Sensors & Test

Browse extensive resources on the advances in Sensor and Test technologies. Find applications for smart sensor systems, data acquisition, transducers, detector systems plus the latest in advanced measuring instruments and monitoring systems, devices and instrumentation.

Stories

Briefs: Communications

Atom-Based Radio Communications

An atom-based sensor can determine the direction of an incoming radio signal.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Chemistry Approach for More Robust Soft Electronics

The approach could lead to more flexible health monitors, wearable devices, sensors, optical communication systems, and soft robotics.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Programmable Fiber Provides Power and Transmits Data

Designed for soldier uniforms, the fiber can sense, store, analyze, and infer activity when sewn into a piece of clothing.

5 Ws: Electronics & Computers

5 Ws of Puncture-Proof Soft Electronics

The durable soft electronics could be used in wearable electronics and soft robotics and could someday be part of a stretchable smartphone.

Briefs: Imaging

Universal Tactile Sensing with Electromechanically Coupled Conductors

These tactile imaging sensors can measure pressure distribution without using pressure-sensitive materials.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Imitating Human Hands to Make Better Sensors

This work could help severely injured people, such as soldiers, regain the ability to control their movements.

NASA Spinoff: Data Acquisition

Microphone Detects Turbulence Hundreds of Miles Away

A NASA microphone that detects unseen air turbulence is lofted to high heights aboard a stratospheric glider.

Briefs: Materials

Graphite-Based Sensor for Wearable Medical Devices

Researchers have developed graphene-based sensing technology using G-Putty material — a highly malleable graphene blended putty. The printed sensors are 50 times more sensitive than the...

Special Reports: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Aerospace Manufacturing - August 2021

Demanding applications in the aerospace industry require products and systems that are manufactured using the latest technologies – from design and simulation, to fabrication and final testing. To help...

Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Touch-Sensing Glove Feels the Pressure

A new pressure-sensor from MIT detects small and fast changes in pressure at the fingertip, such as from lightly rubbing fingers together.

INSIDER: Nanotechnology

Brain-Inspired Highly Scalable Neuromorphic Hardware

Researchers from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) fabricated brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor neurons and...

INSIDER: Medical

Using Silicone Wristbands to Measure Air Quality

A study by researchers at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health shows that inexpensive and convenient devices such as silicone wristbands can be used to yield quantitative air...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

This Touchy-Feely Glove Senses and Maps Tactile Stimuli

When you pick up a balloon, the pressure to keep hold of it is different from what you would exert to grasp a jar. And now engineers at MIT and elsewhere have a way to precisely...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Manufacturing Technique for Flexible Electronics

Ultrathin, flexible computer circuits have been an engineering goal for years, but technical hurdles have prevented the degree of miniaturization necessary to achieve high performance....

Question of the Week: Software

Could Digital Twins Be Used on ‘Any System?’

An INSIDER story this month highlighted efforts to use sensors to improve the virtual design model known as a digital twin.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Robotic Finger Senses Buried Items

MIT researchers have designed a sharp-tipped robot finger equipped with tactile sensing to meet the challenge of identifying buried objects. Digger Finger was able to dig through granular media such as...