Stories
36,38
0
2790
30
Articles: Photonics/Optics
What Does It Takes to Change the Game?
Industrial lasers are integrated into manufacturing and fabrication facilities around the world. Every moment, there is an industrial laser somewhere that is cutting, etching, or...
Articles: Imaging
Three-dimensional (3D) imaging applications are used in many different industries ranging from industrial pick and place, palletization/depalletization, warehouse, robotics, and metrology to...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A Northwestern University research team has developed tiny optical elements from metal nanoparticles and a polymer that one day could replace traditional refractive...
Articles: Materials
There have been many changes in laser technology over the past 30 years. With each advancement comes new challenges and opportunities. The CO2 laser with 10-micron wavelength was king for many of those years...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Researchers at the University of Houston have created an inexpensive system that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as dangerous, using a lens made with an...
Application Briefs: Lighting
Gas Monkey Garage (GMG) is arguably America's most recognized hot rod shop. Founded in 2004 by charismatic serial entrepreneur Richard Rawlings, the Dallas, Texas garage is a state-of-the-art restoration and...
Special Reports: Materials
Advanced Materials - May 2019
Breakthroughs in plastics, composites, coatings, and other materials technologies are enabling exciting new applications in industries ranging from aerospace to automotive to medical. Read more in this Special...Blog: Materials
For the first time, researchers have 3D printed a unique material that demonstrates optical transparency in the mid-infrared range: chalcogenide glass.
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Some parts should be CNC machined, and some parts should be 3D printed. Our expert compares the two manufacturing processes.
Podcasts: Sensors/Data Acquisition
In this episode, we explore how sensors are being used to detect concussions, track player performance, and even provide new opportunities to bet.
Blog: Aerospace
Researchers created transparent polythene sheets that have a strength greater than aluminum – at a fraction of the weight.
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Would You Want to Work Alongside a 'Handle' Robot?
Another video featured on Tech Briefs TV this week demonstrated a robot from Boston Dynamics called "Handle." The bipedal wheeled robot takes on material handling tasks like pallet building and truck unloading for warehouse logistics. Take a look for yourself.
Blog: Test & Measurement
The 3D-printing process has a number of steps. Find out where CT scanning should fall.
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
On day one of the Automate show in Chicago, Stäubli introduced its new TS2 four-axis robots to the North American market.
Blog: Data Acquisition
The dyed threads change color when they detect a variety of gases.
Question of the Week: Manufacturing & Prototyping
What's the most interesting or spontaneous prototype you've ever made?
It took two and a half years, 60 prototypes, and even some of his children's craft foam, but former designer and sensor pro Curtis Ray found a way to stop his snoring. He built a "smart" sleep mask equipped with an accelerometer, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth connection, a...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Fast-response, stiffness-tunable (FRST) soft actuators — or movable machine elements — were developed that could be used in soft robots.
Briefs: Materials
Researchers, drawing inspiration from bacteria, have designed smart, bio-compatible microrobots that are highly flexible. Because these devices are able to swim through fluids and modify their shape when...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
By mixing carbon fibers into polymer-based brakes, researchers designed brakes that are self-lubricating. These new and improved brakes can prevent wear-and-tear and have better frictional...
Application Briefs: Test & Measurement
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii Island is surrounded by thousands of miles of thermally stable seas. The 13,796-foot Maunakea mountain summit has no nearby ranges to roil the upper...
Briefs: Propulsion
Making electric cars lighter also involves reducing the weight of the motor. One way to do that is by constructing it from fiber-reinforced polymer materials. A new cooling concept was...
Briefs: Materials
Industrial machinery, agricultural equipment, transportation vessels, and home applications depend on lubricants; however, they leave a heavy environmental footprint. Common lubricants, oils,...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Thin, durable heating patches were created using intense pulses of light to fuse tiny silver wires with polyester. Their heating performance is nearly 70 percent higher than similar patches. The inexpensive patches...
Q&A: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Texas A&M professor Jaime Grunlan and his team are developing a new flame-retardant coating using renewable, nontoxic materials readily found in nature that could...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A metal-organic framework (MOF) material was developed that exhibits a selective, fully reversible, and repeatable capability to remove nitrogen dioxide gas from the atmosphere in ambient...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Ordinary WiFi can easily detect weapons, bombs, and explosive chemicals in bags at museums, stadiums, theme parks, schools, and other public venues using a low-cost suspicious...
Briefs: Energy
Wearable biosensors for health monitoring lack a lightweight, long-lasting power supply. A new method was developed for making a charge-storing system that is easily integrated into clothing...
Briefs: Materials
Rechargeable, High-Temperature, Molten Salt Battery
Growing demand for electric vehicles and more sustainable forms of transport means finding new forms of energy storage such as batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells. Currently, a major challenge facing the industry is the poor performance quality of rechargeable batteries, which often lose...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Plastic-Degrading Enzyme
Eight million metric tons of plastic waste, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, enter the oceans each year, creating huge manmade islands of garbage. Experts estimate that by 2050, there will be as much waste plastic in the ocean by mass as there are fish. A bacterium, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, can...
Top Stories
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Aerial Microrobots That Can Match a Bumblebee's Speed
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Turning Edible Fungi into Organic Memristors
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Revolutionizing the Production of Semiconductor Chips
News: Energy
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
World’s Smallest Programmable, Autonomous Robots
INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Software
E/E Architecture Redefined: Building Smarter, Safer, and Scalable...
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers
Advantages of Smart Power Distribution Unit Design for Automotive...
Upcoming Webinars: Transportation
Quiet, Please: NVH Improvement Opportunities in the Early Design...
Upcoming Webinars: AR/AI
A FREE Two-Day Event Dedicated to Connected Mobility
Podcasts: Manufacturing & Prototyping
How Sift's Unified Observability Platform Accelerates Drone Innovation
