When it comes to powering mobile robots, batteries present a problematic paradox: the more energy they contain, the more they weigh, and thus the more energy the robot needs to move. Energy harvesters, like solar panels, might work for some applications, but they don’t deliver power quickly or consistently enough for sustained travel. James Pikul, assistant professor in Penn Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, is developing robot-powering technology that has the best of both worlds. His environmentally…
Data is the currency of the future. But how can companies access the immense quantities of data generated by their machinery and use it to modernize production? Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA have developed a software called StationConnector that reads out the data and makes it available to any application. These Fraunhofer IPA computer scientists have started an independent company to launch the software on the market: a spin-off called Data Coffee. Data is…
Technologies optimizing aerodynamics of planes and cars are traditionally only designed for one speed range. The start-up “CompActive”, a spin-off of the TU Kaiserslautern, has designed an intelligent material that automatically adapts to changing conditions thanks to shape memory alloy wires. The flexible actuators can also be used to open containers containing food without human contact. CompActive will present their materials at the digital Hannover Messe from 12 to 16 April at the Rhineland-Palatinate research and innovation stand. Eagles are…
Whether in car tires or gears in production – friction and wear lead to losses. In Germany, this causes annual economic damage amounting to around five percent of the gross domestic product. It is therefore important to develop and test materials that minimize friction, such as plastic-metal combinations. Researchers from Kaiserslautern have developed a new system that automatically detects steady-state wear and analyzes data directly. They will present this technology at the digital Hannover Messe from 12 to 16 April…
At busy transport hubs where cars mix with cyclists, buses, and streetcars, it can be impossible for drivers to keep track of everything around them. A radar sensor system could solve this problem by issuing an early warning for drivers and self-driving vehicles when a pedestrian runs toward the road or the car. The system, developed by Fraunhofer researchers, will even be able to interpret and understand entire situations on a road with the aid of artificial intelligence. People react…
Magnetic insulators are fascinating materials in which the electron spin can form currents without the need for any electrical current. Such ‚spin currents‘ could be used to transmit information. Now a theory research team from the MPSD, Tianjin University (China), and Tohoku University (Japan) reports in Physical Review Letters that, when driven out of equilibrium by magnetic fields, a universal Doppler effect limits the maximal spin current in magnetic insulators. This finding is a surprising analogy to what happens in…
The year-to-year change in the amount of carbon taken up by Earth’s land ecosystems is primarily driven by variations in soil moisture which is affecting air humidity. This has been found by an international team of scientists including Markus Reichstein and Martin Jung from Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. Surprisingly, variations in soil moisture affect land carbon uptake mostly indirectly, through mechanisms coupling land ecosystems and atmospheric properties. Earth’s land ecosystems absorb a large portion of carbon…
Endoscopes made of single-hair thin optical fibers can reconstruct images of macroscopic objects at larger imaging distances. Scientists are developing tools to observe the biological machinery in in vivo animal models to be able to understand and better treat severe brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and many other conditions. Holographic endoscopes attracted researchers’ interest because of their potential to conduct minimally invasive observations inside the human body. These tools can shed light on the biological processes occurring at the macromolecular…
The deployment of personal electronic deterrents is an effective way to prevent future deaths and injuries. With shark bites increasing in countries like Australia – scientists say the use of personal electronic deterrents is an effective way to prevent future deaths and injuries which could save the lives of up to 1063 Australians along the coastline over the next 50 years. The research, published in scientific journal Royal Society Open Science, shows that while shark bites are rare events, strategies…
Elasto-thermoelectric transport technique reveals the interaction between structural and electronic properties of unconventional superconductors. Superconductors are materials where current can flow without resistance below a characteristic temperature. Since its discovery at the beginning of the 20th century, this phenomenon has been matter of intense studies due to its enormous potential for applications, limited so far by the necessity of a cryogenic environment. The main challenge is the realization of superconductivity at higher and higher temperature, which inevitably passes through the…
The protein Asc-1 regulates whether fat-burning beige or fat-storing white adipocytes are formed, which can have an impact on the development of metabolic diseases. This is shown by a current study of the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD). The results open up new approaches to prevent the development of metabolic diseases. The study has now been published in Nature Communications. Not all fat is the same: there is white, brown and beige adipose tissue…
Technology project with Heidelberg participation wants to develop compact cell-imaging for extensive application. Advancing research into how viruses penetrate and act on human cells requires powerful cell imaging approaches. Soft X-ray microscopy is particularly suitable but has so far not been widely available. A pan-European research project called “Compact Cell-Imaging Device” with Heidelberg participation seeks to develop this technology for extensive application in medical research. How do viral pathogens succeed in penetrating human cells? Which cellular mechanisms do they use…
Hannover Messe Digital Edition 2021: Autonomous, data-driven production optimization … As connectivity increases in production processes, so does their complexity. Data analysis expertise is required for predicting equipment outages in good time and detecting what causes losses in efficiency. MOEE, the tool that research teams from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA are exhibiting at the Hannover Messe trade fair from April 12 to 16, 2021, identifies the causes of production losses in connected equipment and makes…
Delivered components have to undergo an incoming goods inspection to ensure they are correctly dimensioned and everything else is just right. MARQUIS – a software solution comprising machine learning and augmented reality – will be able to inspect components and their assemblies while on the move and in real time. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD are set to showcase the technology at the Hannover Messe from April 12-16, 2021. Quality control is key to the…
Hannover Messe Digital Edition 2021: Hydrogen Technologies … To create a sustainable road traffic system, hundreds of thousands of fuel cells will be needed for hydrogen-powered cars in the future. Until now, though, fuel cell production has been complex and too slow. The Fraunhofer team is therefore developing a continuous production line that will be able to process fuel cell components in cycles lasting just seconds. The pilot line is set to be presented at the Hannover Messe Digital Edition…
Washington State University researchers have discovered a protein that could be key to blocking the most common bacterial cause of human food poisoning in the United States. Chances are, if you’ve eaten undercooked poultry or cross contaminated food by washing raw chicken, you may be familiar with the food-borne pathogen. “Many people that get sick think, ‘oh, that’s probably Salmonella,’ but it is even more likely it’s Campylobacter,” said Nick Negretti (’20 Ph.D.), a lead member of the research team…
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