Motion Control/​Automation

Briefs: Transportation

Self-Contained Wheel Unit

Researchers have developed a self-contained wheel unit that combines a wheel and an electric motor.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Precision Low-Speed Motor Controller

The technology can be used in commercial motors, robotic systems, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

Application Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Docking System Enables Safe Rendezvous in Space

The ESA has commissioned its industry partners to design a new docking system called the International Berthing and Docking Mechanism (IBDM).

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Algorithm Gives Robots a Faster Grasp

The algorithm speeds up the planning process that robots use to adjust their grip on objects.

Briefs: AR/AI

Artificial Skin Provides Haptic Feedback

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

Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Products: December 2019 Motion Design

Actuators, Encoders, Gripping Tools, and More

Application Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs

Valve Position Sensor Protects Switch Boxes from Salt Environment

Salty air the Dutch city of Harlingen causes exposed metal parts to corrode.

Facility Focus: Aerospace

Facility Focus: NASA John H. Glenn Research Center

Glenn's research facilities have contributed to decades of technology advances.

INSIDER: Motion Control

A Mechanical Gyroscope, Inspired by Insects

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory took inspiration from flying insects to create a miniaturized gyroscope, a special sensor used in...

INSIDER: Motion Control

Vibration Isolator Steadies Telescope Optics

If you’ve ever tried to hold a camera steady for a long exposure in low light, you know exactly what happens: the camera shakes and the image blurs. The same can happen with images from...

Briefs: Energy

Motion-Powered, Fireproof Sensor

Researchers have created a motion-powered, fireproof sensor that can track the movements of firefighters, steelworkers, miners, and others who work in high-risk environments where they cannot always be seen....

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Soft Robotics Perception System

A perception system for soft robots was developed that is inspired by the way humans process information about their own bodies in space and in relation to other objects and people. The system includes a...

Products: Electronics & Computers

New on the Market: November 2019

3D-printing platforms, simulation software, transistors, and more.

Products: Communications

New Products: November 2019 Photonics & Imaging Technology

LIDAR Systems, Smart Cameras, Optical Communications, and more.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Robots Can Pick Up Any Object After Inspecting It

For decades, robots in controlled environments like assembly lines have been able to pick up the same object over and over again. More recently, breakthroughs in computer vision have enabled...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Method Enables Robots to Exchange Directed Messages

A novel approach was developed to improve communications range and allow for covert behavior using a team of robots for future multi-domain operations. Specifically, researchers...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Flying Robot Mimics Rapid Insect Flight

Flying animals both power and control flight by flapping their wings. This enables small natural flyers such as insects to hover close to a flower but also to rapidly escape danger. Animal flight has...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Robots Track Moving Objects with Sub-Centimeter Accuracy

A system was developed that uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to help robots target moving objects with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The system could enable greater...

Facility Focus: Materials

Facility Focus: National Science Foundation

In recent decades, NSF-funded researchers have discovered quite a bit, including many of the fundamental particles of matter.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Toughening Stretchable Fibers Using a Metallic Core

Researchers have developed a fiber that combines the elasticity of rubber with the strength of a metal, resulting in a tougher material. The fibers consist of a gallium metal core...

Articles: Materials

2019 'Create the Future' Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Category Winner: The HPCI® Joining Gun

A team of inventors found a fast way to join plastic to metal.