Research Articles

In February 2022, the White House issued an updated list of critical and emerging technologies that the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), and National Security Council (NSC) have identified as being important for US national security. Numerous technology areas have been featured, including advanced manufacturing, hypersonics, biotechnologies, and artificial intelligence. Of these, IDTechEx has highlighted which areas to watch and why exactly the White House has shortlisted them as critical technologies.

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In 2021, it was reported that over 100 employees at Amazon Prime Air, Amazon's drone delivery program, had lost their jobs and dozens of other roles were moving to other projects. This was not exciting news and made some people reflect on the feasibility of drone delivery in the near future.

In our surreal world, we continue to subsidize fossil fuels. We rarely subsidize the huge missing link on the way to 100% renewables, which is providing massive amounts of delayed electricity. People misunderstand. They think we do. Uniquely, the IDTechEx report "Future Stationary Energy Storage: Hydrogen, Batteries, Gravity, Gas, Other 2022-2042" looks at all the proliferating needs and technologies on the essential 20-year timescale ahead. It finds that the problems are largely solved of very brief fluctuations previously avoided by the momentum of rotating machines used in fossil fuel plants.

With the advancement of technologies and robotics, as well as the increasing challenges facing the agricultural industry (e.g., labor shortage, high labor costs, etc.), robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are widely considered as an approach to revolutionize farming. Robots have several advantages over human labor including higher accuracy and efficiency, better consistency and reliability, lower operational costs, and many others. As such, more and more farmers decide to adopt robots (also commonly known as Agbots) and automation to make their businesses more sustainable and efficient.

On the face of it, 2021 was a good year for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in passenger car markets. Toyota, with their second generation Mirai FCEV, and Hyundai, with their NEXO FCEV, both had record sales, which largely made up for Honda announcing in June 2021 that it had decided to pull the plug on production of their Honda Clarity FCV (citing the lack of hydrogen infrastructure and weak demand).

Li-ion batteries are beginning to hit their performance ceiling, especially with regards to energy density. However, a shift in the anode materials used, namely to silicon or lithium-metal anodes, could provide a stepwise improvement to energy density. Their promise can be highlighted by looking at the high number of early-stage companies primarily developing anode materials, most being focussed on silicon, compared to other areas of Li-ion development.

5G deployment is in full swing with mid-band infrastructure installed by the end of 2021 representing nearly 6 times what it was in 2019. However, this doesn't mean that all of the challenges have been solved. Much of the 5G infrastructure is repurposed 4G equipment at lower frequency bands. The real transition to 5G comes from the adoption of higher frequencies which have largely been categorized into sub-6 GHz and mmWave (> 20 GHz) bands. One of the key challenges is thermal management.

Wearable technology is now way beyond the watch, but IDTechEx identifies these as the ones to watch.

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Smart cities face new, exceptional challenges with new exceptional technologies. Those starting from scratch have seen a shakeout for reasons varying from push-back against people control to failing to raise the money. In contrast, work has begun on the NEOM smart city in Saudi Arabia and the more modest Toyota Woven City at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan that is, in some ways, more advanced. The IDTechEx report, "Smart City Materials, Systems, Markets 2022-2042" has the analysis and forecasts.

Thursday 24 February 2022 - Mobile Robotics in Logistics: Hundreds of Billion Dollar Market in 20 Years? An introduction to mobile robots and how they can be used in logistics; What makes mobile robots an attractive solution to logistics automation; Discussion of key enabling technologies and components; and much more.

The past two years have been extremely turbulent for many industries with production lines shutting down, chip shortages, and a host of general supply chain issues. Amongst the dismay, electric vehicles (EVs) have been a shining light. In 2021, sales of EVs globally grew by around 80% over 2020 which in turn was a growth of 44% over 2019.

Gymnast of chemicals, the awesome hydrogel is a 3D network of hydrophilic polymers like a giant molecule that can swell in water and hold at least 10% of water while maintaining a well-defined structure. Medical hydrogels currently dominate hydrogel publicity, patents, and research but the rest will become a larger business 2022-2042.

The mobile robotics industry has grown quickly in recent years, spurred on by advances in robotics technology, autonomous navigation, and artificial intelligence (AI), and may efficiently and cost-effectively alleviate many of the labor issues that are currently threatening the global logistics industry.

The new year has dawned, and with it, new year resolutions. From hitting the gym to learning Japanese, January is a month where people challenge themselves. But what if the most worthwhile challenge is to spend a little longer asleep? A celebration that starts with staying up past midnight is hardly the most conducive to getting enough shut-eye - but that is exactly the resolution worth making.

Thursday 3 February 2022 - Solutions to Modern Agriculture Issues - Agricultural Robotics Market Gaining Momentum. In this webinar, Yulin Wang will talk through the key enabling technologies used in agricultural robotics, explain why different applications have different levels of development, and analyze how this trend will change and evolve in the upcoming decade.

