'Design'
3D range sensor operates in sunlight
A 3D range sensor that uses a CCD image sensor and can be used at 100,000lx, a luminance equivalent to sunlight on a bright day, has been developed by Panasonic Electric Works.
The range sensor irradiates a signal light on the measurement target and observes the reflected light. However, when the measurement is conducted in extremely bright ambient light such as direct sunlight, the CCD sensor is saturated with only the ambient light, making it almost impossible to detect the signal light.
In the new sensor, the amount of the electric charge corresponding to that generated by the ambient light is removed from the charge generated in the photosensitive unit so that only the charge generated by the reflected light remains.
Read more on: Design, light, sensorPanasonic engineers develop methanol fuel cell prototype
Panasonic Fuel Cell Prototype for Notebooks.
Engineers at Panasonic will showcase their new reduced size methanol fuel cell at the Hydrogen Energy Advanced Technology Exhibition 2008 in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan. Japan’s most populated city will host the exhibit on October 22-24, 2008.
Panasonic has been working on reducing the size and efficiency of its previously introduced fuel cell over the past eight-years. The new methanol fuel cell is about the size of a laptop battery. The fuel cell battery weighs approximately 11.29-ounces and can deliver an average of 10-watts of power with a maximum output of 20-watts.
According to Panasonic, the new methanol fuel cell battery has the unique advantage of being able to run 20-hours utilizing 200cc methanol. When the fuel cell runs low on methanol a quick refueling takes a few minutes. Unlike lithium ion batteries, methanol fuel cells are viewed as more environmentally friendly. The only by-product is water and a slight amount of carbon dioxide.
Read more on: battery, Design, Electronics, Energy, fuel cells, hydrogenBuckypaper is 500 times stronger than steel
Buckypaper from frit compression of multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Ten times lighter, but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite, Buckypaper could revolutionise the way everything from airplanes to TVs are made.
Buckypaper is made from carbon nanotubes 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. Buckypaper is named after Buckminsterfullerene, or Carbon 60 – a type of carbon molecule whose powerful atomic bonds make it twice as hard as a diamond.
Buckypaper owes its strength to the huge surface area of each of the nanotubes it comprises.
Read more on: carbon nanotubes, composite, Design, steelSelf-sufficient lighting solution
An outdoor light that collects its own energy from the sun and wind by transforming its appearance throughout the day, has been developed by Philips.
When the sun shines, Philips’ Light Blossom device emulates nature – slowly opening the ‘petals’ of its ‘bud’. Much like a sunflower continues to face the sun while it moves from east to west during the day, Light Blossom’s petals, gradually and continuously re-orientating in the direction of the sun.
When the wind blows, the intelligent Light Blossom intuitively moves its petals to an upward half-open position, allowing them to catch the wind. The petals then progressively rotate, transferring the movement to the built-in rotor that instantly converts it into energy.
When the sun shines again, the Light Blossom adapts itself to the new weather. It progressively stops rotating, and opens up again to catch the sun rays.
Read more on: Design, Energy, Energy, light, light emitting device, solar energy, wind energyAtomic pen inscribes in nano-size
A research team from Osaka University has developed an ‘atomic pen’ that can inscribe nano-sized text on metal by manipulating individual atoms on the surface.
According to the researchers, the atomic pen is built on a previous discovery that silicon atoms at the tip of an atomic force microscope probe will interchange with the tin atoms in the surface of a semiconductor sample when in close proximity. Using this atom-interchange phenomenon, the researchers were able to arrange individual silicon atoms one by one on a semiconductor surface to spell out the letters ‘Si’. The writing process, which took about an hour and a half to complete, was conducted at room temperature.
Read more on: atoms, Design, nanometers, nanotechnology, probes, semiconductor, SiliconShoes generate enough electricity to power gadgets
NTT unveils a special shoe which generates electricity as the user walks
Telecoms company NTT has developed shoes that generate electricity as you walk.
Each step puts pressure on the soles, activiating a small generator attached to water-filled soles which causes the water to spin a small turbine and generate power, NTT said.
The shoes currently generate 1.2 watts of electricity, “a level sufficient to run an iPod mobile music player forever, as long as the wearer keeps walking,” said spokesman Hideomi Tenma.
NTT hopes to put the generator into actual products as early as 2010.
Read more on: Design, Electronics, Energy, turbinesBattery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors
A battery-free, multi-detection radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensing platform that could enable a wide range of low cost wireless sensing products in healthcare, security, food packaging, water treatment and pollution prevention, has been developed by scientists at GE Global Research.
GE’s unique RFID sensors are built on traditional RFID tags.
The sensing platform, in which a single sensor can provide a highly selective response to multiple chemicals under variable conditions, operates without a battery. Without a battery, new sensors can be designed to be smaller than a penny and manufactured at very low cost.
