IDTechEx

Printing the soft robots of the future

Three-dimensional printing offers unique advantages, but still faces many challenges, for fabricating small, flexible robots that can navigate through the human body and other confined spaces.

TDK & Toshiba Life

TDK have recently been making many significant applications to build a diverse and vertically integrated team in many aspects of electronics and sensing. We spoke to two recent aquirees at their booth at CES: InvenSense and Toshiba Life.

World's first energy positive hotel concept

Welcome to Svart - the World's first energy positive hotel concept by the Arctic Circle, with a 360° view of the Svartisen glacier and arctic nature. The hotel is planned to open in 2021 and is a collaboration between Arctic Adventure of Norway, Snøhetta and Powerhouse.

Invisible, stretchable circuits

Electrically conductive films that are optically transparent have a central role in a wide range of electronics applications, from touch screens and video displays to photovoltaics. These conductors function as invisible electrodes for circuit wiring, touch sensing, or electrical charge collection and are typically composed of transparent conductive oxides. But, they have a weakness. Most transparent conductors are mechanically stiff. Stretching the inelastic material causes it to break apart and lose electrical functionality. This inability to support strain greatly limits the role of these existing materials for emerging applications in wearable computing, soft bioelectronics, and biologically-inspired robotics. The displays and touchscreens used in these next-generation technologies will require transparent conductors that are soft, elastic, and highly stretchable. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Carmel Majidi and his research team have developed conductive thin-films that have the unique combination of properties needed for these next-generation technologies: high electrical conductivity, visual imperceptibility, low mechanical stiffness, and high elasticity.

All electric 40 tonne truck for the mining industry

It was one year ago today that Artisan put the mining industry on notice that times are changing with the launch of the first ever battery powered loader built from the ground up around lithium battery technology (the 153). Today, one year later, Artisan showed the world that battery power is not just a promising experiment, but a powerhouse technology that promises to change the mining industry forever.

How do Carmakers Deal With Less Cars?

From London to Sydney, one-bedroom apartments with a car space attached are becoming a rarity as planners impose tight controls on the provision of parking in new blocks, slashing costs and gridlock.

IDTechEx Announces the Winners of Launchpad

IDTechEx Launchpad will showcase innovations from 21 start-up companies at the IDTechEx Show! held in Berlin, Germany on 11-12 April 2018. All winners will be showing a new working prototype or product, many for the first time.

Off grid airports

Established in February 2014, Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation was created to produce the two seat "Sun Flyer" to be fully certified under the new FAR 23, and bring it to market. They intend to serve general aviation by providing a clean, renewable energy, electric training aircraft.

Volkswagen Group to expand production of electric vehicles

The Volkswagen Group is driving forward with the transformation to e-mobility. 16 locations around the globe are to produce battery powered vehicles by the end of 2022.

Silicon breakthrough for high-performance bendable electronics

A new method of creating bendable silicon chips could help pave the way for a new generation of high-performance flexible electronic devices.

3D printing helps develop world-first hearing aid

A world-first self-fitting hearing aid with a rechargeable battery and the ability to be set via a smartphone has been developed.

Personalised robotic exosuits

When it comes to soft assistive devices — like the wearable exosuit being created by the Harvard Biodesign Lab — the wearer and the robot need to be in sync. But every human moves a bit differently, and tailoring the robot's parameters to an individual user is a time-consuming and inefficient process.

Graphene material strengthens nerve signaling in the brain

Less than 20 years after it was developed, a thin, resilient sheet of carbon atoms with remarkable properties known as graphene is transforming biomedical fields as far flung as tissue engineering, neuroprosthetics and drug discovery.

SPIE Photonics West 2018 Exhibition

IDTechEx analysts attended SPIE Photonics West 2018, which took place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco (USA) during the first week of February. SPIE Photonics West is the largest international event on photonic technologies with 20,000+ attendees.

New method to create self-tinting windows

Researchers have developed a simple, cost-effective technique for making smart windows that could lead the way for wide-scale adoption of this energy-saving technology.

Capturing brain signals with soft electronics

A new technology for long-term stable neural recording. It is based on a novel elastic material composite, which is biocompatible and retains high electrical conductivity even when stretched to double its original length.

Self-driving robots collect water samples

For the first time, scientists will deploy a small fleet of long-range autonomous underwater vehicles that have the ability to collect and archive seawater samples automatically. These new robots will allow researchers to track and study ocean microbes in unprecedented detail.

All power to the proton: battery breakthrough

Researchers have demonstrated for the first time a working rechargeable "proton battery" that could re-wire how we power our homes, vehicles and devices.

Agricultural robotics and drones: diversity of functions, forms

Our research, published in Agricultural Robots and Drones 2018-2038: Technologies, Markets and Players, describes how robotics is transforming the world of agriculture. Indeed, our previous articles have described agricultural robotics and drones could become a $28Bn and $35B industry by 2028 and 2038, respectively. In this article, we seek to demonstrate the diversity of functions, forms and fortunes that exists, and will continue to exist, in agricultural robotics.

ISORG

ISORG develop Organic Photo Detector (OPD) systems which are partly printed, with mass production beginning in late 2018 or early 2019. They are focusing on smart shelves and finger print scanners (small and large area).