IDTechEx

Toyota Residential Storage Battery System Based on EV Battery Tech

Toyota Motor Corporation has developed a home storage battery system. The O-Uchi Kyuden System uses electrified vehicle battery technology such as Toyota's battery control to provide a rated capacity of 8.7 kWh and a rated output of 5.5 kWh. This ensures safety and provides a supply of electricity to the entire home not just in normal situations, but even during power outages caused by natural disasters.

Tracking Sleep with a Self Powering Smart Pillow

Studies have linked chronic lack of sleep to physical ailments, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as mental health issues. Those interested in getting a better handle on what's happening to them at night have two primary options. They can take a sleep test conducted in a medical facility, or they can use an app through a smartphone or smart watch — a much more convenient, but less accurate choice. Recognizing the need, many groups have begun developing new sleep monitoring systems using triboelectric nanogenerators.

Echandia Receives Order for Navel Vessels Worth EUR 5 Million

Echandia has received an initial order for battery systems in the highly specialized naval segment. The order, which comes from major system supplier in the maritime sector, amounts to EUR 5 million and is Echandia's first foray into military applications.

Developing a Toolchain to Assess Performance of Wind Energy Systems

The goal of the project is to achieve a better understanding of the unsteady inflow conditions at altitudes above the first layer of air above the ground (the surface layer). The aim is to develop a toolchain to efficiently and effectively assess the performance and reliability of airborne wind energy devices and conventional wind turbines. This is important to site evaluation but also for increasing the wind plant efficiency and making the operation of airborne wind energy systems safer.

WeART

WeART is a Milanese early-stage wearable haptics company. Its iF Design Award winning TouchDIVER device simulates surface texture, the force felt when touching the surface, and surface temperature in a glove-like form factor. The device is usually paired with an XR headset. The company has already gathered 40 industrial customers since the TouchDIVER's release in October 2021.

Borealis

Borealis is a chemical manufacturer specializing in the production of polypropylene and polyethylene

Zendar: High Performance, Cheap Automotive Radar

Zendar is a start-up working on improving automotive radar. Zendar believes that current automotive radar is limited by the weak computational processing power embedded in the sensor. They suggest a move to a central processing unit with more computational power which can handle multiple radar front-ends at one time. This would be a similar architecture to Tesla in the way it handles its camera information.

Bruker Alicona

Bruker Alicona is an optical solution provider with its featured technology called Focus-Variation.

NASA Partners with Industry for New Spacewalking, Moonwalking Services

NASA has selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to advance spacewalking capabilities in low-Earth orbit and at the Moon, by buying services that provide astronauts with next generation spacesuit and spacewalk systems to work outside the International Space Station, explore the lunar surface on Artemis missions, and prepare for human missions to Mars.

Successful Transplant of Human Liver Treated in Machine

A multidisciplinary Zurich research team Liver4Life has succeeded in doing something during a treatment attempt that had never been achieved in the history of medicine until now: it treated an originally damaged human liver in a machine for three days outside of a body and then implanted the recovered organ into a cancer patient. One year later, the patient is doing well.

Direct Sound Printing, a Potential Game Changer in 3D Printing

Most 3D printing methods currently in use rely either on photo (light)- or thermo (heat)-activated reactions to achieve precise manipulation of polymers. The development of a new platform technology called direct sound printing, which uses soundwaves to produce new objects, may offer a third option.

Automation Technology Could Help Vertical Farms Achieve Profitability

IDTechEx has recently released "Vertical Farming: 2022-2032", a market research report exploring the technology and market factors of the vertical farming industry, which has attracted much attention from investors over recent years. The vertical farming industry raised over $1 billion in funding in 2021, a record high that exceeded the combined funding generated in 2018 and 2019.

Portable Hydrogen Cartridge Prototype

Toyota Motor Corporation and its subsidiary, Woven Planet Holdings Inc, have developed a working prototype of its portable hydrogen cartridge. This cartridge design will facilitate the everyday transport and supply of hydrogen energy to power a broad range of daily life applications in and outside of the home. Toyota and Woven Planet will conduct Proof of Concept trials in various places, including Woven City, a human-centered smart city of the future currently being constructed in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Ford to Invest $3.7 Billion in Electric Vehicles

United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Company leaders have announced plans to add more than 6,200 new U.S. manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, convert nearly 3,000 temporary UAW-Ford workers to permanent full-time status and provide all hourly employees healthcare benefits on the first day of employment.

Stretchable, Waterproof Fabric Turns Body Movements into Electricity

Scientists have developed a stretchable and waterproof 'fabric' that turns energy generated from body movements into electrical energy.

Towards Customizable Timber, Grown in a Lab

Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares of forest — an area about the size of Iceland — because of deforestation. At that rate, some scientists predict the world's forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years. In an effort to provide an environmentally friendly and low-waste alternative, researchers have pioneered a tunable technique to generate wood-like plant material in a lab, which could enable someone to "grow" a wooden product like a table without needing to cut down trees, process lumber, etc.

Automated Drones Could Scare Birds off Agricultural Fields

In the future, cameras could spot blackbirds feeding on grapes in a vineyard and launch drones to drive off the avian irritants, then return to watch for the next invading flock. All without a human nearby.

Metal 3D Printing Technology Landscape - The Trends and the Whitespace

Perfectly imperfect - that is the technology landscape in metal 3D printing boiled down. Through an extensive benchmarking study, IDTechEx has asked the question: where are metal additive manufacturing technologies going, and where are the whitespaces for advancement in the metal AM landscape?

Buick Commits to All-Electric Portfolio by End of Decade

Buick is set to embark on a brand transformation that will fully electrify its lineup in North America, led by a new badge and brand identity. In support of General Motors' vision of a zero-emissions, all-electric future, Buick will bring its first electric vehicle to market for North America in 2024.

Carbon Dioxide-Sensing Underwater Glider

Globally, the pH of the ocean is decreasing as humans burn coal, oil and gas. When carbon dioxide from these activities is absorbed by the ocean, it affects the ability of marine organisms to build and maintain their shells and may also change the behavior of some fish.