Electrical/​Electronics

Nominations for Nanotech Briefs' third annual Nano 50 awards competition are being accepted through 11:59 PM today, April 2. The awards honor the top 50 innovators, products, and technological advancements that demonstrate the greatest potential toward developing the commercialization of nanotechnology. Previous winners include...

University of Illinois scientists have fabricated the world's smallest chain-mail fabric that consists of a network of small rings about 500 microns in diameter and even smaller links about 400 microns long. The rings and links are built upon a planar substrate and then released to create a flexible sheet that can bend along two...

A document discusses a silicon-oninsulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide/ semiconductor (CMOS) integrated- circuit operational amplifier to be replicated and incorporated into sensor and actuator systems of Mars- explorer robots. This amplifier is designed to function at a supply potential...

An improved technique, and electronic circuitry to implement the technique, have been developed for a military-standard electromagnetic-compatibility (EMC) test in which one analyzes susceptibility to low-frequency ripple conducted into the equipment under test via a DC power line. In the...

An improved preamplifier circuit has been designed for processing the output of an avalanche photodiode (APD) that is used in a high-resolution laser ranging system to detect laser pulses returning from a target. The improved circuit stands in contrast to prior such circuits in which the APD...

A product line of high-definition color video cameras, now under development, offers a superior combination of desirable characteristics, including high frame rates, high resolutions, low power consumption, and compactness. Several of the cameras feature a 3,840 × 2,160-pixel format with progressive scanning...

An advanced charger has been proposed for a battery that comprises several lithium-ion cells in series. The proposal is directed toward charging the cells in as nearly an optimum manner as possible despite unit-to-unit differences among the nominally identical cells.

A low-cost fingerprint detector, using off-the-shelf components integrated into a compact, portable unit, is available. The fingertip is moved relative to a skin-resistance-sensing array to produce a 'reference trajectory signal' that is stored in memory. The fingertip is moved again to produce a 'sample trajectory signal.'...

BI Technologies Electronic Components Division (Fullerton, CA) introduced the EN line of rotary mechanical encoders. The two-bit gray code incremental encoders are housed in 11, 12, and 16 mm packages, and feature detents and push-on switch options. For more information, visit: http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20070321A6 Danaher Motion...

Developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL), a micro-commanding rotational-position-control system offers the advantage of less mechanical complexity, susceptibility to mechanical resonances, power demand, bulk, weight, and lower cost, relative to prior rotational-position-control systems based on...

A self-biased solar cell is available that provides improved conversion efficiency. Loss of carriers at the back surface of the battery is decreased, and open circuit voltage and quantum efficiency near a long wavelength are increased. View this technology here.

Methods are available for the determination of building stability in the event of an earthquake. These methods involve the development of existing shaking table technology to allow more efficient characterization of structural properties. View this technology here. An approach accompanied by a comprehensive algorithm and...

Using optical fibers, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found a way to create a sensor that detects the direction from which a sound is coming under water. The new sensor could allow the U.S. Navy to develop compact arrays to detect quiet underwater targets, while also providing unambiguous directional...

A prototype wireless data-acquisition system has been developed as a potential replacement for a wired data-acquisition system heretofore used in testing rocket engines. The traditional use of wires to connect sensors, signal-conditioning circuits, and data acquisition circuitry is...

On-the-Fly Reprocessing (OTFR) is a collection of data-processing routines that work within the context of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pipeline data-flow system. The purpose served by OTFR is to generate, on demand, scientifically useful data products from raw HST data stored in an...

A recently developed micro-commanding rotational position control system offers advantages of less mechanical complexity, less susceptibility to mechanical resonances, less power demand, less bulk, less weight, and lower cost, relative to prior rotational position control systems based on...

VMETRO (Houston, TX) has released the VirtexTM-5 LX FPGA-based PCI/PCI-X and PMC board-level products. Designed for high-performance general-logic applications, the Virtex-5 is the second generation of Xilinx FPGA to use the ASMBLTM (Advanced Silicon Modular Block) column-based architecture that enables Xilinx to...