Plagues of locusts, containing millions of insects, fly across the sky to attack crops but the individual insects do not collide with each other within these massive swarms. A team of engineers is creating a low-power collision detector that mimics the locust avoidance response to help robots, drone

Researchers developed a wearable technology that can hide its wearer from heat-detecting sensors such as night vision goggles, even when the ambient temperature changes. The technology can adapt to temperature changes in just a few minutes, while keeping the wearer comfortable. The device has a surf

Obtaining three-dimensional structural information inside objects in nondestructive way has been challenging. The most common approach is conventional computed tomography (CT) where either the object is rotated around one axis, or the x-ray source and detector are rotated around the object. Then the

The compact Hyperspectral Stripe Projector (HSP) combines the HSP, a monochrome sensor array, and sophisticated programming to give users a more complete picture of an object’s shape and composition. It captures four-dimensional information from an image — three spatial and one spectral — in real ti

Who COVID-19 can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of the virus might feel perfectly well and take the virus with them to work, to the home of a family member, or to public gatherings. An at-home test that can rapidly identify infections i

A soft, wearable, robotic upper limb exoskeleton garment was designed to actively control the shoulder and elbow, both positioning the limb in specific orientations and commanding the limb through desired motions. The invention was developed to provide effective upper extremity motor rehabilitation

Dr. Andrei Kolmakov and a team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a method for 3D printing of tiny gel structures in liquids with electron beams — a method that has previously been limited to solids. Dr. Andrei Kolmakov: One of the projects w

For the past two decades, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have conducted science in a way that cannot be done anywhere else. Orbiting about 250 miles above Earth, the ISS is the only laboratory available for long-duration microgravity research. During the past 20 years, t

Electric linear actuators have long delivered ergonomic benefits by automating tasks that are repetitive, dirty, or dangerous. Recently, the integration of onboard intelligence into electric actuators has raised their ergonomic contribution to a new level. Smart features such as digital motor contro

The data gained from monitoring remote equipment is critical to the functionality of any industrial process. Often, this data is handled by a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) control system often via an Ethernet and TCP/IP network over a bus, star, or tree topology. Industrial Intern

As manufacturing facilities become more automated, robots are playing a larger role. And while collaborative robots and other robotic systems may help human workers, there are many questions still to be answered about cost, safety, and other factors. Motion Design posed some of those questions to a

A new study has confirmed the success of a natural-gas leak-detection tool pioneered by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, which uses sensors and machine learning to locate leak points at oil and gas fields, promising new automatic, affordable sampling across the vast natural gas infrastruct

Field Effect Transistors (FET) are the core building blocks of modern electronics such as integrated circuits, computer CPUs, and display backplanes. Organic Field Effect Transistors (OFETs) have the advantage of being flexible when compared with their inorganic counterparts like silicon. OFETs, giv

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have invented a miniature superconducting thermometer with big potential applications, such as monitoring the temperature of processor chips in superconductor-based quantum computers, which must stay cold to work properly. The

Researchers at the University of Nottingham have cracked the conundrum of how to use inks to 3D-print novel electronic devices with useful properties, such as an ability to convert light into electricity. Their study shows that it is possible to jet inks containing tiny flakes of 2D materials such a

Who needs a sensor from the manufacturer? Researchers from the University of Washington have equipped their drone with one of natures finest detectors: a moth antenna. “Nature really blows our human-made odor sensors out of the water,” said UW doctoral student Melanie Anderson , lead researcher

Researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Okanagan have improved the real-time response of aircraft ice-sensors. With an embedded antenna, the enhanced sensors can now immediately identify two types of crucial aviation data: ice accumulation and melting rate. Currently, ice detect

Characterizing microstrip superconducting film at millimeter-wave frequencies is difficult without undergoing a complex thin film fabrication process. This characterization includes measuring the ohmic loss at a resolution of 10100 parts per million (ppm). Typically, characterizing microstrip superc

Engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center tasked with measuring atmospheric ozone — an important pollutant and greenhouse gas — discovered that existing optical instrumentation would not be sufficient to achieve their performance requirements. Specifically, the current systems did not possess th

COVID-19 is changing the way indoor spaces are used, presenting challenges for those who manage those spaces, from homes to offices and factories. Not least among these challenges is heating and cooling — the largest consumer of energy in American homes and commercial buildings. There’s a need for s