Sensors & Test

Low-Power Hydrogen Sensor Detects Leaks in an Instant

KAUST researchers have invented a robust, highly sensitive, low-cost hydrogen sensor that outperforms available commercial detectors, offering a vital safeguard for the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Read on to learn more.

Meet SMSPDs: Superconducting Microwire Single-Photon Detectors

Plans are underway to create more powerful particle accelerators, whose collisions will unleash large subatomic storms. How will researchers sift through the chaos? Read on to find out.

Novel Flexible Terahertz Camera Can Inspect Objects with Diverse Shapes

A team of researchers from Tokyo Tech, led by Associate Professor Yukio Kawano, has designed a flexible and free-standing THz sensor array that can be used to image blind ends of irregularly shaped objects. Read on to learn more about it.

Fiber Optic Sensing Technologies

Known as FOSS (for fiber optic sensing system), NASA’s technology portfolio combines advanced sensors and innovative algorithms into a robust package that accurately and cost-effectively monitors a host of critical parameters in real time. Read on to learn more.

Nanoparticles-Based Wearable Biosensors

A team of Caltech engineers has developed a technique for inkjet printing arrays of special nanoparticles that enables the mass production of long-lasting wearable sweat sensors. These sensors could be used to monitor a variety of biomarkers, such as vitamins, hormones, metabolites, and medications, in real time. Read on to learn more.

A Smart Sensor Patch to Detect Health Symptoms

A research team from Japan has fabricated a flexible multimodal wearable sensor patch and developed edge computing software that is capable of detecting arrhythmia, coughs, and falls in volunteers. Read on to learn more about the sensor, which uses a smartphone as the edge computing device.

Low-Cost Technology for Detecting, Measuring Lead Concentrations in Water

Engineers at MIT, Nanyang Technological University, and several companies have developed a compact and inexpensive technology for detecting and measuring lead concentrations in water, potentially enabling a significant advance in tackling this persistent global health issue. Read on to learn more.

How a Startup Is Reducing Carbon from Building Operations with Drones

Buildings are big energy consumers, emitting wasteful carbon, contributing to a warming planet, and accounting for more than 40 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Fortunately, a new startup is paving the way for dramatic reductions in carbon from building operations. Lamarr. AI has perfected the process of using drones, thermal imaging, and artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose the health of building exteriors and roofs. Read on to learn more.

Sensitive Yet Tough Photonic Devices Are Now a Reality

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a long-sought milestone in photonics: creating tiny optical devices that are both highly sensitive and durable — two qualities that have long been considered fundamentally incompatible. Read on to learn more.

Twisted Moiré Photonic Crystals

Researchers have developed an on-chip twisted moiré photonic crystal sensor that uses MEMS technology to control the gap and angle between the crystal layers in real time. The sensor can detect and collect detailed polarization and wavelength information simultaneously. Read on to learn more.

Advanced Thermal Inspection with Pulsed Light Emitting Diodes (PLED) Technology

Engineers at NASA Langley Research Center have developed a cutting-edge thermal inspection technology that enhances defect detection on low-emissivity surfaces by eliminating false readings caused by infrared reflections. Read on to learn more.

‘Exergames’ Aim to Make Working Out Enjoyable

Virtual reality video games that combine screen time with exercise are a great way to get fit, but game designers face a major challenge — adherence to ‘exergames’ is low, with most users dropping out once they start to feel uncomfortable or bored. Read on to learn what a team did to thwart this.

Thin Film Sensor for Ultra High-Temp Measurement

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a thin film sensor that measures temperatures up to 1200 °F, and whose prototype successor may achieve measurements up to ~3000 °F — which was the surface temperature of the Space Shuttle during its atmospheric reentry. Read on to learn more.

An AI System Empowers Robots with Human-Like Perception

Researchers from Duke University have developed a novel framework named WildFusion that fuses vision, vibration, and touch to enable robots to “sense” complex outdoor environments much like humans do. Read on to learn more.

