Ant-Roach illustrates potential for inflatable robots

What weighs a little under 70 pounds, has six legs, and is full of air? No, it's not conjoined monkey triplets with gas - as you've doubtless already gathered from the picture, it's a walking inflatable robot known as Ant-Roach. Earning its name by looking like a cross between an anteater and a cockroach, the wonderfully-kooky beast is the creation of San Francisco-based engineering/design group Otherlab. Besides providing amusement, the device was built to showcase the high strength-to-weight ratios and carrying capacities that are possible with inflatable robots.

Although Ant-Roach is 15 feet (4.6 meters) long and can easily support the weight of several human riders at once, its sub-70-pound (32 kg) weight allows it to still be carried by one person - when it's deflated.

Its legs move due to built-in textile-based actuators, that contract upon inflation. That inflation, in turn, is made possible by several central manifolds, that dispense compressed air through pneumatic piping. The movements of the robot are dictated by an onboard microcontroller that wirelessly receives a signal from a laptop, which is running a control program.

Besides being strong yet light, portable, and able to carry heavy loads, inflatable robots would also likely be relatively inexpensive to produce on a commercial scale. Plus, at least in the case of Otherlab's example, they float on water! The technology shows enough promise that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) provided some of the funding for the development of Ant-Roach.

Source: Hizook

Mars Curiosity Rover successfully launched

On Saturday at 10:02 a.m. EST an Atlas V rocket carrying its precious cargo, the Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity rover, took off successfully from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. A statement from NASA Project Manager Peter Theisinger confirmed that all had gone according to plan. "The spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive," he said. "We're on our way to Mars".

Through Friday and into Saturday morning meteorologists had predicated a 70 percent chance of suitable launch conditions, before a one-hour 43-minute launch window was finalized.

A series of updates from the Curiosity rover's official twitter feeddocumented the build-up to the launch, followed by take off and first stages of its 352-million-mile trip to the red planet that will take more than eight months. "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and I'm feeeeelin' good" was the message (paraphrasing Nina Simone) as MSL reported a clean bill of health back to NASA after communications had been established six minutes into the mission.

But it wasn't all plain sailing during the mission's first hour, with the Register reporting intermittent interruptions in the reception of MSL telemetry, though the problem seemed to be resolved promptly and with no mission-critical systems affected.

The launch technology that saw Curiosity on its way is an expendable system with two distinct stages. The first, to achieve Earth orbit, utilizes the kerosene and liquid oxygen RD-180 engine of the Atlas V rocket delivering 850,000 pounds of thrust, supplemented by four solid rocket boosters each delivering an additional thrust of 306,000 pounds. After separation from the main rocket, the Centaur-3 upper stage carries the payload out of Earth orbit with the assistance of its liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen RL-10 engine providing another 22,3000 pounds of thrust. Centaur then sets its cargo on course, in this case Gale Crater, Mars, before leaving the payload to its interplanetary cruise.

The Atlas and Centaur systems have been in use, albeit with countless iterative improvements, since the 1950s and 60s and there's something almost poignant that such reliant, tried and tested technology should carry the bleeding edge Curiosity - "the world's most advanced scientific laboratory" according to NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden - into space.

We've discussed the MSL mission in some detail here at Gizmag, but to recap, the purpose of the $2.5 billion mission is, in the words of Project Scientist John Grotzinger at a post-launch briefing, to look for "ancient habitable environments." After a sky-crane enabled touchdown (MSL is too heavy to rely on airbags), Curiosity will begin its two-Earth-year/one-Mars-year mission of drilling and gathering Martian rocks and soils, and analysing them with its suite of ten instruments. Its goal is to seek evidence of life-favoring conditions in the distant past.

All being well, the Curiosity rover will touch down on August 6, 2012. "I think this mission will be a great one", said Grotzinger, "it is an important next step in NASA's overall goal to address the issue of life in the universe." Keep an eye on the Gizmag Mars tag for updates on the Curiosity rover and subsequent Mars missions such as MAVEN in the coming months. Perhaps it won't be too long now before you're reading concrete plans for a manned mission to Mars.

Source: NASA Science News.

TATA AIR CAR

Check this cool one at your leisure. I believe upon introducing the new model, the pollution level in India may go down and many two wheeler company may follow suit similar ones.

