IDTechEx

Off Grid Breakthroughs and Challenges

The conference "Off Grid Energy Independence" Berlin April 11-12 will be unique in focussing exclusively on zero emission off grid and fringe-of-grid advances, challenges and prospects globally.

Ghana to be early adopter of wave power

Seabased has been contracted by TC's Energy, a Ghanaian renewable energy production company, to deliver a wave energy plant near Ada, Ghana. The 100 MW park is one of the first, and one the largest, commercial contracts in the fledgling wave energy industry. ​

Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost

A simple potassium solution could boost the efficiency of next-generation solar cells, by enabling them to convert more sunlight into electricity.

New AI technique dramatically improves the quality of medical imaging

A radiologist's ability to make accurate diagnoses from high-quality diagnostic imaging studies directly impacts patient outcome. However, acquiring sufficient data to generate the best quality imaging comes at a cost. Now researchers have addressed this challenge with a new technique based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Pipe-crawling robot will help decommission DOE nuclear facility

A pair of autonomous robots will soon be driving through miles of pipes at the U.S. Department of Energy's former uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio, to identify uranium deposits on pipe walls.

Driverless buses arriving at Gatwick Airport

Gatwick to be first airport in the world to trial autonomous vehicles to shuttle staff across the airfield. A trial of electric-powered autonomous vehicles will soon see workers shuttled between popular locations on the airfield when it starts later this summer as reported in Electric Vehicles Research.

Siemens invests in new 3D-printing facility in UK

Siemens is to make a €30 million investment in a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for Materials Solutions Ltd., its Additive Manufacturing, or 3D-printing specialist.

TU Munich

The Technical University of Munich is one of Europe's leading research institutions. Technology Analyst Dr Lorenzo Grande paid a visit to their battery manufacturing facilities outside of Munich to assess their prototyping and scaling-up capabilities

Five Hot Trends with Printed and Flexible Electronics

Europe's leading event on printed and flexible electronics, Printed Electronics Europe 2018, opens its doors in less than three weeks to over 2,500 global visitors.

Wearable heart rate monitor could signal low blood sugar

A wearable medical patch measuring the beat-to-beat variation in heart rate is a promising device for the early detection of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, in type 1 diabetes.

Solar storage project at US Army's Redstone Arsenal

A ribbon-cutting event marked the commencement of operations for a 10-megawatt solar photovoltaic and 1-megawatt energy storage system at the US Army post in Alabama.

Scientists mimic neural tissue

Researchers have discovered a process for engineering next-generation soft materials with embedded chemical networks that mimic the behavior of neural tissue. The breakthrough material may lead to autonomous soft robotics, dual sensors and actuators for soft exoskeletons, or artificial skins.

Allevi

IDTechEx analyst Nadia Tsao interviewed Allevi CEO Ricky Solorzano on March 15, 2018. Allevi is a manufacturer of 3D bioprinters.

Enerport blockchain energy trading project

Imagine a future where Irish consumers will be able to gift or sell their solar power across their neighbourhood as well as sharing and managing their own electricity in a myriad of new ways.

Commuter information displays that run on sunshine

Catching a bus in Sydney just got a whole lot smarter, thanks to the new digital bus stops. These intelligent signs run on solar power and have been developed on energy-saving electronic paper technology reports Printed Electronics World.

UK Power Networks Services smart charges UPS's electric vehicles

UK Power Networks Services has implemented smart new electric vehicle charging systems to power UPS's central London delivery fleet for what is believed to be the first time in the world on this scale.

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.