test instruments

CODAN is cashing in on the frenzy of interest after one of its gold detectors was used by an unnamed prospector to find a 5.5kg gold nugget 60cm underground near Ballarat.

US-based REC is testing its solar panels in the Australian desert, with a 5.5kW array of the company’s Peak Energy Series modules installed at the Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre (DKASC).

Much like every child’s first LEGO set changes the way they imagine the world, 26 years ago National Instruments redefined the way we think about instrumentation with NI LabVIEW system design software. This year, NI is doing it again. The company is announcing a new class of instrumentation that frees test engineers from the limitations of vendor-defined instruments.

Vector signal transceivers feature both the fast measurement speed and small form factor of a production test box combined with the flexibility and high-performance expectation of instrument-grade box instruments.

NATIONAL Instruments has released its Automated Test Outlook 2013 report, looking at the industry’s latest trends in terms of test and measurement.

COMMERCIALISATION Australia has provided NSW-based Fulcrum3D with a $800,000 grant, which it will use to commercialise a Doppler-based wind measurement system.

A UNIVERSITY of Sydney PhD candidate is using a smartphone and sensor to gather information about heart rate variability for research.

AN ultra-sensitive explosive detector developed at UNSW Canberra is now being tested at the US Government’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

SIEMENS is undertaking research to use a quadrupole mass spectrometer to analyse a person’s breath in order to diagnose lung diseases.

UC Santa Barbara scientists have developed a nanotech-based chip which mimics dog noses to detect explosives.

A pressure sensor located inside the head could save people from dementia, strokes, and other conditions related to a rise in cerebral pressure.

THE 2012 National Measurement Institute Prize for measurement research has gone to a RMIT University researcher who is looking into using blood pressure to power pacemakers.

ADELAIDE-based ophthalmic laser and ultrasound manufacturer Ellex Medical Lasers has been contracted by Signostics to manufacture the critical sub-assembly of the Signos RT ultrasound device.

RESEARCHERS at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Rochester have developed an ultrasensitive accelerometer which may enable the next generation of microsensors.

RADIO frequency (RF) testing has traditionally been done on hardware boxes, which provide dedicated features, but are relatively inflexible – if the function is not already included in the box, the only real way to implement them is to transfer the data from the instrument back to a host PC for software-based processing.

EXHIBITORS at 2012 ElectroneX expo, held 12 to 13 September at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney, were in general agreement: the quality of visitors to the show was outstanding.

THE Physical Measurement Laboratory at US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology have devised a new portable, near-perfect solar simulator.

AGILENT Technologies Australia has announced its 2012 Agilent Measurement Forum and Aerospace & Defence Application Symposium.

GE researchers are working with Ford and the University of Michigan to extend the battery life of electric vehicles.

UNSW Canberra engineers say a low-cost laser sensor which is invulnerable to icing could quickly and accurately measure the velocity of commercial passenger jets.