Stories
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Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
CenterLine’s successful adoption of the virtual twin showcases the technology’s tremendous potential for the automation industry. As virtual twin technology continues to evolve, it will disrupt industries even further.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A team of researchers has designed a new system of fluid-driven actuators that enable soft robots to achieve more complex motions. The researchers accomplished this by taking advantage of the very thing — viscosity — that had previously stymied the movement of such robots.
Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics
Ball screws are helping manufacturers meet the growing demand for fiber optic cables generated by 5G communications.
Application Briefs: Motion Control
There is a growing demand for direct-drive motors.
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
The NiobiCon™ underwater connector will not short out, corrode, or cause an electrical shock if touched while powered in harsh environments like saltwater.
5 Ws: Materials
In the operating room, you can produce bioresorbable metal implants, such as screws for bone fractures.
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Conventional fastening mechanisms like nails, bolts, and welds are subject to manufacturing and inspection tolerances, differential thermal growth, and other sources of error that lead to over-constraint, among other...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Deployable Emergency Shutoff Device Blocks High-Velocity Fluid Flows
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a device and method for blocking the flow of fluid from an open pipe. The device plugs, controls, and meters the flow of gases and liquids. Anchored with friction fittings, spikes, or explosively activated fasteners, the device is...
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Integrating lead screws with stepper motors is a simple and cost-effective method for getting precise linear motion. But achieving that precision requires anti-rotational...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Reusable Breakaway Mounting Device
Breakaway devices are used to mount objects to systems or structures (for example, cars, drones, helmets, buildings) and prevent damage when the objects fall away from the system. Unfortunately, even in ideal scenarios, many of these devices have limitations. Breakaway bolts and shear pins have the complication of...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Blocking/Deblocking Resin Systems
Similar to resin systems currently used in composites for aerospace structural applications such as toughened epoxies, this innovation is a modification to traditional resin chemistry to prevent polymerization and crosslinking of the resin when heated and pressed in an autoclave or other common resin curing system....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Compact Termination for Structural Soft Goods
Space environments are particularly harsh for the high-strength fibers NASA relies on for soft structures. Kevlar, Nomex, Nylon, and other synthetic fibers are broken down by exposure to the combination of vacuum, atomic oxygen, and ultraviolet radiation. Glass fiber offers unique advantages for...
Briefs: Materials
Conductive thread — embroidery thread that can carry an electrical current — often is combined with other types of electronics to create fabric that lights up or communicates. This thread...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This technology is designed to protect against leaks in solenoid, check, manual, and relief valves, as well as disconnects and regulators.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a new, simplified...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
EJBot: Versatile Climbing Robot for Industrial Vessel Inspection
Dr. Mohamed Gouda Alkalla and Mohamed Fanni Mansoura UniversityMansoura, Ad-daqahliyah, Egypt
The EJBot is a...
Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Proto Labs Maple Plain, MNwww.protolabs.com
As products get smaller, their components need to follow suit, and springs are no exception. In a variety of industrial...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Thin film gas sensors are small, lightweight, and relatively easy to operate; however, the testing of these thin film gas sensors is difficult in harsh environments...
Articles: Motion Control
Because ball screws are available in both inch and metric dimensions, designers sometimes begin the specification process by selecting a product family based on the unit of...
Briefs: Motion Control
Replacing rigid joints and linkages with mechanisms that bend offers a number of potential advantages, even as it makes designing devices more difficult. A computational design tool...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In storage and/or transport of certain items, the ability to detect tampering with a container or compartment for such items can be necessary and valuable. In the transport of hazardous substances or nuclear materials...
Articles: Imaging
Imaging lenses used in many industrial machine vision applications have special requirements beyond those of standard imaging lenses. The lenses used in factory automation, robotics, and industrial inspection...
Articles: Motion Control
Virtually all manufacturing processes incorporate some type of linear motion. A common mistake that designers make when sizing and selecting linear motion systems is to overlook critical application...
Briefs: Motion Control
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were inspired by origami when they developed the Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER). Its lightweight design — which can hitch a ride...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
This technology is a low-cost RFID-based torque and tension sensor for high-performance fasteners, such as bolts, that are used in sophisticated high-tech equipment and systems. It offers the...
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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.
NASA Spinoff: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...
Briefs: Software
Plasticity at small scales boosts concrete's utility as the world's most-used material by letting it constantly adjust to stress, decades or centuries after hardening. To find out why, Rice University researchers...
Briefs: Motion Control
The Yale-CMU-Berkeley (YCB) Object and Model Set provides universal benchmarks for labs specializing in robotic manipulation and prosthetics. About two years ago, Aaron Dollar, an associate professor of...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA'S Langley Research Center has developed a new adhesively bonded joint concept for curved and flat panel sandwich architectures....
Top Stories
Blog: Energy
How Compressed Air Led to a Battery Breakthrough
Blog: Green Design & Manufacturing
New Liquid Hydrogen Storage and Delivery System Brings Us Closer to...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Safety in Motion: Setting the Standard for Humanoid Robots
INSIDER: Imaging
A Compact, Mid-Infrared Pulse Generator
Q&A: Design
3D Printing Multiple Metals in a Single Complex Structure
Blog: Design
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

Soar to New Heights: Simulation-Driven Design for Safety in...
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition

The Latest Advancements in CMOS Image Sensors for Machine Vision
Upcoming Webinars: Energy

Build Better Battery Energy Storage Systems Using Adhesive...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

Improving Signal and Power Integrity Performance in Automotive...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Transforming Quality Management with Data-Driven Analytics
Upcoming Webinars: Energy

Shipped and Shocking: Battery Safety in Logistics and Storage