Researchers develop a comfortable, form-fitting fabric that recognizes its wearer’s activities, like walking, running, and jumping. Using a novel fabrication process, MIT researchers have produced smart textiles that snugly conform to the body so they can sense the wearer’s posture and motions. By incorporating a special type of plastic yarn and using heat to slightly melt it — a process called thermoforming — the researchers were able to greatly improve the precision of pressure sensors woven into multilayered knit textiles,…

Automatic object recognition and tracking using lidar. Innovative take on laser radar systems for smart cars outperforms camera-based object recognition. The automobile industry in China has been developing extremely rapidly over the past few decades, and more people have access to cars now than ever before. Because of this, many cities are facing traffic issues, such as traffic congestion and frequent accidents. One way to alleviate these problems, aside from improving public transportation, is to develop and implement intelligent transportation…

Printing a new chapter in solar energy. A simple and versatile nanoparticle ink could help next-generation perovskite solar cells to be printed at scale and become the dominant force in commercial photovoltaics. Made from tin oxide, the ink is created with just one key step at relatively low temperature using microwave technology, and without any need for further purification. It’s then used in solar cells to help selectively transport electrons, a crucial step in generating electricity. Prototype devices built with…

Graphene meets robots as automation is combined with advanced materials. Automated systems combined with new materials will combine as a “dream team” to start a revolution in advanced manufacturing, says a graphene pioneer. Automation and robotic systems are on the brink of transforming the way we all work and live says Dr Vivek Koncherry, who is based at The University of Manchester‘s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC). A UK government report has found that the total economic impact of automation across…

Researchers at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology have succeeded for the first time in 3D printing and subsequent sintering of housings for power electronic components. Researchers at the Professorship of Electrical Energy Conversion Systems and Drives at Chemnitz University of Technology have succeeded for the first time in 3D printing housings for power electronic components that are used, for example, to control electrical machines. During the printing process, silicon carbide chips are…

Alternative ship propulsion systems. Shipping is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases, and this is leading shipbuilders and operators on a search for environmentally friendly alternative propulsion systems. Researchers at Fraunhofer have joined forces with partners to develop the HyMethShip concept, in which hydrogen is obtained from methanol. This technology does not require large hydrogen tanks to be carried on board, making it much safer. In the future, it may also prove to be an attractive solution for…

Load carriers such as pallets, crates or tanks are indispensable for transporting all kinds of products, but hardly ever get any of the limelight themselves. Fraunhofer researchers have devoted themselves to this topic and have now developed a software to track and make visible the paths of the load carriers. This gives the logistics sector enormous opportunities to improve efficiency. With Logistikbude, the Fraunhofer researchers have even founded their own spin-off. Pallets, crates, containers, racks and tanks play a vital…

Paving way for wider application of green energy. Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a new hydrogen fuel cell which is not only the world’s most durable1 to date, but is also more cost-effective, paving way for a wider application of green energy in the pursuit of a carbon neutral world. Hydrogen fuel cell is a promising clean energy option as it generates power by converting hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, with zero emission…

– new possibilities in product labeling. Researchers from INNOVENT e.V. and Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH have developed a measurement technique that allows to detect nanoscale fluorescent thin films for the first time without using expensive laboratory equipment. The addressed fields of appli-cation of fluorescent thin films and the associated analysis technology are in areas such as security, logistics and merchandise management. The Jena-based industrial research institution INNOVENT e.V. has incorporated fluorescent nanoparticles into thin-film technologies. These particles can now be detected thanks…

Researchers at KIT develop perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25 percent; combination of materials enables mobile applications. Stacking solar cells increases their efficiency. Working with partners in the EU-funded PERCISTAND project, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have produced perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25percent– the highest value achieved thus far with this technology. Moreover, this combination of materials is light and versatile, making it possible to envision the use…

An original approach to mass-producing low-cost solar cell foundation blocks could lead to the wide adoption of solar panels made from perovskite ink – a “miracle material” –  according to research from the University of Surrey. In the paper published in Scientific Reports, Dr Ehsan Rezaee, a post-doctoral fellow of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey, explains his research: “The objective is simply to produce solar cell building blocks out of perovskite ink. Whilst perovskite ink…

A new material holds promise for the next generation of organic electronics. For decades, field-effect transistors enabled by silicon-based semiconductors have powered the electronics revolution. But in recent years, manufacturers have come up against hard physical limits to further size reductions and efficiency gains of silicon chips. That has scientists and engineers looking for alternatives to conventional metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. “Organic semiconductors offer several distinct advantages over conventional silicon-based semiconducting devices: they are made from abundantly available elements, such…

Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process. Boron nitride nanotubes used to be hard to process, according to Rice University researchers. Not anymore. A Rice team led by professors Matteo Pasquali and Angel Martí has simplified handling of the highly valuable nanotubes to make them more suitable for large-scale applications, including aerospace, electronics and energy-efficient materials. The researchers reported in Nature Communications that boron nitride nanotubes, aka BNNTs, assemble themselves into liquid crystals under the right conditions, primarily concentrations above 170 parts per million by…

An international team of researchers has demonstrated a technique that allows them to align gold nanorods using magnetic fields, while preserving the underlying optical properties of the gold nanorods. “Gold nanorods are of interest because they can absorb and scatter specific wavelengths of light, making them attractive for use in applications such as biomedical imaging, sensors, and other technologies,” says Joe Tracy, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of materials science and engineering at North…

Efficiency-enhancing flow-line production of large CFRP components. Automation solutions for aircraft construction: Pioneering mobile holding fixture for flexible clamping, alignment, and transport of components reduces the workload of production processes considerably. As part of the “UniFix” joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), experts in Automation and Production Technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Stade, together with cooperation partners and Airbus Operations GmbH (Stade) as…

Modern vehicles have a large number of electronic systems that are networked with each other. Since these systems are at risk from cyber attacks, Fraunhofer IPMS developed a CANsec IP core that makes vehicle systems more secure. The IP core is already being evaluated in a demonstration by partner Renesas Electronics Corporation, a leading semiconductor company that delivers embedded processors together with analog and power products. At the Embedded World trade show from June 21-23, both Fraunhofer IPMS and Renesas…