Billy's Blog

Join the conversation! Tech Briefs' Digital Editorial Manager Billy Hurley provides his take on today’s innovative technology developments and the topics most important to you.

Blog : Robotics, Automation & Control
Answering Your Questions: When to Use Collaborative Robots in Manufacturing
A reader asks: What types of considerations need to be made before you go in on collaborative robots?
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
3D-Printable Sensor ‘Turns Blue’ to Detect Trace Amounts of Water
The sensor supports new ideas in food-quality control, environmental monitoring, and more.
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Inside the Invention of a Snore-Stopping Sleep Mask – From Idea to Prototype to Product
It took two and a half years, 60 prototypes, and even some of his children’s craft foam, but Curtis Ray turned his idea into invention.
Blog : Energy
High-Speed Jet Mixer Efficiently Turns Algae into Fuel
A new technology may lead to a more mainstream use of algal biofuels.
Blog : Test & Measurement
Readers Select 2018 Products of the Year
See which three products won our 2018 Readers' Choice contest.
Blog : Medical
Calling All Innovators: 'Create the Future' Contest is Open for Entries
Your design idea could win you $20,000.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
On a Firefighter’s Jacket, a Self-Powered Tracking Sensor Takes the Heat
The wearable is fireproof, thanks to a carbon aerogel nanocomposite material.
Blog : Robotics, Automation & Control
Answering Your Questions: What Areas of Study Are Desirable for the Autonomous Industry?
With self-driving vehicles poised to take the road, how can today’s engineers prepare themselves to support an autonomous future?
Blog : Materials
Porous Carbon Fibers: How a Car Could Someday Store Its Energy 'Everywhere'
Tesla uses batteries to store energy underneath the car seats. What if we could store energy everywhere on the vehicle?
Blog : Electronics & Computers
Graphene Breakthrough Puts Nanolithography ‘Back in the Toolbox’
Graphene may play a greater role in tomorrow electronics, thanks to an achievement from the Technical University of Denmark.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Answering Your Questions: Are There Regulations for Machine Learning in Vehicles?
How do you regulate a system that, in effect, is learning as it goes?
Blog : Aerospace
A Morphing Soft Actuator Expands the Motion Options
Even a shape-morphing plane is possible, says Harvard's Ehsan Hajiesmaili.
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
3D-Printed Rubber Repairs Itself
A new material development from USC brings us a step closer to self-healing sneakers.
Blog : Materials
What is 'Metallic Wood?' Nickel, Plus Nano-Pores
By adding nanopores to nickel, James Pikul and his team created a kind of "metallic wood."
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Answering Your Questions: How to Sell Top Management on Failure Analysis, FMEA
A Failure Analysis may help find problems during product development, but what role should top management play in an FMEA?
Blog : Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Embodied Logic: Researchers Build Artificial Venus Flytrap
Professor Jordan Raney spoke with Tech Briefs about what’s possible when you can embody 3D-printed objects with logic.
Blog : Communications
More from CES 2019: Attack Surfaces Expand as Cars Increasingly Connect
David Barzilai from Karamba Security tells Tech Briefs what threats to the connected car concern him the most.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
CES 2019 Digital Health Trends: Three 'Invisible' Technologies that Monitor the Heart
From CES 2019: Tech Briefs looks at three standout health-monitoring products.
Blog : Software
CES 2019: Artificial Intelligence Forecasts Famine
From CES 2019: For famine relief, the World Bank is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
‘Levitation’ Leads to More Durable MEMS Switches
Professor Sherry Towfighian spoke with Tech Briefs about how a new MEMS design will improve our cell phones and power lines.
Blog : Transportation
CES Preview: New Cybersecurity Challenges for Increasingly Connected Cars
Irdeto's Stacy Janes tells Tech Briefs if he feels safe driving today's connected cars.
Blog : Electronics & Computers
Answering Your Questions: How Consumer-Grade and Industrial-Grade Lithium-Ion Batteries Handle the Cold
A reader asks: How does an “industrial-grade” lithium-ion battery stack up to the one in your phone?
Blog : Communications
Q&A: Catching Up with Automotive Cybersecurity Researcher (and Jeep Hacker) Chris Valasek
In 2015, Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller demonstrated a hack of the Jeep Cherokee. Valasek tells Tech Briefs what has changed since then.
Blog : Energy
Answering Your Questions: Will Solar Panel Efficiency Improve?
Don’t hold your breath, says Jeff Crystal from Voltaic Systems.
Blog : Manufacturing & Prototyping
Answering Your Questions: How Long Should a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Take?
An FMEA provides a step-by-step way of identifying product failures. Carl Carlson explains just how long the process takes.
Blog : Robotics, Automation & Control
Q&A: After a Successful Landing, What’s Next for the InSight Mission?
InSight project manager Tom Hoffman spoke with Tech Briefs about the importance of digging deep in our knowledge of Mars.
Blog : Automotive
New Metal-Air Battery Design Offers a Potential Boost to Electric Vehicles
Professor Hart spoke with Tech Briefs about why his team's new battery may someday find its way beyond niche applications and into electric vehicles.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Answering Your Questions: How Good are Automotive Sensor Simulation Models?
A reader asks our industry experts: "How good are the simulation models for automotive ADAS sensors?"
Blog : Green Design & Manufacturing
Researchers Convert Plastic Bottles into Aerogels that Insulate and Absorb
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) are trying to solve the problem of plastic waste by converting it into something useful: Aerogels.
Blog : Sensors/Data Acquisition
Modular Robots Change Shape – Depending on the Task
Professor Hadas Kress-Gazit tells Tech Briefs about the "great promise" of autonomous modular robots.
Question of the Week
Will Carbon Fibers Find a New Place in Vehicles?

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Webcasts

Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Testing and Inspecting 3D-Printed Parts

Upcoming Webinars: Photonics/Optics

Optical Coating Design

Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

Advanced Quality Planning and Production Part Approval Process...

Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers

How to Avoid PCB Re-spins when IC’s Change or are Obsoleted

Upcoming Webinars: Photonics/Optics

OpenVPX Technology: Roadmap to the Future

Upcoming Webinars: Medical

How to Choose the Right Adhesive for Your Medical Device...