Sensors & Test

Standalone Sweat Sensor Provides Immediate Results

Engineers have developed a thin, flexible, stretchy sweat sensor that can show the level of glucose, lactate, sodium, or pH of your sweat — at the press of a finger.

Stretchable Pressure Sensor Could Lead to Better Robotics, Prosthetics

The sensor can be stretched up to 50 percent with almost the same sensing performance.

Nanoelectronic Sensor to Simultaneously Measure Electrical, Mechanical Activity in Heart Cells

Using a suspended nanowire, a research team has created a tiny sensor that can simultaneously measure electrical and mechanical cellular responses in cardiac tissue — a first.

Building Earthquake Resiliency with Supercomputers

The research team has been developing very large, detailed models — like their simulations of the San Francisco Bay Area for M7 Hayward fault earthquakes — which has 391 billion model grid points.

Can Your Phone Tell if a Bridge Is in Good Shape?

A new study suggests mobile data collected while traveling over bridges could help evaluate their integrity.

Light-Analyzing ‘Lab on A Chip’ Opens Door to Widespread Use of Portable Spectrometers

The device is 100 percent electrically controllable regarding the colors of light it absorbs, which gives it massive potential for widespread usability.

Computational Model Enables Robots to Learn New Concepts

The model allows robots to ask clarifying questions to soldiers.

Inductive Non-Contact Position Sensor

Potential uses include MEMS accelerometers, vibration monitoring, and other precision motion control applications.

Laser-Light-Based Accelerometer

The tiny device accurately measures acceleration in smaller navigation systems and other devices.

DIY Kits Enable Users to Build Their Own Peristaltic Pumps for Microfluidics

Users can download the design files to 3D print and assemble a customizable peristaltic pump.

Wearable Device Monitors Jaundice-Causing Bilirubin and Vitals in Newborns

Device detects pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation in real time.

Respirator 2.0: New N95-Alternative Introduces Sensors for a Better Fit

The respirator earned a 100 percent success rate for fit testing.

Oculometric Testing for Detecting Mild Neural Impairment

This set of oculomotor metrics provide valid and reliable measures of dynamic visual performance.

Faster Computation for Deep-Learning Applications

A new area of artificial intelligence called analog deep learning promises faster computation with a fraction of the energy usage.

Solar-Powered Smart Robots Walk Autonomously

A team has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size so that they can walk autonomously.

Teaching Robots the Craft of Manipulating Materials

The new system learns directly from visual inputs to let a robot with a two-fingered gripper see, simulate, and shape doughy objects.

New Capabilities for Grasp-Assisting Gloves

NASA is developing the next generation of spacesuits for future missions.

Meta Monitoring System

MMS was developed as an add-on to NASA Ames-patented Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), which estimates deviation from normal system operations.

More Reliable Doppler LiDAR for Autonomous Navigation

The LiDAR sensor utilizes Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technique to determine the distance to the target and the velocity between the sensor and target.

Smart Textiles Powered by Soft Transmission Lines

The fibers measure subtle and complex fabric deformations.

Novel Chemical Glucose Sensing Method Based on Boronic Acids and Graphene Foam

Since it is a chemical sensor instead of being enzyme-based, the new technology is robust, has a long shelf-life and can be tuned to detect lower glucose concentrations than current systems.

Implantable Sensor Safely Biodegrades

The flexible, stretchable sensor biodegrades into materials that are absorbed by the body.

New Imaging Method Reveals Concealed Objects

Using state-of-the-art indium phosphide transistors and a basic computer and mirrors, researchers were able to produce images of concealed bodies.

Highly Sensitive, Mass Producible Organic Photodetectors

Incorporating new green-light absorbing transparent organic photodetectors into organic-silicon hybrid image sensors could be useful for applications such as light-based heart-rate monitoring, fingerprint recognition and devices that detect the presence of nearby objects

Pressure Sensors for Improved Dexterity in Robots

Made from 3D graphene foam, the sensors use a piezoresistive approach, meaning when the material is put under pressure it dynamically changes its electric resistance, easily detecting and adapting to the range of pressure required, from light to heavy.

Getting a Grip with ‘Necrobotic’ Spiders

An open-access study in Advanced Science outlines the process by which Preston and lead author Faye Yap harnessed a spider’s physiology in a first step toward a novel area of research they call “necrobotics.”

Sensor Breakthrough Paves the Way for a Map of the World Under Earth’s Surface

The sensor works by detecting variations in microgravity using the principles of quantum physics, which is based on manipulating nature at the sub-molecular level.

Future Wearable Health Tech Could Measure Gases Released from Skin

Some wearable devices are already capable of measuring pulse rates or temperatures, but this team’s method would allow the technology to sense biomarkers related to metabolic disorders, like heart disease or diabetes.