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shape, direction and spacing of the nostrils. Using schlie- ren imaging and high-speed video, the team confirmed that moving air through the artificial nose accurately represented sniffing from a real dog. The group’s first set of experiments compared the artificial nose with detection devices that used continuous suction and found that the nose was four times better 10 centimeters away from the vapor source and 18 times bet- ter 20 centimeters away. Based on that result, the team outfitted a commercially
available vapor detector with a device that would enable it to recreate the sniffing. The result? The sniffer was 16 times more effective at a distance of four centimeters.
Bulk metallic glass, a metal alloy, doesn’t get brittle in extreme cold. That makes the material perfect for robotics operated in space or on icy planets.
Bulk metallic glasses have a unique atomic structure
Researchers from NIST, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory and the US FDA found that affixing a 3D-printed dog nose to the end of a commercially available explosives detector improved odorant detection significantly.
“Their incredible air-sampling efficiency is one rea-
son why the dog is such an amazing chemical sampler,” Staymates said. “It’s just a piece of the puzzle. There’s lots more to be learned and to emulate as we work to improve the sensitivity, accuracy and speed of trace- detection technology.” The group’s research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Metallic glass gears make for more precise robots
N
ASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, is working to develop a better gear using bulk metallic glass, a specially crafted alloy ideal for
precision robotics. Technologist Douglas Hofmann of the JPL is the lead author of two recent papers examining the use of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) in robotic gears.
that has qualities of both metal and glass. BMGs start off with the organized, crystalline atomic structure of a metal. The material is then heated up into a liquid, creating a randomized atomic structure. Cool them rapidly, and this non-crystalline, “liquid” form is trapped in place—making it, technically, a glass. Although BMGs were originally developed in California in 1960s and have been used to make everything from cellphones to golf clubs, “understanding how to design and implement them into structural hardware has proven elusive,” Hofmann said. “Our team of researchers and engineers at JPL, in col-
laboration with groups at Caltech and UC San Diego, have finally put BMGs through the necessary testing to demon- strate their potential benefits for NASA spacecraft. These materials may be able to offer us solutions for mobility in harsh environments, like on Jupiter’s moon Europa.” Bulk metallic glass has a low melting temperature and doesn’t get brittle in extreme cold, and gears made from BMG run “cold and dry.” Testing demonstrated strong torque and smooth turning without lubricant even at –200 degrees Celsius, making it perfect for robots that are sent to icy planets. The Mars Curiosity Rover expends energy heating up lubricant every time it needs to move. “Being able to operate gears at the low temperature
of icy moons, like Europa, is a potential game-changer for scientists,” said R. Peter Dillon, a technologist and program manager in JPL’s Materials Development and Manufacturing Technology Group. “Power no longer needs to be siphoned away from the science instruments for heating gearbox lubricant, which preserves precious battery power.”
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Photo courtesy NIST
Photo courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
March 2017
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