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Thermal imaging on the quality control line

On a high-speed food and beverage line, what you can see is not always what is happening. Thermal imaging adds a different layer of control. Instead of relying on surface appearance, it measures heat distribution as seals are formed and products move through the line, providing continuous, 100% in-line inspection instead of just sampling.
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Built for the test bench, ready for the field

FUTEK's IDC150 Signal Conditioner packages high-performance signal conditioning in a rugged aluminum enclosure. Built for engineers needing accurate, synchronized data from strain gauge sensors, it fits prototyping and lab environments. The device connects seamlessly to existing setups and pairs with SENSIT software and Python APIs. It is ideal for compact, high-performance digital sensor evaluation.
Learn more.

Automotive lighting systems simplified, optimized

The new MLX81119 from Melexis is an 18-channel LIN RGB LED controller with an integrated DC/DC converter, designed to simplify and optimize automotive lighting systems. By generating the LED supply voltage locally on chip, this unit significantly reduces power dissipation, external components, and space requirements in increasingly dense vehicle applications such as door panels, dashboards, and charge-port lighting.
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How healthy is your machine? Moisture-in-Oil Sensor

iST's Moisture-in-Oil Sensor is a compact, digital RH/T module that accurately and continuously monitors the water content in oils and fuels. This sensor does not simply measure the absolute water content -- it measures the relative saturation level in % RH or water activity aw in %. This means you get a direct picture of the current oil quality and can react in time. Applications include: marine engines and gearboxes, commercial and rail vehicles, wind turbines and generators, drilling and paper machines, and more. Eval kit available.
Learn more.

World's first native color lidar sensors

Ouster Rev8 features the world's first patented native color lidar sensors. For the first time, a single lidar sensor can understand road signs, interpret brake lights, or simply capture the richness of planet Earth in survey-grade, colorized maps. Based on patented Ouster Silicon with embedded Fujifilm color science, the L4 chip boasts 42.9 GMACs of processing power, detection of up to 20 trillion photons per sec, and a 40-kHz measurement rate with picosecond timing precision. Sees up to 200 m.
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Real-world applications: 3D camera ensures precise aircraft cabin drilling

In modern aircraft production, precision is everything. In this application article, learn how an Ensenso 3D camera integrated into an automated process chain ensures accurate detection and alignment of drilling positions in aircraft cabin assembly using the CAD data of the aircraft frame.
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What are Onshape Custom Features?

Certified Onshape Professional Too Tall Toby explains how to supercharge your workflow using community-created tools. In this insightful tutorial, he dives into the world of FeatureScript -- the powerful coding language behind Onshape. Learn where to find new scripts and how to use them. Save time. Learn new skills, shortcuts, and maybe even better ways to do things. Incorporate Custom Features into your everyday work. Very useful.
View the video.

What can you do with touchless magnetic angle sensors?

Novotechnik has put together an informative video highlighting real-world applications for their RFC, RFE, and RSA Series touchless magnetic angle sensors. You may be surprised at the variety of off-highway, marine, material handling, and industrial uses. You'll learn how they work (using a Hall effect microprocessor to detect position) and their key advantages, including eliminated wear and tear on these non-mechanical components. We love when manufacturers provide such useful examples.
View the video.

What can the new Autodesk Inventor AI Assistant do for you?

Autodesk Assistant brings industry-specific context to help execute tasks and orchestrate actions across your 3D models -- not just answer questions. Designed to understand your workflows, Assistant appears as a dockable panel alongside your Inventor workspace and includes the ability to perform complex tasks or gather information from your designs without writing a single line of code. Find out what this new AI "colleague" can do for you.
Watch this informative Autodesk video.

Useful! Snap-together LED enclosure lighting

Seifert StripLite SL 4000 Series LED enclosure lighting provides bright illumination to 700 lumens. On/off switch and motion sensor models are available. Easily daisy chain up to 16 light strips. Magnetic or clip mounting. See video/info on website or contact Bristol Instruments for more information.
Learn about snap-together lighting.

Next-gen multi-touch panels

Beckhoff's Next line of multi-touch control panels and panel PCs is engineered for demanding human-machine interface and control tasks. These panels offer convenient operation with advanced multi-touch technology, a high-quality look and feel, anti-glare and anti-ghosting effects, and a wide choice of formats (from 7 to 23.8 in.) and options. A main draw is the line's attractive pricing.
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Most powerful handheld 3D laser scanner on the market

Creaform, a business of AMETEK, has launched HandySCAN 3D|EVO Series, the most powerful handheld 3D laser scanning solution on the market. This innovative series features a built-in touchscreen display and an integrated high-res 12-MP photo camera, incorporating augmented reality (AR) and advanced on-scanner visualization. Users can streamline repetitive inspections and enhance quality control processes using the new auto-alignment feature. Powered by 46 blue laser lines with accuracy of 0.020 mm. The Creaform Metrology Suite includes four application software modules: Scan-to-CAD, Inspection, Automation, and Dynamic Tracking. So many more features.
Learn more.

