Stories
116
2005
0
780
30
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved circuits that generate high-voltage pulses for driv-ing Q-switched lasers have been devised. To extract maximum energy from a laser cavity in the form of consistent laser pulses, the Q-switch pulses must rise...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) integrated-circuit video image detector of the active-pixel-sensor (APS) type has been designed to implement programmable...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A biotelemetric system for monitoring key physiological parameters of a fetus and its uterine environment is undergoing development. The main purpose of the monitoring is to detect...
Briefs: Energy
Studies of physical and chemical effects in the hydride-forming electrodes of rechargeable nickel/metal hydride electrochemical cells have yielded results that now guide...
Briefs: Energy
Early experiments in a continuing research program have demonstrated that thermal batteries made from powdered solid electrode and electrolyte materials can be improved by use of smaller...
Briefs: Energy
According to a proposal for small electric-power systems that must operate in cold environments, heat released in the operation of solar photovoltaic arrays with solar concentrators would be...
Briefs: Materials
An improved method of synthesis of crystalline tin monoxide (SnO) powder for use in anodes of lithium-ion electrochemical power cells has been developed. The carbon used in anodes of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A dc-to-dc switching power converter of the three-level, pulse-width-modulated, buck type has been designed, built, and verified to operate at temperatures from ambient down to -196 °C...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Interdigital overlay capacitors have been invented to decrease the amount of integrated-circuit chip area needed to accommodate a given amount of capacitance. In most very-large-scale...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Prolonging the Lives of Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Cells
Several modifications of the design and operation of lithium-ion rechargeable electrochemical cells have been proposed to prolong the cycle lives of the cells. As explained below, overdischarge can result in dissolution of a metal current collector in the anode of a cell, with consequent...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Reflective flat-panel color display devices based on surface plasmons are undergoing development. Heretofore, no reflective flat-panel color display devices have been available. The active...
Briefs: Software
Program Simulates Performance of a Hybrid Automobile
The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Analysis (HEVA) computer program numerically simulates the performance of an automotive vehicle -- especially a hybrid vehicle. A vehicle is said to be hybrid if (1) it contains an energy-storage device (a battery, flywheel, or ultra-capacitor) that is charged with...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved pulsed inductive plasma accelerators are undergoing development for use as long-life thrusters for propulsion of spacecraft on interplanetary missions and for maneuvering of...
Briefs: Materials
The anode separators in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells that contain carbon lithium-intercalating anodes with copper current collectors would be modified, according to a...
Briefs: Materials
Several modifications of the basic design of carbon lithium-intercalating anodes with copper current collectors in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells have been proposed. These...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
The figure illustrates a silicon micromachined accelerometer currently under development that is designed specifically for seismologic applications. The device is designed for a sensitivity of 1...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A two-body design has enabled an instrumented penetrator projectile to function with increased tolerance to initial misalignment among (a) the longitudinal axis of the penetrator, (b) the...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Microfabricated, silicon-based capacitive actuator/sensor devices have been developed as prototypes of compact, low-power transducers that would be used to detect the presence (and perhaps eventually measure the...
Briefs: Motion Control
The figure schematically illustrates part of an accelerometer in which a feedback control subsystem applies voltages to generate electrostatic forces to minimize the displacement of a...
Briefs: Energy
Experiments have shown that improved hydride-forming negative electrodes for rechargeable nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) electrochemical cells can be made by substituting Ge for some...
Briefs: Energy
Experiments have shown that improved hydride-forming negative electrodes for rechargeable nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) electrochemical cells can be made by substituting Sn for some...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A portable, self-contained, compact instrument measures and records transient electric fields generated by nearby lightning strikes. This instrument complements, and in many respects is...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
An improved hybrid thermal/mechanical system has been developed to protect airplane wings and other airfoils against the accretion of ice, which degrades aerodynamic performance. The...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A circuit has been designed to debounce a mechanical switch, which is used to activate a digital circuit. Contacts tend to make and break connections several times until the switch contacts settle out....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure illustrates the major functional blocks of an impedance-based cable-testing apparatus that can locate an open or short circuit in a cable. There is no need to disconnect the cable from all other equipment...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Solar-Powered Aerobots With Power-Surge Capabilities
Advanced aerobots that would be powered by solar photovoltaic batteries and that would be capable of storing energy for occasional operation during short intervals at power levels far beyond those of the photovoltaic batteries have been proposed. Aerobots are robotic balloon-buoyed airborne...
Briefs: Energy
Curves of limiting voltage (V) as a function of temperature (T) for nickel/cadmium cells and batteries can be computed by use of a mathematical cell model based on first principles....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Rechargeable, thin-film, lithium-based microbatteries of the proposed type would be manufactured in the discharged condition, and lithium anodes would be formed in situ during...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Data signals can be transmitted via the same optical fibers that are used to transmit power from base stations to remote stations containing sensors and associated circuitry. [A prototype...
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INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
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Quiz: Propulsion
Webcasts
Editorial Webinars: Motion Control
How Motors, Drives, and Sensors are Advancing Humanoid Robots
Webinars: AR/AI
From Grid to GPU: Validating Next-Gen AI Data Center Power...
Summits: Energy
Hydrogen & Alternative Fuels Summit 2026
Webinars: Automotive
Engineering Extended-Range Hybrid Systems
Editorial Webinars: Medical
Design for Miniaturization: Meeting the Demand for Smaller,...
Webinars: AR/AI
