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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Designing the Next Generation of Military Robots

Many recent blockbuster films and best-selling books depict the robotic apocalypse and have shed a negative light on military robotics. However, not all unmanned system development is aimed...

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Articles
Aerospace

USB-to-Synchronous Cable Enables IP Data Communications for Tactical Radios

Warfighters can benefit greatly from having radio IP-based data communications at the theater level. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the 750,000 tactical radio...

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Tech Transfer Reports
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Mass Spectrometer Saves Power While Tracking Harmful Substances

British researchers who received R&D assistance from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) are marketing a new tool that could zero in on toxic chemicals in baby formula, lead...

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Tech Transfer Reports
Materials

Shape-Memory Material Could Improve Prosthetics

A shape-memory composite material developed for satellite antennas could prove useful in prosthetics and next-generation ski boots. The material, identified by the trade name TEMBO®, was...

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Articles
Aerospace

Improved Interference Rejection Using Multi-Static Radar Signal Processing

In multi-static radar (MSR), the transmit/ receive aperture is divided into a number of sub-apertures that can be placed in various locations relative to each other....

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Application Briefs
Defense

Analysis of On-Chip Heat Distribution in the Design of RF Power Detectors and Transistor Arrays

The simulation of electromagnetic (EM) and thermal properties of semiconductor and substrate materials has been demonstrated to be particularly...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Clock Oscillator

Crystek Crystals (Fort Myers, FL) has released the CCSO- 014-1090, a 1.090-GHz surface acoustic wave (SAW) clock oscillator that produces low-noise, low-jitter performance with true SineWave output, and -138 dBc/Hz...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Gain Horn Antennas

The 600 Series standard gain horn antennas from Narda, an L-3 Communications company (Hauppauge, NY), are suitable for EMI and EMC testing applications covering waveguide bands from 2.6 to 40 GHz. Seven models cover 2.6...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Microwave Power Sensors

Anritsu (Morgan Hill, CA) offers MA24108A/ MA24118A microwave USB power sensors that provide average power measurements from 10 MHz to 18 GHz over 60 dB of dynamic range. Employing a dual-path architecture, they can...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Compact Antennas

Antenna Factor (Merlin, OR) offers the HW Series 1⁄2-wave center-fed dipole antennas and 1⁄4-wave monopole antennas that attach using an FCC-compliant RP-SMA connector or standard SMA connector. The 1⁄2-wave dipoles...

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Products
Test & Measurement

Microwave Signal Generators

The 2500B series of microwave signal generators from Giga-tronics (San Ramon, CA) covers 100 kHz to 50 GHz with low phase noise, high rejection of harmonics, sub-harmonics, and spurious, high output power level....

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Antenna Design Simulation

Magus (Stellenbosch, South Africa), in conjunction with FEKO (Hampton, VA), offers Antenna Magus, a design simulation software solution for antenna design and placement analysis. It offers a searchable collection...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Compact Antennas

ETS-Lindgren (Cedar Park, TX) offers two compact-sized, open-boundary, quad-ridge horn antennas. The 3164-06 (300 MHz – 6 GHz) covers the main wireless bands and the entire UHF band common in tapered chambers, while the...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Power Transistor

RF Micro Devices (Greensboro, NC) offers the RF3931, a 48-volt, 30-watt gallium nitride (GaN) power transistor in a hermetic, flanged, ceramic package. It enables the development of high-efficiency HPAs for a range of...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Multilayer Capacitor Chips

The UQ Series multilayer capacitor (MLC) chips from AVX Corp. (Myrtle Beach, SC) are suitable for RF/microwave applications ranging from 10 MHz to 4.2 GHz. With precious metal electrodes and a fine-grained,...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Signal Analyzer

Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA) has introduced the N9030A PXA signal analyzer, which provides frequency coverage up to 26.5 GHz and features up to 75 dB spurious-free dynamic range at 140-MHz analysis bandwidth. It...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

Chip Attenuator

International Manufacturing Services (Portsmouth, RI) offers the VGX-3725WA high-power 0.375 x 0.250" aluminum nitride chip attenuator that includes wraparound terminals for solder or epoxy attachment. It dissipates 100W at a...

