Application Briefs

Next-Generation MEMS Multi-Gas Sensing

The MPS Flammable Gas Sensor can detect and identify the concentrations of 12 of the most common combustible gases,

Airless Alloy Tire Has NASA Roots

The SuperElastic Tire — a NASA Glenn innovation — can be used on both Earth and Mars.

Robotic Arm Will Head to the Moon

The Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDArm) is a first-of-its-kind robotic technology.

Micro Molding and Micro-Optics

Learn about tooling challenges and other considerations when designing micro-optics, including metrology equipment capabilities, and post-molding assembly.

Designing Large Diameter Aspheres

What you need to know before you incorporate large diameter aspheres into your optical systems.

I/O Module Enables Remote Data Capture

See how makers of an automated truck wash system added a monitoring option for customers.

Precision Position Feedback for Smart Manufacturing

There is a growing demand for direct-drive motors.

Hyperspectral Cameras and Data Quality

Any hyperspectral system needs to maintain a stable and accurate radiometric and spectral calibration.

Add LiDAR to ADAS for Pedestrian Safety

While ADAS has improved freeway and high-speed driving, the basic need for collision mitigation with pedestrians and bicyclists has mostly remained unaddressed.

The Sensing Systems That Make ADAS Work

See what kinds of sensors are supporting self-driving vehicles.

Practical Design Solutions to Improve Contactless Current Sensing in Electric Vehicles

With new vehicles, automotive manufacturers will need to closely monitor the current flowing to the motor.

Integrated Building Systems for Healthcare Facilities

A "smart building" platform incorporates hardware, software, and cloud analytics to form a digital "backbone."

Innovation on a Larger Scale: Robotic Fiber Placement and 3D Printing

“The disruption promised by Industry 4.0 has already begun,” says Jason Melcher from the aerospace manufacturing company Ingersoll.

Online Tools Reduce Time and Expense in Selecting, Configuring, and Ordering Motion Control Components

New online tools — coupled with online libraries of pre-selected and tested component specifications — simplify machine design.

Improving Performance of Supercritical CO2 in Next-Generation Energy Applications with 3D Metal Printing

See why Mohawk Innovative Technology, Inc. is excited for the potential of additive manufacturing.

Cameras Capture Asteroid Debris Retrieval

See how Space Dynamics Laboratory built the electronics for a three-camera suite onboard OSIRIS-REx.

Efficient Pump Protection for Large Pumps: The Control Valve Alternative

Automatic recirculation valves offer efficiency for critical pump protection in power or oil and gas applications.

Wave Energy Modeling for Safer Space Travel

What does wave energy have to do with space exploration? Plenty, it turns out.

Giant Telescope Construction Viewed Through an Industrial Lens

Once installed at Las Campanas Observatory in the Chilean Andes, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will introduce incredible opportunities for astrophysics.

Material Advances for LED Quantum Dot Efficiency

Creating next-generation LEDs for novel efforts like COVID-19 decontamination requires LED manufacturers to reevaluate the materials that they’re using.

Measuring Layer Thickness Using a Microscope

With Nikon's Layer Thickness software module, comprehensive information about a specimen is obtained more quickly than if an operator is making all the measurements by hand.

Custom Gimbal for JHU-APL Shows Promise for Others

See how Blue Joule developed and delivered the Mini Mount (MM) Gimbal to Johns Hopkins University.

Force/Torque Sensor Helps Rover Sample Mars

See how one company reached out to NASA with an offer to develop a custom sensor for the Mars 2020 mission rover.

Using the IoT for Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is poised to become much more widely adopted, and that will help to boost productivity in a time when we really need it.

Smart Sensors for Hazardous Areas

Smart sensors for hazardous areas monitor essential assets, such as motors and pumps.

3D Ultrasonic Sensors Support New Industrial Applications

These sensors will improve autonomous technologies in the industrial environment, like AGVs or forklifts.

USB and GigE Connectivity for Modern Machine Vision

Learn the USB3 and GigE vision standards, how they keep pace with imaging technologies, and how augmenting the cabling is critical for optimal performance.

Measuring Surface Roughness with an Atomic Force Microscope

Thin films and engineered surfaces are used in a myriad of applications including semiconductor electronics, data storage, and precision optics. In many cases, surface roughness and...

Valve Leakage Detection in Industrial Pumps

As an integral part of onshore and offshore drilling, mud pumps circulate drilling fluids to facilitate drilling oil and natural gas wells. Mud pumps stabilize pressure and support the well during...