An international research team led by drone expert Mirko Kovac of Empa and Imperial College London has taken bees as a model to develop a swarm of cooperative, 3D-printing drones. Under human control, these flying robots work as a team to print 3D materials for building or repairing structures while flying, as the scientists report in the cover story of the latest issue of Nature. 3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory,…

In a recent study on automated driving by TU Dresden and DEKRA, traffic and engineering psychologists analyzed reactions to possible malfunctions of this future human-machine interface. The study of various takeover scenarios shows that people are only partially able to take over the wheel quickly and safely in the event of technical malfunctions. Checking your emails, reading the news or watching a movie while driving. With automated driving, drivers are allowed to perform secondary activities under certain circumstances. At the…

In order for the energy transition to succeed, offshore wind energy needs to be massively expanded. This is not possible without precise knowledge of the ground. Researchers from the U Bremen Research Alliance have developed a method specially tailored to the requirements of the North Sea and Baltic Sea that uses seismic measurement methods to record and identify the subsurface. This enables more efficient and cost-effective construction. From the outside, the thick cable, which is rolled up on a drum…

Relying on evaporation and radiation — but not electricity — the system could keep food fresh longer or supplement air conditioning in buildings. As the world gets warmer, the use of power-hungry air conditioning systems is projected to increase significantly, putting a strain on existing power grids and bypassing many locations with little or no reliable electric power. Now, an innovative system developed at MIT offers a way to use passive cooling to preserve food crops and supplement conventional air…

A consortium of Fraunhofer institutes and well-known German industrial companies is developing a split-manufacturing approach for semiconductor production in the project “Distributed Manufacturing for Novel and Trustworthy Electronics T4T”. This will enable the secure assembly of subsystems in Germany and safeguard supply chains. The secure supply of electronic components is of growing strategic importance for Germany as an industrial location. The increasing relocation of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing to non-European regions increases the vulnerability to the introduction of malware and…

A new design principle can now predict the properties of quantum materials that have hardly been explored so far. For the first time, a strongly correlated topological semimetal has been discovered using a computer. How do you find novel materials with very specific properties – for example, special electronic properties which are needed for quantum computers? This is usually a very complicated task: various compounds are created, in which potentially promising atoms are arranged in certain crystal structures and then…

Scientists from University of Freiburg, Germany, and the University of Pittsburgh develop platform that combines measurements of surface topography in a digital twin. Scientists from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and the University of Pittsburgh have developed a software platform that facilitates and standardizes the analysis of surfaces. The contact.engineering platform enables users to create a digital twin of a surface and thus to help predict, for example, how quickly it wears out, how well it conducts heat, or how…

Automation solutions on a 1:1 scale for sustainable rail vehicle construction from Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade, Germany – InnoTrans 2022. InnoTrans 2022 l Hall 23 l Booth 240 l The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Stade will be presenting automation solutions on a 1:1 scale for sustainable rail vehicle construction for the first time as part of the leading International Trade Fair for Transport Technology from September 20 to 23, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Research…

Service robotics from Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade, Germany at InnoTrans 2022. Applied research at InnoTrans 2022 in Berlin, Germany: As part of the “Fraunhofer vs. Corona” program, the automation and production technology experts at Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade, together with project partners, developed a prototype mobile robot platform which uses a lightweight robot and steam cleaner to clean and disinfect surfaces of objects in public transport (PT) vehicles with constant quality in an environmentally friendly manner (https://s.fhg.de/FuEMobDiStade; video). The robot,…

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy shows how solid-state lithium metal batteries degrade. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have demonstrated that electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) can be a powerful non-destructive tool to study the degradation mechanisms of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries. They studied ceramic-based all-solid-state Li metal batteries prepared by aerosol deposition and heating, identifying the specific interface responsible for the drop in performance. Their work accurately highlights the engineering hurdles that need to be overcome to bring these top-in-class batteries to the…

Scientists from the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung and the Eindhoven University of Technology analyse how iron can be used to store and transport energy. Gaining sustainable energy from wind, solar and water is commonly known and applied. However, renewable sources depend on environmental conditions: in peak times of wind and sun, excess energy is produced that is needed in times of less wind and sunshine. But how to store and transport this excess energy efficiently? So far, no reliable, safe and…

In the FOXIP project, researchers form Empa, EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute attempted to print thin-film transistors with metal oxides onto heat-sensitive materials such as paper or PET. The goal was ultimately not achieved, but those involved consider the project a success – because of a new printing ink an a transistor with “memory effect”. The bar was undoubtedly set high: In the research project Functional Oxides Printed on Polymers and Paper – FOXIP for short – the goal…

Methanol plays an important role for industry as a commodity chemical and is presently considered one of the key energy carriers in the rising hydrogen economy. However, conventional methanol production from coal and natural gas generates large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. With the project Carbon2Chem®, partners from industry, research and academia have made it their mission to explore processes for producing methanol from industrial waste gases using the steel industry as an example. For the first time, the long-term…

Advance could lead to more environmentally friendly rocket fuels. Researchers have developed an analytical instrument that uses an ultrafast laser for precise temperature and concentration measurements of hydrogen. Their new approach could help advance the study of greener hydrogen-based fuels for use in spacecraft and airplanes. “This instrument will provide powerful capabilities to probe dynamical processes such as diffusion, mixing, energy transfer and chemical reactions,” said research team leader Alexis Bohlin from Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. “Understanding these…

LiBinfinity project aims to develop an energy-efficient recycling concept for lithium-ion batteries – kit will evaluate recyclates. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is largely involved in a new battery recycling project. LiBinfinity focuses on a holistic concept for recycling materials of lithium-ion batteries. A mechanico-hydrometallurgical process without energy-intensive process steps will be transferred from the lab to an industry-relevant scale. KIT will then check whether the recycled materials are suited for the manufacture of new batteries. The Federal Ministry for…

A team of researchers have observed and reported for the first time the unique microstructure of a novel ferroelectric material, enabling the development of lead-free piezoelectric materials for electronics, sensors, and energy storage that are safer for human use. This work was led by the Alem Group at Penn State and in collaboration with research teams at Rutgers University and the University of California, Merced. Ferroelectrics are a class of materials that demonstrate a spontaneous electric polarization when an external…