Full profile interview
29 Nov 2019

XO-NANO Smartfoam
XO-NANO Smartfoam produce several additives for foams which enable sensing technologies or enhanced thermal properties. XO-NANO are a small company but with some key partnerships and rapidly increasing sales are hoping to grow in the coming years.
22 Nov 2019

Epidermal VR Gives Technology a Human Touch
Imagine holding hands with a loved one on the other side of the world. Or feeling a pat on the back from a teammate in the online game "Fortnite."
21 Nov 2019

Airbus' VSR700 Drone Copter Prototype Makes Maiden Flight
The prototype of Airbus Helicopters' VSR700 unmanned aerial system has performed its first flight at a drone test centre near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. The VSR700 performed several take-offs and landings with the longest flight lasting around 10 minutes.
Full profile interview
8 Nov 2019

Silatronix
Silatronix is a Wisconsin-based firm that has developed flame-retardant additives for Li-ion batteries based on organosilicon compounds.
This profile is an updated version. IDTechEx senior analyst Lorenzo Grande interviewed Silatronix VP Global Sales Carl Thoemmes in 2016.
External press release
7 Nov 2019

Optomec Delivers 500th Industrial 3D Printer
Optomec, Inc has delivered its 500th Industrial 3D printer. The machine is installed at a division of General Electric, which now counts more than 20 Optomec systems in use across GE business units including aviation, healthcare, power, and oil & gas.
1 Nov 2019

DNA as Tool to Build Graphene Circuits
Graphene is a groundbreaking material in the nanotechnology field, but it has characteristics that limit its potential applications. A research team is investigating ways to incorporate DNA nanotechnology as a construction tool to assemble graphene in new ways that could make the material more useful in electronic devices, among other applications.
25 Oct 2019

Race for 1000 km Electric Vehicles
Range sells electric cars. Long range ones sell in 100 times the numbers and have three times the resale value. In this article Dr Peter Harrop discusses the future of electric vehicles capable of 1000km range.
21 Oct 2019

A lithium-ion battery that won't catch fire
A flexible lithium-ion battery designed by a team of researchers and built to operate under extreme conditions—including cutting, submersion, and simulated ballistic impact—can now add incombustible to its résumé.
16 Oct 2019

Wearable, washable textile devices possible with MXene-coated yarns
Producing functional fabrics that perform all the functions we want, while retaining the characteristics of fabric we're accustomed to is no easy task.
14 Oct 2019

Patrol boat created in 72 hours by 3D printer
The new 3D printer is designed to print objects as long as 100 feet by 22 feet wide by 10 feet high, and can print at 500 pounds per hour. The one-of-a-kind printer will support several ambitious initiatives, including development of biobased feedstocks using cellulose derived from wood resources, and rapid prototyping of civilian, defense and infrastructure applications.
11 Oct 2019

Army researchers test human-like robots
Army researchers tested ground robots performing military-style exercises, much like Soldier counterparts, at a robotics testing site in Pennsylvania recently as part of a 10-year research project designed to push the research boundaries in robotics and autonomy.
8 Oct 2019

Unique stretchable conductor
The Air Force Research Laboratory has developed liquid metal systems which autonomously change structure so that they become better conductors in response to strain.
2 Oct 2019

Tunabot: First robotic fish to keep pace with tuna
Mechanical engineers have created the first robotic fish proven to mimic the speed and movements of live yellowfin tuna.
25 Sep 2019

Boeing completes test flight of unmanned aerial refueler
Boeing and the U.S. Navy successfully completed the first test flight of the MQ-25™ unmanned aerial refueler.
24 Sep 2019

Shape-shifting robots built from 'smarticles'
Building conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as "smarticles" to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique.
External press release
18 Sep 2019

BeBop Sensors wins US Air Force contract SIBR Award
BeBop Sensors announced today that it has won the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Award from the U.S. Air Force for BeBop Sensor's new award-winning Forte Data Glove Enterprise Edition, to be deployed by the U.S. Airforce MOTAR (Maintenance Operations and Training Augmented Reality) Unit for advanced airplane VR training simulations.
Background
11 Sep 2019

AEye
AEye offer lidar modules that integrate a 2D RGB camera. IDTechEx interviewed Mr Aravind Ratnam and Mr Stephen Lambright from AEye in May 2019. Ratnam is the Vice President of Product and Lambright is the Vice President of Marketing, and both are based in USA.
Background
10 Sep 2019

Relativity Space
Californian space startup Relativity Space was founded in 2015 to use 3D printing for commercial orbital launches. IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr Bryony Core learns more.
10 Sep 2019

Empathy for robots can have life-changing consequences for troops
It is increasingly common to use robots in war zones to examine and disarm hazards or recover objects with the understanding that the loss of a robot is a far more acceptable outcome than the death of a solider.