Sensors/​Data Acquisition

Q&A: Artificial Skin Could Lead to a New Generation of Touch-Sensitive Robots

A team of engineers from the University of Glasgow led by Professor Ravinder Dahiya developed an artificial skin with a new type of processing system based on...

Metalens for Virtual and Augmented Reality

The millimeter-sized flat lens can be used in wearable displays for virtual reality, which requires compact, lightweight, and cost-effective components.

Product of the Month: August 2022 Tech Briefs

Product of the Month: August 2022 Tech Briefs

Charting a Safe Course Through a Highly Uncertain Environment

An autonomous spacecraft exploring the far-flung regions of the universe descends through the atmosphere of a remote exoplanet. The vehicle, and the researchers who programmed...

Roboticists Go Off Road to Compile Data That Could Train Self-Driving ATVs

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University took an all-terrain vehicle on wild rides through tall grass, loose gravel, and mud to gather data about how the ATV...

What Can Engineers Learn from Nature?

A number of the engineers I’ve interviewed have taken their inspirations from nature. As one said to me, nature has been evolving and perfecting its designs over thousands of years — we should...

New Silicon Nanowires Could Speed Up Computer Processors

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have discovered a physical phenomenon that is the basis for a new material that has 150% better thermal conductivity than conventional materials used in...

LEGO-Like Artificial Intelligence Chip

Imagine a more sustainable future, where cellphones, smartwatches, and other wearable devices don’t have to be shelved or discarded for a newer model. Instead, they could be upgraded with the...

Powerful Family of Two-Dimensional Materials

A team from the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering has developed a new family of two-dimensional materials that researchers say has promising applications, including in...

Keeping the Bugs at Bay

With its instant repellency and its ability to repel rather than kill or deactivate pathogens, RepelWrap presents an effective alternative to current technologies.

How to Measure 20 Million Volts

As I was scrolling through research lab press releases for a Q&A column, one caught my eye: “Remote High-Voltage Sensor Unveiled at Sandia Gamma Ray Lab.” High voltage is not the sexiest of technology...

Smart Design for Pneumatics Proves Vital

While the U.S. historically has had much lower energy costs than in other parts of the world, today’s volatile energy market combined with the initiatives of many corporations to reduce carbon...

Assessing Five Key Areas of Modern Hydraulic Power Units

Any manufacturing facility that uses hydraulics powered by conventional fixed-speed hydraulic power units (HPUs) has engineers and personnel who know all too well how large,...

Flow Measurement in Smart Medical Inhalers

Inhalers are among the most commonly used devices for treating respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With each inhalation through the inhaler, the...

Breakthrough Lightweight AR Eyeglasses

With AR eyeglasses, the screen of a mobile device can be transitioned to the lens of a pair of eyeglasses. The problem with that is that even though the technology has been around for a while, the...

Edge Processing with Embedded Artificial Intelligence

We are currently moving into the next automation age. It is a world where your personal devices will help you track your health in real time, while conveniently connecting with your...

New Products: June 2022 Sensor Technology

Octoplant Data Management Platform

AUVESY-MDT, Landau in der Pfalz, Germany, is releasing octoplant, the next level of development of the versiondog and AutoSave solution. Octoplant is a new...

Forecast 2022 for Sensors/MEMS

This article is a marked departure from my annual reporting on the past year’s performance of the health of the MEMS industry vis-à-vis my MEMS Industry Commercialization Report Card. ^[1] ...

5Ws of the Green Submarine

Who

A fully automated net positive submarine fleet, powered entirely on hydrogen, could help cleanse the oceans of toxic pollution. Developed by London-based startup Oceanways, the submarine was named among the...

Shaping Light Enables 2D Microscopes to Capture 4D Data

Super temporal resolution microscopy allows imaging of fluorescent molecules 20 times faster than traditional lab cameras normally allow. A general method has been developed to let a...

Autonomous Assemblers Assemble

In-space and planetary surface assembly for human exploration is a challenging domain that encompasses various technological thrusts to support human missions. NASA is developing autonomous assembly agents to...

Optical De-Multiplexing Method for QKD Encryption

Classical laser communication gimbals are coupled to 105um multimodal receiving fibers for the high-power transmission of data, fine pointing, and tracking. These fibers cannot be used in...

Sensors Converge 2022

Sensors Expo is returning to the McEnery Convention Center, San Jose, CA from June 27 – 29, with its new name — Sensors Converge. There are nine conference tracks that highlight the different applications for...

Products of Tomorrow: June 2022

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that...