Stories

0
8550
30
Briefs: Software
NEQAIR v14.x Non-Equilibrium Radiative Transport and Spectra Program
There is a need to calculate the radiative heating rate at the surface of a vehicle entering any atmosphere, (e.g., Earth, Saturn, Titan, Mars, Venus etc). NEQAIR simulates the actual chemical and physical actions and reactions of the gaseous species in high-temperature shock...
Briefs: Information Technology
Systems Engineering Education and Development (SEED) Web Application
This application serves as Web-based management of the Systems Engi - neering Education and Development (SEED) program, and enables the SEED Program Manager to track and manage the applications and assignments. In the past, the handling of the applications and assignments was...
Briefs: Information Technology
Hammer 1.0
Many software applications have scripting needs including those based on the Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) framework. In GMSEC, a user may want to automate the actions to take when a sequence of events occurs. Ideally, the scripting solution should allow the use of a familiar programming language and avoid unnecessary...
Briefs: Information Technology
Extended Testability Analysis (ETA) Tool V8.0
An assessment of a system’s safety requirements is required early in the design process when cost and time impacts are minimal. These requirements include fault detection, failure isolation, and failure recovery. Systems engineering groups at NASA have been exploring model-based products to better...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Lunar Regolith Simulant Sample Collection Mechanism for Remote Operation in a Thermal Vacuum Chamber
The Sample Capture Mechanism (SCM) is a remotely actuated, spring-driven mechanism designed to remotely capture and seal a 15-mL sample in less than 1 second. It was used to capture a 10-g sample of simulated regolith dispensed from a drill in a...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
NASA’s Johnson Space Center innovators have designed a Robotic Inspection System that is capable of surveying deep sea structures such as oil platform storage cells/tanks and pipelines in order to determine the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), in collaboration with General Motors (GM) and Oceaneering, have designed a state-of-the-art, highly dexterous, humanoid robot: Robonaut 2 (R2). R2’s...
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Vessel Sealing Device for Robotic Devices
Invasive surgical procedures are essential for addressing various medical conditions. When possible, minimally invasive procedures are preferred, but these technologies are often limited in scope and complexity. These limitations are due in part to mobility restrictions from the use of rigid tools in small...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Improved Two-Step Replication Process for Producing Precision Optical Mirrors
Production of precision optical mirrors by replication requires molds or mandrels of the complementary shape. For example, replicating a concave mirror requires a convex mandrel. Convex shapes are difficult to fabricate and test since they do not focus light. Convex...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
NASA’s Langley Research Center has made a breakthrough improvement in laser frequency modulation. Frequency modulation technology has been used for surface mapping...
Feature Image
Articles: Electronics & Computers
SpaceCube Processors Next-generation spacecraft instruments are capable of producing data at rates of 108 to 1011 bits per second, and both their instrument designs and...
Feature Image
Articles: Communications
Technology often takes circuitous paths. A magnetron developed for precision bombing during World War II led to the microwave oven, and a battery-powered drill created for collecting samples...
Feature Image
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Over the last 15 years, breakthroughs in the manufacture and processing of diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have established diamond as an excellent substrate material for...
Feature Image
Articles: Imaging
At NASA’s White Sands Test Facility, Donald Henderson and his team spend much of their days shooting projectiles at 15,700 miles per hour....
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Imaging
When ambient light hits displays, it causes unwanted reflections, which adversely affects readability. This is a nuisance for users; however, it can be prevented with optical adhesives.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Medical
Even university researchers play Xbox from time to time. Not all mechanical engineers, however, have the idea to use the popular gaming console’s camera to assist doctors in...
Feature Image
Articles: Defense
The 2016 Create the Future Design Contest — sponsored by COMSOL, Mouser Electronics, and Tech Briefs Media Group (publishers of NASA Tech Briefs) — recognized innovation in product design in seven...
Feature Image
Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
HYLIION - HYBRID TECHNOLOGY FOR SEMI-TRAILERS AND THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY Thomas Healy, RF Culbertson, AJ Emanuele, Morgan Culbertson, Wilson Sa, Pam Culbertson, Chad Saylor, Len Kulbacki,...
Feature Image
Articles: Automotive
Krishan Arora, Mike Baker, Glenn Barber, Peter Brett, Ross Dewhurst, Melvyn Dover, John Gamston, Steven Goodier, Annie Leeson, Vincent Panel, Ben Russell, Alessandra...
Feature Image
Articles: Defense
FLASH® BAINITE — HIGH PERFORMANCE ARMOR Gary Cola, Flash Bainite, Washington, MI The Flash® Bainite Process is a rapid heat treating process for creating steel that is...
Feature Image
Articles: Electronics & Computers
1,000X BETTER DATA COMPRESSION AND REAL-TIME DECODING OF HIGH-RESOLUTION MAPS Shaun McWherter, Mark Skoog, and Jamie Willhite, NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards,...
Feature Image
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY BASED SAFETY LATCH Nicholas W. Pinto, Suresh Gopalakrishnan, Chandra S. Namuduri, Nancy L. Johnson, and Mark Vann General Motors, Warren,...
Feature Image
Articles: Medical
CONTINUOUS WEARABLE BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR Sean Connell, Kyle Miller, Jay Pandit, and Jung-En Wu Bold Diagnostics, Evanston, IL Bold Diagnostics has developed a blood pressure...
Feature Image
Articles: Medical
MIFOLD Jon Sumroy, Carfoldio, Ltd., Ra’anana, Israel The mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat for children aged 4-12 is more than ten times smaller than a regular...
Feature Image
Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
DESOLENATOR — WATER FROM SUNSHINE William Janssen, Desolenator, London, UK The Desolenator is a water-purification technology that decontaminates water from...
Feature Image
INSIDER: Imaging
Researchers Make Full-Color Holograms from Nanomaterials
Imagine cell phones with 3D floating displays, or credit cards with three-dimensional security markings. By using just one layer of nanoscale metallic film, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have reconstructed 3D full-color holographic images. The technique supports...
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will artificial intelligence do more good than bad for humanity?
This week's Question: World-famous physicist Stephen Hawking recently warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence will be “either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity.” Hawking noted the risks of creating superintelligence with a will of its...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
The SIMbot robot features an elegant motor with just one moving part: the ball. The only other active moving part of the robot is the body itself. A spherical induction motor...
Feature Image

Videos