Stories
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A glove has been instrumented to sense the angles of finger joints via the electrical resistances of strips of an electrically conductive elastomer on the backs of the fingers, including the thumb (see...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An oscillator circuit that contains superconductive and ferroelectric resonator elements is undergoing development. This circuit is designed to serve as a frequency-locked local...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure illustrates the major functional blocks of an impedance-based cable-testing apparatus that can locate an open or short circuit in a cable. There is no need to disconnect the cable from all other equipment...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A cable-testing apparatus has been designed for use in detecting a short or open circuit in a cable, subject to a special frequency requirement as explained in the next paragraph. This cable tester is...
Briefs: Energy
Curves of limiting voltage (V) as a function of temperature (T) for nickel/cadmium cells and batteries can be computed by use of a mathematical cell model based on first principles....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system is a network of lightning-monitoring stations at Kennedy Space Center. The LDAR system contains equipment for measuring and indicating the...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Recombination lifetime and minority-carrier lifetime are key performance parameters of semiconductor wafers used for microelectronics and solar cells. They are also...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A technique based on infrared-emission spectroscopy has been found to be useful for noncontact measurement of the temperature of a hot spot in the gate channel of a GaAs...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Rechargeable, thin-film, lithium-based microbatteries of the proposed type would be manufactured in the discharged condition, and lithium anodes would be formed in situ during...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An instrumentation system automates the detection and location of faults in multiconductor electrical cables. It can accelerate diagnoses of aircraft, automotive, or industrial cables, while reducing...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
During the development and testing of signal processing systems, it is useful to generate test signals in the laboratory in order to quantify system parameters such as dynamic range,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Process for Fabrication of Micro Fluidic Structures
Through an innovative microfabrication process, enclosed microstructures are created for "laboratory on a chip" applications, such as medical diagnostics. These microstructures include capillaries, tunnels, pipettes, reaction vessels, and cavities. Using only conventional lithographic techniques,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The figure illustrates a lightweight composite-material dual-beam reflector antenna for the SeaWinds spaceborne scatterometer instrument, which operates in the Ku band and is designed to measure wind...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The sight-to-touch translator (ST3) is a conceptual electronic apparatus that would generate a tactile representation of visible objects in its vicinity. The ST3 would be worn by a blind person; the tactile display...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Sensors made largely of commercially available optical and electronic components are being developed for use in measuring small horizontal displacements of payloads suspended below...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Three coplanar-stripline circuits have been designed to perform coupling and filtering functions in microwave systems. These circuits could be incorporated into feed networks for microwave...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Data signals can be transmitted via the same optical fibers that are used to transmit power from base stations to remote stations containing sensors and associated circuitry. [A prototype...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An improved motor controller provides a circuit that will allow a motor to run at full speed while traveling from point A to point B, and still be able to obtain the desired damping...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Signaling-and-Detection Scheme for Beacon Monitoring
A signaling-and-detection scheme has been proposed for use in conjunction with the remote-monitoring concept described in "Beacon Monitoring Would Reduce Interactions With Remote Systems" (NPO-19706), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 21, No. 5 (May 1997), page 54. To recapitulate: A remote system (a...
Briefs: Software
Software for Improving Operational Processes
The Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis Modeling System (SCRAM) computer program identifies important sources of schedule and cost risks in an operational process. The related Process Analysis and Improvement Support System (PASS) program assists in the overall analysis and improvement of an operational...
Briefs: Motion Control
An operator interface is undergoing development along with other subsystems of a robot that would assist in caring for elderly and disabled patients. This development has been initiated in...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Hybrid high-temperature-superconductor (HTS)/semiconductor planar oscillator circuits that operate at a frequency of 8.4 GHz have been developed. In the original intended application, one...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Modulated (as opposed to steady) light can be used in the optical transmission of power to remotely located sensor circuitry in a system like that described in the preceding article,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The figure schematically illustrates a prototype general-purpose, microprocessor-based sensor and control system in which power, data, and control signals are transmitted via optical...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) serves as a building block for a digital system that effects maximum-likelihood decoding of a Viterbi code (a binary...
Briefs: Materials
Microbridges that constitute the superconducting-transition sensory elements of electron-diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometers can now be fabricated in increased yield and quality....
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
An algorithm estimates the Doppler frequency shift in a received radio signal with square-wave-pulse binary differential-phase-shift-keyed (DPSK) modulation. [With little modification,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
As the highest resolution seismic system available, the automated seafloor classification system (ASCS) can remotely and accurately map sediment properties for many seafloor applications. The...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Compact analog/digital electronic data processors of a novel type are based on the concept of the optimization cellular neural network (OCNN) and are implemented in very-large-scale...
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Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
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