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Articles: Energy
The 2008 NASA Tech Briefs "Create the Future Design Contest," presented by SolidWorks, recognized innovation in product design in six categories: Consumer Products, Machinery &...
Blog: Automotive
Good News for Hybrid Vehicles
Last week, President Barack Obama announced the availability of $2.4 billion to provide much-needed funding to produce next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles and the advanced battery components used in them. Under the measure, the Department of Energy will offer $1.5 billion in grants to U.S. companies to produce...
Articles: Energy
In 1924, General Motors president Alfred P. Sloan Jr. devised annual model-year design changes in order to maintain unit sales. Body shapes faced cosmetic changes every year, whether or...
Briefs: Unmanned Systems
A proposed system for exploiting the ocean thermal gradient to generate power would be based on the thawing-expansion/ freezing-contraction behavior of a wax or perhaps another suitable phase-change...
Blog: Energy
Energy-Producing Water Current
A University of Michigan engineer has made a machine that works like a fish to turn potentially destructive vibrations in fluid flows into clean, renewable power. Called VIVACE for Vortex Induced Vibrations for Aquatic Clean Energy, the hydrokinetic energy system relies on vortex-induced vibrations, undulations that a...
Briefs: Energy
Electromagnetically Clean Solar Arrays
The term “electromagnetically clean solar array” (EMCSA) refers to a panel that contains a planar array of solar photovoltaic cells. The cells are laminated with shielding, narrow-current-loop wiring, and structural supports. EMCSAs could be useful in applications that require limited electromagnetic interference.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Oxide Fiber Cathode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Cells
LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 fibers have been investigated as alternatives to LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 powders used as lithium-intercalation compounds in cathodes of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. In making such a cathode, LiCoO2 or LiNiO2 powder is mixed with a binder [e.g.,...
Application Briefs: Energy
Lithium-ion batteries Yardney Technical Products Pawcatuck, CT 860-599-1100 www.yardney.com
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander landed safely near the planet’s north polar...
Blog: Energy
Less Corny Ethanol
A yeast geneticist on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is close to developing mutant yeast for ethanol production that would reduce or eliminate the need to use corn to make the alternative fuel. When corn is used to make ethanol, corn kernels are ground to produce starch and the starch is...
Blog: Energy
Electricity from Compressed Air
Compressed air stored in underground caverns could answer the need for lower cost electrical energy, according to Sandia National Laboratory scientists. The scientists are examining the feasibility of using an aquifer site near Des Moines, IA, to power a plant able to generate up to 13,400 megawatts per hour with 50...
Articles: Green Design & Manufacturing
The amount of energy the United States consumes increases every year and this growth in energy consumption outpaces energy production. To fill this gap, the U.S. imports 35% of its energy. More importantly, the...
Briefs: Energy
Figure 1 depicts a monolithic microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) single-stage amplifier containing an InP-based high- electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) plus coplanar-waveguide (CPW)...
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Low-Power Microchip
A new low-power microchip developed at the University of Michigan uses 30,000 times less power in sleep mode and 10 times less in active mode than comparable chips currently on the market. The Phoenix Processor, as it's called, sets a low-power record and is intended for use in cutting-edge sensor-based devices such as medical...
Blog: Energy
Electricity from Auto Exhausts
Researchers at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for Physical Measurement Techniques in Germany are working on a thermoelectric generator that converts the heat from car exhaust fumes into electricity. The thermoelectric module feeds the energy into the car's electronic systems, reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide from...
Articles: Energy
In the effort to produce inexpensive, easily manufactured sources of sustainable, renewable power, solar cells continue to be a major focus — particularly flexible solar cells that...
Blog: Energy
Low-Cost Biofuel
University of Maryland researchers have created a process to convert large volumes of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline. Developed by University of Maryland professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, the technique, called the Zymetis process, produces...
