Articles: Electronics & Computers
Designing a versatile data acquisition (DAQ) system begins by comparing features of the signal of interest to the capabilities of current state-of-the-art A/D converters. Specifically, signal...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Cryogenic Chamber for Servo-Hydraulic Materials Testing
A compact cryogenic test chamber can be cooled to approximately 5 to 6 Kelvin for materials testing. The system includes a temperature controller and multiple sensors to measure specimen temperature at different locations. The testing chamber provides a fast and easy method to perform...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Neptec Design Group
Ottawa, ON, Canada
613-599-7602
www.neptec.com
NASA is conducting a Detailed Test Objective (DTO)...
Briefs: Materials
Multiplexed Colorimetric Solid-Phase Extraction
Multiplexed colorimetric solid-phase extraction (MC-SPE) is an extension of colorimetric solid-phase extraction (CSPE) — an analytical platform that combines colorimetric reagents, solid phase extraction, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to quantify trace analytes in water. In C-SPE, analytes...
Briefs: Materials
Films made of certain polymer/carbon composites have been found to be potentially useful as sensing films for detecting airborne elemental mercury at concentrations on the order of...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
About 25% of space-borne electro-optical (EO) sensor programs in both the civil and National Security Space (NSS) communities have experienced reduced...
Briefs: Information Technology
Guaranteeing Failsafe Operation of Extended-Scene Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor Algorithm
A Shack-Hartmann sensor (SHS) is an optical instrument consisting of a lenslet array and a camera. It is widely used for wavefront sensing in optical testing and astronomical adaptive optics. The camera is placed at the focal point of the lenslet array...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
T-slide linear actuators use gear bearing differential epicyclical transmissions (GBDETs) to directly drive a linear rack, which, in turn, performs the actuation. Conventional systems use a rotary power source in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Pixelized Device Control Actuators for Large Adaptive Optics
A fully integrated, compact, adaptive space optic mirror assembly has been developed, incorporating new advances in ultralight, high- performance composite mirrors. The composite mirrors use Q-switch matrix architecture- based pixelized control (PMN-PT) actuators, which achieve high-...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Light-driven polymeric bimorph actuators are being developed as alternatives to prior electrically and optically driven actuators in advanced, highly miniaturized devices and systems exemplified by...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Teamed Robots for Exploration and Science in Steep Areas (TRESSA) is a system of three autonomous mobile robots that cooperate with each other to enable scientific exploration of...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Systematic studies have been performed on the sensitivity of GaN HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) sensors using various gate electrode designs and operational parameters. The results here...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The acronym “CHAMP” (signifying “camera, hand lens, and microscope”) denotes any of several proposed optoelectronic instruments that would be capable of color imaging at working distances that...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
Electric Actuators Deliver Energy Efficient, Low Maintenance Solutions
Machine designers and end users find themselves balancing sometimes opposing priorities such as improving energy efficiency while minimizing adverse impact on the environment, at the same time ensuring performance (e.g., precision, reliability) is not compromised. A key trend...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
AB Precision (ABP) prefers to call its Guardian a vehicle (as in MROV - Miniature Remotely Operated Vehicle) rather than a robot. Names aside, the UK-based engineering company’s...
Articles: Imaging
Munitions accuracy provides an advantage in leveraging and applying force and has been sought after by political and military strategists for decades. Reflecting recent advances in...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Improving the Visible and Infrared Contrast Ratio of Microshutter Arrays
Three device improvements have been developed that dramatically enhance the contrast ratio of microshutters. The goal of a microshutter is to allow as much light through as possible when the shutters are in the open configuration, and preventing any light from passing...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Silicon Wafer-Scale Substrate for Microshutters and Detector Arrays
The silicon substrate carrier was created so that a large-area array (in this case 62,000+ elements of a microshutter array) and a variety of discrete passive and active devices could be mounted on a single board, similar to a printed circuit board. However, the density and...
Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Schneider Optics
Van Nuys, CA
818-766-3715
www.schneideroptics.com
Schneider Optics’ C-mount Xenoplan and Cinegon lenses...
Briefs: Information Technology
Minimizing Input-to-Output Latency in Virtual Environment
A method and apparatus were developed to minimize latency (time delay) in virtual environment (VE) and other discrete-time computer-based systems that require real-time display in response to sensor inputs. Latency in such systems is due to the sum of the finite time required for...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An improved closed-loop controller has been built for a three-axis piezoelectric positioning stage. The stage can be any of a number of commercially available or custom-made units that...
Who's Who: Aerospace
Allen Parker is a systems engineer with expertise in the areas of fiber optics and data acquisition. He is currently part of the team...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed alternative design for the balloon- borne ground-sampling system described in the immediately preceding article would not rely on free fall to drive a harpoonlike...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermostatic Valves Containing Silicone-Oil Actuators
Flow-splitting and flow-mixing thermally actuated spool valves have been developed for controlling flows of a heat-transfer fluid in a temperature-regulation system aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Valves like these could also be useful in terrestrial temperature-regulation...
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
CCD Imaging Sensors Aid Hubble in Exploring the Universe
e2v
Chelmsford, UK
44 (0)1245 493493
www.e2v.com
e2v CCD imaging sensors were launched recently on the Space Shuttle Atlantis as part of a mission to upgrade and repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The imaging sensors...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The term “rotary percussive autogopher” denotes a proposed addition to a family of apparatuses, based on ultrasonic/sonic drill corers (USDCs), that have been described in...
Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and solid state lighting (SSL) products that incorporate LEDs pose many measurement challenges compared with other lighting elements, such as traditional...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Film cameras were traditionally manufactured by discrete assembly, which means each component was fabricated as an individual item, tested if necessary, and then assembled into the final working product. The...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Dual Cryogenic Capacitive Density Sensor
A dual cryogenic capacitive density sensor has been developed. The device contains capacitive sensors that monitor two-phase cryogenic flow density to within ±1% accuracy, which, if temperature were known, could be used to determine the ratio of liquid to gas in the line. Two of these density sensors,...
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