Technical Briefs, Design Engineering News

Keyword: Biomechanics

Briefs: Motion Control

Measurement Method Tests Fit of Exoskeletons

This testing method ensures that an exoskeleton and the person wearing it are moving smoothly and in harmony.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Cheetah-Inspired Soft Robots

The robots move more quickly on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots.

Briefs: Materials

Wearable Exosuit Lessens Back Muscle Fatigue

The suit can be controlled with a double tap to the chest or via an app.

Briefs: Materials

Hydrodynamic Effect Helps Motorized Objects Navigate Inclines

The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.

Briefs: AR/AI

Machine Learning Helps Detect Gait Problems in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Gait data and machine learning help to monitor and predict disease progression.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Swimming Living Robots Can Self-Train

Biobots based on muscle cells can swim at unprecedented velocities.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Markerless Motion Capture Technology Could Help Skeleton Athletes’ Training

A new type of motion capture technology accurately tracks an athlete during the push start phase of performance.

Briefs: Nanotechnology

Bio-Inspired Mechanics to Make Robots More Effective

This technology could impact new directions in robotics design.

Briefs: Energy

Wearable Liquid Unit Harvests Energy

Researchers have created wearable technology to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. It presents a step toward the practical realization of self-powered, human-integrated technologies.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Artificial Intelligence Senses People Through Walls

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to teach wireless devices to sense people's postures and movement, even from the other side of a wall. RF-Pose uses a neural network to analyze...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Transparent Eel-Like Soft Robot Swims Silently Underwater

An eel-like robot was developed that can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

System and Method for Managing Autonomous Entities Through Apoptosis

This NASA innovation is a biologically inspired system management method designed to make sensor webs as well as other autonomous and autonomic systems more self-directing and self-managing. Based on the mechanisms of cell apoptosis, this method ensures safe and correct...

Briefs: Software

Integrated Genomic and Proteomic Information Security Protocol

The evolving nature of the Internet will require continual advances in authentication and confidentiality protocols. Nature provides some clues as to how this can be accomplished in a distributed manner through molecular biology. Cryptography and molecular biology share certain...

Briefs: Software

DspaceOgre 3D Graphics Visualization Tool

This general-purpose 3D graphics visualization C++ tool is designed for visualization of simulation and analysis data for articulated mechanisms. Examples of such systems are vehicles, robotic arms, biomechanics models, and biomolecular structures. DspaceOgre builds upon the open-source Ogre3D graphics...

Briefs: Software

Probabilistic Structural Analysis Program

NASA/NESSUS 6.2c is a general-purpose, probabilistic analysis program that computes probability of failure and probabilistic sensitivity measures of engineered systems. Because NASA/NESSUS uses highly computationally efficient and accurate analysis techniques, probabilistic solutions can be obtained even...