Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

Briefs: Aerospace

Reverse Vortex Ring

This mechanism improves rotordynamic stability in turbomachinery.

Briefs: Aerospace

Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor

Potential uses include MEMS accelerometers, vibration monitoring, and other precision motion control applications.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Miniaturized Electrospray System

The technology was developed as an alternative to existing options for in-space aeroponic food production applications.

Briefs: Materials

Handheld Metal Tube Straightener

The tool straightens thin, malleable 4-mm metal tubes like those used for fuel, pneumatic, or hydraulic pressurized lines.

Briefs: Internet of Things

Printed Thermoelectric Generators for Power Generation

Scientists have now developed three-dimensional component architectures based on novel, printable thermoelectric materials.

Briefs: Energy

Organic Redox Flow Battery

Redox flow batteries are stationary batteries in which the energy is located in the electrolyte, outside of the cell itself, as in a fuel cell.

Briefs: Design

Self-Cleaning Germicidal Door Handle

To overcome the limitations of using cleaning agents, sprays, or bulky high-cost sterilizing systems, NASA developed the Ultraviolet Germicidal Door Handle.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Oculometric Testing for Detecting Mild Neural Impairment

This set of oculomotor metrics provide valid and reliable measures of dynamic visual performance.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Engineers Build Reconfigurable Artificial Intelligence Chip

The researchers plan to apply the design to edge computing devices.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Overcoming the Optical Resolution Limit

When measuring with light, the lateral extent of the structures that can be resolved by an optical imaging system is fundamentally diffraction limited.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Incorporating Computer Vision and Uncertainty into AI for Robotic Prosthetics

The software can be integrated with existing hardware to aid people using robotic prosthetics or exoskeletons.

Briefs: Design

A Laser That Could Reshape the Landscape of Integrated Photonics

This technology will pave the way for new applications of integrated semiconductor lasers in LiDAR.

Briefs: Power

Enhancing Fault Isolation and Detection for Electric Powertrains of UAVs

NASA’s System-Wide Safety (SWS) project is developing innovative data solutions to assure safe, rapid, and repeatable access to a transformed National Airspace System.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Deformation Fingerprints Will Help Researchers Identify, Design Better Metallic Materials

Researchers report that automated high-resolution electron imaging can capture the nanoscale deformation events that lead to metal failure and breakage.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Product of the Month

The new Indicators feature true absolute sensor technology that minimizes the chance of data loss.

Briefs: Design

Light-Analyzing ‘Lab on A Chip’ Opens Door to Widespread Use of Portable Spectrometers

The device is 100 percent electrically controllable regarding the colors of light it absorbs, which gives it massive potential for widespread usability.

Briefs: Design

Modular and Reconfigurable Robots for Assembly of Structures

In-space and planetary surface assembly for human exploration is a challenging domain that encompasses various technological thrusts to support human missions.