Stories
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
World cotton production in 2006/07 is forecast at 115.7 million bales, and global cotton consumption is forecast at a record of nearly 121 million bales, with 13.2 million acres dedicated...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A system of active optics that includes a wavefront sensor and a deformable mirror has been demonstrated to be an effective means of partly correcting wavefront aberrations...
Who's Who: Software
While a single, peer-to-peer rover can cover a large territory and gather a wealth of information, an entire fleet of rovers could cover even more ground. However,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Servomotor and Controller Having Large Dynamic Range
A recently developed micro-commanding rotational position control system offers advantages of less mechanical complexity, less susceptibility to mechanical resonances, less power demand, less bulk, less weight, and lower cost, relative to prior rotational position control systems based on...
Briefs: Software
Simulating Flights of Future Launch Vehicles and Spacecraft
Marshall Aerospace Vehicle Representation in C (MAVERIC) is a computer program for generic, low-to-high-fidelity simulation of the flight(s) of one or more launch vehicle(s) or spacecraft. MAVERIC is designed to accommodate multi-staged vehicles, powered serially or in parallel, with...
Briefs: Software
Driver Code for Adaptive Optics
A special-purpose computer code for a deformable-mirror adaptive-optics control system transmits pixel-registered control from (1) a personal computer running software that generates the control data to (2) a circuit board with 128 digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that generate voltages to drive the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Ice-Penetrating Robot for Scientific Exploration
The cryo-hydro integrated robotic penetrator system (CHIRPS) is a partially developed instrumentation system that includes a probe designed to deeply penetrate the Europan ice sheet in a search for signs of life. The CHIRPS could also be used on Earth for similar exploration of the polar ice caps —...
Articles: Motion Control
The task of choosing the correct mix of motion control components for a successful servo positioning system involves a combination of art, science, and experience. It also includes a little luck, but luck is...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a liquid to flow, and is an important measurement requirement in industrial process control and OEM applications. Viscosity describes the...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
The woodworking industry is as advanced and under pressure to deliver high-quality goods quickly as any. One of the most versatile tools devised to quicken production with flat panels of wood is...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
A desk-sized apparatus for testing monoball bearings and their lubricants offers advantages, relative to prior such apparatuses, of (1) a greater degree of automation and (2) capability of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A system for mechanical suspension and vibration isolation of a machine or instrument is based on the use of Kevlar (or equivalent aromatic polyamide) cord held in variable tension...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Developing a control system rapidly and cost effectively requires a disciplined approach that exposes design limitations early so they can be corrected before the costs...
Briefs: Medical
An effort is under way to develop noninvasive neuro-electric interfaces through which human operators could control systems as diverse as simple mechanical devices, computers, aircraft,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A control system strives to maintain the correct alignment of a laser beam in an interferometer dedicated to measuring the displacement or distance between two fiducial corner-cube...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
In situations where human travel is necessary but where the geography is too steep or treacherous, aerial tramways often are used as a convenient alternative. Ski resorts, mountaineering...
Briefs: Transportation
An Alternative for Emergency Preemption of Traffic Lights
An electronic communication and control system has been developed as a prototype of advanced means of automatically modifying the switching of traffic lights to give priority to emergency vehicles. This system could be used alternatively or in addition to other emergency...
Briefs: Software
Reconfigurable Software for Controlling Formation Flying
Software for a system to control the trajectories of multiple spacecraft flying in formation is being developed to reflect underlying concepts of (1) a decentralized approach to guidance and control and (2) reconfigurability of the control system, including reconfigurability of the software...
Briefs: Medical
Figure 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a system that automatically regulates the concentration of glucose or pH in a liquid culture medium that is circulated through a...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Planetary Autonomous Amphibious Robotic Vehicle (PAARV), now at the prototype stage of development, was originally intended for use in acquiring and analyzing samples of solid,...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Repairing Chipped Silicide Coatings on Refractory Metal Substrates
The space shuttle orbiter's reaction control system (RCS) is a series of small thrusters that use hypergolic fuels to orient the orbiter in space. The RCS thrusters are constructed from a special niobium-based alloy — the C-103. This alloy retains excellent mechanical...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) — autonomous or remotely controlled pilotless aircraft — have been recently thrust into the spotlight for military applications, for homeland security, and...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
The Center for Rapid Transit Systems at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) is an internationally recognized drive systems and motion control research group with expertise...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Pattern-Recognition Algorithm for Locking Laser Frequency
A computer program serves as part of a feedback control system that locks the frequency of a laser to one of the spectral peaks of cesium atoms in an optical-absorption cell. The system analyzes a saturation absorption spectrum to find a target peak and commands a laser-frequency-control...
Application Briefs: Motion Control
The Mechanical Engineering School at the Georgia Institute of Technology needed to reduce the set-up time involved in centering a bearing ring on a...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An instrumentation system rapidly and repeatedly determines the horizontal location of the center of gravity of a laboratory vehicle that slides horizontally on three air bearings (see...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
In their quest for the twin grails of high production volume and extreme precision in the manufacture of both spherical and aspherical optical surfaces,...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A dilatometer based on a laser interferometer is being developed to measure mechanical creep and coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) of materials at temperatures ranging from ambient down to 15 K. This...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The figure depicts the planned Actuated Hybrid Mirror Telescope (AHMT), which is intended to demonstrate a new approach to the design and construction of wide-aperture spaceborne telescopes for astronomy and...
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Webcasts
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Summits: Energy
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Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Why Your Motor Behaves Badly: See BLDC Control Signals, Power, and EMI in One...
