Products of Tomorrow

The technologies NASA develops don’t just blast off into space. They also improve our lives here on Earth. Life-saving search-and-rescue tools, implantable medical devices, advances in commercial aircraft safety,...

Drone Control: Flying the Crowded Skies

“The sky could become increasingly crowded as personal and commercial uses of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) become more popular,” said Parimal Kopardekar, manager of NASA’s Safe Autonomous Systems...

FAA and Drone Control

Since the early 1990s, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have operated on a limited basis in the National Airspace System (NAS). Until recently, UAS mainly supported public operations, such as military and border security...

CO2 Recovery System Puts Bubbles into Beer

Technology used to capture carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere can save brewers money. Building on work he and his companies did with Johnson Space Center’s In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)...

CAD-Based Process Analyzes Lidar Interferometer Instrument

Comet software Comet Solutions Cincinnati, OH 513-588-2773 www.cometsolutions.com A Structural-Thermal-Optical-Performance (STOP) analysis is an interdisciplinary analysis used to...

Plasma Etching System Expands Device Processing Capability at JPL

Apex SLR ICP etch system Advanced Vacuum, a Plasma-Therm Co. Saint Petersburg, FL 800-246-2592 www.plasmatherm.com An Advanced Vacuum inductively coupled plasma etch system...

Optimizing Drive Systems for Energy Savings

Energy savings are an extremely important topic in virtually every segment of industry today. In general, the largest consumer of power in a converting line or machine is the drive system. As energy...

Automation System Retrofit Transforms 175-Ton Hydraulic Forming Press

Southern Manufacturing Group (SMG) of Morrison, TN, makes automotive components and industrial valves. In 2012, the automation system for its 175-ton hydraulic forming press...

Graphene Supports NASA-Developed Nanosensors

NASA Technologist Mahmooda Sultana has been leading the development of tiny graphene sensors. Because of the material’s extreme sensitivity, graphene-based sensors have a wide range of possible...

Energy Harvesting and the IoT: A New Bull Market

The romantic notion of grizzled ranchers out riding the range on horseback to shepherd their herd of cattle may soon be a distant memory, as cloud-based sensor technology now permits real-time...

When Sensors Mesh: How Sensor Networks Improve Performance

Innovations in communications and computing hardware and software have made it easier than ever to collect minute details regarding just about any topic of interest. For technology and...

Researchers Prepare RoboSimian for Tasks Beyond Disaster Response

RoboSimian, a limbed robot developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is designed to operate in environments too dangerous or difficult for human intervention, such...

Energy Harvester Uses RF Waves to Power Air Pollution Sensors

As more connected devices enter the market and see wider adoption by an ever increasing number of industries, the Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly expanding.

Integrated Circuits

The Standard Power Series from Honeywell (Fort Mill, SC) includes four new sensor ICs. The integrated circuits offer a sensitivity of 11 Gauss max., allowing design engineers to use larger air gaps between the sensor IC and...

Wireless Remote Sensing

SignalFire Wireless Telemetry (Hudson, MA) has added capabilities to its Field Setup and Diagnostic ToolKit. Interfacing with sensors, thermocouples, load cells, pots, and turbine meters, the Signal Fire Wireless Remote...

Wireless Router

The CirrusSense™ wireless router from Transducers Direct (Cincinnati, OH) provides remote pressure readings, diagnostics, and immediate email/text alarm alerts transmitted by CirrusSense™ pressure transducers. The device...

Optical Sensors

Micro-Epsilon (Raleigh, NC) offers optoNCDT 1320 and 1420 optical smart sensors. Electronics for signal processing are housed in each sensor body. Weighing 60 g, the devices are suitable for dynamic acceleration applications,...

Gas Sensor Modules

The new Komfy™ Switch with camera by D-Link features the iAQcore indoor air quality module from ams (Cupertino, CA). The iAQcore, a miniaturized, low-power gas sensor, uses a MEMS-based VOC component. The device provides an...

Image Sensors

OmniVision Technologies (Santa Clara, CA) has released the OV16860, a 16-megapixel PureCel® Plus-S image sensor. A 1.3-micron pixel architecture enables full resolution recording at 45 frames per second. The sensor also supports...

Pressure Sensors

TE Connectivity (Berwyn, PA) has announced the 86BC, a 16-mm piezoresistive silicon pressure sensor packaged in a 316L stainless steel housing. O-ring mounting supports integration into industrial applications. The header-less...

Harsh-Environment Sensors

WAGO Corp. (Germantown, WI) has added 3-Phase Power Measurement Modules to its XTR line of harsh environment (-40 °C to 70 °C extreme temperature and 5g vibration resistance) I/O. Varying communication interfaces...

Cable Extension Sensors

The POSIWIRE® WS21 cable extension sensor from ASM (Elmhurst, IL) is equipped with a non-contact, magnetic multi-turn-encoder that enables long measuring lengths up to 20,000 mm. Typical applications include linear...

Temperature Sensors

Exergen Corp. (Watertown, MA) has announced the Extreme IRt/c non-contact temperature sensor. A custom-designed housing protects the sensor from extreme vibrations, shifts in pressure, and other acute ambient changes. The...

Submersible Position Sensors

Macro Sensors (Pennsauken, NJ) has introduced submersible LVDT Position Sensors for use as part of subsea measurement systems. The SSIR 937 Series Submersible LVDT Position Sensors withstand deep sea environments...

Capacitive Force Sensor

Pressure Profile Systems (Los Angeles, CA) has released the SingleTact, a miniature capacitive force sensor. The ultra-thin, single-element device quantifies forces in analog or digital configuration. The SingleTact...

Product of the Month

MSC Software Corp., Newport Beach, CA, announced the release of Marc 2015 nonlinear and multiphysics simulation software. Enhancements include new material models to simulate complex dynamic behavior of elastomers,...

Power Supply

North Atlantic Industries, Bohemia, NY, announced the VPX57- 31 3U rugged power product that provides up to 400 watts of power with six outputs. It is compliant with MIL-STD-704F, and features current share, remote error sensing,...

DC Power Load

Intepro Systems, Tustin, CA, introduced the ELR9000 Series of electronic DC loads that features an integral, grid-synchronized inverter designed to return up to 94% of the load test energy back to the grid. The rack-mounted unit...

Battery Monitor

The ISL94203 3-to-8 cell battery pack monitor from Intersil Corp., Milpitas, CA, supports lithium-ion and other battery chemistries. The device monitors, protects, and cell-balances rechargeable battery packs to maximize battery...