Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Lunar Surface Manipulation System
NASA's Langley Research Center offers a novel lifting and precision positioning device with hybrid functional characteristics of both crane-type lifting devices and robotic manipulators. The design of the...
Products: Test & Measurement
New on the Market: August 2019
Binder USA, Camarillo, CA, introduced the 720 Series of miniature circular connectors with a snap-in IP67 twin distributor. The distributor — a single male connector into two...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Light-Activated Micro-Pump
Even the smallest mechanical pumps have limitations, from the micro-fabrication techniques required to make them to the fact that there are limits on their size. A laser-driven photoacoustic microfluidic pump was...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Microscale Electro-Hydrodynamic (EHD) Modular Cartridge Pump
The EHD pump uses electric fields to move a dielectric fluid coolant in a thermal loop to dissipate heat generated by electrical components with a low-power system. The pump has only a few key components and no moving parts, increasing the simplicity and robustness of the system. In...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Deployable Emergency Shutoff Device Blocks High-Velocity Fluid Flows
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a device and method for blocking the flow of fluid from an open pipe. The device plugs, controls, and meters the flow of gases and liquids. Anchored with friction fittings, spikes, or explosively activated fasteners, the device...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Wearable Liquid Unit Harvests Energy
Researchers have created wearable technology to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. It presents a step toward the practical realization of self-powered, human-integrated technologies.
Briefs: Energy
Combustion Gas Heat Exchanger
Two very challenging problems facing the U.S. and the world are energy security and global climate change, largely due to dependence on fossil fuels. Cost-effective technologies have been developed that are...
Briefs: Energy
Technique Identifies Electricity-Producing Bacteria
Certain species of bacteria that exist in oxygen-deprived environments must find a way to breathe that doesn't involve oxygen. These microbes — which can be found deep within mines, at...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Visualizing Motion of Water Molecules for Liquid-Based Electronics
A high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering technique was used to measure the strong bond involving a hydrogen atom sandwiched between two oxygen atoms. This hydrogen bond is a quantum-mechanical phenomenon responsible for various properties of water, including viscosity, that...
Q&A: Aerospace
Q&A: “Neural Lander” Uses AI to Land Drones Smoothly
Soon-Jo Chung is Bren Professor of Aerospace in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) at Caltech and research scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He and his team...
Briefs: Imaging
Automated Object Detection in an Image
Recent developments in machine vision have demonstrated remarkable improvements in the ability of computers to properly identify objects in a viewing field. Most of these advances rely on color-texture analyses that require target objects to possess one or more highly distinctive, local features that can be...
Briefs: Automotive
System Provides “Electric Eyesight” for Autonomous Vehicles
Autonomous vehicles relying on light-based image sensors often struggle to see through blinding conditions such as fog. Sub-terahertz wavelengths, which are between microwave...
Briefs: Automotive
Technique Makes Objects Invisible to Image Detection Systems
Adversarial techniques were developed that can make objects “invisible” to image detection systems that use deep-learning algorithms. These techniques can also trick systems...
Briefs: Aerospace
Inductive Power Transfer for Spaceflight Systems
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed technology that uses inductive power transfer (IPT) for wireless power interfaces between spaceflight elements (such as the payload, vehicle, and pad). Current spaceflight systems require traditional hardwire connections for power interfaces. This...
Briefs: Materials
Two-Dimensional Materials Improve Efficiency of Lithium-Air Batteries
Lithium-air batteries are poised to become the next replacement for currently used lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, cell-phones, and computers....
Today's lithium-ion batteries use cathodes (one of the two electrodes in a battery) made of a transition metal oxide. Batteries with cathodes made of sulfur are considered a...
Blog: Aerospace
What is the ‘Lunar Gateway?’ NASA Details Its Return to the Moon
White Papers: Medical
How to Assemble Your Microfluidic Test Device - Automated or By Hand
When you’re a medical designer building a Point-of-Care microfluidic test device, you need to precisely control the alignment of layer components. A new white paper from...
Podcasts: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Here's an Idea: Apollo 11
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A Work of Art: Researchers Create Complex Actuators, Automatically
Articles: Motion Control
The Sensors Behind the GEN II Wearable Device
The population is aging and more people need healthcare support, which is having a big impact on the overall cost of medical care. As a result, authorities and health insurance companies are...
5 Ws: Transportation
5 Ws of PDK Recyclable Plastic
Anyone who uses products made of plastic. The new recyclable plastic could be a good alternative to many nonrecyclable plastics in use today.
Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Machining Capabilities Enhance Space-Related Programs
Quakertown, PA
www.insaco.com
Since 1947, Insaco has been machining, grinding, and polishing ceramics, sapphire, and glass to meet and often exceed client...
Facility Focus: Robotics, Automation & Control
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
On September 1, 1961, NASA requested appropriations for initial land purchases on Merritt Island on Florida’s east coast to support the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designers quickly began developing...
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
3D Printing of Flexible Circuits
A process was developed for 3D printing that can be used to produce transparent and mechanically flexible electronic circuits. The electronics consist of a mesh of silver nanowires that can be printed in suspension and embedded in various flexible and transparent plastics (polymers). This technology can enable...
Products: Motion Control
New on the Market: July 2019
The induSENSOR MSC7401 sensor controller from Micro-Epsilon, Ortenburg, Germany, is used for displacement and distance measurements and is operated with LVDT and LDR measuring gauges...
Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
New Products: July 2019 Photonics & Imaging Technology
Ophir-Spiricon (North Logan, UT) has announced Ophir® BeamWatch® Integrated, a fully automated, non-contact laser...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Wafer-Level Microchannel Fabrication Process for Lab-on-a-Chip Devices
Microchannels fabricated into a silicon-Pyrex wafer with a diameter of 75 m and total channel length of 40, 60, 80, or 100 mm — characterized by specialized microbeads...
Top Stories
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
A Spiraling Robotic Gripper 'Twines' Like a Plant
Videos: Power
New Lithium Metal Batteries ‘Build Themselves’
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
INSIDER: Imaging
Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Videos: Defense
Test System Could Enable Reduced Helicopter Vibration
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Reducing the Cost of Quality in Automotive BiW
Upcoming Webinars: Automotive
Electric-Vehicle Transmission Development Priorities
Upcoming Webinars: Sensors/Data Acquisition
The Critical Role of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors in Medical...
Upcoming Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Zinc Die Casting Concepts to Achieve Precision, Performance, and...
Upcoming Webinars: Test & Measurement
Radar Measurements: Triggering, Analysis, and Generation
Upcoming Webinars: Materials
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Application Briefs: Motion Control
Custom Gimbal for JHU-APL Shows Promise for Others
Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition
