Articles

Getting on the Right Motion Bus

As modern machines have become more advanced, the complexity involved in motion control has escalated. Today, servos have replaced cams and gears on machines and multiple axis of synchronized motion control have...

Fiber Optic Communications Systems

Communications and, more recently telecommunications, are needs deeply engrained in human history. These needs have significantly evolved over time enabling today’s content-rich (text, music, images and...

CAD Tools: Usability versus Capabilities

CAD software has come a long way in terms of ease of use, interoperability, speed, and capabilities. But there is still a long way to go. We spoke to executives at leading CAD software companies to find...

Z-RAM

In the electronics industry today there are two commonly used high-speed memory types: static RAM (SRAM) and dynamic RAM (DRAM). Traditionally, SRAM embedded memory has been the designer's choice for fast memory, but since a typical SRAM...

Designing COTS Computers for Harsh Environments

The need for commercial off the shelf (COTS) single board computer (SBC) products continues to grow as higher processing, smaller footprints and lower power requirements become more critical. For...

Designing Configurable Air Transport Racks

High-powered embedded computing equipment utilizing the Air Transport Rack (ATR) form factor is playing an ever-larger role in extreme, mission-critical applications in air, land, and sea environments....

Combining Multimode Emissions from Broad Area Laser Diodes into Single-Mode Spots without Feedback

Broad-area laser diodes are the most efficient coherent light sources and are widely used today. The extraordinary efficiency, modulation...

2007: The Year in Technology

In 2007, we focused on the global climate, and as gas prices soared, more novel technologies emerged in the development of alternative fuel and power sources. Once again, electronics and computers became smaller,...

Open Innovation Model Helps P&G “Connect and Develop”

By Ed Getty Research Fellow Procter & Gamble Cincinnati, OH For almost 165 of Procter & Gamble’s 170-year history, nearly all growth came from innovating within the walls of...

Motion Control Market Marches Toward Higher Integration and Performance

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes characterize the motion control market. Motors and motor controllers continue to gravitate toward higher performance and...

Compact Vision for Development and Control of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

The Mobile & Marine Robotics Research Centre (MMRRC) at the University of Limerick in Ireland created a generic solution for underwater development. During research...

Ultra-High-Speed Thermography Reveals Hidden Features of Hot, Fast-Moving Objects

Most of us have seen still images or slow-motion video of fast-moving objects, such as a missile in flight or a humming bird flapping its wings. Both scenarios...

Ultra-Wideband Recording Stretches to Keep Up With Digitizers

Systems designers are always pressing for faster and faster real-time performance, and data acquisition technology continues to evolve to meet that need. Currently available...

Virtual Memory

Software developers face constant challenges. Not only must their code be functionally correct, it must also be reliable. In addition, competition among software vendors has taken software quality to significantly higher levels....

Understanding the Unique Requirements of Portable Data Acquisition Systems

Portable data acquisition applications have to meet a number of stringent requirements not present in traditional laboratory systems. Environmental conditions such as...

Industry Update: Analysis & Simulation Software

Multiphysics, simulation lifecycle management, unified simulation, and other terms are becoming the new trends in analysis and simulation software. There are new capabilities, new options for...

Image Sensors Decades Old But Not Yet Mature

There’s no rule that says when a technology becomes mature, but one might think that image sensors would be by now, 40 years after their conception. Nothing could be further from the truth. After...

National Nano Engineering Conference Preview

The 2007 NASA Tech Briefs National Nano Engineering Conference (NNEC), to be held November 14-15 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, is produced for design engineers who want to know what’s real,...

Eye On Innovation

By Mike Santori National Instruments Business & Technology Fellow National Instruments Austin, TX High-tech companies live and die by their ability to innovate. Creating new products and technologies is essential to...

LED-Equipped Spectrophotometers Find Their Way to the Factory Floor

Companies that manufacture products ultimately used by consumers — interior trim for cars, vinyl siding for homes, decorative stone for landscaping, interior wall paints,...

Using Motion Control to Guide Augmented Reality Manufacturing Systems

Assembly is a complicated, sometimes tedious process that often unfolds sequentially along a series of stations. In the manufacture of complex equipment such as jet engines...

GPS Receiver RF Front-End Enables Use of a Laptop PC for Soft Baseband Processing

Software techniques for use in the global positioning system (GPS)1,2 have recently captured the growing interest of communication and navigation engineers....

Cell Technology Tackles 3D Medical Imaging Reconstruction Challenges

Medical imaging is an information processing technique that takes data samples from medical devices such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computer tomography (CT)...

User Programmable FPGAs Power CompactRIO Embedded Systems

With a laundry list of design constraints, including a combination of real-time requirements, reliability/durability requests, and functionality and performance needs, it’s not...

Using RapidIO® Technology as a System-Level Fabric

Both Serial RapidIO and Ethernet are being used as a backplane interconnect technology in a wide range of embedded applications. Many suppliers support both standards and let designers...

Laser Scanning Improves Dimensional Accuracy of Automotive Gas Tanks

In the past, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fuel tanks used coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) to inspect first articles. The geometry of the tanks is so...

Taking Advantage of Parallel Parametric Testing

The production of many electronic devices begins with wafer processing. In addition to complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits (ICs), this can include such diverse...

Encoders for Linear Motors in the Electronics Industry

The semiconductor industry and automation technology increasingly require more precise and faster machines in order to satisfy growing demands on miniaturization, quality, and manufacturing...

Battery Power Source Options for Mission-Critical Applications

Selecting power source technology for mission critical devices is crucial to ensure success. Whether it is a monitor at the bottom of the ocean, a drill system at 30,000 feet into...