Category Mechanical

Nano-opto-electro-mechanical systems (NOEMS)

Modern microelectronic semiconductors and integrated circuits provide remarkable computational and memory capabilities but lack the capability to interface with the physical world directly. MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) and the even smaller NEMS (Nano ElectroMechanical Systems)  integrate sensors and actuators on microelectronic…

New Radiation-hardened electronics enable military small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deep space missions

There has been rapid growth in New Space applications like small satellites (small sats) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mega constellations or satellite swarms. The increased U.S. investment in military space is driving growth in classified and unclassified applications.  …

Enabling technologies of In-Space Assembly (OOS / ISA), automated satellite on-orbit servicing (OOS) and Robotic Manufacturing and Assembly (IRMA)

In the history of spaceflight, almost all spacecraft have been manufactured and assembled on the ground, then integrated into a launch vehicle for delivery into orbit. This approach imposes significant limitations on the size, volume, and design of payloads that…

DARPA’s HI-MEMS (Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) created cyborg insects for military micro air vehicles missions

In 2006 the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) asked America’s scientists to submit “innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs.” The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) program, also known as the cybug program, was a proposal from…