Sensors & Test

Sensors/Data Acquisition

This is your resource for developments in smart sensor systems and data acquisition. Browse technical briefs, articles, and white papers on advanced applications in transducer technologies, detector systems, data acquisition, and sensor-related technologies.

Stories

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Handheld Measuring Device Distinguishes Between Methanol and Potable Alcohol

Methanol is sometimes referred to as ethanol's deadly twin. While the latter is the intoxicating ingredient in wine, beer, and liquor, the former is a chemical that...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Portable Device Detects Foodborne Illness

Foodborne illness hits about one in six people in the United States every year from more than 31 recognized pathogens including E. coli O157:H7, a particularly harsh strain of E. coli. Researchers...

Briefs: Wearables

Liquid Metal Wearable Pressure Sensor

Soft pressure sensors have received significant research attention in a variety of fields including soft robotics, electronic skin, and wearable electronics. Researchers have developed a highly sensitive...

Briefs: Wearables

Detecting Health Markers in Thread-Based, Wearable Sweat Sensors

Engineers have created a flexible electronic sensing patch that can be sewn into clothing to analyze sweat for multiple markers. The patch could be used to diagnose and monitor...

Briefs: AR/AI

Bimodal “Electronic Skin”

Through the use of magnetic fields, scientists have developed an electronic sensor that can simultaneously process both touchless and tactile stimuli. Prior attempts have so far failed to combine these functions on...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Material for the Next Generation of Smart Sensors

Scientists have developed color-changing, flexible photonic crystals that could be used to develop sensors that warn when an earthquake might strike next. The wearable, robust, and low-cost...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Polymer Mixture Creates Ultra-Sensitive Heat Sensor

An ultra-sensitive heat sensor was developed that is based on the fact that certain materials are thermoelectric. The electrons in a thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm...

Special Reports: Robotics, Automation & Control

RF & Microwave Electronics - May 2022

In this compendium of recent articles from the editors of Aerospace & Defense Technology and Tech Briefs, read about how advances in RF electronics are enabling new applications in avionics systems,...

INSIDER: Design

Machine Intelligence to Build Soft Machines

Soft machines — a subcategory of robotics that uses deformable materials instead of rigid links — are an emerging technology commonly used in wearable robotics and biomimetics (e.g.,...

Question of the Week: Wearables

Would You Wear a Microgrid?

Our April issue of Tech Briefs highlighted a wearable microgrid that powers electronics by harvesting energy from the wearer’s body. The wearable (shown here) has three components: sweat-powered biofuel cells, motion-powered devices called triboelectric generators, and energy-storing supercapacitors. All parts are...

Blog: Energy

'Floating Sensors' Spread Like Dandelion Seeds

Dropped by a drone, the battery-free devices hover 100 meters in the air.

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

AI’s Inherent Limitations Call for an ‘In-Advance’ Safety Mindset

See what Ed Brown’s early days as a high-voltage power supplies designer tell him about today’s efforts with A.I.

Videos: Sensors/Data Acquisition

5 High-Tech Materials That Sense and Detect

A variety of electronics and sensors are being integrated into today’s materials to spot a variety of parameters: from damage to a product design to stress on your heart.

Question of the Week: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Do You See Valuable Uses for 'Floating Sensors?'

Researchers from the University of Washington want to send out sensors in the same way that a dandelion distributes seeds.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Fast Low-Cost Sensor Prototyping for Wearable Technology

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technique for making sensors for wearable technology that enables medical researchers to prototype-test new designs much faster and at a...

INSIDER: Semiconductors & ICs

Atomic Scale Semiconductor Chips — Pushing the Limits

The information age created over nearly 60 years has given the world the internet, smart phones, and lightning-fast computers. Making this possible has been the doubling of the number...

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Perovskite High-Performance Transistors Can Be Printed

A Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) research team has improved the performance of a p-type semiconductor transistor using inorganic metal halide perovskite. One of...

5 Ws: Green Design & Manufacturing

5 Ws of Floating Sensors

Wireless sensors inspired by Dandelions could be used to monitor climate change.

INSIDER: Materials

Piezoelectric Polymers

A Penn State-led team of interdisciplinary researchers have developed a polymer with robust piezoelectric effectiveness, resulting in 60% more efficient electricity generation than previous iterations.

Special Reports: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Aerospace & Defense Sensing - April 2022

Designing the connected battlespace of the future...mobile robots that detect and alert soldiers to dangers in real time...'electronic skin' sensors capable of mimicking the dynamic process of human...

Special Reports: Robotics, Automation & Control

Medical Robotics - April 2022

Novel biosensors set to revolutionize brain-controlled robotics...micro-robots propelled by air bubbles...a smart artificial hand...major advances in exoskeleton technology. These are just a few of the medical...