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Cool Tools: MetraSCAN BLACK2 -- Next-gen shop-floor 3D inspection

You'll gain some superhero powers when you brandish FARO CREAFORM's new MetraSCAN BLACK2, a next-gen portable metrology-grade optical 3D scanner engineered to deliver total inspection flexibility on the shop floor. This unit boasts a 3-in-1 architecture that combines C-Track scanning, stand-alone scanning, and probing in a single metrology-grade system.
Read the full article.

Compact, touchless position sensors: Wear-free operation in tight spaces

Novotechnik's TFD-4000 Series of touchless linear position sensors delivers wear-free measurement in tight spaces. Featuring ranges up to 50 mm, IP67 protection, 12-bit resolution, and analog outputs, these reliable sensors operate from -40 C to 125 C across diverse industrial, mobile, and medical applications such as short-stroke linear valve positioning, solenoid valves, off-highway brake actuation, and more.
Learn more.

World's first 10-m safety laser scanner: See farther, protect more

Datasensing, Datalogic's Sensor & Safety and Machine Vision business unit, has launched the SLS10 Safety Laser Scanner, the world's first 10-meter safety laser scanner. Delivering a 275-degree scanning angle, 240-m² of coverage, and an 84-msec response time, the SLS10 protects larger workspaces with fewer devices. It features best-in-class angular resolution for precise AGV navigation, SIL-2/PLd compliance, dust immunity, and the new ONEGUI platform for simplified configuration.
Learn more and see it in action.

Accelerate AI-driven machine vision systems

BitFlow has announced full production of its Claxon CXP-12 frame grabbers, designed for NVIDIA GPU-accelerated machine vision. Across five models, the CoaXPress 2.0 lineup delivers up to 50 Gbps -- five times 10 GigE Vision -- eliminating data bottlenecks. The full CXP-12 specification ensures deterministic, high-bandwidth streaming to unleash modern AI inference models.
Learn more.

Millimeter-wave imaging inspection in real time

With its new quality and inspection R&S IMAGER millimeter-wave scanner, Rohde & Schwarz aims to simplify the industrial inspection of packaged products. The system sees through common packaging materials at production speed without using X-rays, protecting both products and operators. The high-contrast 3D images are used as digital twins and can be automatically integrated into AI-powered fault-detection systems. Sees through plastics, cardboard, and composites. Applications include food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, logistics.
Learn more.

What are single-loop process controllers?

PLCs are powerful, but complex control isn't always necessary. For standalone processes requiring single-variable monitoring -- like temperature, pressure, or flow -- a single-loop controller is ideal. See how single-loop controllers can streamline your next project.
Read the AutomationDirect tech tip.

Great Resources: Flexible circuit design guide

Tech-Etch uses advanced techniques to manufacture flex and rigid-flex circuits to exacting customer specs. Special processes include selective plating a single circuit with two different finishes, contoured circuits with variable metal thickness, semi-additive and subtractive techniques, open window or cantilevered contact leads, plus SMT for component assembly. Tech-Etch specializes in flexible circuits for medical, telecommunications, aerospace, semiconductor, and other high-reliability electronic applications.
Learn about flex circuits and get the guide (no registration required).

EMI Investigations: New immunity development system

Saelig Company announces the Langer E1 Immunity Development System for EMI investigations. This compact, affordable kit simulates burst and ESD interference to pinpoint layout weak spots down to IC pins. By eliminating "black box" guesswork early in development, engineers can efficiently identify coupling mechanisms, test measures, and resolve immunity issues before compliance failure.
Learn more and see it in action.

Battery packs for unmanned aerial vehicles

Re:Build Manufacturing has launched U.S.-assembled, NDAA-compliant lithium-ion battery packs for commercial, public safety, and defense UAV applications. Available in Core, Power, and Performance series, the packs use non-FEOC cells and are produced at Re:Build's advanced facility in New Kensington, PA. Re:Build also offers custom pack and battery management system development.
Learn more.

Easy-to-use precision measurement system

Optical Gaging Products has announced the StarLite S1, a compact, semi-automatic 3-axis video measurement system. It combines fully automatic video measurements with manual stage motion and features an IntelliCentric-S optical system for high-resolution images. Powered by Measure-X software, this system delivers fast, repeatable, high-accuracy results, making it ideal for both shop-floor and quality-control applications.
Learn more.

Why a soccer kick bends the ball path: SOLIDWORKS simulation

With SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, you can virtually test a ball's flight path and see the science behind its amazing trajectory. Visualize anything you want to test, including the physics that make a ball curve and dip, to optimize performance and reduce physical testing. See the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation study setup and learn about the Magnus effect where a spinning object moving through a fluid curves away from its straight path. [Credit: Screenshot courtesy of SOLIDWORKS]
View the video.

