12 May 2022

Blue Bird Enters Commercial EV Market with Flexible Class 5-6 Chassis
Blue Bird Corporation has unveiled a unique Class 5-6 electric vehicle platform. The company builds on its nearly century-long expertise of school bus manufacturing to expand its zero-emission transportation solutions to the commercial vehicle market.
12 May 2022

3D Printed, Self-Propelled, Endlessly Programmable Artificial Cilia
For years, scientists have been attempting to engineer tiny, artificial cilia for miniature robotic systems that can perform complex motions, including bending, twisting, and reversing. Building these smaller-than-a-human-hair microstructures typically requires multi-step fabrication processes and varying stimuli to create the complex movements, limiting their wide-scale applications.
External press release
12 May 2022

FAA Approves Airworthiness Criteria for Wingcopter
Wingcopter is delighted to announce that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued the Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for the Wingcopter 198 US unmanned aircraft. This approval marks a critical milestone in the certification process of Wingcopter's flagship eVTOL delivery drone in the U.S.
External press release
12 May 2022

REPP Connects More Than One Million to Clean Electricity in Africa
More than one million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have been connected to electricity for the first time through the UK-funded Renewable Energy Performance Platform, managed by Camco Clean Energy.
External press release
12 May 2022

SATAVIA Provides Contrail Prevention Capability for KLM
Aircraft-generated condensation trails, or contrails, cause surface warming amounting to two-thirds of aviation's climate impact, almost double that of direct CO2 emissions from aircraft engines. Until recently, technical challenges made contrail prevention difficult or impossible, but SATAVIA's best-in-class atmospheric modelling now enables flight plan optimisation for contrail prevention.
External press release
12 May 2022

Sustainable Marine Delivers First Floating Tidal Power to Nova Scotia
Ocean energy pioneer Sustainable Marine today announced it has successfully harnessed the enormous tidal currents in Canada's Bay of Fundy, delivering the first floating in-stream tidal power to Nova Scotia's grid.
External press release
12 May 2022

Could Graphene by the Answer to the Semiconductor Shortage?
Semiconductors, which date back to the 19th century, are used everywhere in electronic devices, from automobile systems and air conditioners to laser treatment in cutting-edge medical systems. The continuing global shortage in semiconductors impacts how high-tech products are made around the world — the automotive industry alone is expected to lose $210 billion in revenue, with major players like BMW, Volkswagen and Ford already reporting the effects.
Full profile interview
11 May 2022

BodiGuide
Tess Skyrme, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, spoke to the CEO of BodiGuide, Deborah Kessler, about their wearable monitor for peripheral edema to continuously monitor fluid retention in the ankle as an aid to heart disease management.
11 May 2022

Flexible Printed Batteries Generate Electricity from Moisture
Strategic Elements Ltd reports that nanoionic materials engineering by research partner The University of New South Wales has created an improvement in the ability to convert moisture in the air to electrical energy.
Full profile interview
11 May 2022

GlucoRx
GlucoRx is a UK-based supplier of diabetes management solutions, founded in 2011. Today, GlucoRx is one of the NHS' largest supplier of quality diabetes products. IDTechEx analyst Brendan Beh spoke with GlucoRx's Chief Operating Officer Chris Chapman on the 9th of May, 2022.
Update interview
11 May 2022

Lynx — Q2 2022 Update
In November 2021, IDTechEx talked in detail to Lynx Reality's CEO, Stan Larroque, about the upcoming R-1 headset and its freeform catadioptric prism optics. Laval Virtual 2022 presented a chance to gain updates from the Parisian VR/MR startup and learn about the challenges faced by young companies in the XR industry.
11 May 2022

Drones Can Help Dairy Farms Manage Methane Emissions
About 50% of the methane that California emits comes from dairy farms. In order to meet strict climate goals, the state has proposed ways to regulate dairy methane emissions. But these efforts run up against a big problem: There isn't currently a reliable way for dairy farmers to measure the amount of methane produced on their farm.
Full profile interview
11 May 2022

General Vibration — Synchronising Multiple Haptic Motors
IDTechEx had an interview with John Houston, President and CEO at General Vibration. General Vibration is a US-based IP licensing and technology development company working in the haptic actuator field.
10 May 2022

New IDTechEx Report Explores the Future of Carbon Utilization
As mitigating the effects of climate change becomes one of the world's top priorities, carbon dioxide utilization (CO2U) technologies have been set forth as part of the solution.
Full profile interview
9 May 2022

Dispelix
Dispelix is a Finnish firm designing surface relief grating diffractive waveguides for consumer augmented reality devices. Unlike other companies' designs, they use a single waveguide layer for full RGB color — this helps to decrease weight but increases design complexity. Its in-house design software was developed specifically to solve this issue. The company is in the process of scaling production with its fab partners.
Update
9 May 2022

BNNano
BNNano are a company that manufacture boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and NanoBarbs, their own adapted BNNTs. IDTechEx spoke with Steve Wilcenski (Founder and CEO).
Full profile interview
9 May 2022

BNNT Technology Limited
BNNT Technology Limited make high quality boron nitride nanotubes, using a unique manufacturing process. IDTechEx spoke with Mark Winfield (CEO).
9 May 2022

Taste of the Future: Robot Chef Learns to 'Taste As You Go'
A robot 'chef' has been trained to taste food at different stages of the chewing process to assess whether it's sufficiently seasoned. The results could be useful in the development of automated or semi-automated food preparation by helping robots to learn what tastes good and what doesn't, making them better cooks.
9 May 2022

Anglo American Unveils Hydrogen Powered Mine Haul Truck
Anglo American unveils a prototype of the world's largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck designed to operate in everyday mining conditions at its Mogalakwena PGMs mine in South Africa.
9 May 2022

New Research to Minimise Impact of Wind Energy on Migratory Birds
The development of wind energy is expanding worldwide in an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change. However, locations ideal for harvesting wind energy often overlap with wildlife concentrations, potentially leading to collisions and habitat loss. Researchers have found that data collected by weather radar networks could be used to reduce collisions and minimize habitat-related impacts of wind turbines on nocturnally migrating birds.