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.

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Blog: Sensors/Data Acquisition

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.

Question of the Week: Data Acquisition

Is Anonymization the Best Way to Protect Personal Data?

A Tech Briefs reader recently asked our industry expert:

INSIDER: Electronics & Computers

Stretchy Electronics for Next Generation Smart Devices

A new manufacturing process could produce flexible electronics for things like virtual reality-enabled contact lenses, solar-powered skins that mold to the contours of your car, and...

INSIDER: Wearables

Atomic Chains in Nanotubes Push the Electronics Frontier

Wearable tech and electronic cloth may be the way of the future, but to get there the wiring needs to be strong, flexible, and efficient.

INSIDER: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Etching Technique Produces Far Smaller Semiconductors

Microelectronics like semiconductor devices are at the heart of the technologies we use each day. As we move into an era where we are stretching the limits of Moore’s Law, it is...

INSIDER: Connectivity

Ultra-Low Power Chip for IoT Wi-Fi

More portable, fully wireless smart home setups; lower power wearables; batteryless smart devices, could all be made possible with this new ultra-low power Wi-Fi radio. It is housed in a chip smaller than...

Products: Automotive

Product of the Month

Rugged tablets from Teguar Corp. can be used to monitor manufacturing operations.

Briefs: Transportation

High-Reliability Radio Frequency MEMS Switch

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

NASA Spinoff: Aerospace

Detailed Spectrometry Makes Dangerous-Materials Testing Safer

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

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Terahertz Imaging System Uses Small, Efficient Lasers

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

Briefs: Imaging

Model Predicts Breaking Point of Conducting Material

This work could accelerate the development of flexible electronics.

Briefs: Test & Measurement

PLCs Directly Access Internet Information

The newest PLCs can directly access Internet resources, much like a mobile device, to obtain information for improving operations.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

Machine Learning Algorithm Identifies Objects Using Microwaves

Hardware and software tweak microwave patterns to discover the most efficient way to identify objects.

Briefs: Energy

Device Harvests Energy from Low-Frequency Vibrations

A wearable energy harvesting device could generate energy from the swing of an arm while walking or jogging.

Briefs: RF & Microwave Electronics

RFID-Based System Enables Internet of Things

The technology could help in elder care with sensors throughout a home.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New on the Market: April 2020

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

Briefs: Energy

Relaxor Piezoelectric Single-Crystal Multilayer Stacks for Energy Harvesting Transducers (RPSEHT)

Applications include powering portable electronic devices and sensors, and harvesting waste mechanical energy for aircraft, automobile, and other transportation equipment.

Articles: Internet of Things

Seeing with Sound Next-Level Ultrasonic Sensors for Intelligent Cars

Even though ultrasound has been studied by scientists for many years, its capabilities in practical applications are yet to be fully harnessed.

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

Seeing Around Corners to Detect Object Shapes

Special light sources and sensors see around corners or through gauzy filters, enabling reconstruction of the shapes of unseen objects.

Facility Focus: Aerospace

Facility Focus: California Institute of Technology

See some of the world-changing tools and technologies launched by Caltech scientists, from earthquake monitoring to helping the blind see.

Products: Sensors/Data Acquisition

New Products

Motor drivers, position sensors, offset couplings, and more.

Articles: Sensors/Data Acquisition

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.

Articles: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Dynamic Force Control and Advanced Electropneumatic Positioning Systems in Automation

As advancements in technology continue to define how pneumatic or electromechanical linear devices lift, move, or place a load, the requirements of excellent closed-loop positioning and accuracy greatly increase