Soft Mate Lifting Device

This below-the-hook device enables gentle crane placement to decrease the risk of property damage.

Products of Tomorrow

NASA's Dry Goods Delivery System, a lung-heart sensor on a chip, and more.

Lunar Surface Manipulation System

NASA's Langley Research Center offers a novel lifting and precision positioning device with hybrid functional characteristics of both crane-type lifting devices and robotic manipulators. The design of the...

Demolition Probe Gives Construction Workers a Break

Initially designed for use on the Moon, the Electro-Hydraulic Fracturing system — developed at Auburn University with NASA funding — relies upon short, high-pulse power created by...

Crab Crawl Maneuver for Independently Steerable Wheeled Platforms

An industrial-class excavator was developed for use on the Moon and perhaps on Mars. The model mobility platform uses Ackerman Steering with active drives on all six...

Robotic System for 3D-Printing the Basic Structure of an Entire Building

Materials that can be produced by 3D printing include not just plastics, but metal, glass, and even food. A new system called a Digital Construction Platform (DCP) was...

Intelligent Software Enables Design of Greener, More Efficient Construction Vehicles

University of Warwick (UK) engineers are optimizing the fuel economy of next-generation offhighway vehicles by introducing new intelligent power systems for...

Choosing the Right Drive Technology

Although there are a number of variations of drive technologies for motion applications, there are a few that are used for the majority of systems being built today. These most common drives do take a bit...

Building an Immersive Training Platform for Infantry Soldiers

Developing an effective immersive training tool requires a fine balance of technology capabilities with human factors. Achieving a training goal to build squad leadership skills,...

HAWE Hydraulic Valves Improve Maintenance for Conveyor Application Systems

HAWE Hydraulics, Charlotte, NC, offers proportional valves and controls typically used by companies manufacturing machine tools, lifting platforms, mobile cranes,...

Crane-Load Contact Sensor

An electronic instrument has been developed as a prototype of a portable crane-load contact sensor. Such a sensor could be helpful in an application in which the load rests on a base in a horizontal position...

Video-Based Active Alignment System

An optoelectronic system senses rotational and translational misalignment between two objects. The system might be used in such diverse applications as aligning construction equipment, mating parts of...

Optical Horizontal-Displacement Sensors for Crane Payloads

Sensors made largely of commercially available optical and electronic components are being developed for use in measuring small horizontal displacements of payloads suspended below...