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...
White Papers: Transportation
Excellent Resistant Seal for Automotive Coolant Fluid
Conventional fluoroelastomers degrade rapidly in the presence of modern cooling fluids. New fluoroelastomers, developed by DAIKIN, has low-temperature flexibility as well as good fuel and...
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Would You Own a Robot Pet?
At the CES Unveiled kickoff event last week, Sony demonstrated Aibo, a social robotic pet. The technology, which will make the trip to CES 2020 in Las Vegas, makes dog noises, responds to commands, and uses cameras to recognize specific owners and their patterns. Take a look at Aibo on our Tech Briefs Instagram.
Question of the Week: Robotics, Automation & Control
Will Entire Planes Be Built By 'Assembler Robots?'
Commercial aircraft are typically manufactured in sections, often in different locations, and then flown to a central plant for final assembly. Researchers at MIT are hoping to change that.
White Papers: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
White Paper: Why Electromechanical Actuators are Increasingly Replacing Hydraulic Actuators
Hydraulic actuation has traditionally provided much of the muscle for the industrial revolution, but that functionality has come with a cost....
Special Reports: Robotics, Automation & Control
Robotics & Machine Vision - November 2019
Advances in robotics and machine vision are transforming the factory floor. To help you keep pace with the latest developments in industrial automation, we present this compendium of recent articles...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
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: Materials
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: Software
New on the Market: November 2019
Briefs: Wearables
Wearable Motion Sensors Measure Fetal Heartbeat
A technique was developed that could allow expectant parents to hear their baby’s heartbeat continuously at home with a non-invasive and safe device that is potentially more accurate than any fetal heartrate monitor currently available in the market.
Products: Communications
New Products: November 2019 Photonics & Imaging Technology
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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: RF & Microwave Electronics
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: Robotics, Automation & Control
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: Software
Facility Focus: National Science Foundation
Briefs: Materials
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: Imaging
2019 'Create the Future' Manufacturing/Robotics/Automation Category Winner: The HPCI® Joining Gun
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Smart Electronic Skin for Robots and Prosthetics
Humans use the sense of touch to accomplish almost every daily task such as picking up a cup of coffee or shaking someone’s hand. Without it, humans can even lose their sense of balance when walking. Similarly, robots need to have a sense of touch in order to interact better with humans but...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Simulating Softness for Haptic Interfaces
Researchers have developed a formula that enables them to recreate different levels of perceived softness. Based on the results from their experiments, they created equations that can calculate how...
Briefs: Imaging
Optical Neural Network Could Lead to Intelligent Cameras
UCLA engineers have made major improvements on their design of an optical neural network — a device inspired by how the human brain works — that can identify objects or process...
INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control
“Pushy” Robots Learn How to Move Objects
MIT researchers have compiled a dataset that captures the detailed behavior of a robotic system physically pushing hundreds of different objects. Using the dataset, robots “learn” pushing...
Blog: Photonics/Optics
Acting Like Bees, Tiny Drones Find Their Way Through Unknown Environments
White Papers: Automotive
Finding the Right Approach: How to Test a Vehicle’s ECU
Modern vehicles can contain over 100 ECUs controlling everything from the drivetrain to the ADAS systems. Each ECU needs to be tested individually as well as in conjunction with other...
White Papers: Automotive
Securing the Connected Car: Application Code Matters
Connected car application developers have seen a shift from static, fixed function, device specific applications to a “cloud” connected world, vulnerable to the whims of bad actors and...
Blog: Defense
AUSA 2019: A View From the Show Floor
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Answering Your Questions: How Will the Military Use Motion Control Technology?
White Papers: Robotics, Automation & Control
How to Validate Autonomous VTOL Safety
Prepared for Takeoff? When market share is up for grabs, virtual VTOL testing is the only way to fly. ANSYS offers the industry’s most complete simulation solution for accelerating autonomous aircraft...
Top Stories
Blog: Unmanned Systems

Experts Weigh In: How Will a Robotic Future Impact Nature?
INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar...
Videos: Motion Control

Test System Could Enable Reduced Helicopter Vibration
Podcasts: Materials

Videos: Automotive
New Lithium Metal Batteries ‘Build Themselves’
Blog: Transportation

CES 2021: How COVID-19 Turned the Car into a Personal 'Second Space'
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
Trending Stories
INSIDER: Imaging

Orbiting Instrument Hints That Stored Magnetic Energy Heats Solar Atmosphere
INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Combining Electronic, Photonic Chips Enables Super-Fast Quantum Light Detection
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Motion Solutions for Electric Expansion Valves
Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Special Section: The Winners of the 2020 'Create the Future' Design Contest
Briefs: Energy

Solid-State Technology Enables Smaller, Safer Batteries
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Double-Vacuum-Bag Process for Making Resin-Matrix Composites