Advanced Simulation Enables Better Robot-Object Interactions

A human clearing junk out of an attic can often guess the contents of a box simply by picking it up and giving it a shake, without the need to see what’s inside. Researchers from MIT, Amazon Robotics, and the University of British Columbia have taught robots to do something similar. Read on to learn more.

New Spacecraft Power System Passes First Test

A spacecraft power system that combines the technological know-how of engineers and scientists at the University of Leicester and NASA Glenn has passed its first test with flying colors. Read on to learn more about it.

Wearable Sensors Provide Real-Time Measurements of Sweat Rate and Electrolytes and Metabolites in Sweat

Researchers developed wearable skin sensors that can detect what’s in a person’s sweat. Using the sensors, monitoring perspiration could bypass the need for more invasive procedures like blood draws and provide real-time updates on health problems such as dehydration or fatigue. Read on to learn more.

Ultra-Sensitive Sensor with Gold Nanoparticle Array

Researchers have developed a new type of sensor platform using a gold nanoparticle array. The sensor is made up of a series of gold disk-shaped nanoparticles on a glass slide. When an infrared laser is pointed at a precise arrangement of the particles, they start to emit unusual amounts of ultraviolet light. Read on to learn more.

Using Flying Insects to Drop Sensors

Researchers have created a 98-milligram sensor system — about one tenth the weight of a jellybean or less than one-hundredth of an ounce — that can ride aboard a small drone or an insect, such as a moth, until it gets to its destination. Then, when a researcher sends a Bluetooth command, the sensor is released from its perch and can fall up to 72 feet — from about the sixth floor of a building — and land without breaking. Once on the ground, the sensor can collect data, such as temperature or humidity, for almost three years.

Soft Sensing, Self-Healing Materials for Robotic Hands and Arms

These materials can detect when they are damaged, take the necessary steps to temporarily heal themselves, and then resume work.

New Smart Sensor Takes the Pain Out of Wound Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals. Read on to learn more.

Scientists Use Distant Sensor to Monitor American Samoa Earthquake Swarm

Residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa were feeling the earth shake, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey used machine learning and a technique called template matching on shaking data recorded from a single seismic sensor located 250 kilometers away to locate the source of the shaking. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Pioneer Nanosensor for Real-Time Iron Detection in Plants

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking near-infrared fluorescent nanosensor capable of simultaneously detecting and differentiating between iron forms — Fe(II) and Fe(III) — in living plants. Read on to learn more about it.

Implantable Transmitter for Wireless Sensor Nodes

An invention that uses microchip technology in implantable devices and other wearable products such as smart watches can be used to improve biomedical devices including those used to monitor people with glaucoma and heart disease. Read on to learn more.

Nanogenerators for Monitoring Heart Health

A team of researchers has developed self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based contact layers for monitoring cardiovascular health. TENGs help conserve mechanical energy and turn it into power. Read on to learn more.

How to Detect Battery Failures Quicker

Batteries in electric vehicles can fail quickly, sometimes catching fire without much warning. Sandia National Laboratories is working to detect these failures early and provide sufficient warning time to vehicle occupants. Read on to learn more about it.

Nail Penetration Adapter for Li-Ion Battery Testing

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have designed a pneumatic nail penetration trigger system that drives a Li-ion battery cell into thermal runaway using a tungsten nail. Read on to learn more.

A Step Toward More Accurate 3D Object Detection

Scientists have developed multi-modal 3D object detection methods that combine 3D LiDAR data with 2D RGB images taken by standard cameras. While the fusion of 2D images and 3D LiDAR data leads to more accurate 3D detection results, it still faces its own set of challenges, with accurate detection of small objects remaining difficult. Read on to learn more about it.

An Innovative Sensing Platform for Ultrahigh Sensitivity in Conventional Sensors

New research unlocks the power of exceptional points (EPs) for advanced optical sensing. In a study published in Science Advances , a team showed that these unique EPs — specific conditions in systems where extraordinary optical phenomena can occur — can be deployed on conventional sensors to achieve a striking sensitivity to environmental perturbations. Read on to learn more.