Lightweight, Self-Deployable Helical Antenna

NASA's newly developed antenna is lightweight (at or below 2 grams), low volume (at or below 1.2 cm3), and low stowage thickness (approx. 0.7 mm), all while delivering high performance (at or above 10 dBi gain).

NeuWS Camera Overcomes Light Scattering With Full-Motion Video

Engineers have created full-motion video technology that could potentially be used to make cameras that peer through fog, smoke, driving rain, murky water, skin, bone, and other media that reflect scattered light and obscure objects from view.

Detecting Threats Beyond the Limits of Human, Sensor Sight

A new patented software system can find the curves of motion in streaming video and images from satellites, drones, and far-range security cameras and turn them into signals to find and track moving objects as small as one pixel.

Wearable RFID Sensor Tags Yield Extended Operational Times

The technology exploits the inherently passive nature of RFID to approximate the services provided by traditional active Internet of Things (IoT) protocols like ZigBee and Bluetooth.

Smart Micro-Robots Learn to Swim with AI

Researchers have been able to successfully teach micro-robots how to swim via deep reinforcement learning, marking a substantial leap in the progression of micro-swimming capability.

A Laser That Could Reshape the Landscape of Integrated Photonics

This technology will pave the way for new applications of integrated semiconductor lasers in LiDAR.

Faster Computation for Deep-Learning Applications

A new area of artificial intelligence called analog deep learning promises faster computation with a fraction of the energy usage.

Small But Mighty: Stratospheric Microballooons

A zero-emission reusable stratospheric balloon developed by Urban Sky for remote sensing could one day be used for real-time wildfire monitoring.

Spacecraft to Remove Orbital Debris

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have designed an Active Debris Removal Vehicle that can remove large orbital debris from low-Earth orbit.

High-Bandwidth Communications Device

This device could pave the way to higher-bandwidth wireless communications.

Teaching Robots the Craft of Manipulating Materials

The new system learns directly from visual inputs to let a robot with a two-fingered gripper see, simulate, and shape doughy objects.

Nanomagnets Can Perform AI-Like Processing

The new method could slash the energy cost of AI.

Easing Industrial-Grade Ethernet Implementation

Equipment and test system designers need Ethernet devices that outperform consumer-grade components, while remaining easy to use.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Electronics/Sensors/IoT Winner - RF Fingerprinting for Industrial IoT Security

Some of the hardest to detect cyber-attacks are wireless, including man-in-the-middle attacks and rogue access points.

New Imaging Method Reveals Concealed Objects

Using state-of-the-art indium phosphide transistors and a basic computer and mirrors, researchers were able to produce images of concealed bodies.

Pulsed 2-Micron Laser Transmitter

The design produces a compact, efficient, long-lifetime laser transmitter as needed for use in space, while also having potential applications as an airborne or ground-based wind measurement tool.

Virginia Tech College of Engineering

From artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and manufacturing to health sciences, robotics, and more, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering offers an advanced engineering curriculum.

Teaching Drones How to Navigate Real-World Weather

For drones to autonomously perform necessary but quotidian tasks, they must be able to adapt to wind conditions in real time.

Unmanned Hover Plane

The Trojan Unmanned Hover Plane (UHP) is a one-of-a-kind system that bridges the gap between the need to hover and the need to reach long ranges, giving it the ability to perform aerial missions with pinpoint precision.

Robust Bus Systems for CubeSats

NASA resources helped mature technologies to make CubeSats more capable, so everyone can use them.

Optical De-Multiplexing Method for QKD Encryption

Classical laser communication gimbals are coupled to 105um multimodal receiving fibers for the high-power transmission of data, fine pointing, and tracking. These fibers cannot be used in...

Ensuring Optical Fiber Alignment

Most optical networks have many fiber couplings and even minor losses at these junctions will produce significant signal losses that cause problems in data transmission. Precise fiber alignment at the optical...

Test Strategies to Track Hypersonic Threats

Hypersonic weapons, unlike ballistic missiles, take unpredictable paths and can evade missile defense systems. To counter hypersonic technologies, radar engineers must build systems that have no...

Extending Battery Life of Small Drones

A continuous flight of small drones over its perimeter could enhance security of the nation's border, but there is one small problem: The battery limitation of small drones (they last about 30 minutes)...

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Detecting Health Markers in Thread-Based, Wearable Sweat Sensors

Engineers have created a flexible electronic sensing patch that can be sewn into clothing to analyze sweat for multiple markers. The patch could be used to diagnose and monitor...

Optical Signal Amplifying Technique

Optical Signals can be retrieved from inherent background noise using Talbot effect to amplify them.

Rethinking Industrial Ethernet

IE may not be the best solution in every situation, says an industry expert.