Sensors & Test

NASA Spinoff: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Autonomous Drone Navigation System Ends Reliance on GPS

NASA's UAS traffic management expertise leads to advances in drone navigation.

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

“One-Way” Electronic Devices

These non-reciprocal devices on a compact chip pave the way for applications from two-way wireless to quantum computing.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Products of Tomorrow: October 2020

Nanowire masks, underwater imaging, and tiny 3D-printed block that repair bone breaks.

Briefs: Medical

3D-Printed Soft, Rubbery Brain Implants

This technique may enable speedy, on-demand design of softer, safer neural devices.

Briefs: Aerospace

Nanocardboard Aircraft with No Moving Parts

Tiny aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly could serve as Martian atmospheric probes.

Briefs: Medical

Manufacturing Nanoscale Light Manipulation Devices on Peelable Film

This method integrates 3D plasmonic nanoarrays onto stickers that adhere to any surface.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Quantum Switch Turns Metals into Insulators

This approach could engineer quantum materials atom-by-atom for new electronic, magnetic, and sensing applications.

Q&A: Test & Measurement

Q&A: NanoLED Architecture Overcomes Efficiency Droop

A nanoLED has up to 1,000 times the brightness of conventional submicron-sized LEDs.

Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping

Wavy Surfaces for Better Light Control

This method could impact optical technologies such as smartphone cameras, biosensors, or autonomous vision for robots and self-driving cars.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Products: October 2020 Motion Design

Accelerometers, actuators, hexapods, and more.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Torque Limiters 101: Benefits, Types, and Comparisons

Torque limiters protect against damage and downtime caused by machine overloads.

Technology Leaders: Materials

Protecting the New Generation of Sensors and Electronics: Smarter and Smaller Requires Advanced Protection

For nearly 50 years, engineers in the electronics, aerospace, defense, medical device, and transportation industries have relied on Parylene coatings.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Combined Optical Transmitter and Receiver

The tiny unit is significant for the miniaturization of optoelectronic systems.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Measuring Optical Null Lens Aberrations

This method can be used in astronomy, surveillance, and optics manufacturing.

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Possible Significant Response Speedup from Detuning a Resonator Bolometer

The response time of kinetic inductance bolometers can be greatly enhanced by electrothermal feedback for devices that are both sensitive and speedy.

Facility Focus: Test & Measurement

Facility Focus: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

In 2020, the EPA marks 50 years of preparing for, responding to, preventing, and mitigating natural and manmade disasters.

Briefs: Unmanned Systems

Testing Swarming Drones

This system has a capacity of more than 1,500 times the volume of a typical testing facility.

Application Briefs: Motion Control

Custom Gimbal for JHU-APL Shows Promise for Others

See how Blue Joule developed and delivered the Mini Mount (MM) Gimbal to Johns Hopkins University.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Researchers Have Developed the World’s Smallest Ultrasound Detector

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed the world’s smallest ultrasound detector. Based on...

INSIDER: Wearables

Researchers Devise Efficient, Scalable Process for Fabricating MXene Films That Block Electromagnetic Interference

The proliferation and miniaturization of electronics in devices, wearables, medical implants, and other applications has...

INSIDER: Internet of Things

2D Materials for Extra Thin Computer Chips

For a long time, something important has been regularly neglected in electronics. If you want to make electronic components smaller and smaller, you also need the right insulator materials. This...

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Medical Robotic Hand? Rubbery Semiconductor Makes It Possible

Researchers at the University of Houston report that they have designed and produced a smart electronic skin and a medical robotic hand capable of assessing vital diagnostic...

INSIDER: Photonics/Optics

Precision Landing Without a Pilot

For planned robotic and crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA is developing and testing precise landing and hazard-avoidance technologies. A combination of laser sensors, a camera, a high-speed...