INSIDER: Motion Control
Army Readies Robots for Underground Tunnels
The Army Research Laboratory released a software suite that simulates conditions of an underground tunnel network. Researchers interested in developing robots for subterranean environments can...
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will Sound Support Valuable Robotics Tasks?
Our lead story today demonstrated how Carnegie Mellon researchers are building a dataset of sounds to help robots detect specific objects.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Clang! Robots Detect Objects By Sound
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Answering Your Questions: Edge Computing vs. Cloud Computing in the Vehicle
Question of the Week: Aerospace
Will Rovers Find Life Below the Surface of Mars?
Our lead story today highlighted a hypothesis from astrophysicist Dimitra Atri. Atri believes that the sub-surface conditions of Mars could be home to organic molecules.
Blog: Aerospace
Scientist Proposes Life on Mars, Below the Surface
Blog: Motion Control
How to Guarantee Autonomous Driving Levels — When Vision is Obstructed
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will SpaceBok Someday Reach the Moon?
Our lead story today highlights the jumping space robot known as SpaceBok.
“We are at the stage where we want to go into more challenging environments: caves, craters, highlands, areas in which we would find water or other volatiles, or information about the geological history of a certain...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
NASA’s Robot Hotel Gets Its Occupants
A protective storage unit for robotic tools called Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) was among the items launched to the International Space Station last December as part of SpaceX’s resupply services...
Blog: Green Design & Manufacturing
How to Test a Living Sensor, Made with Bacteria
Question of the Week: Imaging
Do the Advantages of Tiny Cameras Outweigh Privacy Risks?
A recent Tech Briefs TV video showcased a wireless camera from the University of Washington – a device that is small enough to fit on an insect’s back, literally.
While the imaging advancement offers potential applications in biology and exploration, the UW team acknowledged...
A team of Brown University physicists has developed a new type of compact, ultra-sensitive magnetometer, 20 times more sensitive than many traditional sensors. The...
INSIDER: Nanotechnology
Configurable Circuit Technology Poised to Expand Silicon Photonic Applications
Researchers have developed a new way to build power efficient and programmable integrated switching units on a silicon photonics chip. The new technology is...
INSIDER: Test & Measurement
New Method Measures Temperature Within 3D Objects
University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have made it possible to remotely determine the temperature beneath the surface of certain materials using a new technique they call depth...
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Researchers Develop 3D Hand-Sensing Wristband
In a potential breakthrough in wearable sensing technology, researchers from Cornell and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have designed a wrist- mounted device that continuously tracks...
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
With Satellite Data, NASA Shows COVID-19 Impact on Food Supply Chain
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Watch: The Mars 2020 Perseverance Launch
Watch below as the Perseverance rover and its Ingenuity helicopter make their way to Mars.
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Human-Like Hands with Flexible, Hybrid Actuators
In industrial settings, robots often are used for tasks that require repetitive grasping and manipulation of objects. A humanoid hand design that is a soft-hard hybrid flexible gripper can...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Self-Latching Piezocomposite Actuator
NASA Langley has developed a self-latching piezocomposite actuator with power-off, set-and-hold capability. If integrated into an aerodynamic control surface or engine inlet, deflections could be...
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Watch Live: A Mars 2020 Briefing with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Blog: Aerospace
Watch: NASA's Mars 2020 Sample Return Briefing
Watch below as NASA experts review how they plan to return samples from the surface of Mars back to Earth.
Question of the Week: Aerospace
Will Electric Aircraft Take-Off in Everyday Aviation?
In May of 2020, the “eCaravan” aircraft, powered by a 750-horsepower electric motor and more than 2000 pounds of lithium-ion batteries, flew to a height of over 2500 feet, at over 100 miles per hour. The all-electric airplane was built by magniX, Seattle-based electric propulsion...
Blog: Aerospace
Watch: NASA's Mars 2020 Mission Engineering and Science Briefing
Watch NASA experts review this week's preparations, as the Perseverance rover launches and begins its journey to Mars.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Answering Your Questions: How Automated is the Mars Rover Landing?
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robotic Gripper Gets a Handle on a Challenging Object: Cables
Blog: Test & Measurement
Answering Your Questions: How Does the Mars Rover Camera Stay Clean?
Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Will ‘Roboats’ Catch On?
Our July issue of Tech Briefs highlighted a fleet of “roboats” that could someday transport people, collect trash, and self-assemble into floating structures.
The Roboat autonomous robotic boats — rectangular hulls equipped with sensors, thrusters, microcontrollers, GPS modules, cameras, and other...
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Guided by Light, A Mini Robot Catches Particles Underwater
INSIDER: Test & Measurement
Comb on a Chip Could Revolutionize Clocks, Telescopes, Telecommunications
Just as a meter stick with hundreds of tick marks can be used to measure distances with great precision, a device known as a laser frequency comb, with its...
Top Stories
Blog: Unmanned Systems

Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Podcasts: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Videos: Test & Measurement

Test System Could Enable Reduced Helicopter Vibration
Blog: Automotive

CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
Videos: Automotive

Question of the Week
Has the Vehicle Become Your “Second Space?”
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Reducing the Cost of Quality in Automotive BiW
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Electric-Vehicle Transmission Development Priorities
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Critical Role of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Medical...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Zinc Die Casting Concepts to Achieve Precision, Performance, and...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Radar Measurements: Triggering, Analysis, and Generation
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
Trending Stories
INSIDER: Imaging

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar Atmosphere
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Combining Electronic, Photonic Chips Enables Super-Fast Quantum Light Detection
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Motion Solutions for Electric Expansion Valves
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Special Section: The Winners of the 2020 'Create the Future' Design Contest
Briefs: Energy

Solid-State Technology Enables Smaller, Safer Batteries
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Double-Vacuum-Bag Process for Making Resin-Matrix Composites