Antennas

Enhancing Signal Integrity and Security in Aerospace: RF-Over-Fiber Optics Hybrid Communications Technology

Although RF-over-Fiber systems are engineered and ruggedized to withstand harsh environments, aerospace systems remain vulnerable to environmental stressors that can degrade the performance of components over time. Maintaining signal integrity requires consistent testing and preventative maintenance of key equipment. Read on to learn more.

Programming Robots with Rubber Bands

Mechanical engineering researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences think there’s another way to design robots: Programming intended functions directly into a robot’s physical structure, allowing the robot to react to its surroundings without the need for extensive on-board electronics. Read on to learn more.

A New Method to Protect Aircraft Against GPS Outages

Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Ohio State University are taking experimental navigation technology to the skies, pioneering a backup system to keep an airplane on course when it cannot rely on global positioning system satellites. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including Corning Incorporated's Corning® Gorilla® Glass Ceramic; Epoxy Technology's EPO-TEK®353NDP, a high-performance, humidity-resistant epoxy; Edmund Optics' off-the-shelf HOLO/OR Diffractive Diffusers and Beamsplitters; Teledyne Technologies subsidiary FLIR's advanced multispectral imaging solution; and much more.

New Imaging Technique Reconstructs the Shapes of Hidden Objects

A new imaging technique developed by MIT researchers could enable quality-control robots in a warehouse to peer through a cardboard shipping box and see that the handle of a...

Unfurling Antennas Let Tiny Satellites Do Big Things

Satellite builders now have the option of using small, collapsible dish antennas made by Tendeg LLC of Louisville, CO, which developed them with funding and cooperation from NASA, along with the patented technology developed at JPL. Read on to learn more.

NIST Tackles Wireless Industrial Systems

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is working to provide best practice guidelines to help manufacturers use wireless systems. Read on to learn more about it.

New Study Showcases 3D Photonics with Record Performance for AI

Artificial intelligence systems promise transformative advancements, yet their growth has been limited by energy inefficiencies and bottlenecks in data transfer. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have unveiled a groundbreaking solution: a 3D photonic-electronic platform that achieves unprecedented energy efficiency and bandwidth density, paving the way for next-generation AI hardware. Read on to learn more.

Revolutionizing Dynamic Facial Projection Mapping: A Leap Forward in Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has become a hot topic in the entertainment, fashion, and makeup industries. Though a few different technologies exist in these fields, dynamic facial projection mapping is among the most sophisticated and visually stunning ones. Read on to learn more about it.

Ultra-Broadband Photonic Chip Boosts Optical Signals

Researchers have developed a photonic chip-based traveling wave parametric amplifier that achieves ultra-broadband signal amplification in an unprecedentedly compact form. Read on to learn more about it.

New Smart Sensor Takes the Pain Out of Wound Monitoring

A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals. Read on to learn more.

Scientists Use Distant Sensor to Monitor American Samoa Earthquake Swarm

Residents of the Manu’a Islands in American Samoa were feeling the earth shake, raising concerns of an imminent volcanic eruption or tsunami. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey used machine learning and a technique called template matching on shaking data recorded from a single seismic sensor located 250 kilometers away to locate the source of the shaking. Read on to learn more.

How Much Do You Know About Electromagnetic Interference?

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is when an external source disrupts an electrical device's operation. EMI, which can be caused by natural or man-made sources, can be used intentionally for radio jamming. How much do you know about EMI? Find out with this quiz.

RFID Range Extension and Priority Data Forwarding

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed an adaptable RFID system that optimizes transmission for priority data as targets move in and out of passive coverage areas. The method extends the range, and reduces data latency, of ultra-low power battery-assisted passive RFID sensor tags. Read on to learn more.

Engineers Enable a Drone To Determine Its Position in the Dark and Indoors

In the future, autonomous drones could be used to shuttle inventory between large warehouses. A drone might fly into a semi-dark structure the size of several...

Nanoscale Device Points the Way to Future Wireless Communication Channels

In a paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team of Caltech engineers reports building a metasurface patterned with miniscule tunable antennas capable of reflecting an incoming beam of optical light to create many sidebands, or channels, of different optical frequencies. Read on to learn more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a 3D microwave antenna, smart CCTV systems trained to spot blockages in urban waterways, and a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves.

Looking to Kirigami to Shape Modern Wireless Technology

Researchers showed how kirigami — a variation of origami — can transform a single sheet of acetate coated with conductive MXene ink into a flexible 3D microwave antenna whose transmission frequency can be adjusted simply by pulling or squeezing to slightly shift its shape.

Hyper-Distributed RFID Antenna (HYDRA) System

Innovators have developed a method and apparatus to multiplex Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) signals efficiently. The resulting Hyper-Distributed RFID Antenna (HYDRA) system enhances distribution of the RFID reader signal, providing improved coverage for large areas as well as for small, fixed regions requiring a high density of reader antennas.

How Much Do You Know About Avionics Systems?

How much do you know about avionics systems? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

O-RAN Redefining the Future of Wireless Connectivity

Ultimately, the success of the 5G Open Radio Access Network (5G O-RAN) deployments hinges on a multi-pronged approach involving a blend of collaboration, standardization, and advanced automated testing tools.

Portable Laser-Guided Robotic Metrology (PLGRM)

Innovators at the NASA Glenn Research Center have developed the PLGRM system, which allows an installed antenna to be characterized in an aircraft hangar. All PLGRM components can be packed onto pallets, shipped, and easily operated.

Ice Detection from Microwave Sensors

Ice build-up on aircraft and wind turbines can impact the safety and efficiency of their systems. Microwave sensors were developed that can identify in real time these accumulations while calculating the rate of melting. This is crucial data for aviation.

New Products

See the new products, including TDK-Micronas' further extended Micronas 3D HAL® position sensor family, AW-Lake’s TRICOR Coriolis Flow Meters, Kistler's new accelerometer series 8740A and 8788A, Melexis' MLX90830, and more.