Tech Briefs

Mechanical/​Mechatronics

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

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Briefs: Lighting
To overcome the limitations of using cleaning agents, sprays, or bulky high-cost sterilizing systems, NASA developed the Ultraviolet Germicidal Door Handle.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Users can download the design files to 3D print and assemble a customizable peristaltic pump.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A prototype version could be demonstrated on a large cargo lunar lander.
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Briefs: Design
Researchers designed a new type of soft robotic gripper that uses a collection of thin tentacles to entangle and ensnare objects.
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Briefs: Aerospace
It is widely believed that Advanced Air Mobility is poised to have a significant societal impact in the coming years to move people and cargo more rapidly and efficiently.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
NASA is developing the next generation of spacesuits for future missions.
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Briefs: Power
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing a novel microthruster that could provide easy-to-control propulsion during spaceflight.
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Briefs: Motion Control
Researchers produced a soft, mechanical metamaterial that can “think” about how forces are applied to it and respond via programmed reactions.
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Briefs: Medical
Researchers have developed a shape-shifting material that can take and hold any possible shape.
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Briefs: Aerospace
Statistical Audibility Prediction Algorithm
Predicting the extent that one sound is heard over another is difficult, yet could help engineers to better design for sound management.
Briefs: Motion Control
The soft and stretchable device converts movement into electricity and can work in wet environments.
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Briefs: Transportation
This below-the-hook device enables gentle crane placement to decrease the risk of property damage.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The researchers created these sensing structures using just one material and a single run on a 3D printer.
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Briefs: Motion Control
Oscillatory and rotational motions of different parts are combined to pave the way to developing super-miniaturized mechanical devices.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The integrated tool eliminates the need for manual operators or additional custom fixtures.
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Briefs: Propulsion
Biomimetics is one of the most important robotic research methods which can improve the kinematic performance of robots by imitating the structure and behavior of natural organisms.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Researchers have taken inspiration from origami to create inflatable structures that can bend, twist, and move in complex, distinct ways from a single source of pressure.
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Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The innovation opens the door for faster and more affordable at-home medical testing.
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Briefs: Design
NASA’s new COROTUB boom is flattened, rolled, and stowed in a small package for easy transport to remote locations. When unfurled, it expands into a load-bearing structural boom.
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Briefs: Energy
Researchers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin recently created the first ever solid-state optical nanomotor.
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A novel turbine blade design and manufacturing approach developed by NASA provides a significant reduction in turbine blade resonant vibration.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This simple, elegant invention can control flow separation resulting from the high flap deflections required by simple-hinged flap systems making such flaps a viable option for aircraft designers.
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Briefs: Design
An experimental plant-based jet fuel could increase engine performance and efficiency, while dispensing with aromatics, the pollution-causing compounds found in conventional fuels.
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Briefs: Materials
Applications include a smart fabric for exoskeletons, an adaptive cast that adjusts its stiffness as an injury heals, or a deployable bridge that could be unrolled and stiffened.
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Briefs: Propulsion
Acoustic optimization for anti-phase asymmetric rotor.
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Briefs: Motion Control
Gust load alleviation is an increasing concern for the design of fixed-wing aircraft with ultra-high aspect wings.
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Briefs: Power
Advanced analyses shed light on the mechanism of a deadly problem plaguing combustion chambers in rocket engines.
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Briefs: Aerospace
A lightweight alternative to rudders for aircraft with spanwise adaptive wings.
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Besides miniature spacecraft propulsion systems, the valve could also have applications in the industrial processing industry where low flow devices are commonly used.
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