Test & Measurement

Measuring Instruments

Explore a range of technical briefs and articles digging deep into advanced measuring instruments and devices. Find the latest developments that design engineers are using to meet their design challenges.

Stories

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control

Small, Precise, Affordable Gyroscope Navigates Without GPS

An inexpensive gyroscope could help drones and autonomous cars stay on track without a GPS signal.

Blog: Photonics/Optics

As Fewer Planes Take Off, NASA's Pandora Sensors Measure Airport Air Quality

An empty airport tells you more than you might think.

Products: Photonics/Optics

New Products

Photodetectors, ultrafast lasers, energy sensors, and more.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Wi-Fi-assisted Inertial Odometry (WIO) Measures Speed and Distance of Indoor Movement

The technique could be used to improve navigation for robots, drones, or pedestrians.

Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Lab-on-a-Chip Enables “Liquid Biopsy” of Cancer Cells

This diagnostic device allows doctors to detect cancer quickly from a droplet of blood or plasma.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Low-Cost Detection of Thin Film Stress During Fabrication

This method uses fiber optic probes for measurement of semiconductors, optical coatings, magnetic read/write heads, and precision machines.

Briefs: Software

Open-Source Software Analyzes Economics of Biofuels and Bioproducts

This fast, flexible tool allows researchers to quickly compare and prioritize strategies for converting biomass to fuels and products.

Products: Data Acquisition

Product of the Month

The ADISRA SmartView 4.0 HMI allows builders to see what's going on in their machines.

Products: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

New on the Market: May 2020

Sealing connection tools, oscilloscopes, snap-action switches, and more...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Characterizing Richness of Previously Unmapped Terrain and its Impact on Navigation Using 3D Range Sensors

Landers to small bodies such as comets and asteroids can use this program to estimate the terrain richness of the previously unmapped small body.

Briefs: Imaging

Bats Inspire Detectors to Help Prevent Oil and Gas Pipe Leaks

Engineers have developed a new scanning technique inspired by the natural world that can detect corroding metals in oil and gas pipelines.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Moving Precision Communication, Metrology, Quantum Applications from Lab to Chip

A team is exploring new materials for telecommunications and LIDAR applications.

Blog: Test & Measurement

Biosensor to Measure Coronavirus Concentration in Air

A team used to making pollutant-detection systems is adapting their technologies to spot coronavirus.

Blog: Test & Measurement

'mRIXS' Offers Deeper Look into Battery Chemistry

A Berkeley Lab system provides a much more sensitive probe of the chemical state of battery electrodes, especially when the battery is operated under high capacity mode.

Articles: Motion Control

Resolution, Accuracy, and Precision of Encoders

Here's what you'll need to know when you’re choosing an encoder for a motion control system.

Articles: Robotics, Automation & Control

Reimagining Robotics in a Connected World

Manufacturers are beginning to realize the same benefits by cloud-connecting their equipment and processes on the shop floor.

Products: Test & Measurement

New on the Market: April 2020

Vision-based 3D printing, network analyzers, particulate sensors, and more.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

Terahertz Imaging System Uses Small, Efficient Lasers

The lasers are small and efficient enough to fit on a microchip.

NASA Spinoff: Imaging

Detailed Spectrometry Makes Dangerous-Materials Testing Safer

Technology used to search for extraterrestrial life can characterize radioactive material.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

High-Reliability Radio Frequency MEMS Switch

Applications include homeland security, vehicle anti-collision systems, telecommunications systems, and industrial instrumentation.

Question of the Week: Test & Measurement

Would You Use a CurveBoard?

MIT researchers have invented a way to integrate “breadboards” — flat platforms widely used for electronics prototyping — directly onto physical products.

INSIDER: Imaging

Simple Retrofit Transforms Electron Microscopes into High-Speed Atom-Scale Cameras

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their collaborators have developed a way to retrofit the transmission electron...