Mechanical/​Mechatronics

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Access the latest news and technical advancements impacting Mechanical and Fluid systems. Explore articles and technical briefs about fastening, joining, mechanical components, fluid handling, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMs).

Stories

39
0
1170
30
Products: Software
Product of the Month Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, introduced the PathWave software platform that integrates design, test, measurement, and analysis to enable product development from concept to...
Feature Image
Briefs: Medical
Cell Processing Cartridge for Miniature Cytometer
Portable flow cytometers, especially in handheld or briefcase sizes, have not been available. One reason is the need to support complex, high-pressure fluidics and process cells using a centrifuge and mixing device. A need existed for point-of-care and/or point-of-analysis flow cytometry.
Briefs: Medical
A new type of mechanical instrument was developed to perform complex, minimally invasive procedures, also known as laparoscopic surgery. The technology could lead to less trauma for...
Feature Image
Briefs: Propulsion
The advent of cryocooler technology ushers in an era where a cryogenic environment is created and maintained locally. It is no longer necessary to transport cryogen from a factory where it is produced to the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In designing a hand-actuated microspine gripper, a ratcheting locking mechanism was required that had discrete points of locking engagement. The mechanism had to actuate smoothly...
Feature Image
Briefs: Propulsion
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is building a small CubeSat that uses an 85-m2 solar sail deployed from a central location to capture the push of photons from the Sun as...
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Hyperspectral imaging is an exciting and promising new technology. When combined with modern machine learning software and actuators such as robots, air-jets, or flippers, hyperspectral imaging...
Feature Image
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The term Space Imaging covers a wide variety of mission types and technologies.
Feature Image
Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are improving driver and pedestrian safety, providing vehicle capabilities such as pedestrian detection, lane departure warnings, collision avoidance, and...
Feature Image
INSIDER: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A JHU team has developed a prototype robot that steals some moves from a Central American cockroach species known as blaberus discoidalis.
Feature Image
Blog: Electronics & Computers
Beyond the slopes, creators of a moisture-managing, sweat-getting ski jacket envision new places for the “electrified” apparel.
Feature Image
INSIDER: Materials
An electrically-driven demolition probe originally funded by NASA enables a more precise, quieter fracturing method that its creators hope will give construction workers on...
Feature Image
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
The wide variety of industrial applications each independently calls for a level of robustness from the physical (PHY) layer, all the way up to applications. Time...
Feature Image
Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Ring Motor ThinGap (Camarillo, CA) introduced the PM model TGO77 large-bore compact ring motor for precision and highspeed applications. The brushless, frameless motor has an outside diameter of 77 mm (3.03"), 59 mm (2.32") inside...
Feature Image
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Soft robots are made from soft materials that react to applied voltage with a wide range of motions. Such soft robots contain tremendous potential for future applications, as they adapt to dynamic environments...
Feature Image
Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
As contemporary electronics embrace light weight, increasing efficiency, and high speed, each link of the manufacturing process also conforms to this philosophy, including printed circuit...
Feature Image
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Conductive, High-Toughness Oxides Deposited by Plasma Spray-Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD)
Oxide coatings deposited in Glenn Research Center's Plasma Spray-Physical Vapor Deposition (PS-PVD) facility can be processed to be mechanically tough (erosion-resistant) and electrically conductive at room temperature. The electrically conductive phase...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Supercapacitors can store and deliver energy faster than conventional batteries. But to realize advanced applications, supercapacitors need better electrodes, which connect the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Algorithm Boosts Speed of 3D Printers
A major drawback to 3D printing is the slow pace of the process, which ensures details are reproduced accurately. The pace of 3D printing is one of the factors that has prevented the technology from finding a broader audience. A new algorithm was developed that boosts the speed at which the printers operate.
Blog: Electronics & Computers
As the 2018 Winter Olympics are set to begin next week, creators of a moisture-managing ski jacket are literally going for the gold.
Feature Image
Sound-Off: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In an increasingly mobile world, manufacturers want to keep an eye on their facilities and equipment – no matter how far away they are from their test fixture.
Feature Image
NASA Spinoff: Medical
NASA Technology NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid spent hundreds of hours exercising during her 188-day stay on the Russian space station Mir in 1996. Although it was her least favorite part of...
Feature Image
Articles: Motion Control
Proper filtration plays an important role in ensuring that hydraulic systems operate trouble-free. High-performance filters maintain the cleanliness of the hydraulic fluid over its entire service life. In...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Friction Pull Plug Welding (FPPW) is the process necessary to plug the hole that is left behind as a friction stir weld (FSW) joint is completed and the pin tool of the welder retracts from the...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Electrochemically Enhanced Mechanical Polishing of Optics
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center astrophysicists are developing better instruments to measure high-energy X-rays zipping about space when viewed from above the Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists at MSFC adapted a novel method for material removal and super-polishing to the mandrel...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An orifice element is commonly used in liquid rocket engine test facilities either as a flow metering device, a damper for acoustic resonance, or to provide a large reduction in pressure over a very...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Novel Vent Design Features Variable Flow Control and Rain Protection
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center scientists have designed a vent that can be useful for purging closed compartments, while preventing backflow and foreign object entry. The technology uses a system of configurable devices to provide variable flow control and prevent water,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center scientists have invented a novel valve actuator where the primary actuating system and return spring system are arranged non-collinearly. In the past, valve actuators...
Feature Image
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
This technology is designed to protect against leaks in solenoid, check, manual, and relief valves, as well as disconnects and regulators. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a new, simplified...
Feature Image

Videos