Explore the fast-paced developments in 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Access the essential technical briefs and resources for design engineers working in manufacturing and medical industries.
From the operating room to the family farm to your next hotel stay, advances in robotics and automation are impacting a wide range of industries. Read all about it in this compendium of articles from the...
Testing the “eyes” of NASA's next space telescope…mass‐manufacturing photonic sensors at the quantum limit…driving zero defects in today's intelligent vehicles. Read about these and other applications...
Recent successes in cultivating human heart tissue, knee cartilage, and pharmaceutical crystals in space have relied on technology that was initially developed decades ago with support from NASA.
Researchers achieve near‐void‐free 3D printing…how new laser joining technology is improving implantable device reliability…tips and techniques for adhesive bonding of plastics. Read...
Last December, Tech Briefs readers were asked to select one product from our 2024 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 to learn the 2024 winners.
The future of AI for aerospace manufacturing…3D‐printed engines propel next industrial revolution…engineering a new approach to satellite design. Read these and other advances in this compendium of...
The demand for custom, low-production molds for prototyping or seasonal products is on the rise. Traditional mold-making processes are costly and time intensive, creating...
Auxilium Biotechnologies has successfully deployed its 3D bioprinter aboard the ISS. The platform is the first of its kind, making history by printing eight implantable medical devices simultaneously in just two hours.
A research team led by Associate Professor Tao Sun has made new discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in aerospace and other industries that rely on strong metal parts. Read on to learn more.
A recent study demonstrates that soft skin pads doubling as sensors made from thermoplastic urethane can be efficiently manufactured using 3D printers. Read on to learn more.
A team at MIT has moved beyond traditional trial-and-error methods to create materials with extraordinary performance through computational design. Their new system integrates physical experiments, physics-based simulations, and neural networks to navigate the discrepancies often found between theoretical models and practical results. Read on to learn more.
Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot prototype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas, and lakes.
From space satellites to the factory floor to medical labs, innovative test technologies are enabling major performance, quality, and cost improvements. Read about these and other applications in a new report...
University of Washington researchers have created MobiPrint, a mobile 3D printer that can automatically measure a room and print objects onto its floor. The team’s graphic interface lets users design objects for a space that the robot has mapped out.
Active electronics — components that can control electrical signals — usually contain semiconductor devices that receive, store, and process information. These...
Biomedical engineers have developed a “bio-ink” for 3D-printed materials that could serve as scaffolds for growing human tissues to repair or replace damaged ones in the body. Read on to learn more.
Researchers have successfully demonstrated the 4D printing of shape memory polymers in submicron dimensions that are comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Read on to learn more.
In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed the technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air. In 2019, they demonstrated the entire thermochemical process chain under real conditions for the first time, in the middle of Zurich, on the roof of ETH Machine Laboratory. Two ETH spin-offs, Climeworks and Synhelion, are further developing and commercializing the technologies. Read on to learn more.
Researchers have taken the first steps toward finding liquid solvents that may someday help extract critical building materials from lunar and Martian rock dust, an important piece in making long-term space travel possible. Read on to learn more.
Read about the latest breakthroughs in robots for space exploration, healthcare, factory automation, hazardous waste cleanup, and more in this collection of articles from the editors of Tech Briefs, Medical Design...
Unlocking the power of data for pharma manufacturing…solving testing challenges in medical device packaging…personalizing medications on a 3D printer. Read about these and other advances...
For those learning to transform traditional engineering drawings into 3D print-ready designs, there are a number of challenges to be aware of that can derail the transition. Building the...
The robot’s versatility is due to a novel design based on kirigami, a cousin of origami in which slices in the material enable it to fold, expand, and locomote.
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.
Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, North Carolina State University engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. The findings could pave the way for shape-shifting artificial systems that can take on multiple functions and even carry a load. Read on to learn more.
Imagine if physicians could capture 3D projections of medical scans, suspending them inside an acrylic cube to create a hand-held reproduction of a patient’s heart, brain, kidneys, or other organs. Then, when the visit is done, a quick blast of heat erases the projection, and the cube is ready for the next scan. A new report by researchers at Dartmouth and Southern Methodist University outlines a technical breakthrough that could enable such scenarios, and others, with widespread utility. Read on to learn more.
Factories are getting "smarter" and more automated by the day, thanks to advances in AI, robotics, microelectronics and sensors. In this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Tech...
