Photonics & Imaging

Find the latest developments in Photonics & Imaging essential to both Commercial & Government applications. Get expert solutions for imaging systems, machine vision, visualization software, human machines (HMIs), plus advances in infrared cameras and display monitoring.

Stories

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Smartphone System Tests for Lead in Water

This inexpensive system can detect lead levels below EPA standards.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Threads Detect Gases When Woven into Clothing

Equipment-free textile detectors could be used in public health, workplace safety, military, and rescue applications.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Atoms Can Receive Common Communications Signals

This atom-based receiver has the potential to be smaller and work better in noisy environments than conventional radio receivers.

Briefs: Automotive

Technique Creates Transparent Polythene Films as Strong as Aluminum

The films could be used in impact-resistant glazing, windscreens, and displays.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Underwater Telecom Cables Used as Seismic Network

Fiber-optic cables could help scientists study offshore earthquakes and the geologic structures hidden deep beneath the ocean surface.

Briefs: Communications

Long-Distance LADAR System and Method

The system provides three-dimensional imagery of potential threats at closer ranges.

Briefs: Imaging

Estimated Spectrum Adaptive Postfilter (ESAP)

This program enhances images and videos for smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Multimaterial Fiber “Ink” for 3D-Printed Devices

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

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

3D Printing of Plastics with Electrical Circuits

This innovation could lead to better drones, satellites, and biomedical devices.

Briefs: Materials

Polymer Coating Cools Down Buildings

This coating acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint.

Facility Focus: Test & Measurement

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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

Briefs: Materials

Bomb Detection Method Detects Peroxide-Based Explosives

The ultra-fast method analyzes a wider range of materials than current thermal-based detection systems.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Low-Energy Device Rapidly Reroutes Light in Computer Chips

The switch is a major new step toward building a computer that uses light instead of electricity to process information.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Augmented Reality System Lets Smartphone Users Interact with Virtual Objects

This system places virtual objects within real-world backgrounds on cellphone screens and lets people interact with those objects by hand as if they were really there.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

3D Printing Technique Produces “Living” 4D Materials

3D/4D printing is merged with a chemical process to produce “living” resin, which has potential for recycling and biomedicine.

INSIDER Product: Imaging

New Products

SWIR Camera Princeton Infrared Technologies, Inc. (PIRT) (Monmouth Junction, NJ) will be introducing its new compact MVCam series shortwave-infrared (SWIR) and visible camera that supports the highest commercially available frame...

INSIDER: Imaging

Simulated Image Demonstrates Power of Nasa's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope

Imagine a fleet of 100 Hubble Space Telescopes, deployed in a strategic space-invader-shaped array a million miles from Earth, scanning the universe at warp...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Tests Measure Solar Panel Performance Beyond Established Standards

Photovoltaics used in solar panels are sensitive to environmental factors and often suffer degradation over time. International Electrotechnical Commission standards for...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Laser Pulse Creates Frequency Doubling in Amorphous Dielectric Material

Researchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don’t normally support them. Using a...

Question of the Week: Imaging

Will We Use Satellites to Fix Satellites?

A recent INSIDER described one researcher’s idea to fix a broken satellite: Send up a repair satellite! Read the Tech Briefs Q&A for details.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Robot Performs Complex Maneuvers

An upgraded mini robot can leap over obstacles with ease.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Embedded Gas and Temperature Sensors for Extreme Environments

Innovative process control systems for improved efficiency and lower emissions in current and future fossil-fuel-based power systems and related applications require durable, embedded sensor technology that can operate at higher temperatures and in harsh conditions.