Lightning-fast in-line verification, high-performance barcode reading

The Omron VHV5 Barcode Reader now combines high-performance barcode reading and calibrated ISO verification in one device. Replacing offline sample checks, it delivers 100% inline verification at production speeds up to 1,200 parts per minute. With flexible lighting, the VHV5 easily inspects labels and Direct Part Marks, even on challenging curved or irregular surfaces.
Learn more.

How to choose the right industrial Ethernet switch

Antaira Technologies breaks down 10 mission-critical capabilities separating industrial-grade switches from commercial compromises. Even if you aren't in IT engineering, you will find valuable networking knowledge in this guide to protect vital infrastructure.
Read the full article.

New CAM software cuts robotic machining deployment

At Automate (Booth #4476), RoboDK will showcase RoboDK CAM, which generates robotic machining programs directly from CAD files. Designed for easy deployment, it cuts setup time by up to 40%. Live demonstrations will show users how to create collision-free robot motion straight from CAD data, eliminating manual line-by-line coding.
Learn more about RoboDK CAM.

AI Tools You Can Use: What is OpenClaw? How do I get it and use it?

OpenClaw is trending big time right now, but what is it? The YouTubers over at Create a Pro Website run through the basics of what you need to know and how to implement it. Basically, OpenClaw is a next-gen 24/7 AI assistant that lives on your computer and can perform actions for you. You talk to it through a chat app. You can set it up to do real work such as alert you to important emails, answer emails for you, manage your calendar and travel, and so much more. There is a great intro video here and also a longer, very thorough step-by-step video to setting up OpenClaw.
View the OpenClaw intro video.
View the OpenClaw setup video.

World first and very cool: Engineers observe quantum heat waves at room temperature

Efficient heat management in solids is key to advancing the next generation of electronics. However, wavelike heat movement -- known as phonon focusing -- had only been observed at extremely low, or cryogenic, temperatures, limiting its study and practical use.

Now, researchers at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated that phonons, atomic heat-carrying vibrations with quantum properties, can travel in focused, ray-like paths at room temperature. Instead of spreading uniformly in all directions, heat can move along guided pathways defined by a material's crystal structure, opening up new possibilities for managing heat flow in future electronics and quantum technologies.

Visualization of ray-like heat flow in boron arsenide at 300 K (80 F). [Credit: H-Lab/UCLA]

 

 

Published July 23, 2026, in Nature Physics, the study is led by Yongjie Hu, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA Samueli. The team demonstrated phonon focusing at room temperature in boron arsenide, a crystalline semiconductor material with high thermal conductivity. Instead of removing heat after it spreads, materials such as boron arsenide could enable heat to travel along predetermined routes with nanoscale precision, much like how optical fibers guide light.

To capture the effect, the researchers developed a nanoscale temperature-mapping technique. In conventional materials, the team observed circular heat-spreading patterns, consistent with ordinary diffusive heat conduction. In boron arsenide, however, the researchers saw striking ray-like temperature patterns, demonstrating that heat was being guided along specific crystal directions.

The team further showed that the heat-flow patterns change predictably depending on crystal orientation, with different crystal planes of boron arsenide exhibiting distinct sixfold, eightfold, and fourfold focusing patterns. Importantly, this quantum phonon behavior can persist over distances of one micrometer and potentially up to tens of micrometers, sufficient for many modern electronic, photonic, and quantum devices.

"This is a fundamental observation that enables us to think about thermal management in a new way," said Hu, the study's corresponding author and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. "By enabling heat to be guided, focused, and redistributed with nanoscale precision at room temperature, the discovery establishes a foundation for quantum thermal engineering."

Controlling heat movement at an atomic level has the potential to help overcome bottlenecks in AI hardware, microelectronic devices, aerospace systems, and other electronics, where overheating significantly limits performance, reliability, and scalability. Hu said it could also create opportunities to fine-tune how phonons interact with electrons and other energy carriers, with applications for future quantum information and sensing technologies.

Previous observations of phonon focusing were largely limited to cryogenic temperatures, usually only a few degrees above absolute zero, where phonons can travel long distances with minimal scattering. At room temperature, phonons have typically been shown to scatter extensively and quickly lose their wave coherence, causing heat to spread diffusively.

Findings from this project build on Hu's previous research pioneering the experimental discovery of boron arsenide in 2018. His group has since demonstrated high-performance thermal interfaces and gallium nitride devices integrating boron arsenide for cooling, highlighting the material's promise for next-generation semiconductor technology. The material's unusually weak phonon scattering allows wave-like heat transport to persist at room temperature.

The observed heat patterns matched theoretical calculations, confirming that phonons can travel unusually long distances before scattering -- a key factor enabling this wave-like behavior at room temperature.

Source: UCLA Samueli School of Engineering

Published August 2026

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