Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022 - 23

the Americas. The product pairs seamlessly
with Semtech's LoRa® and LoRa
Smart Home™ RF transceivers SX1261,
SX1262, and LLCC68.
IPDs deliver another significant benefit:
increased reliability. By creating a
literal circuit within a small LTCC package,
variability and potential pointsof-failure
are all but eliminated when
compared with mounting many discrete
components.
According to Carmona, material development
is the key to being able to create
the entire circuit in such a small package.
The product utilizes a novel proprietary
ceramic material in an LTCC manufacturing
process designed to improve performance
to High-Q levels.
The process to manufacture IPDs is
similar to the technology already used to
create multi-layer SMD component parts
such as capacitors and inductors. How ever,
LTCC manufacturing allows the circuits to
be embedded in as many as 40 separate
layers in a three-dimensional package that
is still very low profile. Because IPDs require
much less board space, IoT devices
with RF circuitry can be designed in much
smaller form factors.
" With PCB real estate at a prime, the
size and placement of the passive components
are critical because as everything
gets smaller it becomes increasingly difficult
to place more components on the
board, " explained Carmona. " There fore,
design engineers are looking to component
manufacturers to deliver miniaturized
solutions that occupy next to no real
board space. "
Beyond size, a smaller PCB can also
impact the aesthetics of a product, allowing
for slim, low profiles. The elimination
of components on a 10:1 or greater
basis also reduces the overall weight of
devices, even if that savings is measured
in tenths of grams.
For more information, visit www.
johansontechnology.com.
New Capabilities for Grasp-Assisting Gloves
Applications include aiding patients with impaired hand muscle strength and in
manufacturing operating tools for extended periods of time.
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
N
ASA is developing the next generation
of spacesuits for future missions
including the optimization of
spacesuit gloves that, when coupled to a
pressurized suit, tend to limit the range
of motion of an astronaut's hand to as
little as 20 percent. Many of NASA's future
missions will be in challenging environments
where hand dexterity of the
astronaut will be critical for the success
of the missions.
NASA innovators have developed several
features to reduce hand exertion
when an astronaut is wearing spacesuit
gloves. Some of the major components
include im proved actuators, sensors for
assisting with the positioning in the hand
during grasping, and the new, low-maintenance
Triple Brummel Anchor. These
components were developed to create
interactive robotic gloves that increase
hand strength and dexterity.
Spacesuit gloves with grasping and restorative
capabilities were developed to
increase both strength and mobility. New
capabilities include components that can
be integrated into existing grasping
gloves to enhance operation and range of
mo tion. In particular, actuators were designed
to have a greater force output, better
efficiency, higher reliability, and thermal
range than commercially available
actuators.
Also,
position
sensors were
added to improve the accuracy of the
grasping motion and a built-in restorative
force to assist movement back into a relaxed,
non-grasping position.
Tech Briefs, December 2022
New capabilities for grasp-assisting gloves include assisting patients with impaired hand muscle
strength. (Image: NASA)
The Triple Brummel Anchor was designed
to improve the interaction between
the actuator and a human's finger
to prevent cinching and avoid
high-stress concentrations in the line of
the tendon used to maneuver the wearer's
hand while performing tasks. The
Triple Brummel Anchor can be integrated
outside the glove and requires
no special tools. Indus tries such as manwww.techbriefs.com
ufacturing
and healthcare can benefit
by the application of these components.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information, visit
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
MSC-TOPS-80.
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Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022

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