Manufacturing & Prototyping

Industrial Controls & Automation

Explore the key advances impacting industrial controls and automation. Access technical briefs and developments in the applications that are essential to automation integration and design.

Technology Leaders: Test & Measurement
Making Laser Processes More Sustainable
Facility Focus: Communications
Facility Focus: Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
I/O Module Enables Remote Data Capture
Briefs: Imaging
High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Camera
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Building Big Data from Little Data
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Top Stories

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Wearable Sensor Detects Toxic Gases, With a Hologram

Blog: Materials

A 'Living Material' of Microalgae Offers New Ideas, From Energy to Fashion

Videos: Energy

'Smart' Harvester Captures Sunlight And Sends It Underground

Videos: Motion Control

'LOLA' Robot Uses Arms for Balance

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Advanced Quantum-Enhanced Receiver Boosts Fiber Optics Communications

Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping

How to Design an Antiviral Surface for the COVID-19 Era

Latest Briefs & News

Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Disrupting the Automobile Design Process
The more complex the vehicle, the greater the need for comprehensive design solutions.
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Metasurface Focuses Transmissions in the Terahertz Band
Assembling tiny chips into unique programmable surfaces dramatically increases the amount of data wireless systems can transmit.
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Readers Select 2020 Products of the Year
This year's winners included industrial-automation software, simulation tech, and digital storage oscilloscopes.
Technology Leaders: Imaging
Micro-Cameras Bring New Video Applications into Focus
Powerful, tiny cameras provide unique streaming-video solutions for NASA robots and defense applications.
Articles: Electronics & Computers
Cost-Effective Day & Night Marking Using Lasers
The marking provides easy-to-see legends on plastic buttons under widely varying illumination conditions.
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Autonomous Sensor Technology for Real-Time Feedback About Refrigeration and Heating
The sensor monitors the oil circulation ratio in real time for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Industrial Connectivity with Single Pair Ethernet
Is "SPE" the future of industrial automation and automotive? It certainly has the potential, says Mike Anderson.
Briefs: Test & Measurement
System Standardization Streamlines Industrial Designs
Equipment designers can simplify design efforts and adjust controller platforms as needed when they standardize on electronic input/output products.
Technology Leaders: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Why Traceability is an Essential Foundation for IIoT-Enabled Manufacturing Systems
The importance of a proactive and systematic method for collecting machine and process data within a smart manufacturing environment cannot be overstated.
Blog: Test & Measurement
Answering Your Questions: Laser Radar...Or a CMM with a Laser Scanner?
Should you replace your big coordinate measurement machine with laser radar? Or should you just add a laser scanner with a CMM? A reader asks our expert.
Briefs: Materials
Ultra-Thin, Battery-Free Strain Sensors for Industrial Robotic Arms
These nanomaterial strain sensors are ten times more sensitive when measuring minute movements compared to existing technology.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
3D-Printed Composites for High-Temperature Uses
The polyimide composites have uses in aerospace, automotive, construction, electronics, mechanical systems, and industrial machinery.
NASA Spinoff: Wearables
NASA Brain-Training Technology Makes Smart Glasses
With a technique first used at NASA, researchers are making glasses that can improve your concentration.
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Innovation on a Larger Scale: Robotic Fiber Placement and 3D Printing
“The disruption promised by Industry 4.0 has already begun,” says Jason Melcher from the aerospace manufacturing company Ingersoll.
Products: Imaging
New Products: February 2021 Motion Design
Industrial robots, motor disconnect switches, position sensors, and more.
Technology Leaders: Electronics & Computers
Processor Power and Energy Efficiency
Just like smartphones, the same trend of combining separate components into one device is also apparent in industrial automation.
Products: RF & Microwave Electronics
Product of the Month: January 2021 Tech Briefs
Modules from Pickering Interfaces simulate industrial control transceivers.
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
High-Efficiency Megawatt Motor
This partially superconducting machine can be used as a motor or generator.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Machine Health & Asset Monitoring in Industrial Applications: A Look at Sensor Technologies
Learn about the sensors assessing and analyzing plant equipment.
Articles: Imaging
Technology Leaders: Industry Renaissance Transforms Invention, Learning, Production, and Trade
Digital technologies are enabling an "Industry Renaissance" of virtual experiences.
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A Solar Alternative: How to Power Devices with Indoor Light
A new material is especially effective at absorbing indoor light and converting it into usable energy.
Special Reports: Test & Measurement
Medical Robotics - November 2020

From the operating room to the assembly line, robots are changing the medical industry. Check out the latest advances and amazing applications in this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Medical...

Briefs: Imaging
Radar Enables Cars to Spot Hazards Around Corners
Using radar commonly deployed to track speeders and fastballs, the automated system “sees” around corners to spot oncoming traffic and pedestrians.
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Nature-Inspired Sensors Could Help Autonomous Machines See Better
The sensors can be built into the shells of aircraft, cars, or other machines.
Products: Manufacturing & Prototyping
New on the Market: November 2020
VOC sensors, panel-mount connectors, 3D printing cloud software, and more.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Products of Tomorrow: November 2020
A smartwatch that tracks medication levels, a flexible LED, and NASA's "Micro-Organ" device platform.
Application Briefs: Test & Measurement
Giant Telescope Construction Viewed Through an Industrial Lens
Once installed at Las Campanas Observatory in the Chilean Andes, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) will introduce incredible opportunities for astrophysics.
Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
New Products: November 2020 Photonics & Imaging Technology
Multi-sensor imaging systems, eyesafe laser finders, machine vision algorithms, and more.
Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Megapixel Photon-Counting Camera Technology
See what kinds of applications are possible when you can literally see light propagating through space.

Webcasts

Upcoming Webinars: Aerospace

Accelerating Electrified Aircraft Development with Multi-Physics...

Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

0.50mm: A Case Study in Miniaturization

Upcoming Webinars: Medical

Sony NUCLeUS: Groundbreaking Video-Over IP Imaging Capability for...

Upcoming Webinars: Medical

Miniaturization of Medical Components

Webinars: Medical

New Solutions to Further Enhance the Safe and Sustainable Use of...

Upcoming Webinars: Automotive

Get More Out of Your EVs with Thermoplastics

Trending Stories

NASA Spinoff: Aerospace

Nanotechnology Repairs Engine Damage in Cars

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Making Curved Diffractive Optics by E-Beam Lithography

Articles: Motion Control

The Basics of Encoder Selection

Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Using the IoT for Predictive Maintenance

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

The 6 Most Important Parts of a Temperature Monitoring System

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Metal/Dielectric-Film Interference Color Filters

Videos