Electronics & Software

2024 Product of the Year

Each month, our editors choose a Product of the Month that has exceptional technical merit and practical value for our design engineering readers. Those 11 products are the nominees for the 2024 Tech Briefs Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. You’re invited to cast your vote for the one product among the 11 listed in this article that you feel was the most important new product introduced to the engineering community in 2024.

The Unusual Machines Approach to Low-Cost Drones and Drone Components

Unusual Machines CEO Allan Evans is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.

How Much Do You Know About Power Transformers?

Electrical devices designed to transfer electrical power from one circuit to another without altering the frequency, power transformers function on the principle of electromagnetic induction. How much do you know about power transformers? Find out with this quiz.

Addressing the Energy Challenge with Vehicle-to-Grid Power

NREL scientists use new power electronics to support the electric power grid. Read on to learn more.

How to Meet the Challenge of AI Power Demand

With the skyrocketing growth in AI capabilities, the need for electricity is also increasing, presenting challenges for data centers. Wells Fargo is projecting AI power demand to surge 550 percent by 2026, before rising another 1,150 percent by 2030. How much do you know about power consumption by AI? Take this quiz to test your knowledge.

Electricity-Free Hardware Allows More Space for Robots to 'Think'

Mimicking how some parts of the human body work, researchers from King’s College London have transmitted a series of commands to devices with a new kind of compact circuit,...

A Faster, Better Way to Train General-Purpose Robots

In the classic cartoon “The Jetsons,” Rosie the robotic maid seamlessly switches from vacuuming the house to cooking dinner to taking out the trash. But in real life, training a...

Product of the Month

See the product of the month: Seeq Vantage, Seeq's first industrial enterprise monitoring app. Read on to learn more about it.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a self-powered “bug” that can skim across water; a sweat-powered wearable that has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid; and a novel foot-pedal operated system and device to control movement of an object in three-dimensional space.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Pi Americas' S-335 fast steering mirror; Smalley's new online shopping tool for its customers; Markforged Holding Corporation's FX10 Metal Kit, a print engine that brings metal printing capability to the FX10; Automated Precision, Inc.'s iScanMagic Composite 3D Scanner and iScanLite 3D Blue Laser Line Scanner; Navitas Semiconductor's portfolio of third-generation automotive-qualified SiC MOSFETs in D2PAK-7L (TO-263-7) and TOLL packages; and much more.

Self-Propelled Nanorobots

The “nanoswimmers” could be used to remediate contaminated soil, improve water filtration, or even deliver drugs to targeted areas of the body.

A Metamaterial that Traps, Amplifies Micro-Vibrations in Small Areas

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science has developed a metamaterial that traps and amplifies micro-vibrations in small areas. This innovation is expected to increase the power output of energy harvesting, which converts wasted vibration energy into electricity, and accelerate its commercialization. Read on to learn more.

Coating Hides Temperature Change from Infrared Cameras

If the outside of clothing or a vehicle were covered with the coating, an infrared camera would have a harder time distinguishing what is underneath. Read on to learn what this means.

Wearable Solar Concentrators

The novel solar concentrators can be applied to textile fibers without the textile becoming brittle and susceptible to cracking or accumulating water vapor in the form of sweat. Read on to learn more.

Giving Autonomous Vehicles the Ability to Reason

Yen-Ling Kuo at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science is collaborating with a team at the Toyota Research Institute to build language representations of driving behavior that enable a robot to associate the meaning of words with what it sees by watching how humans interact with the environment or by its own interactions with the environment. Read on to learn more.

Open Software Options for Automation

As industrial automation technologies continue to advance, the balance between traditional and open solutions will likely evolve. The emphasis will be on providing versatile platforms that meet varied user needs. Read on to learn more.

Solid-State Lithium-Sulfur Battery Tech

Whether for large electric vehicle systems or small electronic devices, SABERS can potentially set new benchmarks in energy density and power, all while offering the utmost in safety and reliability. Read on to learn more.

Process Purifies Hydrogen Fuel Over a Broad Temperature Range

New fuel cells could increase hydrogen’s application in vehicles, especially in extreme temperatures like cold winters. Read on to learn more about it.

A Cheaper, Greener, More Efficient Alternative to Lithium-ion Batteries

It's time to rethink battery technology. Compared to other existing or developing technologies, a new lithium metal-based solid-state battery brings some significant advantages: It can be charged and discharged within one minute, lasts about 10 times as long as a Li-ion battery, and is insensitive to temperature fluctuations. Read on to learn more about it.

Stretchable, Flexible Biofuel Cell Runs on Sweat

A flexible and stretchable cell has been developed for wearable electronic devices that require a reliable and efficient energy source that can easily be integrated into the human body. Read on to learn more about it.

Next-Generation Batteries Incorporate Cells with Silicon Anodes

Researchers have developed better rechargeable batteries by applying silicon to the batteries’ cathodes. Read on to learn more about it.

Electronics Finalist: Thin-Film Thermoelectric Cooling Device

The wearable Thin-Film Thermoelectric Cooling (TFTEC) device is one of the world’s lightest, thinnest, and fastest refrigeration devices. It's also the Electronics Finalist. Read on to learn more.

Automotive & Transportation Finalist: Multi-Modal Traffic Detection System

The Transensys Multi-Modal Traffic Detection System is an attempt to provide widespread, low-cost, and accurate traffic measurement. It's also the Automotive & Transportation Finalist. Read on to learn more.

Silicon Carbide Crystal Growing Industry Tests for Minute Defects

To meet the ever increasing demand for silicon carbide (SiC) crystals, the world needs much higher yields without sacrificing quality. However, without advanced metrology tools capable of promptly detecting minor flaws, the SiC crystal growing sector essentially operates blindly, resulting in unacceptable defects and costly product losses. Read on to learn more.

New Upgrade Will Supercharge Atomic Vision of the World’s Most Powerful X-Ray Laser

The Department of Energy has given the green light for construction to begin on a high-energy upgrade that will further boost the performance of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s most powerful X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Read on to learn more about it.

Why Honda Wants FMCW LiDAR in Next Generation Mobility

Photonics & Imaging Technology caught up with Dr. Mehdi Asghari, SiLC Technologies CEO, to discuss their approach to designing and manufacturing FMCW LiDAR technology. Read on for the entire interview.