Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a practical way to make hydrocarbons powered solely by the sun; an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace; and a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes.

Harnessing the Power of Satellites to Diagnose Damaged Infrastructure

Researchers at Texas A&M University are working on a new method of infrastructure monitoring using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing systems. SAR allows researchers to inspect and characterize pavements, retaining walls, and embankments from space and can help determine if there are flaws that should be further inspected for repair, saving valuable time. Read on to learn more.

‘Impossible’ Millimeter Wave Sensor Has Wide Potential

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a proof-of-concept sensor that may usher in a new era for millimeter wave radars. They call its design a “mission impossible” made possible. Read on to learn more.

A Powerful Vision-Based Autonomy Alternative to LiDAR, Radar, GPS

Southwest Research Institute has developed off-road autonomous driving tools with a focus on stealth for the military and agility for space and agriculture clients. The vision-based system pairs stereo cameras with novel algorithms, eliminating the need for LiDAR and active sensors. Read on to learn more.

Next-Generation Radar for the F-35 Lightning II

Northrop Grumman Corporation is developing AN/APG-85, an advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for the F-35 Lightning II.

Terahertz Energy Focused by Credit Card-Sized Device to Generate High-Resolution Images

Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision. This opens the door to high-resolution, real-time imaging devices that are hundredths the size of other radar systems and more robust than other optical systems.

Novel Control Method in Tailless Aircraft

A research team at the Illinois Institute of Technology has for the first time demonstrated the use of a novel control method in a tailless aircraft. The technology allows an aircraft to be as smooth and sleek as possible — making it safer to fly in dangerous areas where radar scans the sky for sharp edges.

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...

Terahertz Energy Focused by Credit Card-Sized Device to Generate High-Resolution Images

Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision....

Q&A: Radar Imaging at Terahertz Frequencies

Professor Kenneth K. O. and his colleagues at The University of Texas at Dallas and Oklahoma State University have developed an innovative and affordable terahertz imager microchip that can enable...

Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar

The high-bandwidth, high-resolution ISAR technology can be used to study subsurface structures.

Inkjet Printing of Metamaterials

Metamaterials that manipulate microwave energy can be fabricated using low-cost inkjet printing.

High-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for Monitoring Meteorological Parameters

The system uses infrasonic acoustics for weather monitoring and for drone or UAV activity.

Radar Enables Touch-Free Monitoring of Heart Sounds

Mobile radar devices could replace standard stethoscopes.

Radar Enables Cars to Spot Hazards Around Corners

Using radar commonly deployed to track speeders and fastballs, the automated system “sees” around corners to spot oncoming traffic and pedestrians.

“One-Way” Electronic Devices

These non-reciprocal devices on a compact chip pave the way for applications from two-way wireless to quantum computing.

Pseudo-Random Coding Technique for 3D Imaging

This technique offers enhanced resolution and improved system reliability for mapping and obstacle recognition and navigation for vehicles.

Photonic Microwave Generation Using On-Chip Optical Frequency Combs

Using integrated photonic chips fabricated at EPFL, scientists have demonstrated laser-based microwave generators.

Using Vanadium Dioxide to Create Programmable Electronic Functions

Vanadium dioxide’s unique properties make it ideally suited for outperforming silicon and giving rise to a new generation of low-power electronic devices. This compound can be...

Ground-Based System Guides UAVs to Avoid Collisions

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) averages more than 100 reports a month of interactions between unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and commercial or private planes. For UAS to fly in...

Radar Scanner Tests Wind Turbine Blades for Defects

Wind power has become an indispensable part of an environmentally friendly power supply. Therefore, it is important for this growth market that wind turbines become more efficient, more...

Tunable, High-Isolation RF/Microwave Circulator

A new high-isolation RF circulator provides enhanced detection ranges (radar) and improved reception (communications) by reducing signal leakage and undesirable internal reflections between ports...

Airborne Sense-and-Avoid Radar Panel

Although unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have proven increasingly useful in a variety of applications, their widespread usage within the National Airspace System is limited because of regulatory restrictions...

Digital Beamforming Interferometry

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a new radar approach that uses a single phased array antenna and a single-pass configuration to generate interferograms, known as Digital Beamforming...