European Commission

Floating tension-tethered and self-steerable marine-current turbine

A marine turbine specifically designed to harness the energy from tidal and ocean currents in those regions which, having relatively-high-speed water flows at depths with long distance to the seabed, cannot ensure an economic exploitation with fixed turbines.

European Commission backs Minesto roadmap for commercial breakthrough

The awarded phase 1 grant of €50,000 will be used for a feasibility study of commercial Island Mode (off grid) installations of Minesto's marine energy converter DG100.

Robot car Marilyn parks in the furthermost lot fully autonomously

The VTT robot car Marilyn is currently undergoing tests on fully autonomous parking in the area furthest from its driver, at a distance of up to a hundred metres. The Internet of Things assists the car in finding and driving into a free space.

Wave Power at least as important as Tidal Power

Aquaculture is going offshore into the bigger waves and there is rapid proliferation of electricity-gobbling ocean floor mining robots, autonomous underwater vehicles, oil and gas subsea equipment and much more.

Rehau participates in EU-funded lighting project

Polymer specialist REHAU and 13 partners are investigating OLED lighting technology, an innovative new lighting technology, which allows for lighting to be uniform, bendable, ultra-thin and transparent.

European cities soon to be ready for autonomous vehicles

Autonomous vehicles promise to be the next revolution in public transport. But for these new services to develop, we must first identify the needs and motivations of their future users and be able to respond to them, meet many of the technological and regulatory challenges, and design new business models. This is the aim of the 4 year AVENUE project consortium, with a total budget of 22 million euros and funded by the European Commission up to the level of 16 million euros.

Energy self-consumption and building retrofitting

A presentation on this was given at ICREN Barcelona By Víctor Martinez City Council of Sant Cugat. He is in charge of the coordination of several European projects (FP7 & Horizon 2020) in Sant Cugat.

3D Bioprinter Manufacturers

3D Bioprinter manufacturers, drivers and trends.

Wearable sensor for chronic conditions

A new type of flexible, wearable sensor could help people with chronic conditions like diabetes avoid the discomfort of regular pin-prick blood tests by monitoring the chemical composition of their sweat instead.

5,000 StreetScooters in service at DHL , Tesla trucks on order

Deutsche Post DHL Group plans on being the industry's driver of electromobility and market leader in green logistics. Its e-mobility initiative is also part of its ambitious GoGreen program, an environmental protection project that will help Deutsche Post DHL Group become the first logistics company to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net zero by 2050.

Fully integrated circuits printed directly onto fabric

Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques.

Launch of European battery alliance

Battery alliance announced in Brussels aims to expedite European battery cell manufacturing.

Sensars Neuroprosthetics grabs government funding for disruptive tech

European Commission's Horizon 2020 SME (small-medium sized enterprises) Instrument recently announced Sensars Neuroprosthetics as a Phase 1 recipient for funding of their SENSY technology. Phase 1 recipients receive €50000 in funding for 6 months to execute a feasibility study and draft a 10-page business proposal. This is intended to bring the technology from the idea to concept stage. There are currently 2813 participants, 2750 projects coordinated, and 1094,87M€ allocated to the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument.

Clothes intertwined with nanotech will treat eczema

Tiny capsules embedded in the clothes we wear could soon be used to counteract the rise of sensitive skin conditions.

Artificial skin could allow robots to feel

Artificial skin with post-human sensing capabilities, and a better understanding of skin tissue, could pave the way for robots that can feel, smart-transplants and even cyborgs.

Robots to help children with autism

The Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders (DREAM) project will design robots that can operate autonomously and help the therapist to improve the child's social interaction skills, such as turn-taking, imitation and joint attention.

ROMEO project: reducing cost for offshore wind farm operators

A new flagship European project funded by the Horizon 2020 Programme is seeking to reduce offshore O&M costs through the development of advanced monitoring systems and strategies, aiming to move from corrective and calendar based maintenance to a condition based maintenance, through analysing the real behaviour of the main components of wind turbines.

Qualcomm demonstrates dynamic electric vehicle charging

Eynamic electric vehicle charging allows vehicles to charge while driving.

Triboelectric Interview: Prof. Zhong Lin Wang, Gatech, 11 May 2017

IDTechEx Chairman Dr Peter Harrop spoke to Professor Zhong Lin Wang of Gatech at Energy Harvesting Europe, part of the IDTechEx Show!

Cleverer smart windows grow $6.5 billion market

The new IDTechEx report, Electrically Active Smart Glass and Windows 2018-2028 observes that electrically active see-through glass is an idea whose time has come.