Sensors

Saab has introduced a passive, lightweight, electronic warfare sensor called Sirius Compact, which is designed to act alone or in an array to locate incoming threats on a variety of tactical levels without revealing its presence.

Skin plays a key role in our sense of touch, but its sensitivity is hard to replicate. Now, researchers have developed a new type of electronic skin (e-skin) containing tiny embedded hairs that can precisely perceive touch and the direction it moves.

Scientists have developed a sensor made of incredibly thin strands of sapphire that can withstand extreme heat and radiation, and possibly be put to work in the harsh environment of nuclear fusion reactors and enable more streamlined air travel.

Scientists have developed an advanced new type of humidity sensor inspired by camel noses that is capable of detecting low levels of water molecules in the air, giving it the potential to help find water sources in extreme environments.

After sending a fleet of self-sailing drones into the path of Hurricane Sam to help improve forecast models, Saildrone has now launched three uncrewed surface vehicles into the Gulf Stream winter to gather data on carbon uptake in the ocean.

Nicotine is one of the more harmful compounds in electronic cigarette vapor, so non-vapers should avoid breathing it in whenever possible. A new skin-worn sensor could help, by monitoring airborne nicotine levels in the wearer's immediate vicinity.

Scientists in Israel have leveraged commercially available sensors to develop an advanced lie-detection system they say outperforms any other known method, by monitoring contorting muscles associated with deception.

Earlier this year, Saildrone joined forces with NOAA to launch sensor-packed unmanned surface vehicles into paths of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean to gather data. Now one of those drones has captured footage from inside a Category 4 hurricane.

A team of engineers has given microchips a new ability – the power of flight. Inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, these “microfliers” are shaped like tiny propellers to catch the wind, and may be the smallest flying structures ever made by humans.

Though you can make objects smarter by adding sensors to them, a team of MIT engineers has managed to 3D print metamaterial structures with electrodes directly integrated into them to allow objects to sense user interaction.

We're already seeing smartphone cameras that break the 100-megapixel barrier, but now Samsung is aiming to double that with the launch of the ISOCELL HP1 – a 200-MP image sensor destined for the flagship handsets of tomorrow.

A new design for a so-called electronic skin addresses one of the technology's key shortcomings so far, by taking inspiration from the sweat pores in human skin to prevent the accumulation of moisture that can compromise performance.