TyroMotion GmbH (AT)

NGK INSULATORS, LTD.

NGK Insulators is a Japanese conglomerate which produces sodium/sulphur batteries for stationary applications. A fire accident in 2011 cost the company $600M but they are now back in the game.

EDF

Technology Analyst Dr Lorenzo Grande interviewed Philippe Stevens from EDF. They have developed a rechargeable Zn/air battery with a specific energy of 450 Wh/kg, as well as an aqueous Li/air battery.

Autonomous cars re-thought

Suppliers such as Delphi argue that autonomous cars will sell first to organisations, notably as taxis but, after a delay, they will be bought strongly by private individuals. IDTechEx notes that many cities will ban private cars, autonomous or not

Graphene Highlights from MWC

IDTechEx recently attended the Mobile World Congress and visited the graphene flagship booth, which consisted of a number of graphene companies highlighting their latest work. Here are some of the highlights.

Nanofiber marks important step in next generation battery development

One of the keys to building electric cars that can travel longer distances and to powering more homes with renewable energy is developing efficient and highly capable energy storage systems.

MRI-powered mini-robots could offer targeted treatment

Scientists instead want to deploy dozens, or even thousands of tiny robots to travel the body's venous system as they deliver drugs or a self-assembled interventional tool.

Cabot Corporation advancing graphenes towards commercial applications

IDTechEx has invited a series of industrial players and leader active in graphene commercialization to contribute their opinions about the state of the technology and markets.

Deep Voice: real-time neural text-to-speech for production

A production-quality text-to-speech system constructed entirely from deep neural networks.

Tackling concussions by bringing new sensor to market

Chemists are bringing their impact sensors to market. The effective, yet inexpensive, headband sensors can be worn by athletes in a variety of sports who could be at risk of suffering concussions.

First 3D-printed aircraft component takes to skies

Some teams have begun printing parts for race cars. However, the process for an aircraft demands a bit more caution because the plane most likely won't be on the ground if a part fails.

Aerosense

Aerosense is a joint venture between Sony and ZMP. The company focuses on UAVs for industrial applications like soil monitoring, facility management, and wind turbine blade inspection.

Uppsala University

Researchers at Uppsala University have patented a cellulose battery separator derived from Cladophora, a type of seaweed found in the Baltic Sea.

Automated robotic checkout system

Lawson Inc and Panasonic Corporation have conducted an industry-first experimental demonstration of Regi-Robo, an entirely automated checkout system.

IDTechEx Research announces new report on Wireless Charging

The unique commercially oriented report Wireless Charging 2017-2027: Phones, Cars etc. is packed with detailed market and technical analysis with many new infograms, conference slides, roadmaps and ten year forecasts 2017-2027. It is based on global research by PhD level multi-lingual analysts in 2016-7 with frequent updates. The lead author has followed the subject for 20 years and is a globally acknowledged authority on the subject.

Sumitomo Chemical boosts production of film-based touchscreens

Sumitomo Chemical has decided to expand the production capacity of film-based touchscreen panels at Dongwoo Fine-Chem Co., Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary in South Korea. The production capacity is to be more than tripled, with the expanded commercial-scale production coming onstream in January 2018.

Blood vessel network that could pave the way toward artificial organs

New research addresses one of the biggest challenges in tissue engineering: creating lifelike tissues and organs with functioning vasculature — networks of blood vessels that can transport blood, nutrients, waste and other biological materials — and do so safely when implanted inside the body.

New technology for fast-charging, noncombustible batteries

A team of engineers led by 94-year-old John Goodenough, co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, has developed the first all-solid-state battery cells that could lead to safer, faster-charging, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries for handheld mobile devices, electric cars and stationary energy storage.

Jaguar Land Rover: Autonomy Insights 2017

At the Future Powertrain event March 2017 in Solihull UK, Tony Harper, Head of Research and Advanced Systems Engineering gave valuable insights into the reality of autonomous and electric vehicles.

Energy Storage Innovations Europe 2017

The field of battery energy storage is set to grow significantly over the coming years. The question that incumbents, raw materials suppliers, end users, and innovators are all asking themselves is whether Li-ion batteries will keep the lion's share of the market, or whether disruptive innovation will drive technology diversification according to applications.

Electric trucks reinvented this year

At the recent Future Powertrain Conference in Solihull UK, Professor Matthias Wellers, Managing Director AVI Powertrain, said he liked the idea of intermittent catenaries on major roads charging inter-city pure electric trucks.