Materials & Manufacturing

Briefs: Automotive

Origami-Inspired Material Softens Impact Forces

Landing is stressful on a rocket’s legs because they must handle the force from the impact with the landing pad. One way to combat this is to build legs out of materials that absorb some of...

Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Ultra-Clean Fabrication Platform for 2D Transistors

Recently discovered two-dimensional (2D) materials with superlative properties have the potential to advance semiconductors but creating 2D devices with both good electrical contacts and...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Surface Treatment Could Improve Refrigeration Efficiency

Unlike water, liquid refrigerants and other fluids that have a low surface tension spread quickly into a sheet when they come into contact with a surface. For many industrial...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Soft, Wearable Health Monitor with Stretchable Electronics

A soft and conformable health monitor can broadcast electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate, respiratory rate, and motion activity data as much as 15 meters to a portable recording...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Soft, Multi-Functional Robots

In the future, soft, animal-inspired robots may be safely deployed in difficult-to-access environments in which rigid robots cannot currently be used such as inside the human body or in spaces that are too...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Miniature Spring Performance Tester

In order to qualify miniature springs, manufacturers of these systems rely on commercially available testers that are designed for large-scale springs (>0.5" diameter). Commercially available spring...

Facility Focus: Test & Measurement

Facility Focus: Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, GA. Founded in 1934 as the Engineering...

Articles: Imaging

Executive Forum: Sensors & the IoT

No longer just a buzzword, the Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly taking hold in many different industries, from aerospace and automotive, to medical and manufacturing. The IoT ecosystem incorporates...

Briefs: Imaging

3D-Printed Polymer-Based Foam Structure Responds to Shock Waves

A 3D-printed polymer-based foam structure was developed that responds to the force of a shock wave to act as a oneway switch, a long sought-after goal in shock research. The...

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

3D-Printing a Unique Metal Part

VELO3D was able to print the perfect spaceship on the very first try.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D-Printed Soft Mesh Robots

Researchers have created 3D-printed flexible mesh structures that can be controlled with applied magnetic fields while floating on water. The structures can grab small objects and carry water droplets, giving them...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Robot “Eye” Provides 360° Field of View

The production of precision products depends on robot control systems knowing the location of the adhesive bonding head or welding head to the nearest millimeter at all times. This means the robot...

Application Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Optical Coatings Technology

Optical coatings are critical for enhancing the transmission, reflection, polarization, and phase of light incident upon and passing through optical components. There are many different technologies used to...

Products: Photonics/Optics

New Products: September 2019 Photonics & Imaging Technology

Micromachining Subsystem

SCANLAB GmbH (Puchheim, Germany) has introduced a new member of its precSYS product line. Five-axis precSYS subsystems enable industrial...

Application Briefs: Communications

How to Choose the Right Wireless Technology for Industrial Condition Monitoring

Industries are constantly searching for new approaches to advance operational efficiency and product quality. With unplanned downtime estimated to cost...

Application Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Designing Sensors for Hazardous Environments

Some of the most common applications for hazardous duty sensors are in the oil and gas industry.

Articles: Motion Control

The Many Uses of Inductive Position Sensors in the IIoT

We interviewed an industry expert about the role of inductive position sensors in the IIoT.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Energy Harvesting for Smart Home Sensing

The key to acceptance and adoption of a "smart home" will be enhancing total ease of ownership.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Mobile, Dual-Comb Device for Methane Leak Detection

Accurately detecting, locating, and quantifying leaks of methane — the main component of natural gas and a major fuel source worldwide — is critically important for both environmental...

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Machine Vision Camera Trends: 2019 and Beyond

Each passing year, machine vision is finding its way into applications that were not commercially feasible — and in some cases, impossible.

Products: Communications

New Products: September 2019 Sensor Technology

People-Counting Sensor

FLIR Systems, Inc. (Wilsonville, OR) announced the latest generation of the FLIR Brickstream 3D Gen 2 people-counting sensor. This new version includes a unique...

Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

All-Silicon MEMS Inertial Sensing at Fiber Optic Gyro Performance Levels

There is increasing demand in many high-end commercial and industrial markets for precision motion sensing for a diversity of applications.

Briefs: Imaging

Calibration Method Improves Scientific Research Performed with Smartphone Cameras

Although smartphones and other consumer cameras are increasingly used for scientific applications, it's difficult to compare and combine data from different...

Briefs: Materials

Simultaneous Imaging and Friction Measurement with an In-Situ Tribometer

Different instruments are needed to study the interaction of contact surfaces at different length scales. Tribometers measure the coefficient of friction but they...

Articles: Materials

Products of Tomorrow: September 2019

Semi-Liquid Metal Anode for Next-Generation Batteries

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a semi-liquid lithium metal-based anode. Lithium batteries made using this new...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Measuring Stickiness of Microscale Surfaces

At the scale of bridges or buildings, the most important force that engineered structures need to deal with is gravity. But at the scale of microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) — devices like...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Organic Carbon-Nitride Semiconductor

Some organic materials cannot be utilized similarly to silicon semiconductors in optoelectronics. Whether in solar cells, light-emitting diodes, or in transistors, what is important is the bandgap, i.e....