Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

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Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Material Advances for LED Quantum Dot Efficiency

Creating next-generation LEDs for novel efforts like COVID-19 decontamination requires LED manufacturers to reevaluate the materials that they’re using.

Briefs: Imaging

Ambient Light Alters Refraction in 2D Material

See how tantalum disulfide is supporting new kinds of optics, and potentially new kinds of application for VR and self-driving cars.

Briefs: AR/AI

“Alexa, Go to The Kitchen and Fetch Me a Snack”

MIT engineers are envisioning robots more like home helpers.

Articles: Test & Measurement

Overcoming Pitfalls When Measuring Thin, Parallel Optics

A "TPSI" process makes it possible to distinguish between the front and back of optical surfaces, and to characterize the quality of both in a single measurement.

Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Measuring Layer Thickness Using a Microscope

With Nikon's Layer Thickness software module, comprehensive information about a specimen is obtained more quickly than if an operator is making all the measurements by hand.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Recovering Data: NIST’s Neural Network Model Finds Small Objects in Dense Images

A NIST method employs a neural network to detect patterns like geometric objects in imaging data.

Products: Semiconductors & ICs

Product of the Month

The SHFQA Quantum Analyzer from Zurich Instruments operates at up to 8.5 GHz and can perform direct readout of superconducting and spin qubits.

Special Reports: Electronics & Computers

Additive Manufacturing - November 2020

AM/3D Printing is fundamentally changing how products are prototyped and produced in aerospace, medical, electronics, and many other fields. To help you keep pace with the latest advances, we present this...

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

A Spider-Inspired Design Paves Way for Better Photodetectors

Purdue University innovators are taking cues from the spider to develop 3D photodetectors for biomedical imaging.

Blog: Software

Woodworking, Simplified: New Software Aids in Design

An interactive software being developed at the University of Tokyo allows architects and furniture makers with little experience in woodworking to to design and build structurally sound wood joints.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Transforming Rover Explores the Toughest Terrain

NASA’s DuAxel, a pair of two-wheeled rovers each called Axel, can split in half with each half connected only by a tether that unspools as the lead axle approaches a hazard.

Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control

Would You Use a ‘SwingBot?’

A “SwingBot” robotic arm from MIT can learn the physical features of a handheld object through tactile exploration. Instead of using cameras or vision methods, the robot’s grippers use GelSight tactile sensors that measure the pose and force distribution of the object. Watch the demo on Tech Briefs TV.

Blog: Transportation

Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Testing: Simulation vs. Closed-Course vs. Public Roads

A reader asks, "For AV testing, what are the respective role of simulation, closed course, and public road testing?"

Blog: Unmanned Systems

A Squid-Like Robot Swims, Untethered

A robot being tested at the University of California San Diego takes after an aquatic invertebrate that has a jet-like way moving through the water: The Squid.

Question of the Week: Electronics & Computers

Will Self-Erasing Chips Catch On?

University of Michigan engineers reported that their new self-erasing chips could help stop counterfeit electronics or provide alerts if sensitive shipments are tampered with. The chips use a new material that temporarily stores energy, changing the color of the light it emits. The self-erase period takes seven...

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

With Water Jets, Machines 'Breathe' to Cool Down

University of Central Florida researchers are developing a human-like way for large machines to cool off and keep from overheating: Letting the machines "breathe."

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

How to Charge an Underwater Robot? A Mobile Docking Station

Researcher Nina Mahmoudian is finding a new way for underwater robots to recharge and upload their data, and then go back out to continue exploring, without the need for human intervention.

Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Will We Someday 'Draw' Sensors On Our Skin?

A Tech Brief featured in our October issue showcases how University of Missouri researchers are creating pencil-drawn sensors. The engineers demonstrated that the simple combination of pencils and paper could be used to create personal, health-monitoring devices.

Blog: Automotive

Is the Public Ready for a Level-4 Autonomous Vehicle?

A reader asks, "Will the public feel safe enough in an autonomous vehicle?"

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Researchers Prove Their Elastic Exosuit Eases Back Stress

Vanderbilt University engineers are proving that their elastic exosuit can provide relief for people doing the heavy lifting.

Question of the Week: Photonics/Optics

Will Flat Fisheye Lenses Play a Greater Role in Medical Imaging and Consumer Electronics?

A recent Tech Briefs TV video demonstrated an achievement from engineers at MIT and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. The teams designed the first completely flat fisheye lens to produce crisp, 180-degree panoramic images. The lenses, according to...

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Soft Robots Deliver Medical Treatments

Researchers created a way to send tiny, soft robots into humans. Doctors would use magnetic fields to steer the soft robot inside the body, bringing medications or treatments to places that need them.