Fires in electric vehicles (EVs) certainly gain a lot of media attention in comparison to their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts. But a crucial question for the future of mobility is whether EVs are actually any more likely to catch fire than an ICE vehicle. There is always a non-zero risk of Lithium-ion batteries entering thermal runaway but the key points are how likely is a fire, how problematic is an EV fire and what is being done to prevent or limit them in the future?

Thursday 10 February 2022 - This webinar looks at hydrogels beyond the medical applications that currently dominate the publicity, patents and research. Come away aware that someone will make a new billion-dollar business out of this and greatly benefit society, from smart cities to ample food, water, and electricity with zero emissions and so much more.

This report is focused on key technologies (e.g., AI, sensors, GPS, imaging systems, etc.) and applications (weeding, harvesting, monitoring, etc.). It analyses recent challenges in the agriculture industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how robotics and technology developments will change the business of agriculture, enabling ultra-precision farming, helping to mitigate the challenges, and maintaining sustainable developments.

The materials science industry is highly competitive. There are large changes in various sectors, such as an electric and autonomous future for vehicles, geopolitical & legislative developments, and new players offering innovative materials looking to gain market share. The key to future success will rely on commercializing R&D activity and remaining agile to market needs, two reasons that developing a materials informatics strategy is imperative.

"We expect to see the additive manufacturing market consolidating in the near future" has been the refrain of many for nearly a decade now. The thought really strengthened after major acquisition moves by industry titans Stratasys and 3D Systems between 2010-2012. Stratasys would acquire wax 3D printer company Solidscape and merge with material jetting pioneer Objet in 2011-2012, while 3D Systems completed a jaw-dropping 13 acquisitions between 2011-2012. With so many major moves by market leaders in the early 2010s, it seemed like market consolidation was just around the corner.

How do we communicate with our electronic devices? There are many different 'human-machine interfaces (HMI)' options, ranging from the well-established (keyboard/mouse/mechanical switches) to somewhat more recent developments such as the capacitive touch screens found on smartphones. As greater numbers of devices around us gain 'smart' functionality, the ability to incorporate HMI components elegantly and cost-effectively is increasingly important.

Join the free webinar - Thursday 27 January 2022. What are the major printing technologies driving the 3D printing hardware market's growth? What are new emerging technologies to keep an eye on? Is the hardware market at a point of consolidation or expansion?

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Thursday 20 January 2022 - What's Happening in Battery Technology? Recent commercial developments to advanced and non-lithium batteries, various next generation batteries and analysis of their relative strengths and weaknesses, and the potential markets for the range of technologies being developed.

Almost two years after the COVID-19 outbreak began, the world is still in the tunnel. Despite the negative impact the pandemic has caused, there are some positive sides. For example, it accelerates digitalization - businesses are pushed to adopt technologies quicker to improve production as well as management efficiency.

IDTechEx have identified a variety of business models adopted by recyclers. Some aim to optimize the transport and collection pathways, via Spoke and Hub or mobile solutions, while others look to license their technologies or sell recycling products.

The mobility sector continues to see a rapid pace of change, enabled by technological leaps in the underlying componentry and materials, but there is still a long way to go. In this article Luke Gear, Principal Analyst at IDTechEx, explores six key future mobility trends, drawing from IDTechEx Subscription research.

Commercial interest in silicon anodes and investments into start-up companies has continued through 2021 - IDTechEx estimates that $1.9B of funding has now made its way into silicon anode start-ups. Beyond investments, there has also been greater activity regarding companies beginning to license technologies, enter into supply relationships or commercialize technologies in early adopter markets, highlighting that the promise of silicon anode technology may soon be realized.

The latest IDTechEx report, "Automotive Radar 2022-2042", showcases all the technology innovations that are propelling the performance of radar into new unchartered territory. Given all the benefits that radar can offer, why then would Tesla be moving away and focussing on a camera only sensor suite?

Thursday 13 January 2022 - New Self-healing Materials Save Lives, Money, and the Planet. The webinar explains how this is a world of many materials including a lot of silicon polymers such as geopolymers and silicones. It involves many ionomers, hydrogels, polyurethanes, ionomers, epoxies and Diels-Alder polymers but much more besides.

Commercial interest in silicon anodes and investments into start-up companies has continued through 2021 - IDTechEx estimates that $1.9B of funding has now made its way into silicon anode start-ups. Beyond investments, there has also been greater activity regarding companies beginning to license technologies, enter into supply relationships or commercialize technologies in early adopter markets, highlighting that the promise of silicon anode technology may soon be realized.

IDTechEx predicts that SAE level 3 autonomous features, such as traffic jam pilot, will emerge in 2022 and become common in vehicles by 2042. How did IDTechEx predict this time scale? The answer lies in the historical adoption trends of advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) technologies.