Stories
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Application Briefs: Unmanned Systems
With 40 years of experience to its name, Sunview Patio Doors Ltd. has solved one of the industry’s top challenges: meeting customers’ increased demands for faster and better services, while providing an option for product customization.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Integrating sensors into rotational mechanisms could make it possible for engineers to build smart hinges that know when a door has been opened, or gears inside a motor that tell a mechanic how fast they are rotating. Engineers have now developed a way to easily integrate sensors into these types of mechanisms.
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The future of electronics will be based instead on using laser light to control electrical signals, opening the door for the establishment of “optical transistors” and the development of ultrafast optical electronics.
Briefs: Packaging & Sterilization
To overcome the limitations of using cleaning agents, sprays, or bulky high-cost sterilizing systems, NASA developed the Ultraviolet Germicidal Door Handle.
Briefs: Design
The device is 100 percent electrically controllable regarding the colors of light it absorbs, which gives it massive potential for widespread usability.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The innovation opens the door for faster and more affordable at-home medical testing.
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
This could lead to the commercial development of smart glass, with applications ranging from imaging to advanced robotics.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The marking provides easy-to-see legends on plastic buttons under widely varying illumination conditions.
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Given the exact parameters of the task at hand, a robot can assemble a car door or pack a box faster and more efficiently than a human, but such purpose-built machines are not suited...
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 thread...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Uncontrolled and rapid movement of equipment and people through security gates has been a major problem for security personnel. In situations pertaining to facility security, it is desirable to delay the passage of a...
Briefs: Aerospace
NASA Langley Research Center has developed two new implementations of acoustic liners for aircraft noise reduction whereby curved channels within tight spaces can be outfitted to provide noise reduction....
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Experiments in space can be expensive and infrequent, but Earth’s upper atmosphere is accessible via large scientific balloons, and can be used to address many of the same fundamental questions. Scientific balloons are made of a thin...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The current coring bit and percussive drilling style works very well for strong rocks; however, when coring into weak, crumbling rock, the core tends to break apart and simply fall...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
RoboSimian Software System from the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals
A software architecture to allow semi-autonomous mobile manipulation of highly dexterous robots under degraded communications was developed to enable remote operation of a mobile manipulation robot as a first responder in a disaster-response scenario. The software architecture is...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Wallops Flight Facility 6U Advanced CubeSat Ejector (ACE)
Six-unit (6U) CubeSats are recognized as the next nanosatellite to be considered for standardization. The CubeSat standard established by California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), which applies to 1U–3U sizes, has proven to be a valuable asset to the community. It has both provided...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
A Yale lab has developed a new, radio frequency processing device that allows information to be controlled more effectively, opening the door to a new generation of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A sampling device and a deployment method were developed that allow collection of a predefined sample volume from up to a predefined depth, precise sampling site selection, and low...
Research News: Lighting
Most modern electronics, from flat-screen TVs and smartphones to wearable technologies and computer monitors, use tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. These LEDs are...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Autonomous robotic manipulators have the potential to increase manufacturing efficiency, provide in-home care, and reduce the risk to humans in hazardous situations. The current challenge in autonomous...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators provide the highest force-to-weight ratio of any known actuator. They can be designed for a wide variety of form factors from flat, thin packages, to...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The Thermal Hogan — A Means of Surviving the Lunar Night
A document describes the Thermal Hogan, a new shelter concept that would be used on the Moon to moderate the extreme nighttime temperatures, allowing survival of equipment with minimal heater power. It is lightweight, has few mechanical parts, and would be relatively easy to deploy on the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock
There is a need for an improvement over current NASA Extravehicular Activity (EVA) technology. The technology must allow the capacity for quicker, more efficient egress/ingress, allow for “shirtsleeve” suit maintenance, be compact in transport, and be applicable to environments ranging from planetary surface...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging System
A document discusses a hyperspectral imaging instrument package designed to be carried aboard a helicopter. It was developed to map the depths of Greenland’s supraglacial lakes. The instrument is capable of telescoping to twice its original length, allowing it to be retracted with the door closed during...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock
A paper discusses a dual-compartment inflatable suitlock (DCIS) for Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) that will allow for dust control, suit maintenance, and efficient EVA egress/ingress. The expandable (inflatable technologies) aspect of the design will allow the unit to stow in a compact package for transport.
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Work to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the cavity acoustic environment of the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) airplane has been completed. The airplane has...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
Titanium:Sapphire (Ti:S)-based laser systems have revolutionized ultrafast research from biological imaging to high energy physics. Ti:S has a very broad gain bandwidth (680-1080 nm) but many...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Practical Loop-Shaping Design of Feedback Control Systems
An improved methodology for designing feedback control systems has been developed based on systematically shaping the loop gain of the system to meet performance requirements such as stability margins, disturbance attenuation, and transient response, while taking into account the actuation...
Articles: Motion Control
Functional machine safety using discrete wiring is an established way to protect workers from injury, and protect companies from the expense associated with accidents and downtime.
Top Stories
INSIDER: Materials
MIT Team Takes a Major Step Toward Fully 3D-Printed Active Electronics
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Integrating Fragile 2D Materials into Devices
INSIDER: Imaging
Smallest Walking Robot Makes Microscale Measurements
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A New Home for Sustainability Robotics
Products: Design
INSIDER: Semiconductors & ICs
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

Navigating Security in Automotive SoCs: How to Build Resilient...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

Is Hydrogen Propulsion Production-Ready?
Tech Talks: Automotive

AI-Powered Quality Control for Sustainable Automotive Production
Upcoming Webinars: Materials

Custom Designs and Perfect Moldings with 3D Printing and Scanning
Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

Improving Thermal Management for Aerospace and Defense Electronics
Upcoming Webinars: Connectivity

The Road Ahead for Next-Gen E/E Architectures: Trends and...