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INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have invented the MasSpec Pen that rapidly and accurately identifies cancerous tissue during surgery, delivering results in about 10 seconds — more...
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INSIDER: Test & Measurement
Researchers have created a miniaturized, portable version of the mass spectrometer, which traditionally has been bulky, limiting its in-field potential. Other smaller spectrometers have been less...
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INSIDER: Materials
A new mechanical innovation unfolded this month at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a team of engineers built a new kind of crawler robot. The wheel-less design takes...
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Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Our lead INSIDER story today showcased a new Kapton-like material, developed by a team at Virginia Tech. The researchers hope that the 3D-printed polymer will support new applications,...
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Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Measuring Division of Kaman Precision Products, Middletown, CT, announced the OEM-2306 non-contact linear displacement measuring instrument using eddy current technology. The board is factory-configured for each...
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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Kapton, a material used in electronics and aerospace applications, has only been available in sheet form. Researchers from Virginia Tech have found a way to 3D-print a polymer with Kapton's structural...
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Sound-Off: Manufacturing & Prototyping
In the additive manufacturing process, leftover powder is often recycled for the next job. Do the raw materials degrade with time and exposure?
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Sound-Off: Manufacturing & Prototyping
By reducing size and weight, 3D-printed parts provide an opportunity to improve thermal control systems. So which major industries are leading the way and using additive manufacturing...
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Articles: Test & Measurement
Sensors have a key role in industrial production. For example, they can be used for quality and process monitoring or condition-based maintenance. The range of applications is...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Gas sensors are usually engineered to detect a specific molecule in one of many potential categories: toxic gases, combustible gases, and VOCs. A number of technologies, such as infrared,...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Occupancy Sensing Using Wi-Fi Routers
In 2015, commercial and residential buildings accounted for 40% of the energy consumption in the United States according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As the owners of these buildings seek to decrease costs and reduce energy consumption they have begun to adopt building energy management...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Sensor Suitcase is a portable case that contains easy-to-use sensors and other equipment that make it possible for anyone to identify energy-saving opportunities in...
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Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Thanks to advances in biomedical engineering, the use of robotic systems in surgery has become increasingly common. A clear challenge in robotic surgery, however, is the lack of haptic technology — there have...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Water utilities have a Goldilocks problem: If they don't add enough chlorine, nasty bacteria that cause typhoid and cholera survive the purification process. Too much chlorine produces disinfection...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Induced seismicity is earthquake activity that occurs because of changes in subsurface stress brought about by human activity. Using geology,...
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Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Industrial Internet of Things is predicated on large-scale, distributed sensor/control networks that can run unattended for months to years with very low power consumption. The characteristic...
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Briefs: Unmanned Systems
Scientists have demonstrated a new way to detect buried and submerged mines. Data is collected by sensors aboard an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The information can then be used to create images to display locations of...
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Electrical engineers at Duke University have invented an inexpensive printed sensor that can monitor the tread of car tires in real time, warning drivers when the rubber meeting the road has grown...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Aspacecraft thermal control system must keep the vehicle, avionics, and atmosphere (if crewed) within a defined temperature range. Water coolant loops are typically used to transport heat...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Low-Power, Lightweight, Ultra-Compact Reverse Water Gas Shift Reactor
Utilizing CO2 to produce H2O and O2 is critical for sustained manned missions in space, and supports both NASA’s cabin Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS) and ln-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concepts. For long-term missions beyond low Earth orbit where resupply of...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
HEIDENHAIN CorporationSchaumburg, IL www.heidenhain.com Scientists know surprisingly little about what happens on the Sun. Solar researchers want to change this with the new Daniel K....
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Briefs: Software
Software Suite for Identifying Suspicious Individuals
It can be very useful to know about activities among individuals; for example, which individuals are associated with other individuals? When two or more individuals get together, is there an intended purpose? Who are the leaders or important individuals of a group? What is the organizational...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An airlock used in space can provide the ability to leave a pressurized volume and enter free space. This is necessary to perform maintenance or make repairs to the pressurized volume or visiting spacecraft,...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Printed electronics must be heated to melt all the nanoparticles together into a single conductive wire, making it impossible to print circuits on inexpensive plastics or paper. A study...
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
An arson investigation typically requires collecting one or two liters of ashes and debris from various locations within a fire scene in metal cans similar to those used for paint, and sending...
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Briefs: Software
The Automated Impacts Routing (AIR) software is advanced route finding technology for air and ground vehicles. The software provides users the ability to find optimized paths through airspace...
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Briefs: Software
Automated Transfer Function Generator
When designing or analyzing electrical systems, it is important to understand the relationship between input and output. Power conversion occurs in a “black box,” and transfer functions can be used to provide a better understanding of the processes occurring in this black box. Although they provide a useful...
Briefs: Materials
Researchers have made ultralight, highly porous, compressible, and heat-resistant sponge-like materials from nanoscale ceramic fibers. The highly deformable material is...
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Overspeed Protection for Turbine Flowmeters in Cryogenic Applications
Flowmeters for cryogenic applications often fail in service. Turbine flowmeters in particular fail due to very high speeds encountered during chill-down operations. Very cold, very high-velocity gas causes the turbine to spin uncontrollably, which quickly degrades bearings. Those...

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