Carnegie Mellon University

A new standard in robotics

Known as the Yale-CMU-Berkeley (YCB) Object and Model Set, the intent is to provide universal benchmarks for labs specializing in robotic manipulation and prosthetics around the world.

Battery you can swallow could enable future ingestible medical devices

Non-toxic, edible batteries could one day power ingestible devices for diagnosing and treating disease. One team reports new progress toward that goal with their batteries made with melanin pigments, naturally found in the skin, hair and eyes.

24m Technologies

24M is a spin-out of battery company A123 that has developed a semi-solid, flexible electrode structure for their Li-ion batteries. We recently interviewed President and CEO Throop Wilder.

New concept turns battery technology upside-down

A new approach to the design of a liquid battery, using a passive, gravity-fed arrangement similar to an old-fashioned hourglass, could offer great advantages due to the system's low cost and the simplicity of its design and operation.

Melanin could make for great batteries

A team of researchers has discovered that the chemical structure of melanin on a macromolecular scale exhibits, amongst other shapes, a four-membered ring—in other words, a chemical structure that may be conducive to creating certain kinds of batteries based on natural melanin pigments.

Technology turns arm into smartwatch touchpad

Ever since the advent of smartwatches, technologists have been looking to expand interactions beyond the confines of the small watch face. A new wearable technology suggests turning the entire lower arm into a touchpad.

Debugging tools for intermittently powered energy harvesting devices

Researchers have developed a system for finding computer bugs in small devices that scavenge their energy from their environment and are subject to intermittent power failures.

Wearable can tell what user is touching

A new technology could enable smartwatches to automatically recognize what objects users are touching, for instance, whether the wearer is using a laptop, operating a saw, or riding a motorcycle, creating new opportunities for context-aware apps.

3D printer creates artificial hair

3-D printers typically produce hard plastic objects, but researchers have found a way to produce hair-like strands, fibers and bristles using a common, low-cost printer.

Magnetic field enhancement boosts wireless power transfer

Research shows that passing wireless power transfer through a magnetic resonance field enhancer can boost the transfer efficiency by at least 100 percent as compared to transferring through air alone. MRFE use could potentially boost transfer efficiency by as much as 5,000 percent in some systems, experts say.

Campus will be living lab for interconnected sensors, gadgets

Carnegie Mellon University will turn its campus into a living laboratory for a Google-funded, multi-university expedition to create a robust platform that will enable Internet-connected sensors, gadgets and buildings to communicate with each other.

New manufacturing approach slices lithium-ion battery cost in half

Reinventing how these batteries are made also improves their performance and recyclability.

What's hot in 3D printing out of metal

Carnegie Mellon University experts have projected the top 10 things in 3-D metal printing.

A layered fabric 3D printer for soft interactive objects

A team from Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have devised a 3-D printer that layers together laser-cut sheets of fabric to form soft, squeezable objects such as bunnies, doll clothing and phone cases.

3D printable designs using the human body as a canvas

All too often, augmented reality exists as a digital overlay in our physical environment. But what if you could actually touch and manipulate this digital information?

Wearable computers no longer just for the Jetsons

Association for Computing Machinery hosts expert on wearable tech.

Solution to lithium air batteries' premature death problem

Researchers have reduced the problem of sudden death in lithium air batteries through the addition of water, increasing their energy storage capacity by five times.

Inflatable robotic arm inspires design of Disney's latest character

The fictional, balloon-like robot nevertheless reflects a growing field of research called soft robotics.

Insect-inspired robotic platform in Army exercise

Army researchers are finding they have much to learn from bees hovering near a picnic spread at a park.

Plextronics (Solvay OLED)

Plextronics is a private company founded in 2002 as a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University, based upon conductive polymer technology developed by Dr. Richard McCullough. The company is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2014 the company, having failed to find a buyer and running out of funds, scaled back and got acquired by Solvay.