Features

Articles: Materials

Executive Roundtable: 3D Printing

Tech Briefs posed questions to 3D printing/AM industry execs, to get their views on issues like metal printing, new materials, and environmental sustainability.

Articles: Materials

Products of Tomorrow: May 2020

A cryptographic ID tag, a high-reliability NASA switch, and a stretchable thermoelectric generator...

Articles: Test & Measurement

AI-Based Machine Vision & the Future of Automotive In-Cabin Technologies

Xilinx is now applying AI to the in-cabin environment.

Articles: Aerospace

3D Imaging the Biolocomotion of Fruit Flies

The last thing you probably do when a fly buzzes toward you is marvel at its graceful wing and body kinematics. But that’s exactly what researchers at Cornell University’s Itai Cohen Group...

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Hydrophobic & Oleophobic Coating Technologies for Polymer Optics

With the recent boom in touch-based, polymer display substrates must be fingerprint-resistant.

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Properly Designing and Specifying Aspheric Lenses

Aspheric lenses greatly improve the performance and efficiency of a wide range of optical applications.

NASA Spinoff: Aerospace

Space Station Garden Shines Light on Earth-Based Horticulture

NASA’s LED lighting system enables food and other crops to be grown indoors in places like skyscrapers.

5 Ws: Materials

5 Ws of the Infant Smart Jumpsuit

A smart jumpsuit accurately measures the spontaneous and voluntary movement of infants

Q&A: Materials

Q&A: Turning Trash into Valuable Graphene

A new process will reduce the cost of manufacturing graphene by a factor of more than 100.

Facility Focus: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Facility Focus: NASA Ames Research Center

This NASA center hosts the world’s greatest collection of wind tunnels and flight simulation facilities

Technology Leaders: Aerospace

Tackling Aircraft Laser Strikes from the Ground

To reduce the increasing frequency of attacks, the ground-based Laser Aircraft Strike Suppression Optical System (LASSOS) has been developed by researchers from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Technology Leaders: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Using Lasers in the Automotive Manufacturing Industry

Ever since Henry Ford introduced the first moving production line to the industry in 1913, automotive manufacturers have been constantly striving to streamline their processes,...

Technology Leaders: Photonics/Optics

The Configurable Laser — A Universal Manufacturing Tool

Laser technology will remain at the forefront of tomorrow’s digital manufacturing processes.

Products: Motion Control

New Products: April 2020 Motion Design

Motor drivers, position sensors, offset couplings, and more.

Products: Test & Measurement

New on the Market: April 2020

Vision-based 3D printing, network analyzers, particulate sensors, and more.

Products: Automotive

Product of the Month: April 2020 Tech Briefs

Rugged tablets from Teguar Corp. can be used to monitor manufacturing operations.

Articles: Test & Measurement

Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

Here's what you'll need to know when you’re choosing an encoder for a motion control system.

Articles: Motion Control

Dynamic Force Control and Advanced Electropneumatic Positioning Systems in Automation

As advancements in technology continue to define how pneumatic or electromechanical linear devices lift, move, or place a load, the requirements of excellent closed-loop positioning and accuracy greatly increase

Articles: Motion Control

Reimagining Robotics in a Connected World

Manufacturers are beginning to realize the same benefits by cloud-connecting their equipment and processes on the shop floor.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Seeing with Sound Next-Level Ultrasonic Sensors for Intelligent Cars

Even though ultrasound has been studied by scientists for many years, its capabilities in practical applications are yet to be fully harnessed.

Articles: Energy

Products of Tomorrow: April 2020

A wildfire-preventing gel; NASA's 3D tissue models, and more.

Articles: Materials

Choose Surface Treatments Early to Avoid Future Problems

Surface treatments have limitations that demand attention early in the design process.

NASA Spinoff: Materials

Detailed Spectrometry Makes Dangerous-Materials Testing Safer

Technology used to search for extraterrestrial life can characterize radioactive material.

5 Ws: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

5 Ws of the 3D Skin Printer

The handheld 3D skin printer can deposit sheets of skin to cover large burn wounds

Q&A: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Q&A: Simple Solar-Powered Desalination

Lenan Zhang and his team at MIT developed a small, economical, highly efficient device to provide fresh drinking water using only the Sun for its energy input.

Facility Focus: Aerospace

Facility Focus: California Institute of Technology

See some of the world-changing tools and technologies launched by Caltech scientists, from earthquake monitoring to helping the blind see.

Products: Connectivity

New Products: March 2020 Photonics & Imaging Technology

Perovskites

Goodfellow (Coraopolis, PA) recently announced a new range of perovskites, a group of materials that demonstrate great potential for optoelectronic applications....

Products: Test & Measurement

New Products: March 2020 Sensor Technology

This month: Sensors that measure weather, proximity, pH, and more.

Products: Energy

New on the Market: March 2020

Thermal cameras, testing software, an ion air knife, and more.