Stories
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Blog: Electronics & Computers
In 1988, a team at Pacific Northwest Laboratories built a mannequin robot. One of the original engineers talked with Tech Briefs about his time making "Manny."
Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A Role for Boston Dynamics’ Back-Flipping Robots: Is Space the Place?
NASA robotics engineers react to Boston Dynamics' back-flipping robots.
Blog: Transportation
The ‘Create the Future’ Design Contest is Open for Entries
Have a product design idea? The "Create the Future" Design Contest is now open for submissions until July 2, 2018.
Products: Motion Control
Digital Temperature Sensors
The ProSense® ETS series digital temperature sensors from Automation Direct (Cumming, GA) now include a precision RTD sensing element, measuring electronics, and process fitting, combined in a single...
Briefs: Automotive
NASA is preparing for the next generation of CubeSats that are propelled and will make directional maneuvers. The new gimbal mount provides a seat for the motor, and controls the position of the thrusters...
Technology Leaders: Communications
Exciting new technological innovations are making the planet cleaner, people healthier, food more plentiful, transportation speedier, communication more accessible, and...
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...
Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control
The term Space Imaging covers a wide variety of mission types and technologies.
INSIDER: Energy
A wireless triboelectric nanogenerator (W-TENG) generates electricity from motion and vibrations. It consists of a biodegradeable polymer and graphene. When the two materials are brought...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Engineers from MIT and Princeton University have developed a robotic pick-and-place system that consists of a standard industrial robotic arm outfitted with a custom gripper and suction cup. An...
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will cockroach-inspired robots support search-and-rescue?
This week’s INSIDER featured a robot that moves like a cockroach. By studying the fundamental principles of object traversal, the technology’s inventors want to apply the idea to search-and-rescue robots. What do you think? Will cockroach-inspired robots support search-and-rescue?
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
A JHU team has developed a prototype robot that steals some moves from a Central American cockroach species known as blaberus discoidalis.
Blog: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Shape-Morphing Materials Add 4th Dimension to 3D Printing
3D printing uses computer control to fuse layers of polymers or powders into a three-dimensional object. Rutgers University researchers found a way to add to a fourth dimension – time – to the manufacturing process.
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping
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...
Briefs: Motion Control
Linear actuator manufacturers have a history of strong mechanical design expertise, which is the core of any linear actuation; however, giving motion to modern powered equipment goes beyond a...
Products: Motion Control
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...
Briefs: Software
Using 3D printers, researchers have created a metamaterial from cubic building blocks that responds to compression forces by a rotation. Usually, this can only be...
Briefs: Motion 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...
Briefs: Energy
Servo control systems require accurate control of motion parameters such as acceleration, velocity, and position. This requires a controller that can apply current (torque) to...
Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Smart manufacturing capabilities should be built into machines, particularly those with advanced functionality such as motion control. Even if the factory is not currently connected to the...
Articles: Motion Control
For most electrical engineers, the simple term “motor” means one thing: an electromagnetic rotary-motion unit. Engineers who need linear rather than rotary motion consider adding a mechanical linkage...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Behr Hella Thermo Control (BHTC) of Lippstadt, Germany, manufactures automotive interior components. As the demand for smarter cars increases, BHTC encountered a new automotive interior challenge:...
Articles: Electronics & Computers
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...
Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Product of the Month
Fluke Corp., Everett, WA, introduced the Fluke 3560 FC Vibration Sensors and Fluke 3502 FC Gateway for equipment vibration analysis. The sensors enable remote capture of vibration data, and...
INSIDER: Motion Control
Scientists have developed a novel electric propulsion technology for nanorobots. Traditional nanobots take minutes to carry out actions, sometimes even hours. Therefore, efficient molecular assembly lines...
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Farmers in Europe are increasingly turning to robotic weeders. A specialist from University of California, Davis tested out the technologies.
INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Cornell University engineers have been experimenting with a new type of programming that mimics the mind of an insect.
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Evolving and Controlling Behaviors in a Computation-Free Robot Swarm
Flocks of birds, schools of fish, and colonies of ants exhibit a remarkable robustness and resilience, despite the limited capabilities of each individual. Recently, research into bio-inspired swarm robotics has been gaining popularity due to the low-cost, robust, redundant, and...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
A fundamental advance in controlling soft robots involves using magnetic fields to remotely manipulate microparticle chains embedded in soft robotic devices. Several devices have been developed that...
Top Stories
Blog: Semiconductors & ICs
Revolutionizing the Production of Semiconductor Chips
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Aerial Microrobots That Can Match a Bumblebee's Speed
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Tech Briefs Wrapped 2025: Top 10 Technology Stories
News: Energy
INSIDER: Imaging
A New Tool for Measuring Femtosecond Lasers
Articles: Aerospace
Countering the New Threat from the Sky: Advanced IR Imaging Zoom Lenses...
Webcasts
Upcoming Webinars: Motion Control
Next-Generation Linear and Rotary Stages: When Ultra Precision...
Upcoming Webinars: Power
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
On-Demand Webinars: AR/AI
The Real Impact of AR and AI in the Industrial Equipment Industry
Podcasts: Medical
How Wearables Are Enhancing Smart Drug Delivery
Podcasts: Energy
SAE Automotive Podcast: Solid-State Batteries
Podcasts: Test & Measurement
