Articles: RF & Microwave Electronics

Products of Tomorrow: February 2020

Life-saving sensors, soft hearing implants, and a new water-decontamination method

Facility Focus: Electronics & Computers

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Explore Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's first space flight complex.

Briefs: Materials

Silicon Carbide Fiber Tows

This rapid processing method produces stronger materials and heals lower-quality fibers.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Polymer Coating Cools Down Buildings

This coating acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint.

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

3D Printing of Plastics with Electrical Circuits

This innovation could lead to better drones, satellites, and biomedical devices.

Briefs: Materials

Enhancing Materials for High-Resolution Patterning

Hybrid organic-inorganic materials transfer ultra-small, high-aspect-ratio features into silicon for next-generation electronic devices.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Multimaterial Fiber “Ink” for 3D-Printed Devices

Filaments with embedded circuitry can be used to print complex shapes for biomedical and robotic devices.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Ultrasensitive Vapor Detection System

This technology quickly and accurately identifies explosives, deadly chemicals, and illicit drugs.

Briefs: Materials

Thermally Conductive Polymer Films

These materials may replace metals as lightweight, flexible heat dissipators in cars, computers, cellphones, and refrigerators.

Briefs: Aerospace

Estimated Spectrum Adaptive Postfilter (ESAP)

This program enhances images and videos for smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D-Printed Structures Morph from Flat Layers into Predetermined Shapes

The flat structure morphs into another shape when temperature changes, enabling self-deploying tents or adaptive robotic fins.

Briefs: Imaging

Long-Distance LADAR System and Method

The system provides three-dimensional imagery of potential threats at closer ranges.

Briefs: Communications

Underwater Telecom Cables Used as Seismic Network

Fiber-optic cables could help scientists study offshore earthquakes and the geologic structures hidden deep beneath the ocean surface.

Q&A: Connectivity

Q&A: Electrically Conductive Coated Yarn for Wearable, Washable Fabrics

Drexel Professor Genevieve Dion is coating yarn with the highly conductive, two-dimensional material MXene.

5 Ws: Materials

5 Ws of Microlattice Pads for Improved Helmets

With the new microlattice pads, players will have greater protection from both single hits and a series of impacts.

Briefs: Materials

Technique Creates Transparent Polythene Films as Strong as Aluminum

The films could be used in impact-resistant glazing, windscreens, and displays.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Atoms Can Receive Common Communications Signals

This atom-based receiver has the potential to be smaller and work better in noisy environments than conventional radio receivers.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Wireless Movement-Tracking System Uses Low-Power Radio Frequency Signals

In some cases, radio frequency signals may be more useful for caregivers than cameras or other methods to collect health and behavioral data.

Products: Electronics & Computers

New on the Market: February 2020

Low-viscosity plastic; coin cell holders; oxidation-resistant coatings; and more.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Threads Detect Gases When Woven into Clothing

Equipment-free textile detectors could be used in public health, workplace safety, military, and rescue applications.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Smartphone System Tests for Lead in Water

This inexpensive system can detect lead levels below EPA standards.

Briefs: Data Acquisition

Modern Software Links Legacy Systems

Software portal solutions can connect legacy control systems and field devices to the cloud.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Welding Ceramics with Lasers

This technology could be used to create smartphones that don't scratch or shatter, metal-free pacemakers, and electronics for space and other harsh environments.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Insect-Inspired Motion Sensing

This mechanical gyroscope can advance motion sensing capabilities in consumer-sized applications.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Shape-Shifting Robot Uses New Locomotion Strategy

The robot is built entirely from smaller robots and can form a robophysical system that can move by itself.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Dynamic Gripper Mimics Adjustable Grip of the Human Hand

Such grippers would be suited for human-robot partnership in assembly lines in the automotive, electronic packaging, and other industries.

Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Products: February 2020 Motion Design

Encoder

The AI25 hazardous series AI25 encoder from Dynapar (Gurnee, IL) is suited for Class 1 Division 2 applications where a Zone 1 or Division 1 encoder may have previously been...