Sensors

Low-Power Hydrogen Sensor Detects Leaks in an Instant

KAUST researchers have invented a robust, highly sensitive, low-cost hydrogen sensor that outperforms available commercial detectors, offering a vital safeguard for the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Read on to learn more.

Better Images for Humans and Computers

Maksym Kovalenko and his team have proposed a novel solution that allows them to utilize every photon of light for color recognition. For nearly a decade, they have been researching perovskite-based image sensors. In a new study published in Nature, they show that their new technology works. Read on to learn more.

FAU Engineers Design New Autonomous System to Monitor Arctic Ice Melt

Researchers from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University have proposed a design for an alternative, autonomous observational method, which holds promise for improving the autonomy of marine vehicles, aiding in maritime missions, and gaining a deeper understanding of how melting Arctic sea ice affects marine ecosystems. Read on to learn more.

Drones Can Detect Fires and Monitor Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Forest fire prevention and control agencies in São Carlos, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, will soon have help from the sky to detect fires more quickly and combat them before they grow out of control, as researchers at the University of São Paulo are developing drones equipped with gas sensors and artificial intelligence systems to detect forest fires.

New App Performs Real-Time, Full-Body Motion Capture With a Mobile Device

Northwestern engineers have developed a new system for full-body motion capture — and it doesn’t require specialized rooms, expensive equipment, bulky cameras, or an array of sensors. Instead, it requires a simple mobile device. Read on to learn more.

Monitoring the Injection Molding Process to Improve Quality and Lower Costs

The digitalization of industrial measurement solutions has come a long way. With the help of these levers, plastic injection molders have effective tools at hand to tackle current challenges, be it cost pressure and competitiveness, high product quality, or sustainability requirements. Read on to learn more.

Collaborative Robots Need More Sophisticated Sensors

The transition from isolated, pre-programmed robots to adaptive cobots marks a significant advancement in industrial automation — one that depends not only on software but on a new generation of sensing technologies. Read on to learn more.

The Impact of AI Across the Industrial Value Chain

It is no exaggeration to say that AI will be the next big leap across all of industry, reimagining the way people work, products are designed, and factories are operated. But AI doesn’t mean a fully autonomous future but rather a harmony, uniting people and technology in a way that plays to the strength of both to achieve a result greater than what either could achieve alone. Read on to learn more.

Flexible Conductive Skin Gives Robots the Human Touch

A team of engineers has developed a low-cost, durable, highly-sensitive robotic ‘skin’ that can be added to robotic hands like a glove, enabling robots to detect information about their surroundings in a way that’s similar to humans. Read on to learn more.

Built-In Smart Sensors Can Prevent Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Before They Start

New smart sensors can help detect dangerous internal failures in lithium-ion batteries before they escalate into fires or explosions, say researchers from the University of Surrey. Read on to learn more.

Meet RoboBall: A Robot with No Fixed Top or Bottom

Two decades after the original idea, RoboBall is rolling across Texas A&M University. The RAD Lab is intent on sending the novel spherical robot into uncharted terrain.

A New Window into Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

Between 50 and 100 kilometers (30-60 miles) above Earth’s surface lies a largely unstudied stretch of the atmosphere, called the mesosphere. It’s too high for airplanes and weather balloons,...

An AI-Powered Robodog Is Here to Save the Day!

While the average pampered pup at home may lounge on the couch and demand belly rubs, the robotic dogs being created at Arizona State University are stepping up to take on some of the world’s most dangerous tasks.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a new tunable laser that uses a series of rings to smoothly emit many light wavelengths from a single chip; a smart capsule called PillTrek, which can measure pH, temperature, and a variety of different biomarkers; and more.

Thin Film Sensor for Ultra High-Temp Measurement

Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a thin film sensor that measures temperatures up to 1200 °F, and whose prototype successor may achieve measurements up to ~3000 °F — which was the surface temperature of the Space Shuttle during its atmospheric reentry. Read on to learn more.

‘Exergames’ Aim to Make Working Out Enjoyable

Virtual reality video games that combine screen time with exercise are a great way to get fit, but game designers face a major challenge — adherence to ‘exergames’ is low, with most users dropping out once they start to feel uncomfortable or bored. Read on to learn what a team did to thwart this.

Advanced Thermal Inspection with Pulsed Light Emitting Diodes (PLED) Technology

Engineers at NASA Langley Research Center have developed a cutting-edge thermal inspection technology that enhances defect detection on low-emissivity surfaces by eliminating false readings caused by infrared reflections. Read on to learn more.

Twisted Moiré Photonic Crystals

Researchers have developed an on-chip twisted moiré photonic crystal sensor that uses MEMS technology to control the gap and angle between the crystal layers in real time. The sensor can detect and collect detailed polarization and wavelength information simultaneously. Read on to learn more.

Sensitive Yet Tough Photonic Devices Are Now a Reality

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have achieved a long-sought milestone in photonics: creating tiny optical devices that are both highly sensitive and durable — two qualities that have long been considered fundamentally incompatible. Read on to learn more.

Next-Gen Automotive Semiconductors Are Critical for Level 5 Driverless Cars

The driverless robotaxis chauffeuring around San Francisco, and the advanced driver assistance features on more than half of new vehicles sold this year show just...

Tiny But Mighty: Next-Gen Transistors Hold Great Promise

As electronics become smaller, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue scaling down silicon-based transistors. Now, a research team led by the Institute of Industrial...

Researchers Develop Recyclable, Healable Electronics

Between upgrades and breakdowns to cellphones, tablets, laptops, and appliances, so many electronic devices are getting tossed in the trash that they've taken on a name of their own:...

New Tech May Lead to Smaller, More Powerful Wireless Devices

A new class of synthetic materials could herald the next revolution of wireless technologies, enabling devices to be smaller, require less signal strength and use less power.