Tech Briefs

Mechanical/Mechatronics

Access our comprehensive library of mechanical and mechatronics technical briefs, from engineering experts at NASA and government, university, and commercial laboratories.

Briefs: Aerospace

Methods for Predicting Transonic Flutter Using Simple Data Models

NASA’s Ames Research Center has developed a novel closed-form solution to model wing flutter aerodynamics for any aircraft wing (within a certain thickness regime and without camber). This closed-form solution can be readily extended to wing sections with camber.

Briefs: Propulsion

A Sustainable Engine with Reduced Assembly Costs

Boom Supersonic, the company building supersonic planes, is developing Symphony, a new propulsion system designed and optimized for its Overture supersonic airliner.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Miniscule Robots of Metal and Plastic

A technique enables manufacturing of minuscule robots by interlocking multiple materials in a complex way.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Scurrying Centipedes Inspire Many-Legged Robots

Intrigued to see if many limbs could be helpful for locomotion in this world, a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology is using a centipede's style of movement to its advantage. They developed a new theory of multilegged locomotion and created many-legged robotic models.

Briefs: Design

Low-Cost Ventilator Set to Help People in Low-Income Countries

The ventilators are simpler and cheaper to make than those currently available.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

A Precision Arm for Mini Robots

A team at ETH Zurich has developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

Briefs: Power

Megawatt Motor Could Lead to Electrifying Large Aircraft

A team of MIT engineers is creating a one-megawatt motor that could be a key stepping-stone toward electrifying larger aircraft. The team has designed and tested the major components of the motor.

Briefs: Automotive

Testing Real Driverless Cars in a Virtual Environment

Researchers at The Ohio State University have developed new software to aid in the development, evaluation, and demonstration of safer autonomous, or driverless, vehicles. Called the Vehicle-in-Virtual-Environment (VVE) method, it allows the testing of driverless cars in a perfectly safe environment.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

A Software Model Makes Transport Robots Smarter

Imagine a team of humans and robots working together to process online orders — real-life workers strategically positioned among their automated coworkers who are moving intelligently back and forth in a warehouse space. This could become a reality sooner than later, thanks to researchers at the University of Missouri.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

On/Off Functionality for Fast, Sensitive, Ultra-Small Technologies

An ultra-small actuator has nanometer-scale precision.

Briefs: Energy

Ocean Platform Motion Control

NASA engineers have developed a new approach to mitigating unwanted motion in floating structures. Ideally suited to applications including offshore wind energy platforms and barges, the innovation uses water ballast as a motion damping fluid.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Tension Element Vibration Damping

The innovation can provide a wide range of damping forces, a linear damping function and/or an extended dynamic range of attenuation, providing broad flexibility in configuration size and functional applicability.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Manufacturing Rotational Mechanisms with Integrated Sensors

Integrating sensors into rotational mechanisms could make it possible for engineers to build smart hinges that know when a door has been opened, or gears inside a motor that tell a mechanic how fast they are rotating. Engineers have now developed a way to easily integrate sensors into these types of mechanisms.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Thin Flexible Sensor Characterizes High-Speed Airflows on Curved Surfaces

To improve efficiency, it is necessary to characterize and reduce flow separation on curved surfaces.

Briefs: Materials

Self-Sensing Electric Artificial Muscles

Taking inspiration from nature, a team of researchers at Queen Mary’s School of Engineering and Materials Science has successfully created an artificial muscle that seamlessly transitions between soft and hard states while also possessing the remarkable ability to sense forces and deformations.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Hydrodynamic Effect Helps Motorized Objects Navigate Inclines

The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Chemically Driven Wheels “Morph” Into Gears

A catalytic reaction causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously morph into a three-dimensional gear.

Briefs: Medical

Micromotor Winding Technology Uses AI to Improve Motor Performance

Achievable coils increase the capabilities of the micromotors.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Extractor for Chemical Analysis of Lipid Biomarkers in Regolith (ExCALiBR)

NASA Ames Research Center has developed a novel technology that provides an autonomous, miniaturized fluidic system for lipid analysis.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Flow-Through Transducer for Wind Tunnel Analysis

To enable key aerospace R&D applications, NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a single-piece flow-through transducer design capable of measuring all six components adding in the Axial force measurement.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Artificial Skin Provides Haptic Feedback

The skin could help rehabilitation and enhance virtual reality by instantaneously adapting to a wearer's movements.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Fluid-Driven Actuators Enable Complex Motions in Soft Robots

A team of researchers has designed a new system of fluid-driven actuators that enable soft robots to achieve more complex motions. The researchers accomplished this by taking advantage of the very thing — viscosity — that had previously stymied the movement of such robots.

Briefs: Medical

Inflatable, Shape-Changing Spinal Implants Could Help Treat Severe Pain

The device uses soft robotics, ultra-thin electronics, and microfluidics.

Briefs: Propulsion

Biomimicking Hummingbirds for Better Drones

Hummingbirds have extreme aerial agility and flight forms, which is why many drones and other aerial vehicles are designed to mimic hummingbird movement.