Briefs: Materials
CHEM-Based Self-Deploying Planetary Storage Tanks
A document proposes self-deploying storage tanks, based on the cold elastic hibernated memory (CHEM) concept, to be used on remote planets. The CHEM concept, described in previous NASA Tech Briefs articles, involves the use of open-cell shape-memory-polymer (SMP) foam sandwich structures to make...
Application Briefs: Energy
Stretched Lens Array ENTECH Keller, TX 817-379-0100 www.entechsolar.com
ENTECH has been awarded a contract from NASA’s Glenn Research Center, which will support the development of an...
Blog: Energy
Good Vibrations
Researchers at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY have developed technology that converts the vibrations generated by passing traffic into electricity. This electricity can be used to charge small, battery- powered wireless sensors that monitor the structural integrity of bridges.
According to Assistant Professor Edward S. Sazonov,...
Blog: Energy
Utility Grid Batteries
Haunted by memories of blackouts and power reductions, utility and battery companies are stepping up efforts to upgrade their substations with larger batteries.
For instance, electric utility giant American Electric Power (Columbus, OH) has ordered three multimegawatt battery systems, with the goal of having 25 megawatts of...
Briefs: Energy
CO₂-Reduction Primary Cell for Use on Venus
A document proposes a CO2-reduction primary electrochemical cell as a building block of batteries to supply electric power on the surface of Venus. The basic principle of the proposed cell is similar to that of terrestrial Zn-air batteries, the major differences being that (1) the anode metal would not...
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Beyond Batteries
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers have developed a new energy storage device that resembles a sheet of black paper. The nanoengineered battery is lightweight, ultra-thin, flexible, and geared toward meeting the design and energy requirements of tomorrowÃs gadgets, implantable medical equipment, and transportation...
Briefs: Energy
High-energy-density primary (nonrechargeable) electrochemical cells capable of relatively high discharge currents at temperatures as low as –40 °C have been developed through...
Briefs: Energy
Making Single-Source Precursors of Ternary Semiconductors
&A synthesis route has been developed for the commercial manufacture of single- source precursors of chalcopyrite semiconductor absorber layers of thin-film solar photovoltaic cells. The semiconductors in question are denoted by the general formula CuInxGa1–xSySe2–y, where 0 ≤ x...
Application Briefs: Energy
Centralized Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Lee Technologies Fairfax, VA 703-968-0300 www.leetechnologies.com
NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, MS, is NASA’s primary site for...
Articles: Energy
Selecting power source technology for mission critical devices is crucial to ensure success. Whether it is a monitor at the bottom of the ocean, a drill system at 30,000 feet into...
Blog: Energy
Revolutionary Stove Could Help Reduce Poverty
Led by the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Nottingham (U.K.), a research team is using thermoacoustic technology for the first time to convert biomass fuels into energy to power a combination stove, refrigerator, and generator. Part of the ~$4M SCORE (Stove for...
Briefs: Materials
Lithium Dinitramide as an Additive in Lithium Power Cells
Lithium dinitramide, LiN(NO2)2 has shown promise as an additive to nonaqueous electrolytes in rechargeable and non-rechargeable lithium-ion-based electrochemical power cells. Such non-aqueous electrolytes consist of lithium salts dissolved in mixtures of organic ethers, esters, carbonates,...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
Circuit for Full Charging of Series Lithium-Ion Cells
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.
Top Stories
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Aerial Microrobots That Can Match a Bumblebee's Speed
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Turning Edible Fungi into Organic Memristors
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Revolutionizing the Production of Semiconductor Chips
News: Energy
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
World’s Smallest Programmable, Autonomous Robots
INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Webcasts
On-Demand Webinars: Power
E/E Architecture Redefined: Building Smarter, Safer, and Scalable Vehicles
Upcoming Webinars: Energy
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Advantages of Smart Power Distribution Unit Design for Automotive...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Quiet, Please: NVH Improvement Opportunities in the Early Design...
Upcoming Webinars: Power
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Podcasts: Defense
How Sift's Unified Observability Platform Accelerates Drone Innovation
