Magazine

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.

Easing Industrial-Grade Ethernet Implementation

Equipment and test system designers need Ethernet devices that outperform consumer-grade components, while remaining easy to use.

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.

Hybrid Microscope Streamlines Imaging for Research and Medicine

The new microscope is called a hybrid open-top light-sheet (OTLS) microscope.

New Products

The new products for November 2022, including an AI inspection system, a non-contact machine vision measuring system, and more.

A High-Speed Look at Additive Manufacturing

Despite additive manufacturing's popularity, there are still several technological barriers that must be addressed to understand the process.

Optical Modules

The Teledyne e2v Optimom 2M combines the latest innovations in imaging and optics into one turnkey imaging solution by mounting a proprietary image sensor onto a board with a fixed lens and optional Multi Focus lens technology.

A Systems Engineering Approach to Sustainable Power Systems

Research and development work continue to deliver cleaner, more efficient, and more diverse ways of generating the energy we need to power modern society.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest Grand Prize Winner

The platform was developed to democratize programmable matter; to make prototyping, innovation, and research with soft robotics incredibly quick and easy; and to enable researchers, designers, and makers of all backgrounds to unleash their creativity and bring their ideas to life.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Aerospace & Defense Category Winner — The Well-Dressed Spacecraft

The sustainability crisis extends to low-Earth Orbit (LEO), where human-made debris poses a ubiquitous threat.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Automotive/Transportation Category Winner — Betterfrost Ultra-Low Energy Defrost & Defog System

Betterfrost’s solution defrosts and defogs electric vehicles’ windshields with 20 times less power than current technology and extends the range of an EV by 38 km on an average commute in winter.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Consumer Product Design Category Winner — Green Screen

The core of the Green Screen consists of noise-absorbing mineral wool, which also serves as a vertical surface for evaporating rain coming from the roofs of the adjacent buildings.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Electronics/Sensors/IoT Winner - RF Fingerprinting for Industrial IoT Security

Some of the hardest to detect cyber-attacks are wireless, including man-in-the-middle attacks and rogue access points.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Winner - Large-Scale 3D Printing with Tubes

The 3D printing industry has grown quickly over the last decade with average compound annual growth rates of around 27 percent leading to a market size of $17.7 billion in 2022.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Medical Category Winner — The Novel Squid Glaucoma microShunt

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, affecting 80 million patients globally including 3 million patients in the U.S.

2022 Create the Future Design Contest: Sustainable Technologies/Future Energy Category Winner — SUNPave: Tomorrow’s Energy Today

When solar panels are placed horizontally, they harvest 15-20 percent less energy from the sun, and hence consumers end up paying a higher price for the harvested energy.

High-Performance MXene Electrodes for Next-Generation Battery

Two-dimensional MXene has become popular in the energy world because of its fast energy storage capability. But unstable voltage output limits applications.

Technique Extends Next-Generation Lithium Metal Batteries

The discovery could enable lightweight, low-cost, long-lasting energy storage for electric vehicles, houses, and more.

New Battery Technology Could Power Wearable, Self-Sustaining Fever Detector

Public temperature checks have become common practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at Texas A&M University hope to make it possible to check the temperatures of large groups of people more quickly and at a less expensive cost than allowed by current methods.

Triggering Li-ion Battery Cells with Laser Radiation

Inducing TR in a battery cell allows engineers to test and improve the safety performance of overheated batteries that can potentially catch fire or explode.

Building Temperature-Resilient Batteries

In tests, the proof-of-concept batteries retained 87.5 percent and 115.9 percent of their energy capacity at -40 °C and 50 °C (-40 °F and 122 °F), respectively.

More Reliable Doppler LiDAR for Autonomous Navigation

The LiDAR sensor utilizes Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technique to determine the distance to the target and the velocity between the sensor and target.

Smart Textiles Powered by Soft Transmission Lines

The fibers measure subtle and complex fabric deformations.

Novel Chemical Glucose Sensing Method Based on Boronic Acids and Graphene Foam

Since it is a chemical sensor instead of being enzyme-based, the new technology is robust, has a long shelf-life and can be tuned to detect lower glucose concentrations than current systems.