Motion Control/​Automation

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Low-Inductance DC Power Bus

The bus is designed for high-frequency, high-temperature operation in electric drive systems and next-generation power electronics.

Briefs: Motion Control

Spring Drive Fitting

Applications include valves, tubes, and other gas and fluid system components.

Products: Photonics/Optics

New on the Market: March 2020

Thermal cameras, testing software, an ion air knife, and more.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Bio-Inspired Mechanics to Make Robots More Effective

This technology could impact new directions in robotics design.

Application Briefs: Test & Measurement

Multiple Sensors Aid in Development of an Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft

Beta Technologies is putting their Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft (eVTOL) prototype through the wringer.

Briefs: Materials

Multi-Objective Flight Control Optimization Framework

This framework can be used by commercial and military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Briefs: Aerospace

Insect-Inspired Arms Improve Drones

The new arm design enables unmanned aerial vehicles to fly in windy conditions.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Trunk Support Assists Those with Spinal Cord Injury

The device retrains patients with spinal cord injury to sit more stably and gain an expanded active sitting workspace.

Blog: Aerospace

NASA's SuperCam Set to Look for Evidence of Life On Mars

See what the SuperCam will do when it arrives on Mars in 2021.

INSIDER: Manufacturing & Prototyping

“Pop-Up” Technique Fabricates Microrobots

A bulk-machined “Pop-Up” MEMS process was developed for creating mesoscale machines up to several centimeters in dimension.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

Robot and Software Create Advanced Materials

Rutgers University engineers have developed an automated way to produce polymers, making it much easier to create advanced materials aimed at improving human health. While a human researcher...

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

5G in Manufacturing: What’s Here and What’s to Come

5G has the potential to provide connectivity for a range of different uses in manufacturing.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Insect-Inspired Motion Sensing

This mechanical gyroscope can advance motion sensing capabilities in consumer-sized applications.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Shape-Shifting Robot Uses New Locomotion Strategy

The robot is built entirely from smaller robots and can form a robophysical system that can move by itself.

Briefs: Automotive

Dynamic Gripper Mimics Adjustable Grip of the Human Hand

Such grippers would be suited for human-robot partnership in assembly lines in the automotive, electronic packaging, and other industries.

Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New Products: February 2020 Motion Design

Encoder

The AI25 hazardous series AI25 encoder from Dynapar (Gurnee, IL) is suited for Class 1 Division 2 applications where a Zone 1 or Division 1 encoder may have previously been...

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Smart Manufacturing Control

Today's advanced smart CNC controls allow manufacturers to optimize the manufacturing process right on the factory floor

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Flexure for Self-Assembly

Conventional fastening mechanisms like nails, bolts, and welds are subject to manufacturing and inspection tolerances, differential thermal growth, and other sources of error that lead to over-constraint, among...

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Soft, Skin-Like Structures for Robotic Locomotion and Transportation

These soft robots can be rolled up and carried in a pocket.

Application Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Modified Fittings Enhance Industrial Safety

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is home to one of the largest buildings in the world — the massive Vehicle Assembly Building — and also hosts a number of one-of-a-kind facilities. The...

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Robots Assemble Large Structures from Little Pieces

Systems of tiny robots could build high-performance structures, from airplanes to space settlements.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Going Beyond the Basics: Innovative Step Motor Designs Give Machine Designers More Options for Motion Control

Machine and system designers now have greater options in choosing a motor to meet motion control requirements.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Robot Circulating Liquid Stores Energy and Provides Power

This robot “blood” stores energy, transmits force, operates appendages, and provides structure, all in an integrated design.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Intelligent Microrobots

Such machines, only a few tens of micrometers across, could be used in the human body to perform small operations.

Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Valves for Pneumatic Cylinders and Actuators

Know your valve options.

Facility Focus: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Explore Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's first space flight complex.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Multimaterial Fiber “Ink” for 3D-Printed Devices

Filaments with embedded circuitry can be used to print complex shapes for biomedical and robotic devices.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

3D-Printed Structures Morph from Flat Layers into Predetermined Shapes

The flat structure morphs into another shape when temperature changes, enabling self-deploying tents or adaptive robotic fins.

Blog: Materials

A Soft Robot That Can Maintain Its Temperature? No Sweat!

Cornell researcher T.J. Wallin explains what's so cool about a robot that sweats.