Continental develops first sensor to measure heat in EV motors

Global automotive supplier Continental has developed a new sensor technology that measures the temperature inside permanently excited synchronous motors in electric vehicles directly on the rotor for the first time.
Read the full article.

LEDs with highest output power available

The new OCI-460 SWIR LED series from EPIGAP OSA Photonics features markedly improved output power compared to the company's previous OCI-480 package and all competitive SMD SWIR LED devices. For example, model OCI-460 ID1550-XS operates at 1,550 nm and features drive current up to 1.5A to deliver approximately 13% higher output efficiency over EPIGAP's OCI-480 package. This impressive advancement features 96% higher output power compared to any other SWIR SMD LED currently on the market. Ideal for use in sensing, machine vision, and more.
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AI and collaboration in SOLIDWORKS

Discover AURA, the new AI assistant built into SOLID-WORKS, in this informative video from TriMech Group. What can AURA do for you? It can streamline workflows and make collaborating on and tracking projects even easier, for starters. Other top features of SOLIDWORKS Design 2026 are also covered. Some good tips here.
View the TriMech Group video.

DARPA program sets distance record for power beaming

In a series of recent tests in New Mexico, the Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program achieved several new records for transmitting power over distance. The team recorded more than 800 W of power delivered during a 30-second transmission from a laser 8.6 km (5.3 miles) away. Over the course of the test campaign, more than a megajoule of energy was transferred.

In the optical power beaming receiver designed for PRAD (POWER Receiver Array Demo), the laser enters the center aperture, strikes a parabolic mirror, and reflects onto dozens of photovoltaic cells arranged around the inside of the device, which convert the energy back to usable power. [Credit: Image courtesy of DARPA]

Previously, the greatest reported distance records for an appreciable amount of optical power (>1 microwatt) were 230 W of average power at 1.7 km for 25 seconds and a lesser (but undisclosed) amount of power at 3.7 km.

"It is beyond a doubt that we absolutely obliterated all previously reported optical power beaming demonstrations for power and distance," said POWER Program Manager Paul Jaffe after the results were confirmed. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) led the project team, which brought together industry and government, including the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range.

Energy is a fundamental requirement for military operations, and traditional means of getting energy to the edge (battlefields, disaster zones, etc.) are often incredibly slow, risky, and resource intensive. These tests, referred to as PRAD (POWER Receiver Array Demo), mark an important step toward the POWER program's long-term goal of being able to beam power from a location instantly, where it can be easily generated to wherever it's needed, opening a novel design space for platform capabilities unbounded by fuel limitations.

To achieve the power and distance record, PRAD used a new receiver technology with a compact aperture for the laser beam to shine into, ensuring very little light escapes once it has entered the receiver. Inside the receiver, the laser strikes a parabolic mirror that reflects the beam onto dozens of photovoltaic cells (a.k.a. "solar cells") to convert the energy back to usable power.

The receiver was designed by Teravec Technologies, led by principal investigator Raymond Hoheisel, with support from Packet Digital and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The technology is scalable to higher power levels and can be integrated into different platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to support the long-term needs of the POWER program.

For the tests, both the transmitter and receiver were on the ground, which required the beam to go through the thickest part of the atmosphere, making the test results even more impressive.

"It's a lot easier to send a power beam directly up or down relative to the ground because there is so much less atmosphere to fight through," Jaffe said. "For PRAD, we wanted to test under the maximum impact of atmospheric effects."

The POWER team celebrated its power beaming record by using some of the transferred energy to make popcorn, in an homage to the classic scene from the movie "Real Genius." [Credit: Image courtesy of DARPA]

While efficiency wasn't the focus of this demonstration, the team measured more than 20% efficiency from the optical power out of the laser to the electrical power out of the receiver at shorter distances. The goal of the effort was to validate the capability of a new design rapidly to massively extend potential distance, so tradeoffs were made to accelerate the design and build of the test receiver. The receiver was completed in about three months.

"This demonstration broke through misconceptions about the limits of power beaming technology, and it is already spurring industry to reimagine what's possible," said Jaffe.

With the PRAD testing successful, the POWER program has significantly reduced risk for a key element of making long-distance power beaming a future reality. The program is now moving forward to demonstrate the benefits of integrated relays and vertical power transmission and is seeking the creativity and innovation of potential partners to accomplish this as part of POWER Phase 2.

Source: DARPA

Published June 2025

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