Electronics & Software

Meet SUPER: The Safety-Assured High-Speed Aerial Robot

The team has developed the Safety-Assured High-Speed Aerial Robot (SUPER), capable of flying at speeds exceeding 20 meters per second [about 45 miles per hour] and avoiding obstacles as thin as 2.5 millimeters [about 0.1 inch] — such as power lines or twigs — using solely onboard sensors and computing power.

How Much Do You Know About Transducers?

How much do you know about transducers? Find out with this quiz.

Medical Crash Cart Goes Robotic

Medical crash carts — stocked with medications, syringes, gauze, and IV fluids — are essential tools in emergency rooms, where seconds matter, space is tight, and confusion can cost lives. However,...

New System Enables Robots to Solve Manipulation Problems in Seconds

Ready for that long-awaited summer vacation? First, you’ll need to pack all items required for your trip into a suitcase, making sure everything fits securely without...

Teaching Robots to Serve Humans

Over the past decade, robots have become an increasingly important part of our daily lives. Autonomous vehicles shuttle us from point A to point B, drones deliver lifesaving medicine to remote towns, sidewalk...

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...

How Much Do You Know About Model-Based Systems Engineering?

How much do you know about MBSE terms and its adoption by the aerospace and defense industry? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

Intelligent Machines Remove Humans from the Loop

As international trade is beginning to digitize its documentation and transactions, an AI technology born with the help of NASA’s Ames Research Center offers an automation solution.

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.

Engineering the Blue Ghost: From Idea to Moon Landing

In this interview, Joseph Marlin, Deputy Blue Ghost Chief Engineer at Firefly Aerospace, delves deeper into how their first mission is establishing an improved awareness of the lunar environment ahead of future crewed missions and how it will help plan for long-duration surface operations under Artemis.

How Much Do You Know About Radio Jamming?

The deliberate blocking of or interference with wireless communications, radio jamming has been around for decades. How much do you know about radio jamming? Find out with this quiz.

An Affordable, Sustainable New Battery Technology

Traditional Li-ion batteries rely on graphite as an anode material. However, the same graphite structure fails when it comes to sodium or potassium. But, by rethinking the shape of carbon at the microscopic level, researchers found a workaround.

My Opinion: Quantum Computing Is Coming But Has This Engineer Puzzled

My Opinion: Quantum computing is coming but has this engineer puzzled. As we celebrate 2025, the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, I find that thinking about these things from an engineer’s point of view is quite challenging.

Brain-Like Computer Steers Rolling Robot With 0.25 Percent of the Power Needed by Conventional Controllers

Analog computing is making a comeback with hardware that processes and stores information in the same location, similar to biological...

Mid-Air Transformation Helps Flying, Rolling Robot to Transition Smoothly

Specialized robots that can both fly and drive typically touch down on land before attempting to transform and drive away. But when the landing terrain is rough,...