Features

The Basics of Encoder Selection

Positioning: Resolution and Accuracy An application’s required positioning resolution dictates the choice of encoder resolution. A well-tuned system can maintain the position within one encoder state...

Branimir Blagojevic, Technologist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

During his time with former employer Science and Engineering Services, LLC, Branimir Blagojevic helped build a remote-sensing device that detected biological agents....

Product of the Month

HP, Palo Alto, CA, unveiled the HP Z2 Mini Workstation designed for users in CAD and other compute-intensive industries. The workstation is 2.3” high, and 90% smaller than a traditional business-class tower. It has the...

New Horizons for Aviation Technology

Thanks to advancements developed by NASA, today’s aviation industry is better equipped than ever to safely and efficiently transport passengers to their destinations. In fact, every U.S. aircraft and air...

Camera-Equipped Vehicles ‘See the Light’ in Cities

Imagine if every police car, bus, and garbage truck gathered important infrastructure data as they made their usual routes through the city. In different field tests around the world, re...

Developing a Laser System to Decrease the Rate of Neurodevelopment Issues

A fairly new biomedical imaging modality, optoacoustic imaging is based on the use of laser-generated ultrasound. According to the National Center for Biotechnology...

SPIE Photonics West 2017 Preview

The SPIE Photonics West 2017 technical conference and exhibition returns to The Moscone Center in San Francisco, January 28 through February 2, offering attendees the opportunity to explore the latest...

Fabricating Optical Mirrors for Use in Outer Space Measurements

There are many ways to manufacture an optic depending on the complexity of the component and the application. From choosing the best substrate, to detailing the numerous operations...

40 Years of Safer Aviation Through Reporting

The U.S. has an incredibly safe aviation system, partly because safety concerns are identified and corrected before they become real problems. NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is one...

Simulating Material Migration

Accurately tracking and predicting the subsurface migration of specific materials over time and over multiple phases is critical to efficient and effective strategy development and deployment in a growing number of...

Designing for 3D Printing

3D printing has progressed over the past decade to include multimaterial fabrication, enabling production of powerful, functional objects. While many advances have been made, it still has been difficult for...

Software Models Electromagnetics of Wireless Power Transfer

Imagine coming home and dropping your phone, laptop, and Bluetooth® headset on your kitchen table so that they all recharge simultaneously. What if you could drive your electric car...

Improving Weapons with Simulation

As engineers design new weapons or modify existing ones, reducing time and money on development can be critical in providing soldiers with improved weapons without undue delay. A new sight may be planned for...

Optimizing Fuel Filters via Simulation

Cars contain numerous filters for air, fuel, and oil. Those who develop these filters are confronted with many requirements. The products must withstand intense temperature fluctuations and vibrations, fit...

Making VR a NASA Reality

NASA researchers want to prove that a virtual reality headset like the Oculus Rift is not just a toy. Josh Kinne, a deputy project manager at NASA Langley Research Center, sees a future role for virtual and augmented...

Wireless Platform Integrates Sensors with Smartphones

In 2007, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a call for a sensor that could equip a smartphone with the ability to detect dangerous gases and chemicals, Ames Research...

CMOS Sensors Enable Phone Cameras, HD Video

NASA Technology “People told me, ‘You’re an idiot to work on this,’” Eric Fossum recalls of his early experiments with what was at the time an alternate form of digital image sensor at...

Rocket Technology Stops Shaking in Its Tracks

NASA Technology Rocket launches—or earthquakes—are already punishing experiences. But it turns out there are some things that can make them worse: like if the vibrations hit the structure...

Orion Video Requirement Advances High-Speed, Compact Cameras

NASA Technology Parachute deployment is usually a fairly simple—if crucial—operation. A small pilot parachute tossed into the wind might pull free a pin securing the main...

Wire Sensors Alert to Dangerous Conditions in the Clouds

NASA Technology One common hazard facing airplanes is ice: not just on the ground, but in the air, where it can coat wings or engines. But how do you know when icing conditions exist up...

Air Compressor

Gardner Denver Thomas (Sheboygan, WI) offers the 2380 series twin WOB-L® piston oil-less air compressor designed for pressure/vacuum and high flow. It provides 100 psi (6.9 bar) maximum pressure with open flow of 2.3 cfm (65...

Pressure Transducers

Mouser Electronics, Mansfield, TX, offers TE Connectivity’s MEAS Microfused M5600 and UltraStable U5600 wireless pressure transducers. The 24-bit, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), pressure and temperature sensors...

NASA's Software Answers Big Questions About Space and Earth

Simulating the SLS Sound Suppression Water System NASA’s next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) for deep space exploration consists of four RS-25 liquid rocket engines and two...

Temperature Sensors Cement the Integrity of Bridges

NASA Technology When the White House calls, NASA answers.

Choosing Stepper- or Servo-Driven Actuators to Replace Air Cylinders

Advantages of Electric Linear Actuators Reduced downtime. Electric linear actuators (whether screw- or belt-driven) are very low-maintenance. Regreasing may be the only...

High-Resolution Surface Measurement

Inspectors who are assessing the severity of defects and the dimensions of small features on precision machined surfaces are limited by the capabilities of existing measurement techniques. A new type of...

Optical Fiber Sensors for Infrastructure Monitoring

Virtually every type of public infrastructure — including bridges, pipelines, tunnels, foundations, roadways, dams, etc. — is subject to factors that can degrade it or lead to...

ECG Small Signal General and Analysis

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is the most common way to identify various ailments, especially when the ailment is related to the heart. To perform an ECG, the medical personnel places the leads on the...

Modeling and Analysis Software

COMSOL (Burlington, MA) announced updates to COMSOL Multiphysics® modeling and simulation software that include a Rotordynamics Module. The module is designed to help engineers analyze vibrations due to...