Mechanical/​Mechatronics

Thin Flexible Sensor Characterizes High-Speed Airflows on Curved Surfaces

To improve efficiency, it is necessary to characterize and reduce flow separation on curved surfaces.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on Amphenol Sine’s A Series™ family of sealed heavy-duty, multipin plastic and metal connectors; one on RoboSAR – an autonomous search and rescue of victims; and more.

Leading the Way to Cyber Safety on Roads and Highways

CYBER-CARE — the Transportation Cybersecurity Center for Advanced Research and Education — is a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) University Transportation Center (UTC), Tier...

New Ferroelectric Material Could Give Robots Muscles

A new type of ferroelectric polymer that is exceptionally good at converting electrical energy into mechanical strain holds promise as a high-performance motion controller or...

North Sea Rig Operators Discover a Solution for Frequently Tangled Service Loops

A company from Denmark found a problem with its oil rig, where wind caused service loops to swing, become entangled and snag, resulting in downtime. The company solved the problem with a 33.5-meter e-loop from igus, the Germany-based manufacturer of high-performance plastics.

Revolutionizing Motion Control with Linear Motors

As the demand grows for increased productivity, higher product quality, rapid development time, and lower engineering costs, adopting linear motor technology is increasingly popular by leveraging modular linear motor designs.

New Bioinspired Robot Flies, Walks, and More

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

New Technology to Find EV Charging Vulnerabilities

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) intern Jake Guidry has developed a cybersecurity research tool that could improve the security of electric vehicle charging. The AcCCS tool provides access...

Magnetic Bearing Technology Enables Environmental Control for Human Space Exploration

Leveraging a high-speed permanent magnet motor, an environmental control system aboard the ISS represents a step change toward electrification and optimization.

Physics-Aware Neural Networks Improve Camera-Based Machines

Researchers from UCLA and the United States Army Research Laboratory have laid out a new approach for enhancing artificial intelligence-powered computer vision technologies by...

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Help Electrify Aviation

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Superlubricity Coating for Nearly Friction-Free Surfaces

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving...

Sensors that Operate at High Temperatures and in Extreme Environments

Extreme environments in several critical industries — aerospace, energy, transportation, and defense — require sensors to measure and monitor numerous factors under...

Flow-Through Transducer for Wind Tunnel Analysis

To enable key aerospace R&D applications, NASA’s Langley Research Center has developed a single-piece flow-through transducer design capable of measuring all six components adding in the Axial force measurement.

Extractor for Chemical Analysis of Lipid Biomarkers in Regolith (ExCALiBR)

NASA Ames Research Center has developed a novel technology that provides an autonomous, miniaturized fluidic system for lipid analysis.

Micromotor Winding Technology Uses AI to Improve Motor Performance

Achievable coils increase the capabilities of the micromotors.

Chemically Driven Wheels “Morph” Into Gears

A catalytic reaction causes a two-dimensional, chemically coated sheet to spontaneously morph into a three-dimensional gear.

Hydrodynamic Effect Helps Motorized Objects Navigate Inclines

The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.

Robot Fish Makes Splash with Motion Breakthrough

A robot fish fitted with a twisted and coiled polymer (TCP) to drive it forward, a lightweight low-cost device that relies on temperature change to generate movement, could make underwater...

Self-Folding Origami Machines Powered by Chemical Reaction

A Cornell-led collaboration harnessed chemical reactions to make microscale origami machines self-fold — freeing them from the liquids in which they usually function, so they can...

Many-Legged Robots Can Traverse Difficult Landscapes

Inspired by centipedes, Georgia Tech researchers have developed many-legged robots that can move across uneven surfaces without any additional sensing or control technology.

Fluid-Driven Actuators Enable Complex Motions in Soft Robots

A team of researchers has designed a new system of fluid-driven actuators that enable soft robots to achieve more complex motions. The researchers accomplished this by taking advantage of the very thing — viscosity — that had previously stymied the movement of such robots.

Artificial Skin Provides Haptic Feedback

The skin could help rehabilitation and enhance virtual reality by instantaneously adapting to a wearer's movements.

Products of Tomorrow

See the Products of Tomorrow, including silicon photonic MEMS, a micro-robotic arm, and more.

Model Simulates Variable Flap Stiffness for the Best Lift

There is extensive research on how a fixed-position flap affects lift in the realm of fluid-structure interaction. However, taking the conversation in a new direction, researchers at...

Autonomous Bus Sounds: It’s All About When, Not How

The town of Linköping, Sweden, has a small fleet of autonomous electric buses that carry riders along a predetermined route. The bright vehicles, emblazoned with the tagline, “Ride...