Articles: Imaging
Smart Actuators Deliver on the Promise of Industry 4.0
As Industry 4.0 initiatives bring more and more industrial axes of motion into the realm of automation, the need for cost-effective control across them grows as well. Advances in...
Briefs: Communications
Printable Metal Tags Turn Objects into Smart, Connected Devices
Printable metal tags have been developed that could be attached to everyday objects to turn them into “smart” Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The tags are made from...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Optimetric Measurements Over Coherent Free-Space Optical Communication
High-precision ranging (optimetric) instruments are highly desired for both space navigation and communications as well as gravitational-based science missions. Traditionally, these measurements are made with instruments solely dedicated to ranging (i.e. Doppler shift of a...
Briefs: Defense
New Laser for Improving Telecommunications and Computing
The first laser based on the wave physics phenomenon called bound states in the continuum (BIC) has been developed. The technology could revolutionize the development of surface...
5 Ws: Sensors/Data Acquisition
5 Ws of Spray-On Antennas
Manufacturers and users of wearables, functional fabrics, mobile devices, wireless routers, and Internet of Things devices.
Briefs: Data Acquisition
Using Sound Waves to Produce Optical Isolators
There are challenges involved when using magnetically responsive materials to achieve the one-way flow of light in a photonic chip, including the ability to place compact magnets on a chip. In...
Special Reports: Robotics, Automation & Control
ADAS/Connected Car - December 2018
Today's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and connected cars are paving the way for tomorrow's automated vehicles. To help you keep pace with the latest technology developments, we present this...
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics
Enabling “Internet of Photonic Things” with Miniature Sensors
A team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis was the first to successfully record environmental data using a wireless photonic sensor resonator with a...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Cell-Sized Robots Sense Their Environment
Colloids — insoluble particles or molecules anywhere from a billionth to a millionth of a meter across — are so small they can stay suspended indefinitely in a liquid or even in air. Robots about...
Briefs: Communications
On-Chip Optical Filter Processes Wide Range of Light Wavelengths
MIT researchers have designed an optical filter on a chip that can process optical signals from across an extremely wide spectrum of light at once, something never before...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Photonic Communication Comes to Computer Chips
With novel optoelectronic chips and a new partnership with a top silicon-chip manufacturer, MIT spinout Ayar Labs aims to increase speed and reduce energy consumption in computing, starting with...
Question of the Week: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
What NASA Spin-Off Stands Out to You?
NASA technologies have led to many of the commercial products and innovative solutions we use every day, from memory foam and freeze-dried foods to exercise equipment and water purifiers. The October issue of Tech Briefs showcased a number of these NASA spinoffs.
Read the Tech Briefs feature article,...
Articles: Data Acquisition
Motion Control in Factories: Choosing the Right Solution
The need for Ethernet-based communication within the factory has grown over the past 10 years. Detailed information about the tasks and performance of machines at every stage is...
Technology Leaders: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Key Considerations When Selecting a Connector Solution
Electronics industry trends develop and change, technologies emerge and improve, and new applications bring new requirements and challenges. While this obviously has an impact on the...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Conformal Metasurface Coating Eliminates Crosstalk and Shrinks Waveguides
Researchers have developed a method to simultaneously control diverse optical properties of dielectric waveguides by using a two-layer coating, each layer with a...
Articles: Communications
Products of Tomorrow: October 2018
This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...
Facility Focus: Semiconductors & ICs
Facility Focus: Idaho National Laboratory
In 1951, the first nuclear reactor in Idaho was built, starting a legacy at what is now Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL is the site where 52 pioneering nuclear reactors were designed and...
Briefs: Aerospace
Air Traffic Management (ATM) System
As the demand for air transportation increases, the capacity of the current U.S. ATM system will eventually be stressed to its limits. New technologies in communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS),...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
“Soft Hardware” Cloth Has Built-In Electronic Devices
Optical fibers have been traditionally produced by making a cylindrical object called a preform — essentially, a scaled-up model of the fiber — and then heating it. Softened...
5 Ws: Communications
5 Ws of Electronic Stickers
Billions of objects ranging from smartphones and buildings, to machine parts and medical devices, to furniture and office supplies — any object that has a need to communicate with or sense other...
Briefs: Communications
Faster Photons Could Make Data Totally Secure
Transferring data using light passed along fiber optic cables has become increasingly common over the past decades, but each pulse currently contains millions of photons. That means that in principle, a portion of these could be intercepted without detection. Secure data is already encrypted, but if...
Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics
Atomically Thin Device Transmits Signals Across a Broad Frequency Range
The challenge of miniaturizing devices and systems is also achieving a broader dynamic range of detection for small signals such as sound, vibration, and radio...
Briefs: Data Acquisition
Transmitter Protects Wireless Data from Hackers
Today, more than 8 billion devices are connected around the world, including medical devices, wearables, vehicles, and smart household and city technologies. Those devices are vulnerable to...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Antiferromagnetic-Based Memory Processes Data at Terahertz Speeds
Data travels down fiber-optic cables at frequencies of several terahertz. As soon as the data arrives on a PC or television, this speed must be throttled down to match the data processing speed of the device components; this speed currently is in the range of a few hundred...
Briefs: Communications
Rapidly Deployable Communications Platform
First responders often have trouble communicating with each other in emergencies. They may use different types of radios, they may be working in rural areas lacking wireless coverage, or they may be...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
The Ultimate ‘Smell Test’: Device Sends Rotten Food Warning to Smartphones
When it comes to the “smell test,” the nose isn't always the best judge of food quality. Now in a study appearing in ACS’ journal Nano Letters, scientists...
Articles: Photonics/Optics
What's Ahead for Machine Vision Cameras?
Throughout the history of the electronics industry, the old refrain that systems will continuously become faster, simpler, and cheaper has remained true. In the early days of computer vision, a frame...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Artificial Intelligence Senses People Through Walls
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to teach wireless devices to sense people's postures and movement, even from the other side of a wall. RF-Pose uses a neural network to analyze...
Hybrid solutions that combine small photovoltaic (PV) panels with industrial grade rechargeable Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries provide long-term power for remote...
Top Stories
Articles: Automotive

Nano Diamond Battery Provides Universal Applicability
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
A Former NASA Mission Manager Reflects on a 'Flawless' Mars Landing
Videos: Motion Control

'LaserFactory' Manufactures Fully Functional Devices & Drones
Podcasts: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Here's an Idea: Hospital Robots
Articles: Electronics & Computers

Modeling & Simulation for Battery Development
Videos: Motion Control

Webcasts
On-Demand Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Developing Standards for Odor Sensors and Data
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Transforming Automotive Engineering by Tackling Complexity
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Contactless Position, Torque, and Force Sensing for Today’s and...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
How to Achieve Multidisciplinary, Collaborative, Concurrent...
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
Ultra-High Purity Silicone in Aerospace and Defense Product Design
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
A Four-Pillar Approach to Driving Greater Efficiency ePowertrain...
Trending Stories
Application Briefs: Data Acquisition

Using the IoT for Predictive Maintenance
Application Briefs: Motion Control

Innovation on a Larger Scale: Robotic Fiber Placement and 3D Printing
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Executive Roundtable: Facility & Network Security
NASA Spinoff: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Nanotechnology Repairs Engine Damage in Cars
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Sound Inaudible to Humans Can Be Recorded by Microphones
Briefs: Physical Sciences

Compact Ku-Band T/R Module for High-Resolution Radar Imaging of Cold Land...