Leading Experts Suggest Guidelines for Assessing Emerging Transistor Performance

To continue making smartphones, laptops, and other devices more powerful, yet energy efficient, industry is intensely focused on identifying promising...

Strain-Sensing Smart Skin Ready to Deploy

A strain-sensing smart skin developed at Rice University uses very small carbon nanotube structures to monitor and detect damage in large structures. The “strain paint” uses the fluorescent...

Products of Tomorrow

From space propulsion to underwater monitoring and antibacterial coatings, three new innovations aim to address real-world problems.

5 Ws of Energy-Harvesting Yarns

A group of University of Texas at Dallas researchers have invented energy-harvesting yarns made from carbon nanotubes that produce electricity when repeatedly stretched.

Glow-in-the-Dark Algae May Be Ideal for Soft Robots

Engineers developed soft devices containing algae that glow when under mechanical stress —perfect for building soft robots.

When Cobots Make a Manufacturing Difference

Robots have been widely used in industry for many years, but cobots, or collaborative robots, are a more recent arrival to the market.

Pressure Sensors for Improved Dexterity in Robots

Made from 3D graphene foam, the sensors use a piezoresistive approach, meaning when the material is put under pressure it dynamically changes its electric resistance, easily detecting and adapting to the range of pressure required, from light to heavy.

Getting a Grip with ‘Necrobotic’ Spiders

An open-access study in Advanced Science outlines the process by which Preston and lead author Faye Yap harnessed a spider’s physiology in a first step toward a novel area of research they call “necrobotics.”

A Manta Ray-Inspired Bio-Syncretic Robot

Biomimetics is one of the most important robotic research methods which can improve the kinematic performance of robots by imitating the structure and behavior of natural organisms.

Inflatable Actuators Use Origami Principles to Deform

Researchers have taken inspiration from origami to create inflatable structures that can bend, twist, and move in complex, distinct ways from a single source of pressure.

Sustaining Shock Loads: Low-Speed, High-Torque Hydraulic Direct Drives

The most common use of HDD systems is for industrial applications moving heavy masses on a continuous basis with low speed and high torque, and especially high starting torque for operations with frequent stops and starts.

New Products

Read about the new products for October 2022, including rotary encoders, precision gearboxes, a brushless servo motor, and more.

New Automation Technology Helps High-Precision Telescope Observations

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) continues to enable exciting scientific advances that help us better understand the universe.

Machine Learning and Sensor Technology Unlock Predictive Maintenance Insights

More than 80 percent of manufacturers experienced at least one instance of unplanned downtime during the past three years, and a single factory can lose $2.3 million annually due to unplanned stoppages.

Sensor Breakthrough Paves the Way for a Map of the World Under Earth’s Surface

The sensor works by detecting variations in microgravity using the principles of quantum physics, which is based on manipulating nature at the sub-molecular level.

Future Wearable Health Tech Could Measure Gases Released from Skin

Some wearable devices are already capable of measuring pulse rates or temperatures, but this team’s method would allow the technology to sense biomarkers related to metabolic disorders, like heart disease or diabetes.

New Products

The new products for October 2022, including silicon diode thermometry, a current sensor simulator, and more.

The Role of Compound Semiconductors in the IoT

Compound semiconductors will play an ever more important role in the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) into 5G territory.

Printed Rechargeable Batteries for the IIoT

Wireless sensors are critical for the IIoT, but they need long-term, reliable battery power.

Perfecting a Comprehensive Design Process

This article looks at two real-world applications in which machine vision and motion control work in harmony to solve different manufacturing challenges.

Optical Strain for Precision Measurements and Certification

Optical strain is material independent and measures the response of the integrated system, so designers can get a measure of the true response and strength of their designs.

Biofilm Harvests Energy in Evaporation

The biofilm has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.

Light-Emitting Tattoo

The OLEDs are fabricated onto temporary tattoo paper and transferred to a new surface by being pressed onto it and dabbed with water.

Automated Fabric Circuit and Antenna Fabrication

The technology allows for higher surface conductivity, improved impedance control, expanded design and application potential, and greater choice of materials for optimized performance.

Method Miniaturizes Light-Based Chips

But they’re not yet small enough to compete in computing and other applications where electric circuits continue to reign.

Printable IoT Sensor Development Platform

To benchmark performance of printed sensors against the state of the art, NASA has developed a low-power flexible sensor platform.

Pulsed 2-Micron Laser Transmitter

The design produces a compact, efficient, long-lifetime laser transmitter as needed for use in space, while also having potential applications as an airborne or ground-based wind measurement tool.