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Products
RF & Microwave Electronics

RF Switch Matrices

Pickering Interfaces (Clacton on Sea, UK) offers 60-730 and 60-770 RF matrices that are designed for switching signals to frequencies up to 2.5 GHz. The 60-770 is a 50Ω RF matrix available in 32×8, 24×8, 16×8, and...

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Products
Electronics & Computers

DC-DC Converters

VPT (Blacksburg, VA) has introduced the VPT100+ 2800 Series DCDC converter modules that offer up to 100W of output power per unit and parallel operation of up to five units. They are available in single output versions of...

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Products
Electronics & Computers

Rugged Computer Servers

ZX 1-2-3 Series rugged computer servers from Z Microsystems (San Diego, CA) are available in 1.70", 3.45", or 5.15" heights for mission- ready applications. The system architecture supports any extended ATX...

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Products
Electronics & Computers

Gold-Plated Toggle Switches

Toggle switches from C&K Components (Newton, MA) feature 50 μ-inch selective gold contact plating and are rated for logic level to 5A resistive loads and 2A inductive loads. They feature a mechanical life to...

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Products
Electronics & Computers

GPS-Enabled Mobile Computer

The Industrial Automation Group of Advantech (Cincinnati, OH) has introduced the PWS-8033M handheld computer that features an XScale PXA270 624-MHz processor with 3.7" transflective VGA TFT LCD, GPS, 802.11 WiFi,...

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Products

LVDT Position Sensors

Macro Sensors (Pennsauken, NJ) offers HSTAR 750 Series hermetically sealed, high-temperature, rugged LVDT linear position sensors that can be used to monitor fuel/oil and control flight surfaces of airplanes and rudder...

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Products
Electronics & Computers

PXI Interface Modules

National Instruments (Austin, TX) has introduced AIM PXI interface modules for military and aerospace avionics applications as well as real-time and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) avionics solutions. They offer single-,...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Power for Micro Autonomous Systems

The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) has been initiated to spur basic research in small autonomous robots, particularly in four main areas: Microsystem...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Low-Power Circuit for an Electromagnetic Warning System Sensor

Low-power sensors are important to the Army for monitoring infrastructure of the lifecycle of an operation. Isotope batteries can power and operate compact, low-power sensors for...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Effects of Differing Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor Architectures

Understanding the differing methods and materials that can be used for producing carbon nanotube (CNT)- based electronic components means an informed use of materials...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Silicon Carbide Junction Field-Effect Transistor Devices for Scalable Solid-State Circuit Breakers

Power electronic converters functioning as components in high-power systems, such as those of hybrid military ground vehicles, require fast...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Indoor Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This research proposed the use of inexpensive, lightweight range sensors for indoor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation. Two potential range sensors were tested for suitability and error...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Modular, Portable, and Reconfigurable Wireless Sensing System

A modular, portable, reconfigurable wireless sensor system monitors and records environmental conditions in an aircraft cabin. By designing a sensor system that can be easily...

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Briefs
Materials

Performance Evaluation of Commercial Carbon Monofluoride Materials in Lithium Batteries

The performance of six different commercially available carbon monofluoride (CFx) materials was evaluated at four different discharge rates....

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Briefs
Materials

Nanodomain Model of Polymer-Derived Ceramics

Areport discusses a model developed to explain the unusual properties of polymer- derived ceramics (PDCs), which are so named because they are made by controlled pyrolysis of cross-linked polymers. PDCs are metastable ceramics that have potential to be further developed into high-temperature materials...

Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Lightcraft Propulsion for Launching a Small Satellite

A study of lightcraft propulsion systems in general has led to the conception and analysis of such a system for launching a small (having a mass no more than a few kilograms) satellite...

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Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Eccentric Mounting and Adjustment System for Belt-Driven Devices

This design relates to an eccentric mounting and adjustment (EMA) system for belt driving, or for belt-driven devices, that is installed and operated within the restricted confines of an engine compartment, typically a motor vehicle. It satisfies two essential requirements for...