Robot Senses Hidden Objects

Researchers have developed a robot that uses radio waves, which can pass through walls, to sense occluded objects. The robot, called RF-Grasp, combines this powerful sensing with more traditional computer vision...

Robot Locates and Retrieves Buried Items

This robotic arm fuses data from a camera and antenna to locate and retrieve items buried under piles and completely out of view.

Radio Signals Image Hidden and Speeding Objects

This method could help firefighters find victims inside buildings and could track hypersonic objects such as missiles and space debris.

Fiber-Metal Laminate Manufacturing Technique

Synthesis of fiber-metal laminates is performed using RF plasma spray deposition.

Products of Tomorrow

Water-sensing smartphone screens, a NASA-developed RF switch, and an ultrasound patch.

RF Wireless Power Unleashes the Ubiquity of Sensor Networks

AI will only reach its full potential when it can be fed with a constant stream of data from a plentitude of diverse sources.

Quantum Sensor Enables Wide Spectral Coverage

The sensor could provide a way to detect communication signals over the entire radio frequency from 1 to 100 GHz.

RF Innovations Give Batteries New Life

Low-power radio design is enabling new connected IoT products for consumer, commercial, industrial, and medical markets.

Products of Tomorrow

A cryptographic ID tag, a high-reliability NASA switch, and a stretchable thermoelectric generator...

High-Reliability Radio Frequency MEMS Switch

Applications include homeland security, vehicle anti-collision systems, telecommunications systems, and industrial instrumentation.

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.

Wireless Transceiver Quadruples Speed of 5G

A new wireless transceiver was developed that boosts radio frequencies into 100-gigahertz territory, which is quadruple the speed of the upcoming 5G, or fifth-generation, wireless communications...

High-Performance, Current-Steering Digital-to-Analog Converter

A current-steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC) was developed that achieves improved switching times (up to 75% faster) in high-speed (gigahertz), high-resolution (8-14...

The Teletenna — a Hybrid Telescope Antenna System

Innovators at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have developed a hybrid telescope antenna system — Teletenna — to deliver high-data-rate communication over great distances. Teletenna has...

Transmitter Protects Wireless Data from Hackers

Today, more than 8 billion devices are connected around the world, including medical devices, wearables, vehicles, and smart household and city technologies. Those devices are vulnerable to...

Air Force Research Laboratory

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, was formed in October 1997 through the consolidation of four former Air Force laboratories and the Air Force...

Multi-Layer Wireless Sensor Construct for Use at Electrically Conductive Material Surfaces

NASA's Langley Research Center has developed a SansEC Sensor technology for use with aerospace fuel delivery systems. The SansEC technology is a...

Tiny Injectable Sensor Could Provide Unobtrusive, Long-Term Alcohol Monitoring

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a miniature, ultra-low power injectable biosensor that could be used for continuous, long-term...

Miniature Mass Spectrometer

For decades, mass spectrometers have offered a relatively fast and highly sensitive way to analyze and detect chemical compounds. But their bulky size has been a hindrance, limiting the in-field potential of the...

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.

5Ws of the Ultra-Thin Memory Storage Device

Who

Manufacturers of smaller and smarter computer chips for consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets, and 3D chips for brain-inspired computing applications.

Facility Focus: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory

The explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb in August 1949, followed by the Soviet development of bombers that could traverse the Arctic Circle, created a...

Method Uses Drones and WiFi to Enable 3D Through-Wall Imaging

WiFi signals are everywhere. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) are expected to become a larger part of everyday life. A new methodology was developed for high-resolution,...

How Multiphysics Simulation and App Deployment Boost Product Design

As new concepts need to be investigated, and a wide range of operating conditions has to be considered, the design of new products and processes must push the limits of...