Blog: Photonics/Optics
A Squid-Like 'Muscle' Senses Light and Changes Shape
Inspired by the squid's color-changing chromatophore, Rutgers engineers set out to create an artificial one.
Blog: Materials
A New Way to Cure Adhesives on Demand? Magnets.
The non-contact method of curing leads to adhesives that can be activated on demand.
Blog: Transportation
CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
In a roundtable presentation at the virtual CES 2021, panelists said the COVID-19 pandemic has changed driving patterns and consumer preferences – and that those shifts are here to stay.
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
A survey of over 170 experts assessed the opportunities and challenges that drones, robots, and autonomous systems could have for urban nature and green spaces.
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A Better Sensor Detects Ice Build-Up, In Real Time
The sensor is able to detect ice formation far before you can see it occurring on a surface.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
A Spiraling Robotic Gripper 'Twines' Like a Plant
As engineering professor Mable Fok saw how the pole beans in her garden wrapped tightly around any objects nearby, she had an idea:
What if a robotic gripper could do the same...
Blog: RF & Microwave Electronics
Q&A: 'Smellicopter' Uses Live Moth Antenna to Seek Out Smells
UW doctoral student Melanie Anderson explains how to make an autonomous 'Smellicopter' to navigate toward smells.
Blog: Photonics/Optics
How to Choose an Optical Filter
Optical interference filters are critical to the overall performance of machine vision applications. So how do you select the right one?
Blog: Aerospace
Will Electric Aircraft Reach the Speeds of Commercial Jets?
An Israel-based company called Eviation is working on an all-electric aircraft known as "Alice." Will it match the speeds of a jet?
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
With a 50-Million-Electron Jolt, Sensors Power Themselves
By jumpstarting electrons, a team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed sensors that can power themselves for more than a year.
Blog: Data Acquisition
Stanford Computer Model Predicts How COVID-19 Spreads in Cities
The model analyzes three factors that drive infection risk: where people go in the course of a day; how long they linger; and how many other people are visiting the same place at the same time.
Blog: Internet of Things
A Solar Alternative: How to Power Devices with Indoor Light
A new material is especially effective at absorbing indoor light and converting it into usable energy.
The RepelWrap inventors explain why their product is especially valuable as the world confronts a pandemic like COVID-19.
Blog: Aerospace
What Role Will Motors Play in Mars 2020 Missions?
The great tasks of retrieving samples and flying a helicopter on Mars requires a number of small parts — specifically motors and drives.
Blog: Energy
'Soil Fuel Cells' Support Water Treatment in Brazil
The soil microbial fuel cells produce energy to filter enough water for a person’s daily needs, with potential to increase scale.
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
A Spider-Inspired Design Paves Way for Better Photodetectors
Purdue University innovators are taking cues from the spider to develop 3D photodetectors for biomedical imaging.
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Woodworking, Simplified: New Software Aids in Design
An interactive software being developed at the University of Tokyo allows architects and furniture makers with little experience in woodworking to to design and build structurally sound wood joints.
A reader asks, "For AV testing, what are the respective role of simulation, closed course, and public road testing?"
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
A Squid-Like Robot Swims, Untethered
A robot being tested at the University of California San Diego takes after an aquatic invertebrate that has a jet-like way moving through the water: The Squid.
Blog: Electronics & Computers
With Water Jets, Machines 'Breathe' to Cool Down
University of Central Florida researchers are developing a human-like way for large machines to cool off and keep from overheating: Letting the machines "breathe."
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
How to Charge an Underwater Robot? A Mobile Docking Station
Researcher Nina Mahmoudian is finding a new way for underwater robots to recharge and upload their data, and then go back out to continue exploring, without the need for human intervention.
Blog: Transportation
Is the Public Ready for a Level-4 Autonomous Vehicle?
A reader asks, "Will the public feel safe enough in an autonomous vehicle?"
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Researchers Prove Their Elastic Exosuit Eases Back Stress
Vanderbilt University engineers are proving that their elastic exosuit can provide relief for people doing the heavy lifting.
Thermal cameras detect heat radiation and can be used to identify the surface temperature of objects and people. So what's their limit, asks a reader.
Blog: Automotive
New Composite Energizes the Electric Vehicle Market
A new composite from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) increases the electrical current capacity of copper wires, providing a new material that can be scaled for use in ultra-efficient, power-dense electric vehicle traction motors.
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
New Software Keeps Self-Driving Cars on a Safe Path
New software from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) wants to predict all traffic possibilities, so that self-driving vehicles will never get into accidents.
Blog: FDA/Regulatory
NASA's 'VITAL' Ventilator: A Choice Between Licensing and Open-Source
As Brazil begins mass-producing a NASA-developed ventilator, a Tech Briefs reader asks why NASA didn't go open-source.
Blog: Transportation
Breakthrough Model Offers Better Look Inside Rechargeable Batteries
The new approach could help pave the way for smaller battery packs and greater driving range in electric vehicles.
Blog: Transportation
What's Best for Autonomous Cars: LiDAR vs Radar vs Cameras
A reader asks our expert: When it comes to autonomous vehicles, what’s best: Radar, LiDAR, or cameras?
Top Stories
Blog: Materials
A New Way to Cure Adhesives on Demand? Magnets.
Podcasts: Sensors/Data Acquisition
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Blog: Transportation
CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
Videos: Motion Control
'Blueswarm' Robots Synchronize Movements like School of Fish
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Question of the Week
Will We Make Vibration-Free Helicopters?
Webcasts
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Electric-Vehicle Transmission Development Priorities
Upcoming Webinars: Medical
The Critical Role of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Medical...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Zinc Die Casting Concepts to Achieve Precision, Performance, and...
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Radar Measurements: Triggering, Analysis, and Generation
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
Designing with Silicone for Space
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
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Q&A: Energy
