Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

Stories

Articles: Photonics/Optics

Products of Tomorrow

Next-generation solar panels, 3D-printed composites from NASA, and a new way to sterilize medical devices.

Products: Software

Product of the Month

The Agile Engineering Design System® is an integrated suite of software modules for CAE/CAM of turbomachinery.

Blog: Materials

How Smashing Nanoparticles Together Led to Super-Strength Metal 'Coins'

The hard “coin,” could be used to make super-strength metal coatings or larger industrial components.

Blog: Materials

A Recycling Breakthrough: Researchers Discover a Molecule That 'Zips Up'

The "polymer of squares” could one day enable the use of plastic products many times over.

INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Chemically Driven Wheels “Morph” Into Gears

University of Pittsburgh researchers have utilized a catalytic reaction that causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously “morph” into a three-dimensional gear.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

T-REX Rover Looks to the Dark Side

The Tethered permanently shadowed Region EXplorer (T-REX) rover, designed and built by a team of Michigan Technological University students – is designed to provide reliable power and data to other...

Blog: Energy

Self-Heating Battery Addresses Key Barrier to Electric-Vehicle Adoption: Range Anxiety

If you're concerned that electric vehicles don't have the reliability to get you where you need to go, Penn State engineers are working on a battery for...

Question of the Week: Test & Measurement

Will We Make Vibration-Free Helicopters?

A Tech Briefs TV video features a test technology from the Army that’s informally known as a “Shaker.” The Multi-Degree of Freedom (MDOF) system will study the causes of vibrations in a helicopter’s many components and subcomponents. The Army researchers hope to use the conclusions of their study to...

Blog: Nanotechnology

A Squid-Like 'Muscle' Senses Light and Changes Shape

Inspired by the squid's color-changing chromatophore, Rutgers engineers set out to create an artificial one.

Question of the Week: Transportation

Has the Vehicle Become Your “Second Space?”

"Honestly, the car has become an office for some people just so they can get away from the noise of their house," said Carla Bailo at CES 2021 last week. "The sound [in the car] is great, and you can connect from anywhere."

Blog: Materials

A New Way to Cure Adhesives on Demand? Magnets.

The non-contact method of curing leads to adhesives that can be activated on demand.

Podcasts: Materials

RepelWrap

Learn how RepelWrap began, and how the material can fend off drug-resistant bacteria, from MRSA to coronaviruses.

Blog: Transportation

CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'

In a roundtable presentation at the virtual CES 2021, panelists said the COVID-19 pandemic has changed driving patterns and consumer preferences – and that those shifts are here to stay.

INSIDER: Data Acquisition

New Products

Bandpass Filters MidOpt® (Palatine, IL) introduced the BP450 Indigo Bandpass and the BN450 Narrow Indigo Bandpass, two new filters designed for multi-application use. The BP450 enhances the viewing of subjects illuminated by a...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Large-Area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete with Silicon Devices

The performance of flexible large-area organic photodiodes has advanced to the point that they can now offer advantages over conventional silicon photodiode...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Combining Electronic, Photonic Chips Enables Super-Fast Quantum Light Detection

Researchers from the University of Bristol’s Quantum Engineering Technology Labs (QET Labs) and Université Côte d‘Azur have made a new miniaturized light...

INSIDER: Data Acquisition

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar Atmosphere

A phenomenon first detected in the solar wind may help solve a long-standing mystery about the sun: why the solar atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than the...

Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control

Will Robotics and Automation Lead to a Greater Appreciation of Nature?

Our lead INSIDER story today focused on the environmental impacts of robotics and automation.

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?

A survey of over 170 experts assessed the opportunities and challenges that drones, robots, and autonomous systems could have for urban nature and green spaces.

Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control

Would You Use a 'Twining' Robotic Gripper?

Our lead INSIDER story today focused on a twining robotic gripper that its inventor says is especially effective at grabbing thin objects like pencils, paintbrushes, and even a straightened paperclip.

Special Reports: Electronics & Computers

Vehicle Electrification - January 2021

See how Ford, Volkswagen, Cadillac, and other manufacturers are pushing the boundaries of battery & EV design to compete with Tesla in a rapidly growing market, plus learn about the latest EV testing...

Special Reports: RF & Microwave Electronics

Optics & Photonics Innovations - January 2021

An ultrafast camera that takes up to one trillion pictures per second...using light alone to levitate objects and propel spacecraft...the groundbreaking optics enabling the world's most powerful...