Stories
33
0
4320
30
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An optoelectronic system senses rotational and translational misalignment between two objects. The system might be used in such diverse applications as aligning construction equipment, mating parts of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A type of reflectarray antenna now undergoing development is based on the concept of a reflector membrane that is stretched flat by attaching it to an inflatable frame (see figure). Antennas of this type are...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Data-Acquisition System Takes 8-Bit Samples at 1 GHz
A unique data-acquisition system converts analog input voltages to 8-bit digital data at a rate as high as 109 samples per second (1 GHz), stores the data, and makes the data available for further processing. The system is compact, is highly resistant to ionizing radiation, consumes relatively...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Dryden Flight Research Center's Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL) was constructed in 1964 for use in performing combined mechanical and thermal tests of structural components and complete...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The addition of special-purpose signal-processing circuitry has been proposed to overcome some of the deleterious effects of hardware faults in integrated-circuit image sensors of...
Briefs: Energy
Improved Control of Charging Current for Ni/H Battery
In a proposed method of controlling the electric current supplied for charging a nickel/hydrogen battery, the rate of evolution of heat would be taken into account along with the electrical quantities (voltage, current, and/or charge as functions of time) that are traditionally taken into...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure schematically illustrates an instrument designed expressly for recording lightning-induced transient voltages on power and signal cables. The principal advantage of this instrument over previously...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved Lightning-Current Measurements on a Protective Wire
A test procedure has been devised to increase the accuracy with which lightning currents on a protective wire can be determined from raw current measurements. The procedure was conceived specifically for determining lightning currents on a steel cable used to protect the space shuttle...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A low-power serial data communication link has been designed to transmit data among subsystems of a spacecraft instrumentation system, at rates up to 5 × 105 bits per second. The design...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Focal-plane arrays of active-pixel sensors (photodetectors integrated with in-pixel readout transistors) would be designed and fabricated within the emerging technological discipline of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Capacitive proximity sensors of this proposed type would be based on the capaciflector concept, with an extension of hardware and software designs to incorporate capabilities for scanning in frequency and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Evolvable Multiagent Approach to Spacecraft Communication
A paper presents the concept of a system for autonomous communication among multiple satellites and other spacecraft. The design of the system would be based on an evolvable architecture of multiple intelligent agents (that is, artificial-intelligence constructs implemented in software and...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed a new method of measuring human physiological stress parameters. This consists of an acoustic sensor positioned inside a fluid-filled bladder in...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Integrated circuits capable of sensing both infrared and visible images have been proposed. Until now, the usual practice for simultaneous imaging at both infrared and visible wavelengths in the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A recently developed gallium nitride-based linear array of ultraviolet detectors is blind to most of the visible spectrum, with a cutoff wavelength of 370 nm. This device is a prototype of GaN...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Sensor Webs
Sensor webs are developmental collections of sensor pods that could be scattered over land or water areas or other regions of interest to gather data on spatial and temporal patterns of relatively slowly changing physical, chemical, or biological phenomena in those regions. Each sensor pod would be a node in a data-gathering/...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Microplasmic Coating Shows High Resistance to Wear, Heat and Corrosion
The process of anodizing, or controlled oxidation, of aluminum and aluminum alloys is more than seven decades old. The primary intent of anodizing aluminum and aluminum-alloy parts is to protect the highly reactive surface against corrosion in aqueous environments, such as humid...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The JGOAL collection of computer programs facilitates the real-time display, via the Internet, of multiple streams of data from the space shuttle and its ground support equipment at...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved method of closed-loop synchronization of a radio receiver with the phase of a carrier signal modulated by Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK) has been proposed....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A variable-frequency, three-phase, sine-wave generator circuit has been designed for use as a source of polyphase excitation in studies of the propagation of traveling waves in plasmas. This circuit, combined...
Briefs: Software
Wiring is a major deliverable in just about all electromechanical equipment. From airplanes to semiconductor capital equipment, the key component tying together all of the technological innovations in...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Low-voltage high-current loads requiring precision voltage regulation are served by power systems that sense voltage remotely at the load. This creates the risk of an overvoltage (OV) condition at the load...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A microwave-cavity applicator has been developed for coating multiple fibers by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A prototype of the applicator was used to deposit silicon carbide onto...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A seven-element microstrip patch antenna is designed to operate with circular polarization and high gain at a frequency of 2.2875 GHz. The antenna was developed in the early 1990s as a potential...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Monolithic microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) frequency converters have been developed for use in satellite- and ground-based communications (see figure) at frequencies from about 18 to about...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Integrated Environmental Monitoring System for Clean Rooms
A system of electronic monitoring equipment under central computer control records and displays the readouts of environmental-quality instrumentation in clean rooms in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The instruments include airborne-particle counters,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved successive-approximation analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuits are undergoing development for eventual incorporation into focal-plane arrays of photodetectors. These...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A series-connected boost regulator (SCBR) is, as its name suggests, an electronic circuit for boosting a power-supply voltage to a higher and regulated value. The distinguishing feature of an SCBR is an...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Redundant fiber-optic transceivers have been incorporated into the High Speed Data Acquisition System (HSDAS) at Stennis Space Center, where they are used to communicate data acquired by...
Top Stories
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Going for Gold in Winter Olympic Curling
Blog: Energy
Batteries that Can Withstand the Cold
INSIDER: Design
Advancing All-Solid-State Batteries
Blog: Design
Blog: Materials
Making Tungsten Carbide a More Viable Alternative
INSIDER: Power
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Beyond AI-Copy-Paste Engineering: Advanced AI-Integration Success...
Upcoming Webinars: Energy
Battery Abuse Testing: Pushing to Failure
Upcoming Webinars: Power
A FREE Two-Day Event Dedicated to Connected Mobility
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Choosing the Right N-Port Strategy: Multiport VNAs vs. Switch...
Upcoming Webinars: Energy
2026 Battery & Electrification Summit (Online)
Upcoming Webinars: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Over-Engineering Trap: Aligning Custom Equipment Specs with...