Read more on: battery, Design, RFID, sensors, wirelessMachines edge closer to imitating human communication
Machines have come close to intimidating human communication at an artificial intelligence competition at the University of Reading.
As part of the 18th Loebner Prize, all of the artificial conversational entries (ACEs) competing to pass the Turing Test have managed to fool at least one of their human interrogators that they were in fact communicating with a human rather than a machine. One of the ACE’s, the eventual winner, got close to the 30 per cent Turing Test threshold set by British mathematician, Alan Turing, by fooling 25 per cent of human interrogators.
During the Turing Test, the ACEs competed in a series of five minute long, unrestricted conversations with human interrogators, attempting to pass themselves off as human. The interrogators did not know whether they were conversing with a human or a machine during the test.
Read more on: artificial intelligence, Design, machine, RoboticsNanotube material gets to grips with gecko feet
A team of researchers have developed an improved carbon nanotube-based material that mimics the ability of gecko feet to grip surfaces.
The gecko has microscopic branched elastic hairs in their toes that take advantage of atomic-scale attractive forces to grip surfaces and support surprisingly heavy loads. The carbon-nanotube-based material, described by the research team creates a directionally varied (anisotropic) adhesive force. With a gripping ability nearly three-times the previous record, and ten times better than a real gecko at resisting perpendicular shear forces, the new carbon nanotube array could give artificial gecko feet the ability to tightly grip vertical surfaces while being easily lifted off when desired.
Read more on: adhesive, carbon nanotubes, Design, materialPredicting the weather more accurately
Cloud Radar deployed at Field Station
Scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have developed a system that measures the individual layers of cloud above us, which in addition to allowing forecasters to more precisely predict the weather, the information gathers will also enable aircraft pilots to judge more accurately whether it is safe to take off and land in diverse weather conditions, offering a powerful safety capability for civil airports and military air bases.
Operating at 94GHz, 50 times higher in frequency than most mobile phones, the radar measures the cloud base height, its thickness, density and internal structure as well as providing similar information on cloud layers at higher altitudes.
Continue reading…
An off the cuff solution to combat military injuries
In conjunction with the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Siemens Healthcare is to develop a prototype Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation (DBAC) cuff, designed to limit blood loss and shock resulting from combat limb injuries.
The ultrasound device is designed to limit blood loss from penetrating wounds to limbs in fast and slow bleeders, significantly reducing the risk of limb loss and death resulting from irreversible hemorrhagic shock. Once applied to the limb, Siemens Silicon Ultrasound technology within the cuff automatically detects the location and severity of the bleeding within the limb. This triggers therapeutic ultrasound elements within the cuff to emit and focus high-power energy toward the bleeding sites, speeding coagulation and halting bleeding at the injury site. The device is intended for use by minimally-trained operators, curtailing bleeding in a minimal amount of time with automatic treatment and power shut-off.
Read more on: cuff, DARPA, Design, Military, siemensHoneycomb materials offer noise reduction
A prototype microchanneled material composed of many metallic nanotubes was developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) to validate acoustic absorption experiments designed to reduce noise in aircraft.
By taking a new approach to the physics of noise, engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have found a way of reducing the noise created by commercial and military jet aircraft, using honeycomb-like structures composed of many tiny tubes or channels.
Jason Nadler, a GTRI research engineer, explained: “This approach dissipates acoustic waves by essentially wearing them out. It’s a phenomenological shift, fundamentally different from traditional techniques that absorb sound using a more frequency dependent resonance.”
Most sound deadening material – such as foams or other cellular materials comprising many small cavities – exploit the fact that acoustic waves resonate through the air on various frequencies. The drawback with these traditional noise-reduction approaches is that they only work with some frequencies – those that can find cavities or other structures in which to resonate.
The research involves broadband acoustic absorption, a method of reducing sound that doesn’t depend on frequencies or resonance. In this approach, tiny parallel tubes in porous media such as metal or ceramics create a honeycomb-like structure that traps sound regardless of frequency. Instead of resonating, sound waves plunge into the channels and dissipate through a process called viscous shear. This involves the interaction of a solid with a gas or other fluid. In this case, a gas – sound waves composed of compressed air – contacts a solid, the porous medium, and is weakened by the resulting friction.
Read more on: Aerospace, aircraft, Design, georgia tech, MilitaryExoskeletons mimic underwater swimming techniques
Biologically inspired aquatic exoskeletons designed to enhance the speed, stealth and manoeuvrability of frogmen have been developed by the University of West Florida’s Institute of Human and Machine Cognition.
The underwater exoskeleton concepts emulate two types of biological propulsion: body and/or caudal fin locomotion, where the undulation of the body moves it through water; and median and/or paired fin locomotion, where the manipulation of fins provides the thrust.
Read more on: Design, Exoskeleton, Robotics