University of Tokyo

Self-Healing Devices Gain or Regain Function After Being Cut

A "smart" polymer cast that automatically seals itself around a broken arm, a membrane that can sense where it has been cut, and pneumatic actuators that can be cut and reconfigured into different shapes are some possible applications for a new self-healing material.

Electrics and Electronics Becomes User-Dedicated Smart Material

An important new trend is buying electrics and electronics you customise to function not just shape. See the new IDTechEx report, "Complete Electronics as Smart Material, User-Customized 2020-2040". Builders, textile manufacturers, those doing home improvement and others are starting to buy electrically-smart materials direct from materials companies, bypassing the electronics industry.

Ultralight, Flexible and Wearable Solar Cells

An ultralight flexible solar cell, 10 times thinner than the width of a human hair, could hold the key to promising power sources for future wearable technology.

Coffee Grounds Show Promise as Biodgradable Material

Demand for cellulose nanofibers is increasing worldwide, as industries realize their potential as a more environmentally sound and sustainable way to produce plastics.

Battery Chemistry Promises Safer High-Voltage Lithium-Ion Batteries

For the first time, researchers have found a new way to improve lithium-ion batteries. They successfully increased not only the voltage delivery of a lithium-ion battery but also its ability to suppress dangerous conditions that affect the current range of batteries. This improved lithium-ion battery could make longer journeys in electric vehicles possible and lead to the creation of a new generation of home energy storage, both with improved fire safety.

E-Skin Camera-less Motion Capture System

Xenoma develops the next-generation smart apparel 'e-skin' to provide well-being and happiness in your daily life. As it can be worn comfortably, the e-skin is one of the most ideal interfaces to monitor the user's activity and vital information unobtrusively. Founded in November 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Tokyo and collaborating with Japanese apparel manufacturing and trading companies, Xenoma works across many industries and sectors to achieve "Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Through Entertainment".

Bluetooth Leggings Allows for Integrated Motion Capture

Xenoma develops the next-generation smart apparel 'e-skin' to provide well-being and happiness in your daily life. As it can be worn comfortably, the e-skin is one of the most ideal interfaces to monitor the user's activity and vital information unobtrusively. Founded in November 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Tokyo and collaborating with Japanese apparel manufacturing and trading companies, Xenoma works across many industries and sectors to achieve "Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Through Entertainment".

Thin Sensor Measures Fingerprints, Veins and Pulse Waves

A thin image sensor that allows for both high-speed readout and high-resolution imaging.

Bridgestone investigates power generating tires

The project seeks to develop new technologies that will ensure sufficient driving distance for electric vehicles with fewer batteries by installing motors inside wheels that are able to receive electric power directly from roads when driving or stopping.

Baraja

Baraja offer modular lidar systems that contain a central engine connected to one or more peripheral beam steering units. IDTechEx interviewed Mr Nick Langdale-Smith in July 2019. Langdale-Smith is the VP of Business Development at Baraja, and he is based in USA.

Electric Vehicle Research at Advanced Materials Osaka July 2019

Here we give the abstracts relevant to electric vehicles from BIT Advanced Materials Conference Osaka Japan July 2019. The organisers failed to provide slides but we have photographs of some of these if you are interested. The selected abstracts are divided into energy storage, wide bandgap semiconductors, energy harvesting and other.

Researchers can finally modify plant mitochondrial DNA

Researchers in Japan have edited plant mitochondrial DNA for the first time, which could lead to a more secure food supply.

Special nanotubes could improve solar power and imaging technology

Physicists discovered a novel kind of nanotube that generates current in the presence of light. Devices such as optical sensors and infrared imaging chips are likely applications, which could be useful in fields such as automated transport and astronomy. In future, if the effect can be magnified and the technology scaled up, it could lead to high-efficiency solar power devices.

Self-repairing batteries

Engineers recently developed a material which could significantly extend the life of batteries and afford them higher capacities as well.

TRENDE, Toyota , UTokyo experiment next-gen electricity system

TRENDE Inc, Toyota Motor Corporation and the University of Tokyo will conduct a joint experiment with a next-generation peer-to-peer electricity system that enables homes, businesses, and electric vehicles connected to the electricity grid to trade electricity using a blockchain.

Automatic neurological disease diagnosis using deep learning

A team of researchers developed MNet, an automatic diagnosis system for neurological diseases using magnetoencephalography, demonstrating the possibility of making automatic neurological disease diagnoses.

Ultra-soft electronics to monitor dynamically pulsing cardiomyocytes

In biointegrated electronics, the facile control of mechanical properties such as softness and stretchability in electronic devices is necessary to minimize the perturbation of motions inherent in biological systems.

Xenoma

IDTechEx caught up with Ryohei Konishi, Business Producer at Xenoma at their booth at CES 2019. They were demonstrating several new products since IDTechEx first met with them a year earlier at CES 2018.

Power cut: Wireless charger you can cut to shape

Researchers have developed a new system to charge electronic devices such as smartphones and smartwatches wirelessly. The method involves a cuttable, flexible power transfer sheet which charges devices wirelessly and can be molded or even cut with scissors to fit different-shaped surfaces and objects.

Don't go breaking my heart

For the first time, engineers have demonstrated an electronic device to closely monitor beating heart cells without affecting their behavior.