INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An engineering team at the University of California San Diego has designed and built a gripper that can pick up and manipulate objects without needing to see them and without...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have created the first functional robot powered entirely by vacuum. It is made up of soft building blocks that move...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Scientists at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, PA have developed a modular, reconfigurable legged robot named Snapbot that can move forward, interact with its environment, and perform other tasks...
INSIDER: Energy
Michigan State University researchers say a new transparent solar panel technology is right outside your door. Or more precisely: inside your window. The completely clear...
INSIDER: Aerospace
At Orbital ATK, Mark Ogren works on the preliminary design of the company’s propulsion technologies, including targets, interceptors, or space launch vehicles. Ogren spoke with Tech...
Sound-Off: Automotive
A technique known as Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) instantly analyzes air down to part-per-trillion (ppt) concentrations. The SIFT-MS technology...
Question of the Week: Energy
Will conformal batteries improve electronics design?
Today’s lead INSIDER story featured a conformal battery that bends to meet specific device shapes. What do you think?
Q&A: Materials
Dr. Zheng and her team of scientists from Berkeley Lab and Nanyang Technical University in Singapore made metal-organic spongy photocatalysts that convert carbon dioxide...
News: Medical
A novel, pencil-sized device now provides surgeons with an alternative to traditional methods of suturing arteries. The Arterial Everter, Medical Category winner of the 2017 “Create the...
INSIDER: Materials
Looking to nature for inspiration, scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Northeastern University have used carbon nanotubes to mimic the...
Sound-Off: Software
To reduce costs and eliminate air pollution, many cities are exploring the benefits of electric buses. Before electrified fleets take the road, however, officials will require a test run....
INSIDER: Energy
Electronics design is often limited by the shape of the battery – a critical, but frequently uncompromising product component. A new kind of battery conforms to meet the...
INSIDER: Test & Measurement
In the future, breathalyzers will not just be used by police checking for alcohol intoxication, but also for testing the condition of athletes, and for people who want to lose weight. When exactly the...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Before volcanoes erupt, there are often warning signs. Using remote sensing to detect rising carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions without endangering people or equipment would greatly...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Researchers have designed and tested a series of plasmonic nanoantenna arrays that could lead to the development of a new generation of ultrasensitive and low-cost fluorescence sensors that...
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
In the galaxy NGC 4993, located approximately 130 million light-years from Earth, two neutron stars collided. And, for the first time, scientists detected...
Question of the Week: Energy
Developers of a "HI-Light" chemical reactor were awarded top honors in this year’s 'Create the Future' Design Contest. The grand-prize-winning...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Petrochemical and liquid gas companies require a regular inspection of a vessel's welds and wall thicknesses — a dangerous task given the hazardous environment. A climbing robot,...
Sound-Off: Materials
Conformal coatings like Parylene protect a variety of components, including LEDs, sensors, and circuit card assemblies. If a board component needs to be replaced, however, how easily can the...
Question of the Week: Aerospace
In 10 years, will brain-controlled UAVs support critical applications?
In this week’s INSIDER story, researcher Panagiotis Artemiadis predicted that we will see an increase in brain-controlled UAVs within the next ten years. The mind-controlled drones, according to the Arizona State University professor, will play critical application roles as...
INSIDER: Aerospace
Who needs a keyboard, a mouse, or a joystick? A researcher from Arizona State University wants to command machines with the human brain.
Question of the Week
Would you use MatchPoint?
This week’s INSIDER story featured a gesture-recognition technology that transforms everyday objects into remote controls. What do you think? Would you use MatchPoint?
Products: Software
ANSYS, Canonsburg, PA, introduced ANSYS® Discovery Live™ simulation software that allows engineers to immediately examine the impact of their design changes. Users can pose what-if questions upfront in the design...
INSIDER: Energy
Developers of a “HI-Light” chemical reactor were awarded top honors in this year’s "Create the Future" Design Contest. The...
News: Imaging
A new gesture-recognition technology from Lancaster University can make a remote control out of your coffee mug — or most everyday objects, for that matter.
Sound-Off: Automotive
Sound-Off: Do Electric Vehicles Produce High-Frequency Noise?
Many structural factors contribute to automotive noise, whether the vehicle is electric or has an internal combustion engine. In a webinar this week titled, “The Art of NVH Attenuation,” an attendee asked Dr. Pranab Saha, a consultant and expert in acoustics, noise, and vibration...
INSIDER: Propulsion
On a snowy day in 1926, a 44-year-old physicist named Robert Goddard went with his wife Esther and some colleagues to his Aunt Effie’s ranch in Auburn,...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
A rubber “skin” developed at the University of Houston allows a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and cold temperatures. The semiconductor material supports new...
Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Will "print-and-go" structures lead to printable robots?
As seen in this week's Tech Briefs TV video, MIT researchers envision many possibilities for devices that self-fold without external stimuli.
Top Stories
Blog: RF & Microwave Electronics
A Hack to Trick Automotive Radar
Blog: Materials
Rapidly Printing with Liquid Metal
Blog: Materials
New Material Could Lead to Better Hydrogen-Based Batteries, Fuel Cells
Podcasts: Aerospace
Countering Illegally Operated Drones at Airports, Stadiums, and Prisons
NASA Spinoff: Design
Additive Manufacturing Subtracts from Rocket Build Time
Blog: Energy
Question of the Week
Blog: Artificial Intelligence: Meet Human Intelligence
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
AI on the Ascent: Optimizing Factory Schedules for Peak Production
Webinars: Materials
Top 3 Factors Impacting the Useful Life of Medical Devices
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
How to Safely Control the Power to Your Vehicle
Upcoming Webinars: Software
Digital Twins and Simulation for Accelerated Automotive Product...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
EV Bodyshop Metrology: The Same but Different
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Integrating Additive Manufacturing Into Aerospace Production