Magazine

Cobot Cuts Cost and Risk While Boosting On-Time Delivery

Los Angeles-based plastics contract manufacturer Kal Plastics deployed UR10e trimming cobot for a fraction of the cost and lead time of a CNC machine, cut trimming time nearly in half, and reduced late shipments to under one percent — all while improving employee safety and growth opportunities. Read on to learn more.

Gear Motors Help Put the Squeeze on Materials Requiring Dewatering

The applications that require dewatering are too numerous to list in their entirety. Dewatering is a process that — as its name suggests — separates fluids from solids, often converting what would otherwise go down the drain or end up in a landfill into saleable products. Read on to learn more about it and how gear motors come into play.

A Training Method for Multiagent Systems Promises Safe Operation

A team of MIT engineers has developed a training method for multiagent systems that can guarantee their safe operation in crowded environments. Read on to learn more about it.

3D-Printed Soft Robotic Joint Allows Greater Bending Angles

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new soft joint model for robots with an asymmetrical triangular structure and an extremely thin central column. This breakthrough, recently patented, allows for versatility of movement, adaptability and safety, and will have a major impact in the field of robotics. Read on to learn more.

Boosting Robotic Grasping Performance with Six Degrees of Freedom Dataset

A new study, published in the journal Results in Engineering, introduced a meticulously designed dataset aimed at enhancing the performance of 6D pose estimation algorithms. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including igus' aluminum version of its drylin ® NT-60 telescopic rail; Tolomatic Inc.'s online Drive Integration Tool; Flexiv's KURAVIZON adaptive robot; Thomson Industries' upgrade to its stepper motor linear actuator online selector tool, which adds the ability to include encoders in the design process; and more.

Navigating the Challenges of Motor Commutation

Motor commutation involves the process of switching between motor phases to ensure smooth, continuous operation. In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of commutation, explain how it works, and discuss the challenges faced when trying to pair different motors and drives, especially across brands.

Executive Insights: Humanoid Robots

Despite their immense potential, humanoid robots face several challenges before they can achieve mainstream adoption. In this article, two industry executives — Melonee Wise, Chief Product Officer of Agility Robotics and Barry Phillips, Chief Commercial Officer of Apptronik — share their insights about the current state and future outlook for humanoid robots.

Why AI-Powered Engineering Matters in Automotive Design and Lightweighting

How can we implement new technology and meet market demand without compromising performance and quality? The answer is AI-powered engineering. Read on to learn more about it.

Building an Affordable Grid-Scale Alternative to Batteries

Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Read on to learn more about it.

How to Detect Battery Failures Quicker

Batteries in electric vehicles can fail quickly, sometimes catching fire without much warning. Sandia National Laboratories is working to detect these failures early and provide sufficient warning time to vehicle occupants. Read on to learn more about it.

Nail Penetration Adapter for Li-Ion Battery Testing

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have designed a pneumatic nail penetration trigger system that drives a Li-ion battery cell into thermal runaway using a tungsten nail. Read on to learn more.

A Step Toward More Accurate 3D Object Detection

Scientists have developed multi-modal 3D object detection methods that combine 3D LiDAR data with 2D RGB images taken by standard cameras. While the fusion of 2D images and 3D LiDAR data leads to more accurate 3D detection results, it still faces its own set of challenges, with accurate detection of small objects remaining difficult. Read on to learn more about it.

Single-Shot Polarization Imaging System Provides Complete Picture

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a compact, single-shot polarization imaging system that can provide a complete picture of polarization. Read on to learn more about it.

Bio-Inspired Cameras and AI Detect Obstacles Faster

Daniel Gehrig and Davide Scaramuzza from the Department of Informatics at the University of Zurich have combined a novel bio-inspired camera with AI to develop a system that can detect obstacles around a car much quicker than current systems and using less computational power. Read on to learn more about the study, which is published in Nature.

An Innovative Sensing Platform for Ultrahigh Sensitivity in Conventional Sensors

New research unlocks the power of exceptional points (EPs) for advanced optical sensing. In a study published in Science Advances , a team showed that these unique EPs — specific conditions in systems where extraordinary optical phenomena can occur — can be deployed on conventional sensors to achieve a striking sensitivity to environmental perturbations. Read on to learn more.

Sensors for ‘Smart’ Wound Bandage Track Healing, Immune Response

Researchers from Skoltech and the University of Texas at Austin have presented a proof-of-concept for a wearable sensor that can track healing in sores, ulcers, and other kinds of chronic skin wounds, even without the need to remove the bandages. Read on to learn more.

Fabricating Ultrastrong Aluminum Alloys for Additive Manufacturing

Purdue University material engineers have created a patent-pending process to develop ultrahigh-strength aluminum alloys that are suitable for additive manufacturing because of their plastic deformability. Read on to learn more.

Flexible Lightweight Radiation Shielding

An innovator at NASA Langley Research Center has developed a novel method for making thin, lightweight radiation shielding that can be sprayed or melted onto common textiles used in clothing such as cotton, nylon, polyester, Nomex, and Kevlar. Read on to learn more about it.

New High-Speed Microscale 3D-Printing Technique

Researchers at Stanford University have introduced a more efficient processing technique that can print up to 1 million highly detailed and customizable microscale particles a day. Read on to learn more about it.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Endress+Hauser's FMR63B 80 GHz radar level sensor; the TP-108 Series, the smallest of all test points from Components Corporation; Sumida America's family of Resin-Shielded Surface-Mount Power Inductors; Coilcraft's XGL3020 series of ultra-low loss power inductors; Yokogawa Electric Corporation's OpreX™ Intelligent Manufacturing Hub; and much more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a practical way to make hydrocarbons powered solely by the sun; an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace; and a robotic system whose primary structural platform, or “orb,” can be injected into a pipe network and perform reconnaissance of piping infrastructure and other interior volumes.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: ControlAir LLC's Type CG330 and CG340 gas regulators. They are designed to deliver accurate pressure control while ensuring near-zero atmospheric leakage under dynamic or steady-state flow conditions.

AI and Humans as Teammates

Duke University Professor Boyuan Chen and his team have developed a platform called CREW that is used to create algorithms to optimize human-AI cooperation.

Bioprinting Artificial Organs in Space to Benefit Human Life on Earth

Recent successes in cultivating human heart tissue, knee cartilage, and pharmaceutical crystals in space have relied on technology that was initially developed decades ago with support from NASA.

5Ws of a 3D-Printed Electrospray Engine

With the goal to democratize space research, MIT engineers have demonstrated the first fully 3D-printed, droplet-emitting electrospray engine which can be produced rapidly and for a fraction of the cost of traditional thruster.

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: IDEC Corporation's FS1B Safety Controller, an upgrade of the popular FS1A.

Readers Select 2024 Products of the Year

Last December, Tech Briefs readers were asked to select one product from our 2024 Products of the Month to be named Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. Thanks to all of our readers who cast their votes. Read on to learn the 2024 winners.

Is Advanced Packaging the Next Large Leap for Mission-Critical Microelectronics?

The U.S. government’s microelectronics needs have evolved significantly over the decades. Now, we have entered the era of Advanced Packaging. This is the next microelectronics evolution to enhance and extend the performance of modern military and commercial systems. Read on to learn more about this.