Vibration control improves the performance of skis, snowboards, baseball bats, hockey sticks and tennis rackets. Their improved technology began with the NASA-supported development of a thin electrode-filled self-powering patch, slightly bigger than a baseball card, designed to control noise and vibration and detect structural defects in the blades and wings of helicopters and airplanes.
The macro-fiber composite is an innovative, low-cost piezoelectric device designed for controlling vibration, noise, and deflections in composite structural beams and panels. NASA has used the technology for advanced aerodynamic control in airplanes and helicopters, to control vibrations in deployable spacecraft structures, for monitoring the health of launchpad structures, for experiments in space, and in solar sail technology, among other things.
Learn more about how NASA helped develop technology that impacts tennis racquets within your city's sports environment!