Features

Using Sensor Fusion to Analyze Laser Processing in Additive Manufacturing

Sensor: “A device that detects or measures a physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it.” A sensor is a device that detects a physical...

Autonomous Vehicles Open Up New Roads for LIDAR Growth

Laser range-finding, or LIDAR, is a way of measuring distance, directly analogous to radar except using radiation in the near infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum rather than...

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Miniature Camera Mimics Eagle's Eye

A tiny, 3D-printed “eagle-eye” camera developed at the University of Stuttgart in Germany mimics the vision of some of nature's sharpest predators. The “foveated” imaging system, named after the fovea...

Novel Threading Enables New Approach to Golf Clubs

Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...

NASA Tests Lasers’ Ability to Transmit Data from Space

The standard way for spacecraft to communicate with teams on the ground has been to use radio waves. NASA, however, will test the use of lasers to increase data communication rates...

New Products

1x4 Pulsed Laser Diode Array Excelitas Technologies® Corp. (Waltham, MA) has introduced a 1x4 Pulsed Laser Diode Array for LiDAR applications. The new laser array combines Excelitas’ high-efficiency, multi-cavity laser chip...

Brooke Thornton, Mission Operations Manager, NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

On February 19, The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument launched aboard a cargo capsule to the International Space Station....

Product of the Month

Astronics Test Systems, Irvine, CA, has introduced the PXIe-1802 arbitrary waveform generator and the PXIe-1803 digitizer that provide test capabilities and measurement accuracy in a compact PXI form factor for aerospace,...

Today's Automobile: Supercomputer on Wheels

With every passing year, it's getting more difficult to recognize the current crop of passenger vehicles as the descendants of Henry Ford's Model T. Those first mass-produced vehicles didn't even...

Scanning Performance of Air Bearing Equipped Precision Motion Systems

Scanning is a common technique in applications ranging from high-resolution microscopy to industrial material processing. Scanning involves moving either a workpiece or an...

Converting from Hydraulic Cylinders to Electric Actuators

Advances in motion control technology have prompted a new debate — do hydraulic cylinders or electric linear actuators offer the best solution for a linear motion application?...

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Four Ways to improve Production by Understanding the Physics of Servos

There is always a need to increase production in automation applications. Sometimes achieving improvements requires breaking the process down to its fundamental basics. The...

Low-Outgassing Labels Identify Instruments on the International Space Station

CILS has developed a computer-printable, durable label for the identification of instruments on the Columbus Space Module, part of the International Space Station...

Cooling Solution Helps NASA Get Closer to Mars

Cold conditioning systemAggrekoHouston, TX281-985-8200www.aggreko.com

Optical Fiber for NASA's Next Climate-Viewing Satellite

Polymicro Technologies™ optical fiberMolexLisle, IL1-800-78MOLEXwww.molex.com

Custom Brakes Meet the Challenges of Gearless Motor Elevators

A manufacturer of low and high-rise elevators faced a challenge when customers began calling for a flexible elevator to meet the needs of the growing mid-rise, mixed-use building...

Vibration Tables Shake Up Aerospace and Car Testing

Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields of...

New Products

Variable Frequency Drives Through a new partnership, variable frequency drives (VFDs) from American Control Electronics (South Beloit, IL) will now be offered as a product add-on to Brother Gearmotors’ portfolio of...

Darmindra Arumugam, Senior Research Technologist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

In outdoor locations, firefighters and emergency responders can use GPS technology to track one another. Indoor environments like high-rises and...

New Products

Near Eye Displays Test System A new test system from Gamma Scientific (San Diego, CA) offers high spatial resolution color and contrast measurements for near eye displays (NED), such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality...

New Products

Shape Sensor OFS, (Norcross, GA) has developed a shape sensor fiber. The technology platform produces twisted multicore optical fiber with continuous FBGs (Fiber Bragg Gratings). The sensor meets 3D shape sensing specifications,...

High-Power Fiber Lasers

High-power (multi-kW) fiber lasers are revolutionizing industrial materials processing markets by offering an unmatched combination of performance, reliability, and cost advantages. For example, in sheet metal cutting...

Infrared Cameras Support Advanced 3D Printing Efforts

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is quite literally one of the most innovative technologies revolutionizing manufacturing today, in terms of both industry “buzz”...

CERTIFICATES AND SIGNATURES: How to Ensure Authentication in the IoT

On October 21, 2016, the Internet saw a significant distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, conducted via a botnet comprising many co-opted Internet-connected devices....

SOLVING THE INTERCONNECT CHALLENGE: How to Bring Flexibility to Wearable Design

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are more prevalent than ever, especially in the popular configurations known today as “wearables.” Leading MEMS and...

The Heavy Impact of Advanced Lightweight Materials

Historically, high-strength materials have been heavy and dense. The need for high-strength but lightweight materials has become more widespread when designing everything from vehicles and...

Product of the Month

Watlow, St. Louis, MO, introduced the D4T with INTUITION® data logger with a range of field-removable I/O modules. The data logger features a 4.3” color graphical touch panel with a high-resolution graphical user...