TechBlog

A CubeSat is a type of space research picosatellite with dimensions usually of 10×10×10 centimetres (i.e., a volume of exactly one litre), weighing no more than one kilogram, and typically using commercial off-the-shelf electronics components.

Developed through joint efforts, California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University introduced the CubeSat to academia as a way for universities throughout the world to enter the realm of space science and exploration.

Currently, a large number of universities and some companies and other organizations around the world are actively developing CubeSats. One of these companies Clyde-Space, has just developed an ‘off-the-shelf’ website with information and resources for various sized cubesats and their subsystems. Other suppliers such as ISIS and GomSpace are also offering products and services through their websites.
With their relatively small size, CubeSats can be made and launched for an estimated US$65,000–80,000 each (2004 US dollars). This low price tag, as compared to most satellite launches, has made Cubesat a viable option for schools and universities across the world.

Continue reading ‘Researchers And Students To Develop Small CubeSat Satellites, the Size of a Loaf of Bread’ »

HGH Infrared Systems, manufacturers of advanced infrared cameras and a variety of thermal imaging products and systems, introduced the new IR Revolution 360, a 20° vertical, 360° horizontal field of view (FOV) panoramic infrared vision system for security and surveillance.

The revolutionary sensor contains approx. 3 million pixels (10,000 x 288). This advanced thermal imager delivers clear, extremely high resolution imagery via the rotating head that scans a full 360-degree rotation per second. Other features include auto detection and tracking, a motion alarm, and an area-of-interest zoom.

The detector is based on mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) imaging technology and operates in the 8 -12 micron wavelength, the long-wave infrared (LWIR) region. The high sensitivity (<25 mK) IR camera detection range, without image distortion, is up to 1 kilometer (km) for a human figure, up to 1.5 km for an automobile, and up to 6 km for a boat or ship.

Continue reading ‘HGH Infrared Systems Introduces A 3 Million Pixel, 20-Degree FOV, IR Panoramic Camera’ »

Applied scientists at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers from the German universities of Jena, Gottingen, and Bremen, have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits that may one day be suitable for high-volume commercial production.

Fabrication technique could yield low-cost, scalable nanowire photonic and electronic circuits

Spearheaded by graduate student Mariano Zimmler and Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering, both of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and Prof. Carsten Ronning of the University of Jena, the findings will be published in Nano Letters. The researchers have filed for U.S. patents covering their invention.

Continue reading ‘Scientists Demonstrate Method for Integrating Nanowire Devices Directly onto Silicon’ »

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has authorized Raytheon Company to demonstrate target recognition technology designed to increase protection for ground forces without compounding risk to an aircraft stalking enemies who threaten those forces.

First in a laboratory and then aloft, the company expects to show how its Air-to-Ground Radar Imaging II program would permit aircraft at a safe distance to detect, track and target hostile forces in motion on the ground.

The laboratory demonstration is expected in autumn 2008, followed by a flight next spring aboard a Raytheon test aircraft.

Continue reading ‘Raytheon Develops Technology To Help Aircraft Protect Ground Forces’ »

Mems- Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems from Universal Semiconductor, Inc. USI offers rugged, miniature, and high sensitivity MEMS process capability for manufacture of sensors, transducers, switches, mirrors, and many diverse special custom designed products that go into wide ranging applications from medical to aerospace.

The MEMS integrated sensor chip can be readily combined with a signal conditioning circuitry chip for amplification, offset compensation, linearity improvement, and temperature compensation. All parameters for amplification, offset compensation, linearity improvement, and temperature compensation are stored in an internal EEPROM. No additional components required, simplifies incorporation in to existing systems.

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A team led by Boeing has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to demonstrate initial technologies for a new spacecraft system architecture concept.A $12,891,049 cost-plus-fixed-fee, 12-month Phase 1 contract was awarded to Boeing Advanced Systems to research, design, develop and test DARPA’s Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying Spacecraft United by Information Exchange (System F6) space technology and demonstration program.

The DARPA System F6 is based on a concept whereby a group of spacecraft operate together wirelessly as a single unit to enable flexible data sharing and distributed processing that will allow cooperative communications among the spacecraft. This concept of multiple spacecraft operating together to perform a mission similar to that of a single larger spacecraft is known as “fractionation.”

“We believe the fractionation spacecraft concept proposed by our team can be a game-changer that could provide the high degree of flexibility needed for responsive space missions,” said Bob Friend, director for Boeing Operationally Responsive Space.

Continue reading ‘Boeing Selected To Design DARPA Space System’ »

The Nintendo Wii’s use of a MEMS-enabled motion controller and the Apple iPhone’s use of accelerometers to change the display from horizontal to vertical are examples of how MEMS are creating new ways for people to interact with electronic devices. They illustrate the continued expansion of MEMS technology from its beginnings in the automotive and industrial markets to applications that include energy harvesting, wireless communications, “smart homes,” and biomedical.

Big numbersAccording to the analyst group Yole Développement, the market was worth $5.8 billion in 2006 and will grow to $10.7 billion by 2011. The leading MEMS application, inkjet heads, is followed closely by sensors for airbag deployment and tire inflation monitoring. Texas Instruments (TI) makes Digital Light Processing (DLP) MEMS for computer displays as well as for digital projection. Wicht Technologie Consulting says that TI was the top MEMS manufacturer in 2006, with $905 million in revenues. TI has reportedly shipped more than 10 million DLP sub-systems since 1996.

While MEMS technology is about more than high-volume production, others have been similarly successful with mass production. ST Microelectronics’ 3-axis accelerometer is the enabling force within Nintendo’s Wii, and Analog Devices says it has shipped more than 250 million MEMS accelerometers for automotive, consumer, and industrial applications.

Continue reading ‘MEMS is moving. Here’s where.’ »

Always on the verge of a seeming comeback, airships are back in the spotlight, touting new technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency recently announced funding for an innovative, ballast-free airship technology created by Aeros Aeronautical Systems, based outside Los Angeles. The Aeroscraft ML866’s potentially revolutionary Control of Static Heaviness system compresses and decompresses helium in the 210-ft.-long envelope, changing this proposed sky yacht’s buoyancy during takeoff and landings, Aeros says.

It hopes to end the program with a test flight demonstrating the system. Other companies are planning their own first flights within the next few years. Each has a design that it promises will launch a new era of lighter-than-air transportation.

OROGRANDE, N.M.  —  The Army unveiled parts of its high-tech Future Combat Systems on Thursday in a mock raid on a fictitious village, demonstrating equipment that aims to make soldiers’ work safer.

The late morning exercise was the first public glimpse of a series of camera mounted-robots, small unmanned planes, radios that can send text messages and other equipment that Army and defense officials say will make combat safer for U.S. personnel.

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Energy-efficient device could quickly detect hazardous chemicals

MIT research scientist Luis Velasquez-Garcia, left, and Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, are developing a tiny sensor that can detect hazardous gases, including biochemical warfare agents. Scaling down gas detectors makes them much easier to use in a real-world environment, where they could be dispersed in a building or outdoor area. Making the devices small also reduces the amount of power they consume and enhances their sensitivity to trace amounts of gases, Akinwande said.

MIT research scientist Luis Velasquez-Garcia, left, and Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, are developing a tiny sensor that can detect hazardous gases, including biochemical warfare agents.

Continue reading ‘MIT Gas Sensor Is Tiny, Quick’ »