Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Recognizing the potential of modular systems, researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have presented an enhanced approach to scalable quantum computing by demonstrating a viable and high-performance modular architecture for superconducting quantum processors. Read on to learn more about it.
Briefs: Software
By folding AI algorithms into a camera’s sensor itself, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have now eliminated a data-processing bottleneck that has long plagued the performance of spectral imaging technology. The result is an intelligent sensor capable of identifying chemicals and characterizing materials quickly and efficiently. Read on to learn more.
Briefs: Software
Space is becoming increasingly congested due to rising numbers of on-orbit satellites and debris objects. Uncontrolled growth will severely affect future space operations. NASA Ames has developed a novel patent-pending technology known as Space Traffic Management (STM) which provides a robust framework for on-orbit coordination of activities to enhance the safety, stability, and sustainability of operations in the space environment. Read on to learn more.
Products: Imaging
Last December, Tech Briefs readers were asked to select one product from our 2025 Products of the Month to be named Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. Thanks to all of our readers who cast their votes. Read on for the three 2025 winners.
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Building on her experience volunteering at retirement homes, Carnegie Mellon researcher Jasmine Li decided to focus her research on assistive robotics that help people with everyday tasks....
Briefs: Software
A new study from NC State University combines three-dimensional embroidery techniques with machine learning to create a fabric-based sensor that can control electronic devices through touch. Read on to learn more.
Briefs: AR/AI
A new system that brings together real-world sensing and virtual reality would make it easier for building maintenance personnel to identify and fix issues in commercial buildings that are in operation. The system was developed by computer scientists at the University of California San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University. Read on to learn more.
Q&A: Robotics, Automation & Control
Leila Bridgeman and her team at Duke University Pratt School of Engineering are developing software that will improve upon existing techniques to ensure robust and safety-assured control for complex autonomous systems such as drones and medical robotics.
Quiz: Software
How much do you know about CAD? Find out with this quiz.
Blog: Design
It’s a mistake to focus on AI without thinking about how it is used by the people working with it.
Products: Robotics, Automation & Control
See the product of the month: OnLogic's new edge computer series, the Karbon 520.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Without integrated vision, robots can only perform tasks in precisely the same way every time. If a part is even slightly out of position or rotated differently, the robot may fail to complete its task, or worse, cause an error in the process. Read on to learn more.
Products: Software
See what's new on the market, including the new ImageIR® 9800 from infraTec; Instron's new 100 kN table model for the 6800 and 3400 Series universal testing systems; Sumida Corporation's CIUH10D46 and CIUH10D47 pulse transformers; and much more.
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
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.
Briefs: AR/AI
Robots may soon have a new way to communicate with people. Not through words or screens, but with light and images projected directly onto the world around them. University of South Florida's Zhao Han is developing technology that could transform how people interact with robots in both emergencies and everyday life. Read on to learn more.
Briefs: Information Technology
Researchers have successfully demonstrated the U.K.’s first long-distance ultra-secure transfer of data over a quantum communications network, including the U.K.’s first long-distance quantum-secured video call. Read on to learn more.
Articles: Design
Multi-Path is a new audio digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) architecture that improves today’s best DAC performance by 100X (40dB) or more. Noise, linearity, and dynamic range are so advanced that today’s finest test equipment cannot fully measure it (40nVrms broadband noise floor). Read on to learn more about the 2025 Create the Future Design Contest Electronics finalist.
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Introducing X1: The world's first multirobot system that integrates a humanoid robot with a transforming drone that can launch off the humanoid's back and, later, drive away. The versatile team can...
Blog: AR/AI
A digital, voice-controlled hand could improve the convenience and accessibility of virtual and augmented reality by enabling hands-free use of games and apps. The prototype software was developed by computer scientists at the University of Michigan.
Blog: Electronics & Computers
With increasing demands and requirements for building complex embedded systems that involve complex machines, the demand for resilient embedded systems is even higher today. Building safe and secure embedded systems is paramount in the context of pervasive embedded systems across multiple domains and industries. Read on to learn more.
Products: Software
See the new products, including Kassow Robots' Sensitive Arm technology across its complete range of 7-axis collaborative robots; igus' first humanoid robot, Iggy Rob, designed to support industrial production, service environments, and transport tasks; Weidmuller USA's unmanaged Single Pair Ethernet Switch that enables a seamless networking experience for users in a wide array of industrial environments; BizLink's careDP, an AI-powered condition monitoring system designed to revolutionize maintenance in robotic production lines; and more.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Predictive maintenance is based on condition monitoring, anomaly detection, and classification algorithms, and integrates predictive models which can estimate the remaining machine runtime. Read on to learn more about it and how to implement it.
Articles: Electronics & Computers
MIT researchers have developed a method that anyone can use to design an energy management interface between the harvester and the sensor load to minimize the drain on the harvester and maximize the amount of data that can be transmitted by the sensor. Read on to learn more via this Q&A with Daniel Monagle and Steven B. Leeb.
Articles: Semiconductors & ICs
A new technology closes the gap and combines PCB production into a single process, leveraging the capabilities of SMT. The resulting through-hole reflow (THR) process allows for components to be mounted through those pre-drilled holes — but secured during the same soldering process as the SMT-designed components. Read on to learn more.
Products: Information Technology
See the product of the month: Phoenix Contact's NearFi, a contactless real-time transmission technology.
Products: Imaging
See what's new on the market, including the eddyNCDT 3005 from Micro-Epsilon; Instron's new iteration of its Bluehill® Central software platform; Novotechnik U.S.'s TE1 Series of absolute linear position sensors; Specialised Imaging's new high-intensity short duration flash designed to freeze motion in aeroballistic applications; and more.
Application Briefs: Software
In an office in Bordeaux, the Pollen Robotics teams are working on an ambitious mission: to imagine and advance useful robotics for humans. Their flagship creation, Reachy, combines accessibility, innovation, and open-source collaboration. Read on to learn more and see where it all started.
Briefs: Motion Control
Researchers from MIT and NVIDIA Research have developed a novel algorithm that dramatically speeds up a robot’s planning process. Their approach enables a robot to “think ahead” by evaluating thousands of possible solutions in parallel and then refining the best ones to meet the constraints of the robot and its environment. Read on to learn more.
Briefs: Software
Northwestern engineers have developed a new system for full-body motion capture — and it doesn’t require specialized rooms, expensive equipment, bulky cameras, or an array of sensors. Instead, it requires a simple mobile device. Read on to learn more.
