Motion Control/​Automation

Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control

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.

Articles: Manufacturing & Prototyping

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: Motion Control

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: Motion Control

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: Robotics, Automation & Control

Smart Manufacturing Control

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

Briefs: Motion Control

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: Materials

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: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

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: Energy

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: Nanotechnology

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: Electronics & Computers

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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

Briefs: Materials

Multimaterial Fiber “Ink” for 3D-Printed Devices

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

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

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: Robotics, Automation & Control

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.

INSIDER: Robotics, Automation & Control

VIPER Rover to Map Lunar Water Ice

An engineering model of the VIPER lunar rover is being tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. About the size of a golf cart, VIPER is a mobile robot that will roam around the Moon’s South Pole...

INSIDER: Motion Control

Tractionless Motion is Possible

Cells are observed to “crawl” by attaching themselves to a surface and using these anchor points to push themselves forward (like crawling on the ground). Scientists have identified a different...

Blog: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A 'DEAnsect' Robot Takes 10 Hits from a Fly Swatter – And Survives

A fun way to show the robustness of a soft robot? Swat it.

Briefs: Materials

Robotic “Cockroach” Explores Underwater Environments

This microbot can walk on land, swim, and walk underwater.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Particle Robot Works as a Cluster of Simple Units

Loosely connected disc-shaped “particles” can push and pull one another, moving together to transport objects.

Briefs: Energy

Wireless Sensor “Stickers” Track Physiological Signals

These stickers wirelessly beam health readings to a receiver clipped onto clothing.

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Robot Performs Complex Maneuvers

An upgraded mini robot can leap over obstacles with ease.