Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
High-Efficiency Megawatt Motor
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Self-Powered Alarm Fights Forest Fires, Monitors Environment
Briefs: AR/AI
Machine Learning Method for Battery Development
Briefs: Aerospace
Continuous Fiber Composite for Use in Gears
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Wind Event Warning System
NASA Langley Research Center developed a wind event warning technology that provides a practical early warning system (5-10 minutes) for a severe change in the wind vector. Events such as gusts, shear, microbursts,...
Briefs: Energy
Automated Guided Wave System for In-Process Cure Monitoring of CFRP Composite Laminates
In the polymer composites industry, cure cycles are typically developed from trial-and-error or a more effective processing science approach to reduce...
Briefs: Energy
Rotary Electrical Contact
Researchers have developed a fundamentally new type of rotary electrical contact that addresses the two limitations of conventional brush/slip ring technology: 1) short operating lifetime due to sliding-contact...
Briefs: Energy
Material Removes Ice Buildup Without Power or Chemicals
From airplane wings, to overhead power lines, to the giant blades of wind turbines, a buildup of ice can cause problems ranging from impaired performance all the way to catastrophic...
Briefs: Energy
Plasma Generator Using Spiral Conductors
NASA's Langley Research Center has developed a patented SansEC sensor technology for use in many different areas, including tall structures and wind turbines. The SansEC technology is a proven wireless sensing platform capable of measuring the electrical impedance of physical matter in proximity to the...
Briefs: Materials
Synthesis and Development of Polyurethane Coatings Containing Fluorine Groups for Adhesive Applications
Accumulation of insect strikes on the leading edge of airplane wings is a more serious problem than one might realize. Depending on the magnitude, such accumulation changes the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing, causing a change from...
Facility Focus: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
In 1977, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO) started as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), spurred by national concern during the 1973 oil embargo that caused long...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Water-Based Battery Stores Solar and Wind Energy
Wind and solar energy generation creates challenges, since the Sun only shines by day, and sometimes the wind doesn't blow. Another variability is surges of demand on the grid. On a hot day when air conditioning is in use, utilities must have load-balancing strategies to meet peak demand. A...
Briefs: Energy
Mobile Power Distribution System
Mobile or transportable power supply and distribution systems are needed for various types of work that require electrical power in a field or outdoor environment — such as construction and environmental...
Briefs: Energy
Bi-Directional Energy Cascades and the Origin of Kinetic Turbulence in the Solar Wind
The kinetic turbulence of solar wind originates in the solar corona. The solar wind carries the fluctuations and escapes from the corona along the open magnetic field lines, and enters into the interplanetary space. The energy exchange among waves and particles...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
“Intelligent” Rotor Blades React Quickly to Changing Conditions
The giant rotor blades are one central part of a wind turbine. Researchers developed a rotor blade that makes more efficient use of large fluctuations in wind strength using...
Facility Focus: Energy
Facility Focus: Argonne National Laboratory
Located in Argonne, IL, Argonne National Laboratory (ARL) is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center. Born out of the University of Chicago’s work on the Manhattan Project in...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Radar Scanner Tests Wind Turbine Blades for Defects
Wind power has become an indispensable part of an environmentally friendly power supply. Therefore, it is important for this growth market that wind turbines become more efficient, more...
INSIDER: Energy
Long-Lasting Flow Battery Advances Renewable Energy Efforts
A new flow battery from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) stores energy in organic molecules dissolved in neutral pH water. Losing only one percent of its capacity per 1000 cycles, the non-toxic, non-corrosive device offers the potential to...
INSIDER: Energy
Electricity Generator Mimics Trees
Iowa State University scientists have built a device that mimics the branches and leaves of a cottonwood tree and generates electricity when its artificial leaves sway in the wind. The device is derived...
INSIDER: Test & Measurement
New Radar Measures Flow Fields for More Intelligent Wind Farms
Texas Tech University scientists have brought the wind power industry one step closer to its potential with the creation of a system to measure wind flow and control...
INSIDER: Energy
Scientists Simulate Bacteria-Powered 'Windfarm'
A team of scientists from Oxford University has shown how the natural movement of bacteria could be harnessed to assemble and power microscopic "windfarms."
On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, wind turbine, oil rig, or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
NASA Tests Revolutionary E-Sail Propulsion Technology
Testing has started at NASA on a concept called the Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS), a propellant-less propulsion system that would harness solar wind to travel...
INSIDER: Energy
Gigantic Blades Could Generate More Offshore Energy
A new design for gigantic blades longer than two football fields could help bring offshore 50-megawatt (MW) wind turbines to the United States and the world. Sandia National...
INSIDER: Energy
New Technology Could Reduce Wind Energy Costs
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail, which could make wind energy cheaper. The method uses...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Second, Smaller Rotor Increases Wind Turbine Efficiency
Large wind turbine blades disturb the wind, creating a wake behind them and reducing the energy harvest of any downwind turbines. A turbine sitting in the slipstream of another can...
Briefs: Energy
Pumped Subsea Energy Storage
A local energy source is desired for near-shore and offshore applications. Gas generators, diesel generators, and long-length submerged power cables tend to be expensive. A proposed solution is to use offshore...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Public Lighting System Runs on Solar and Wind Energy
A researcher at the Barcelona College of Industrial Engineering, in collaboration with the company Eolgreen, has developed the first autonomous industrialized public lighting system that...
News: Imaging
New Study Uses Blizzard to Measure Wind Turbine Airflow
A study by researchers at the University of Minnesota using snow during a Minnesota blizzard is giving researchers new insight into the airflow around large wind turbines. This research...
Top Stories
Blog: Unmanned Systems

Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Videos: Motion Control

Test System Could Enable Reduced Helicopter Vibration
Podcasts: Materials

Videos: Automotive
New Lithium Metal Batteries ‘Build Themselves’
Blog: Transportation

CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Reducing the Cost of Quality in Automotive BiW
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Electric-Vehicle Transmission Development Priorities
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Critical Role of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Medical...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Zinc Die Casting Concepts to Achieve Precision, Performance, and...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Radar Measurements: Triggering, Analysis, and Generation
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
Trending Stories
INSIDER: Imaging

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar Atmosphere
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Combining Electronic, Photonic Chips Enables Super-Fast Quantum Light Detection
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Motion Solutions for Electric Expansion Valves
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Special Section: The Winners of the 2020 'Create the Future' Design Contest
Briefs: Energy

Solid-State Technology Enables Smaller, Safer Batteries
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Double-Vacuum-Bag Process for Making Resin-Matrix Composites