Archive for the ‘light’ tag
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, sensorSelf-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 energyMetamaterials that bend light backwards bring invisibility closer
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time engineered 3D materials that can reverse the natural direction of visible and near-infrared light, a development that could help form the basis for higher resolution optical imaging, nanocircuits for high-powered computers, and, to the delight of science-fiction and fantasy buffs, cloaking devices that could render objects invisible to the human eye.
Two breakthroughs in the development of metamaterials – composite materials with extraordinary capabilities to bend electromagnetic waves have been reported.
Applications for a metamaterial entail altering how light normally behaves. In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock. For optical microscopes to discern individual, living viruses or DNA molecules, the resolution of the microscope must be smaller than the wavelength of light.
Read more on: Electronics, invisibility, light, material, metamaterialsStartup firm develops energy efficient lighting technology
A new energy-efficient lighting technology, ESL (Electron-Stimulated Luminescence) has been patented by a startup company Vu1.
The technology uses accelerated electrons to stimulate phosphor to create light, making the surface of the bulb “glow”. ESL Technology creates the same light quality as an incandescent but is more energy conserving. There is no use of the neurotoxin Mercury (Hg) in the lighting process.
In creating ESL Technology, Vu1 merged several technologies then adapted them for “lighting”. The company uses commonly sourced, non-hazardous, commercial materials. The technology is encased in standard light bulb glass which is sourced from existing light bulb glass manufacturers. No specialized glass is required.
Safe as a lighting source, the ESL Technology fits neatly into classic light bulb shape. This eliminates the need to bend the technology into an unusual, twisted spiral shape (CFL) or have costly and heavy heat dissipation designed into the bulb housing (LED).
Key gate-keeping elements of the technology and associated manufacturing processes are patent pending.
Read more on: Design, lightResearchers put the squeeze on light
Scientists at the University of California have developed a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces, potentially opening doors to new technology in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers and optical computers.
Previously optics researchers had managed to pass light through gaps 200 nanometers wide – about 400 times smaller than the width of a human hair. A group of UC Berkeley researchers led by mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang, devised a way to confine light in spaces measuring 10 nanometers, just five times the width of a single piece of DNA and more than 100 times thinner than current optical fibres.
Rupert Oulton, research associate, and lead author of the study explained: “This technique could give us remarkable control over light, and that would spell out amazing things for the future in terms of what we could do with that light.”
Read more on: Electronics, electrons, light, nanometersQuantum cryptography chip designed for commercial use
Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Austrian Research Centres (ARC) and Graz University of Technology have teamed up to develop a quantum cryptography chip for commercial use.
The chip, which protects data by generating a completely random sequence of numbers from particles of light, replaces the currently used system of key distribution based on mathematical algorithms.
The prototype 0f the quantum cryptography chip is already available, and the corresponding fibre optic network for absolutely safe, chip-based data transfer will be presented in October 2008 at Siemens IT Solutions and Services in Vienna.
Quantum cryptography works with individual light particles know as photons, which are generated and coded by an optical array. The security of the data is guaranteed by laws of nature, as photons generate completely random keys. The mathematical formulae used in the past, which could be decrypted with enough time and effort, will soon be a thing of the past.
Read more on: chip, Design, Electronics, light, photons, quantum cryptography chipLight powered plastic motor
A plastic motor powered completely by light has been developed by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Unlike solar-powered motors that use photovoltaic cells to convert light to electric power (this also requires wires and batteries to deliver and store the power), this motor converts light directly into mechanical energy using a belt made of a special elastomer, with a molecular structure that expands or contracts when illuminated, depending on the wavelength of light.
Tomiki Ikeda, leader of the research team at Tokyo Institute of Technology, discovered a plastic compound containing azobenzene would contract when exposed to ultraviolet light, and resume its original shape when exposed to visible light.
Since this discovery in 2003, Ikeda and his team have been working on improving the shape-shifting properties of the material, and have been looking at ways to incorporate the material in a motor to convert light directly into motion.
Read more on: Design, light, material, motors, plastic