Scientists Serve Up New Spins on Whiskey, Wine, and Beer

In this episode of “Here’s an Idea," we look at how vineyard owners, distillers, and brewers are finding small ways to innovate and make better beer, wine, and spirits.

Blog: Semiconductors & ICs

Functional Fabric Brings Semiconductors Directly to the Fiber

Instead of attaching semiconductors to fabric, an MIT team has found a way to add the technology right into the fiber themselves.

INSIDER: Energy

Tiny Defects in Semiconductors Created ‘Speed Bumps’ or Electrons. UCLA Researchers Cleared the Path

UCLA scientists and engineers have developed a new process for assembling semiconductor devices. The advance could lead to much more...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Trapping Light that Doesn't Bounce Off Track for Faster Electronics

Replacing traditional computer chip components with light-based counterparts will eventually make electronic devices faster due to the wide bandwidth of light. Because...

INSIDER: Energy

Merging Antenna and Electronics Boosts Energy and Spectrum Efficiency

By integrating the design of antenna and electronics, researchers have boosted the energy and spectrum efficiency for a new class of millimeter wave transmitters,...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Semiconductor Quantum Transistor Opens the Door for Photon-Based Computing

Transistors, the tiny switches that form the bedrock of modern computing—billions of them — route electrical signals around inside the circuitry of our...

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Autonomous Vehicles are Expensive – Why is Hailing One So Cheap?

A reader asks: “If autonomous vehicles are too expensive for an individual to own, how is the cost per mile so low to hail one?”

Blog: Materials

A New Way to Replace Plastic Packaging: Crab Shells and Tree Fibers

Georgia Tech researchers have created a sustainable plastic packaging material, using two ingredients you might not expect in a snack machine: crab shells and tree fibers.

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

How Soon Will Autonomous Vehicle Fleets Take the Streets?

Automated vehicles – fleets of them – may soon change the way we travel through cities. "How soon?" asks a reader.

Articles: Motion Control

Conical, Floating-Piston Isolation Valve

A new valve concept consists of a solid piston floating in a medium to control a flowstream. Although the conical shape of the seat is a prominent feature of the valve, especially when the concept was...

Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

High-Speed Reluctance Machine Design

Silphenix GmbH is an engineering and consulting firm in Switzerland specializing in high-speed electrical machines, magnetic bearings, and electromagnetic field analysis. One project focus is compact...

Briefs: Materials

Fast, Low-Voltage Actuator for Soft and Wearable Robotics

The unique capabilities of soft robots are to bend, deform, stretch, twist, or squeeze in all the ways that conventional rigid robots cannot. Today, it is easy to envision a world in...

Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Drive Technology: The Recipe for Precise Actuator Control

Worldwide, there are only a handful of manufacturers of electrical actuators for the process industry, and the Vienna, Austria-based company Schiebel Antriebstechnik GmbH is the...

Articles: Test & Measurement

Machine Vision Can Do More Than You Think

The ability to automatically extract information from digital images opens many doors for manufacturers striving to cut costs, improve quality, and streamline their processes overall. The primary...

Articles: Test & Measurement

IMTS2018 Preview

Presented by the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) has been the premier manufacturing technology show in the Northern Hemisphere. IMTS is held every even...

Briefs: Materials

Variable-Camber Compliant Wing

In the early years of manned flight, wing warping was used for lateral control of an aircraft. This technique consisted of a system of pulleys and cables used to twist the trailing edges of the wings in...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Using Direct Current with Inverter Technology in Resistance Welding

Resistance welding with direct current (DC) using inverter technology reduces costs by improving quality, reducing maintenance, and increasing productivity. Switching from...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Autonomous Crop-Counting Robot

Today's crop breeders are trying to boost yields while preparing plants to withstand severe weather and changing climates. To succeed, they must locate the genes for high-yielding, hardy traits in crop...

Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Products: August 2018 Motion Design

Servo Controller IC

TRINAMIC Motion Control (Hamburg, Germany) announced the TMC-4671 fully integrated servo controller IC that provides field-oriented control for BLDC/PMSM and 2-phase...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Integrated Inverter for Controlling Multiple Electric Machines

There are applications that require multiple electric machine drives, such as electric or hybrid electric vehicles, where there is a main traction motor and one or more accessory...