INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
When driving a car, the clutch mechanically carries the torque produced by the engine to the chassis of the vehicle – a coupling that has long been tested and optimized in such macroscopic...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
A method was developed that allows water recycling, air treatment, thermal control, and solid residuals treatment and recycle to be removed from the usable habitat volume...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Novel Feedthrough for Instrumentation Lead Wires
This invention is a method and design for the conveyance of instrumentation lead wires from one pressure boundary to another pressure boundary in cryogenic process systems. Such a device or article is commonly referred to as a feedthrough. The novelty of the present invention is the extreme...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pneumatic Conveying of Lunar Regolith Simulant
Planetary regolith (dust) is an aggregation of various minerals and different particle sizes. Collection, storage, processing, and disposal of this material are very challenging in the harsh planetary environment. Extraterrestrial operations involving In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) require...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have developed an innovative antenna-mounting platform that addresses an unmet need in the...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
Soft machines and robots are becoming more and more functional, capable of moving, jumping, gripping an object, and even changing color. The elements responsible for their actuation...
INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Most robots on a factory floor are equipped with large pincers or claws to grab an object and place it somewhere else in an assembly line. Engineers at MIT have now hit upon a way to impart...
INSIDER: Motion Control
The latest generation of electric motors is increasingly being equipped with strong, multi-ton permanent magnets instead of a gearbox. The most powerful magnets are based on neodymium,...
INSIDER: Aerospace
Compressor disks for aircraft turbines are milled from a single piece of material. During processing, the blades begin to vibrate. Now, a novel clamping system boosts...
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers
Engineers from the University of Sheffield have developed a novel technique to predict when bearings inside wind turbines will fail, which could make wind energy cheaper. The method uses...
INSIDER: Materials
'Snap' Design Mimics Venus Flytrap
A team led by physicist Christian Santangelo at the University of Massachusetts Amherst uses curved creases to give thin shells a fast, programmable snapping motion. The technique – inspired by the natural "snapping systems" like Venus flytrap leaves and hummingbird beaks – avoids the need for complicated...
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Researchers at the University of Georgia are helping NASA determine if a key rocket component can withstand the rigors of the next generation of spaceflight. The bellows...
News: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Vibration machines are crucial to test the forces that make things fall apart in the bumpy real world, from small components to complete systems like airplanes or nuclear weapons. Large,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A component-level DC transformer was developed in which no alternating currents or voltages are present. It operates by combining features of a homopolar motor and a homopolar generator, both DC devices, such that the output...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Wallops Flight Facility 6U Advanced CubeSat Ejector (ACE)
Six-unit (6U) CubeSats are recognized as the next nanosatellite to be considered for standardization. The CubeSat standard established by California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), which applies to 1U–3U sizes, has proven to be a valuable asset to the community. It has both provided...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Attachment Design for Ceramic Turbine Blades Via Hybrid Concepts
This innovation is a hybrid metal-ceramic matrix composite (CMC) turbine blade in which a SiC/SiC CMC airfoil section is bonded to a single-crystal superalloy root section in order to mitigate risks associated with an all-CMC blade inserted in a superalloy disk. This will...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This work involved designing a liquid nitrogen cold-plate heat exchanger with a high thermal mass using code-standard, high-pressure tubing. High thermal mass requires a substantial amount of...
Who's Who: Aerospace
Kim Hambuchen is currently building user interfaces for Vakyrie, a six-foot-two, 286-pound humanoid robot. The two-legged Valkyrie...
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The high cost to manufacture nanofibers has relegated them to just a few niche industries. MIT researchers developed a new technique for producing nanofibers that increases the...
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Silicon micromirrors can guide laser beams at extremely high speeds, allowing operators to dose heat input to workpieces with absolute precision. But to date, they have not been robust enough to be...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Tiny Origami Robot Folds Itself Up
MIT researchers have developed a printable origami-inspired robot that, when heated, folds itself up from a flat sheet of plastic. The robot weighs a third of a gram and measures about a centimeter from front to back.
INSIDER: Energy
More American homes could be powered by the Earth's natural underground heat with a new, nontoxic, and potentially recyclable liquid that is expected to use half as much water as other fluids used to...
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Using a tablet and a red beam of light, researchers at Georgia Tech have created a system that controls a fleet of robots with the swipe of a finger. A person taps the tablet to control where the...
INSIDER: Energy
New Etching Method Boosts Nanofiber Production
A new technique from MIT researchers boosts production of nanofibers fourfold, while cutting energy consumption by more than 90 percent. Potential nanofiber applications include solar cells, water filtration, and fuel cells.
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Micro actuators are needed for numerous applications, ranging from mobile and wearable devices, to minimally invasive medical devices. However, the limitations associated with their...
INSIDER: Test & Measurement
NASA researchers, working with the Air Force Research Laboratory and FlexSys of Ann Arbor, MI, successfully completed initial flight tests of a new morphing wing...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Diminutive Assembly for Nanosatellite deploYables (DANY) Miniature Release Mechanism
CubeSat appendices such as solar panels and antennas often need to be constrained by a release mechanism during launch. These appendices are then deployed once the desired orbit is reached. The usual constraint method used is a combination of an unpredictable/...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Quantitative Real-Time Flow Visualization Technique
There is a need for experimental techniques that have low cost and rapid turnaround. It is also necessary to obtain quantitative information from such a method. Previous methods are either lacking in quantitative information such as dye or smoke injection, or require considerable set-up and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thin-Film Evaporative Cooling for Side-Pumped Lasers
A highly efficient way to cool solid-state crystal lasers was developed. This thin-film evaporative cooling technique offers higher optical efficiencies and monochromatic quality than traditional conductive cooling techniques. Developed for use in side-pumped 2.0- micron laser systems used in...
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