Features

Product of the Month

The new Indicators feature true absolute sensor technology that minimizes the chance of data loss.

A Self-Healing Structural Composite

Jason Patrick, assistant professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University, and his team have developed a new composite material for applications like airplane wings and wind turbine blades in which hidden defects and damage can self-heal.

Leveraging Metal 3D Printing for Manufacturing in Space

One promising metal-based additive technology for in-space 3D printing is Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM). Instead of fusing metal powders, UAM welds foil at (near) room temperature.

Giant Batteries Deliver Renewable Energy When It’s Needed

In developing its flow battery, Oregon-based ESS drew from groundbreaking research and development conducted by NASA more than 40 years ago.

5 Ws of Painless Tattoos

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed low-cost, painless, and bloodless tattoos that can be self-administered and have many applications.

Powering Light Electric Vehicles

Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) such as golf carts have been traditionally powered by lead-acid batteries.

New Products

See the new products for December 2022, including power diodes, a battery management system, gelled tantalum capacitors, and more.

Silicon Forging Ahead for Higher-Performance Battery Anodes

General Motors’ new joint-research agreement with OneD underscores the promise of silicon-anode development.

Proposed Standards and Methods for Leak Testing Lithium-Ion Battery Packs

Battery packs, whether made of prismatic, cylindrical, or pouch cells, are cooled by common automotive thermal management systems.

Compiler Selection for Functional Safety in Robots

A developer needs confidence that the compiler will not introduce errors into the design.

On the Hunt for Asteroids: Positioning an Occultation Telescope

"Early detection of a NEO headed for Earth would give us sufficient time to deflect the threat."

Controlling a Robot Without Programming

Programming a robot for small series production activities with great diversity involves many trajectories, which is time-consuming.

New Products

The new products for December 2022, including a micro-sized servo drive, HVAC drives, the LogiDrive system, and more.

Best Practices to Optimize Motor Selection

Optimizing motor selection for motion control applications can have significant performance, cost, and maintenance benefits.

Enhancing Design Efficiency in Linear Motion Automation

The integrated measuring system (IMS) has demonstrated notable cost savings and improved design efficiencies in linear motion automation applications.

Fine-Tuning the Factory Using Simulation

One promising way to meet modern industrial challenges is by using additive manufacturing processes.

Five Tips for Optimizing 5G Private Network Signals

In the coming years, the wireless communications segment will expand significantly as 5G private networks launch.

New on the Market

See the new products on the market, including power inductors, vibration sensors, a field TV connector, and more.

The Grainger College of Engineering

The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign was established in 1868.

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow.

Product of the Month

The new IRB 1010 robot from ABB (Cary, NC) offers electronics manufacturers the opportunity to increase their production of small wearable devices.

Meeting the Challenge of Electric Vehicle Battery Cell Innovation

Today, batteries are the new engine for innovative electric vehicle (EV) development.

Q&A: Nanoelectronic Heart Cell Sensor

Professor Jun Yao and his team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, have created a tiny sensor that can simultaneously measure electrical and mechanical cellular responses in cardiac tissue.

Reliable Power for Long-Term Lunar Surface Operations

To open the Moon to continuous multi-year human and robotic operation, Astrobotic is developing LunaGrid™ — a commercial power system for the surface of the Moon.

Vote for Tech Briefs’ 28th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards

These 12 products are the nominees for the 2022 Tech Briefs Readers’ Choice Product of the Year.

Space Radiation Research Fights Cancer on Earth

Inspired by NASA’s research of certain segments of DNA to estimate radiation damage, Promega Corp. used the technique to create its own diagnostic test which is used to customize cancer treatment.

5 Ws of 3D-Printed MEMS

A team at KTH Royal Institute of Technology has developed a new 3D printing technique that could be used to produce customized chip-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

Space-Based Hyperspectral Imaging

As space-based digital camera imagery is evolving, more and more advanced imaging technologies are being deployed in space to see more of the “unseen.”

Measuring Blood Glucose Levels with Lasers

DiaMonTech used the Ophir Pyrocam to measure and characterize all their laser developments.