Electronics & Software

By 2020, NASA plans to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, which means that necessities such as fuel, food and oxygen, and spare parts would have to get from the Earth to the Moon as predictably as an Earth-based delivery system - especially when the delivery point is 240,000 miles...

Nominations for Nanotech Briefs' third annual Nano 50 awards competition are being accepted through 11:59 PM today, April 2. The awards honor the top 50 innovators, products, and technological advancements that demonstrate the greatest potential toward developing the commercialization of nanotechnology. Previous winners include...

University of Illinois scientists have fabricated the world's smallest chain-mail fabric that consists of a network of small rings about 500 microns in diameter and even smaller links about 400 microns long. The rings and links are built upon a planar substrate and then released to create a flexible sheet that can bend along two...

A document discusses a silicon-oninsulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide/ semiconductor (CMOS) integrated- circuit operational amplifier to be replicated and incorporated into sensor and actuator systems of Mars- explorer robots. This amplifier is designed to function at a supply potential...

An improved technique, and electronic circuitry to implement the technique, have been developed for a military-standard electromagnetic-compatibility (EMC) test in which one analyzes susceptibility to low-frequency ripple conducted into the equipment under test via a DC power line. In the...

An improved preamplifier circuit has been designed for processing the output of an avalanche photodiode (APD) that is used in a high-resolution laser ranging system to detect laser pulses returning from a target. The improved circuit stands in contrast to prior such circuits in which the APD...

A product line of high-definition color video cameras, now under development, offers a superior combination of desirable characteristics, including high frame rates, high resolutions, low power consumption, and compactness. Several of the cameras feature a 3,840 × 2,160-pixel format with progressive scanning...

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.

In nonvolatile random-access memory (RAM) circuits of a proposed type, digital data would be stored in analog form in ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FFETs). This type of memory circuit would offer advantages over prior volatile and nonvolatile types:

World Wind allows users to zoom from satellite altitude down to any place on Earth, leveraging high-resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) elevation data to experience Earth in visually rich 3D. In addition to Earth, World Wind can also visualize other planets, and there are already...

JavaGenes is a general-purpose, evolutionary software system written in Java. It implements several versions of a genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, stochastic hill climbing, and other search techniques. This software has been used to evolve molecules, atomic force field parameters, digital circuits, Earth...

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,...

Researchers at Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO) have developed a biodegradable fuel cell battery that runs on virtually any sugar source, from soft drinks to tree sap, and has the potential to operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium ion batteries. If the battery continues to show promise...

A low-cost fingerprint detector, using off-the-shelf components integrated into a compact, portable unit, is available. The fingertip is moved relative to a skin-resistance-sensing array to produce a 'reference trajectory signal' that is stored in memory. The fingertip is moved again to produce a 'sample trajectory signal.'...

By 2020, NASA plans to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon. To make this possible, a reliable stream of consumables such as fuel, food and oxygen, spare parts, and exploration equipment would have to make its way from the Earth to the Moon as predictably as any Earth-based delivery system. To figure out how to do...

BI Technologies Electronic Components Division (Fullerton, CA) introduced the EN line of rotary mechanical encoders. The two-bit gray code incremental encoders are housed in 11, 12, and 16 mm packages, and feature detents and push-on switch options. For more information, visit: http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20070321A6 Danaher Motion...

Developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL), a micro-commanding rotational-position-control system offers the advantage of less mechanical complexity, susceptibility to mechanical resonances, power demand, bulk, weight, and lower cost, relative to prior rotational-position-control systems based on...

A self-biased solar cell is available that provides improved conversion efficiency. Loss of carriers at the back surface of the battery is decreased, and open circuit voltage and quantum efficiency near a long wavelength are increased. View this technology here.

Lightweight, High-Performance Propeller/Rotor/Wind Turbine Blade The turbine blade features a much lighter, more efficient, less expensive, and entirely new structural design. Other advantages offered bythis technology include increased performance, lower noise, decreased maintenance time and expense, and optimized...

Methods are available for the determination of building stability in the event of an earthquake. These methods involve the development of existing shaking table technology to allow more efficient characterization of structural properties. View this technology here. An approach accompanied by a comprehensive algorithm and...

Methods are available for the determination of building stability in the event of an earthquake. These methods involve the development of existing shaking table technology to allow more efficient characterization of structural properties. View this technology here.

A researcher at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) has developed a software patch that can increase a car's fuel efficiency to a total fuel savings of 2.6%, without having to replace any of the parts of the car. Uploading a software patch to the car's computer and adding one small cable suffices.

IM Mobile -- World's fastest, full-functionality, single-user Data Base Management System (DBMS), with unique built-in synchronization. It is about four times faster than Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile on a PDA, making the user experience completely different. Click here.

Using optical fibers, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found a way to create a sensor that detects the direction from which a sound is coming under water. The new sensor could allow the U.S. Navy to develop compact arrays to detect quiet underwater targets, while also providing unambiguous directional...