The Leading Source for Design Engineering News & Insight
Digital Pyrodetector for Wireless & Battery-Operated Devices
May 15, 2013 3:40 pm | by PD&D Staff | Product Releases | CommentsExcelitas Technologies (Waltham, MA) has announced the Low-Power DigiPyro PYD 1688. As part of the industry’s one and only Digital Pyroelectric Infrared Detector Family, the new DigiPyro PYD 1688 was developed for use in both residential and commercial products.
Making Frequency-Hopping Radios Practical
May 15, 2013 2:45 pm | by Larry Hardesty, MIT | News | CommentsThe way in which radio spectrum is currently allocated to different wireless technologies can lead to gross inefficiencies. In some regions, for instance, the frequencies used by cellphones can be desperately congested, while large swaths of the broadcast-television spectrum stand idle.
HotSpot Episode 12: 3D Microbatteries
May 15, 2013 2:40 pm | by Eric Sorensen, Multimedia Coordinator | Videos | CommentsThis week on WDD's HotSpot, a netbook-like combo that uses a smartphone for its computing power, new microbatteries for a balance between energy and density, satellites that listen in on ADS, and a sound camera that shows the location of troublesome noises in machinery.
New Uses for Tiny Carbon Nanotubes
May 15, 2013 2:38 pm | by University of California - Riverside | News | CommentsThe atom-sized world of carbon nanotubes holds great promise for a future demanding smaller and faster electronic components. Nanotubes are stronger than steel and smaller than any element of silicon-based electronics—the ubiquitous component of today's electrical devices—and have better conductivity, which means they can potentially process information faster while using less energy.
Solutions for Energy-Efficient Repairs in Moscow
May 15, 2013 2:36 pm | by Satu Paiho, Senior Scientist | News | CommentsThere are many old and decrepit residential buildings in Moscow in need of refurbishment. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed three repair concepts for improv-ing the energy efficiency of both buildings and entire residential districts while also reducing their environmental impact.
MEMS Mass Flow Sensor
May 15, 2013 2:35 pm | by PD&D Staff | Omron Electronics Llc | Product Releases | CommentsOmron has announced the release of a new Differential Pressure Type MEMs Flow Sensor with an I2C output. The sensor uses the proprietary Omron mass flow MEMs chip, however, the internal flow path has been redesigned to produce a low flow, high velocity/high impedance sensor that will output a differential pressure.
Friction in the Nano-World
May 15, 2013 2:33 pm | by Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hugel, Technische Universitaet Muenchen | News | CommentsFriction is an omnipresent but often annoying physical phänomenon: It causes wear and energy loss in machines as well as in our joints. In search of low-friction components for ever smaller components, a team of physicists led by the professors Thorsten Hugel and Alexander Holleitner now discovered a previously unknown type of friction that they call “desorption stick.”
Students in Ghana Launch Mini-Satellite
May 15, 2013 2:33 pm | by Robbie Corey-Boulet, Associated Press | News | CommentsTheir project might not sound like much: The college students on Wednesday launched a tiny model of a satellite the size of a Coke can on a big yellow balloon. It went aloft to a height of 165 meters (yards) and then came back down attached to a red parachute.
Encoders and Inclinometers with J1939 Interface
May 15, 2013 2:33 pm | by PD&D Staff | Fraba Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsPOSITAL's (Hamilton, NJ) versatile inclinometers and absolute rotary encoders are now available with J1939 communications interfaces. POSITAL's versatile inclinometers and absolute rotary encoders are now available with J1939 communications interfaces.
Ultraresponsive Magnetic Nanoscavengers Could Usher In Next Generation Water Purification
May 15, 2013 2:30 pm | by Andrew Myers, Stanford Engineering | News | CommentsAmong its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Yet other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers.
Innovative High-End Sensors for 3D Digitalization
May 15, 2013 2:29 pm | by PD&D Staff | Product Releases | CommentsSteinbichler Optotechnik GmbH (Neubeuern) has announced the new COMET 6 16M high-end sensor for 3D digitalization. The unique concept of the STEINBICHLER COMET 6 16 M is based on a modular structure with the tried-and-tested single-camera technology so that the measurement field size can be quickly adapted to the measuring task at hand.
Electronic Home Plate to Take the Field
May 15, 2013 9:50 am | by Don Aines, The Herald-Mail | News | CommentsCalling balls, strikes, and checked swings could be a thing of the past in amateur ball if the Eagle Eye Electronic Home Plate is all that inventor Jerry Spessard claims. He has enough faith in the product to begin construction of a plant in Hancock this June, with production expected to begin by fall.
TV-Over-Internet Service Hits Atlanta Next Month
May 15, 2013 9:42 am | by Anick Jesdanun, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsAereo, the startup that offers live television broadcasts over the Internet starting at $8 a month, said it will start service in the Atlanta market on June 17, following an expansion to Boston on Wednesday. Until this week, the service had been available only in the New York City area.
Photos of the Day: Drone Launched from Aircraft Carrier
May 15, 2013 9:28 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsIn this image provided by the U.S. Navy an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. The carrier is the first aircraft carrier to catapult-launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck.
Free Update to Address Windows 8 Confusion
May 15, 2013 9:16 am | by Anick Jesdanun, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsA planned Windows 8 update to address complaints and confusion with Microsoft's new operating system will be made available for free this year, the company said Tuesday. Not charging extra for Windows 8.1 is consistent with the company's practice of offering "decimal point" updates to operating systems for free. However, when Microsoft Corp. announced the update last week, it didn't say that it would be free.
