Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics
Articles: Imaging
5 Ws: Materials
Briefs: Aerospace
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...
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...
Articles: Motion Control
Integrating lead screws with stepper motors is a simple and cost-effective method for getting precise linear motion. But achieving that precision requires...
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...
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...
Briefs: Materials
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: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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...
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,...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Mansoura University
Mansoura, Ad-daqahliyah, Egypt...
Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Maple Plain, MN
www.protolabs.com
As products get smaller, their components need to follow suit, and springs are no exception. In a variety of...
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...
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: Robotics, Automation & 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...
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: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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...
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: Robotics, Automation & 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...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA'S Langley Research Center has developed a new adhesively bonded joint concept for curved and flat panel sandwich...
Articles: Motion Control
An application’s required positioning resolution dictates the choice of encoder resolution. A well-tuned system can maintain the position within one encoder state...
Briefs: Materials
NASA’s Glenn Research Center has developed a new method for producing a shock- and corrosion-proof, superelastic, intermetallic material, NiTiNOL 60 (60NiTi),...
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