Using Ultrasound to Detect Battery Flaws

Researchers from Drexel University have developed a standard testing process to give manufacturers a better look at the internal workings of batteries.

Ensuring the Quality of EV Batteries with CT-Scan Data Analysis and Visualization

Research and development aimed at optimizing both the technology and the cost of that most expensive of EV components — the battery — continues. Not only are the makers of current batteries under pressure to produce the highest-quality product, but they may also be considering how to participate and compete in the next-generations of these key components. Read on to learn more.

How to Detect Battery Failures Quicker

Batteries in electric vehicles can fail quickly, sometimes catching fire without much warning. Sandia National Laboratories is working to detect these failures early and provide sufficient warning time to vehicle occupants. Read on to learn more about it.

How Much Do You Know About Unattended Testing?

If we can remove clear indications that someone is being monitored, we are far more likely to get the information we seek. This is the basis for unattended testing, which is about as common as laboratory testing itself. So, how much do you know about unattended testing? Find out with this quiz.

Power Line Test Bed Energizes Technologies for Increasing Grid Capacity

As population growth and extreme temperatures strain the United States power grid, utilities and equipment manufacturers are looking for ways to increase the amount of...

Smallest Walking Robot Makes Microscale Measurements

Cornell researchers in physics and engineering have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move...

A New Home for Sustainability Robotics

The world is currently facing significant environmental challenges and complex demands related to infrastructure and natural ecosystems. To address these issues, viable solutions that are both...

Silicon Carbide Crystal Growing Industry Tests for Minute Defects

To meet the ever increasing demand for silicon carbide (SiC) crystals, the world needs much higher yields without sacrificing quality. However, without advanced metrology tools capable of promptly detecting minor flaws, the SiC crystal growing sector essentially operates blindly, resulting in unacceptable defects and costly product losses. Read on to learn more.

Optimizing Fluid Sensors for Industrial Process Measurement

When processing pharmaceutical products, how do you tell if a fluid is of high quality? If you are working with crude oil, how do you know how much you are extracting? If you are transporting water, how do you know the flow rate? Such questions, which impact confidence and bottom lines for water, food, life sciences, and oil and gas companies, are addressed by the manufacturers of flowmeters that are installed in pipelines and other equipment. Read on to learn more.

Self-Powered Sensor Automatically Harvests Magnetic Energy

MIT researchers have developed a battery-free, self-powered sensor that can harvest energy from its environment.

Network of Robots Can Successfully Monitor Pipes Using Acoustic Wave Sensors

An inspection design method and procedure by which mobile robots can inspect large pipe structures has been demonstrated with the successful inspection of multiple...

Measuring Earthquakes and Tsunamis with Fiber-Optic Networks

Scientists from the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich, working together with the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS), have found an inexpensive method that enables accurate earthquake measurements even on the ocean floor and in less developed countries.

Easy, Accurate, Low-Cost Detection of Fluoride in Water

Researchers from Northwestern University have collaborated on the implementation of an accurate, low-cost, and easy-to-use test for detecting toxic levels of fluoride in water. The new biosensor device has been field tested in Kenya.

How to Diagnose an Ailing Bridge

A solar-powered wireless sensor system developed by a Drexel University team can continuously monitor bridge deformation and could be used to alert authorities if the bridge performance deteriorates significantly.

An Energy-Efficient Method to Monitor Soil Moisture

The University of Maine’s Wireless Sensor Networks laboratory has developed a novel method of using AI and machine learning to make monitoring soil moisture more energy and cost efficient.

Peeling Back the Layers: Adhesives Testing for Wearables

Trends in wearable technology follow those of the broader biomedical and electronics industries — devices are getting smaller, smarter, and easier to use. Specifically, wearables in...

Crack Image Quality Indicator

Engineers have developed a modeling and manufacturing technique that generates unique verification tools which simulate cracks in metals within X-ray setup part-testing geometries.

3D-Printed AUV Aims to Thwart Climate Change

The Yonder Deep team installed an entire suite of sensors in its AUV, versatile enough to withstand the frigid Arctic waters as well as the coastal waters of Southern California.

Predicting the Failure of Crystalline Metallic Materials

Researchers have developed a theory that predicts the limits to which metals can be subjected to cyclic stress before failing.

How a UV-Visible-NIR Range Microscope-Spectrometer Works

Discussing the basic design concepts of a UV-visible-NIR range microscope-spectrometer in several different configurations.

Compact MEMS-Based NIR Spectroscopy for Mobile Applications

This measurement technique is particularly useful for, but not limited to, samples containing organic compounds.

Proposed Standards and Methods for Leak Testing Lithium-Ion Battery Packs

Battery packs, whether made of prismatic, cylindrical, or pouch cells, are cooled by common automotive thermal management systems.

New on the Market

See the new products on the market, including power inductors, vibration sensors, a field TV connector, and more.

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow.

Vote for Tech Briefs’ 28th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards

These 12 products are the nominees for the 2022 Tech Briefs Readers’ Choice Product of the Year.

New Products

The new products for November 2022, including an AI inspection system, a non-contact machine vision measuring system, and more.

New on the Market: November 2022

New products on the market in November 2022, including automotive relay, power inductors, RFID Read/Write modules, and more.