Research Articles

Robotic technology is quietly transforming the world of agriculture. In this article, we demonstrate how diverse this emerging industry is in terms of forms, functions and fortunes.

These coming quarters are crucial decision times for many transparent conductive film (TCF) companies. Some are losing patience with their programmes, questioning if and when their efforts will turn into notable revenues.

Agricultural use is currently responsible for 70% of all fresh water consumption but fresh water is becoming more expensive and scarce. Fortunately there are many solutions because they are all needed.

Fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) are predominantly made of synthetic fibres, such as glass or carbon, and a petrochemically sourced thermosetting resin or thermoplastic matrix. However, natural fibres and resins are on the rise because of their beneficial properties, competitive cost, legislative drivers, and consumer preferences.

Graphene Noble Prize went to the Europeans, but will the commercial fruits primarily go to Asians, particularly the Chinese? In this article we demonstrate, based on our recent visits, how China is gearing up to run the show.

Last mile delivery remains an expensive affair in the parcel delivery business, often representing more than half of the total cost. Its importance is also growing thanks to a change in the composition of total deliveries with B2C deliveries rapidly taking on a bigger share. E-commerce companies are also pushing next-day and now same-day services, often at a major growing loss, hoping to take away that last stronghold of bricks-and-mortar shops: instant customer fulfilment. It is within this context that autonomising the movement in the last mile delivery step finds its imperative.

The world has very little fresh water and it is running out. At tens of billions of tonnes yearly, the fresh water of the ice caps is falling into the salty sea which is already 97% of the world's water.

The Voltera V-One creates prototype circuit boards on your desk.

Autonomous mobile robots are causing a paradigm shift in the way we envisage commercial and industrial vehicles.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 18 January titled Electric vehicle charging goes off grid.

FocalSpec's 3D optical sensors are specifically designed to meet the needs of system integrators in the consumer electronics industry.

Trucking is a big business. In this article we will demonstrate how and why trucking driving is going autonomous.

StretchSense is a global supplier of soft, stretchy sensors.

Imagine Intelligent Materials use graphene to create smart materials which sense and report real-time changes in stress, temperature and moisture.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 11th January 2018 titled Invasive and non-invasive neural interfaces - Brain machine and brain computer interfaces

New research at BSAC will have even greater impacts on consumer, industrial, and medical products.

This article covers a number of topics to highlight how robotic technology within agriculture is altering the landscape.

This premium articles consider mobile robotics on material handling industrial vehicles. It show how the rise of navigational autonomy will render, in time, the incumbent infrastructure-dependant automated vehicle technology obsolete, and how it will have a transformative impact on the fortunes of the greater material handling vehicle industry. Indeed, it will show how navigational autonomy will induce a colossal transfer of value from wage bills paid for human-provided driving services towards spent on autonomous industrial vehicles. This, in turn, will fuel the growth in this material handling vehicle industry (e.g., forklift), creating significant revenues over a business-as-usual scenario. This takes place despite our technology roadmap showing that hardware commoditisation will slowly devalue such driving services particularly in high-wage regions.

Raghu Das introduced the technologies covered and an introduction to the IDTechEx Show! USA 2017

The improving business cases for off grid are a contrast to much grid supply, where high voltage grid extension at a swingeing $1-6 million per mile is not involved, nor even low voltage extension at $15k-50k. It attracts where grids are being neglected or are based on bad choices increasing prices.

This presentation provides an overview of ICs on flexible substrates including some of the key players and market highlights.

This presentation covers the main technology trends and players relating to flexible or printed display technology.

tacterion's innovative and unique technology is a highly flexible and stretchable sensor called sensorskin.

While plenty of options for plug-in vehicles now flood the market at seemingly low prices, drivers soon realize most electric options only get them thirty to eighty miles on a single charge.

As the point-of-care biosensor market is expected to expand to $33 billion by 2027, investing in the right technology and business model now is paramount to success over the next decade.

1.8 million people acquire HIV each year, with the World Health Organisation estimating that 1 in 5 people living with HIV do not realise they are infected. Therefore, strategies for faster and earlier diagnosis are as important as ever to limit the spread of HIV.

The new IDTechEx Research report, Battery Elimination in Electronics and Electrical Engineering 2018-2028 notes that billions of wireless electronic and electrical products consuming microwatts to milliwatts or more operate without batteries or even capacitors to store energy.

Li-ion Batteries are the talk of town in the tech industry, but clarity on the subject is scarce, and very often the word "Battery" is used interchangeably to indicate those relying on the reversible shuttling of lithium ion (Li-ion batteries, or LIB), and many other different energy storage technologies that have little in common with each other.

Ceramic Metal Composites (CMC) and Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) are not new concepts, but they have never reached their potential. To date, a wide range of particles and whiskers have been used in these matrices, but the advantages have been questionable, applications limited, and manufacturing challenges difficult.

At the IDTechEx Show! in Santa Clara, IDTechEx was delighted to present the 'Best Development in 3D Printing Award USA 2017' to Exovite for their work on 'Technological innovation in tools and medical procedures.'

Stretchable and conformal electronics are more than just novelties. This article by IDTechEx analysts Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh and James Hayward, first published in SID Information Display, describes how many of the simpler and less glamorous aspects of stretchable and conformable devices have already been commercialized or are very close to being commercialized.

It is hard to avoid the topic of the automotive sector within the composite industry, but of late there has been a shift in the rhetoric from when the large uptake will happen to whether it will happen at all.

Winners of the IDTechEx Show! USA Awards - Energy Harvesting, Energy Storage and Electric Vehicles. The annual IDTechEx Show! USA awards were presented in Santa Clara last week during the drinks reception at the end of day one.

Each year at the IDTechEx Show!, two companies are honoured for their achievements in developing and commercialising different aspects of wearable technology. This year the awards were judged by Dr Akira Sakaigawa (Huawei), Chris Chin (HTC Vive) and Heidi Dohse (Google) with support from the independent analyst team with IDTechEx Research.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 28 November titled Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 21 November titled Medical Biosensors for Monitoring and Diagnostics.