University of Oxford

Low-cost localisation system ready for market

Oxbotica has announced the release of its pioneering camera-based localisation software for autonomous vehicles, Dub4.

Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (innoLAE 2017)

A key event for the large-area electronics community, bringing industry and academia together and providing valuable opportunities to share the latest research results and discuss new projects and collaborations.

World first for robot eye operation

The robot needs to operate inside the eye through a single hole that is less than 1 mm in diameter and it needs to go in and out of the eye through this same hole during various steps of the procedure, even though the eye may rotate.

Scientists simulate tiny bacteria-powered windfarm

A team of scientists has shown how the natural movement of bacteria could be harnessed to assemble and power microscopic 'windfarms'.

Boost for Helium Electric Aircraft

Helium has important applications in MRI machines, welding, manufacturing semiconductors, deep-sea diving and blimps. If it was readily available and affordable, its use in EVs such as underwater vehicles and aircraft would increase greatly.

Boost for solar aircraft market

A research team has developed a new approach to finding fields of helium underground, and with the first use of the technique they have discovered a massive reserve in East Africa according to a new report from Oxford University in the UK.

Solar cell material can recycle light to boost efficiency

Perovskite materials can recycle light particles - a finding which could lead to a new generation of affordable, high-performance solar cells.

£6.8 million grant to develop next-generation lithium batteries

A new research consortium involving Professor Saiful Islam from the University of Bath's Department of Chemistry has been awarded £6.8 million by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council to explore and develop next-generation lithium batteries.

Meeting with ALABC/ILA London 13 Jan 2016

The International Lead Association (ILA) now runs the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Corporation (ALABC) and it is repositioning it to basic research at the request of its members.

Perovskite boosts silicon solar cell efficiency

A UK company claims it can boost the efficiency of a silicon solar cell by 20% by adding a layer of the light-sensitive crystal perovskite.

Ultralight solar cells designed to drive drones

An ultrathin, flexible, stretchable and lightweight 'solar foil' has been produced from perovskite solar cells by researchers in Austria, who demonstrate the material's utility using solar powered miniature aircraft and blimps.

Bristol Channel beckons for tidal energy scheme

Kepler Energy is bringing forward plans for a 30MW tidal energy fence that will be located in the Bristol Channel.

Towards higher voltage supercapacitors for consumer electronics

In this instalment of our graphene series we discuss commercialising flexible graphene supercapacitors.

Electric Vehicle wins outright at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

For the first time, an electric car is the overall winner at an internationally recognised motorsport event, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA.

The direction of development in autonomous vehicle research

Autonomous vehicles uses a portfolio of sensors that is highly dependent on Lidar technology, given the high price of these sensors, researchers are looking how to reduce the reliance on this technology through enhancing the capabilities of cheaper sensor technologies.

World's first sodium-ion powered vehicle

Developed by British battery start-up firm Faradion in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering and Oxford University, a sodium-ion powered vehicle was demonstrated in an e-bike application as a proof-of-concept to showcase the capabilities of this new type of battery chemistry.

Research pinpoints defects in popular perovskites

A new study demonstrates that perovskite materials, generally believed to be uniform in composition, actually contain flaws that can be engineered to improve solar devices even further.

Dyesol

Dyesol was established in 2004 to commercialise a third generation photovoltaic nanotechnology called Dye Solar Cells (DSC) or Dye Sensitised Solar Cells (DSSC). The company is now working on perovskite PV cells--one of the emerging PV technologies with rapid efficiency growth.

Is Perovskite Solar Technology Ready for Commercialization?

Pervoskite photovoltaics are a breath of fresh air in the photovoltaic market. They demonstrated a remarkable learning curve, going from 2.2% efficiency in 2006 to the latest record of 20.1% in 2014. They have already supressed OPVs and DSSCs and are now, at least in terms of efficiency, in the same range as leading thin film PVs like CdTe and CIGS.