 

What is this?   Will it be the next big thing?   Tata Motors of India thinks so.   What will the Oil Companies do to stop it? It is an auto engine that runs on air.  That's right; air not gas or diesel or electric but just the air around us.  Take a look. Tata Motors of India has scheduled the Air Car to hit Indian streets by August 2012         The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy N. For Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons and make the car go. The Air Car, called the "Mini CAT" could cost around 365,757 rupees in India or $8,177 US. The Mini CAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis, a body of fiberglass that is glued not welded and powered by compressed air.  A Microprocessor is used to control all electrical functions of the car.  One tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, turn signals and every other electrical device on the car.  Which are not many. The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power. There are no keys, just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket.  According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees per 100 KM, that's about a tenth the cost of a car running on gas.  It's mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car, a factor which makes it a perfect choice for city motorists.  The car has a top speed of 105 KM per hour or 60 mph and would have a range of around 300 km or 185 miles between refuels.  Refilling the car will take place at adapted gas stations with special air compressors.  A fill up will only take two to three minutes and costs approximately 100 rupees and the car will be ready to go another 300 kilometers. This car can also be filled at home with it's on board compressor.  It will take 3-4 hours to refill the tank, but it can be done while you sleep.  Because there is no combustion engine, changing the 1 liter of vegetable oil is only necessary every 50,000 KM or 30,000 miles.  Due to its simplicity, there is very little maintenance to be done on this car. This Air Car almost sounds too good to be true.  We'll see in August. 2012

Mazda announces world first capacitor-based regenerative braking system

While Toyota took out the Tokachi 24-Hour Race in 2007 with a Supra HV-R hybrid race car featuring a quick-charging supercapacitor-based regenerative braking system, battery storage has so far been the norm for these systems in production vehicles. Now Mazda is charging things up with its new "i-ELOOP" system intended for internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. The i-ELOOP is billed as the world's first passenger vehicle regenerative braking system that uses a capacitor in place of rechargeable batteries to temporarily store energy captured from braking.

Regenerative braking systems used in most current hybrid and electric vehicles convert a vehicle's kinetic energy as it decelerates into electricity, which is used to recharge a battery that powers an electric motor. In contrast, Mazda's new "i-ELOOP" (Intelligent Energy Loop) system is designed to be used in internal combustion engine-powered cars with the energy captured used to power the climate control, audio system and other electrical components. This gives the system the advantage of not requiring a dedicated electric motor or battery.

Mazda claims the i-ELOOP system improves the fuel economy of a vehicle by around 10 percent under real-world driving conditions with frequent acceleration and braking.

i-ELOOP uses a new 12-25 V variable voltage alternator that generates electricity at up to 25 V before sending it to a low-resistance Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC) for storage. Because capacitors can be charged and discharged much more quickly than batteries, the capacitor used in the i-ELOOP system can be fully charged in seconds. A DC/DC converter then steps down the electricity from 25 V to 12 V before distributing it directly to the vehicle's electrical components.

The system is also used to charge the vehicle's battery when necessary and works in conjunction with Mazda's i-stop idling technology to extend the period that the engine can be shut off.

The new i-ELOOP system, along with its range of SKYACTIV technologies, fits in with Mazda's focus on improving the efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles rather than developing hybrid electric vehicle technology of its own, having opted instead to license technology used in the Toyota Prius for any near-future hybrid vehicles. Mazda says the i-ELOOP system will start to appear in its vehicles in 2012.

Occupy HTML wants Flash to stick around

A couple of days ago we reported about Occupy Flash – a group that wants to get rid of Flash from all web browsers. And now, it looks like they have an opposition in the form of another movement called “Occupy HTML”. But unlike Occupy Flash that wants to get rid of Flash (you can’t get rid of HTML5) they believe that HTML5 and Flash should coexist peacefully, or at least until Flash can be completely replaced by it. Here is Occupy HTML’s manifesto:

Flash is mature. It’s supported by all major desktop browsers. It’s stable when used properly. If not, it crashes a lot, just like every other technology. It requires constant security updates, just like every other web technology. It doesn’t work well on most mobile devices, and for good reasons. It’s a content plugin, developed during the era of closed standards and unilateral corporate control of web technology. Websites that rely on Flash can present a unique (and often unparalleled) experience for the massive percentage of users on a desktop browser. Flash powers some amazing experiences that work consistently across all of the major browsers in a way that cannot be replicated without Flash technology.

Championing simplistic statements regarding web technologies makes the web less educated. At this point, it’s holding back the web.

Occupy HTML’s manifesto makes sense, and personally it’s something I agree with. I mean, if something can only be done in Flash – why not keep it in Flash, and only replace it when the technology is available instead of cutting it out completely? Forcing everybody to go HTML5-only seems too restrictive to me. What do you think?

[Occupy HTML]

Tiny Kilobots to go on sale

Do you think that you'll never be able to afford a robot of your own that isn't a toy? Well, if you can get Swiss robot-maker K-Team Corporation to sell you one, chances are you can easily afford a Kilobot - perhaps even a whole bunch of them. Designed and first built by Harvard University's Self-Organizing Systems Research Group, the three-legged robots aren't much larger than the 3.4-volt button cell batteries that power them, and move by vibrating across smooth, flat surfaces. They were created to study robotic swarming behavior, with the intention that tens, hundreds or even thousands of them could be used simultaneously in one experiment. Harvard has just announced that it has licensed the Kilobot technology to K-Team, which will commercially manufacture the robots so that other groups and institutions can purchase them for their own research.

Along with its lithium-ion battery and rigid legs, each Kilobot incorporates an LED bulb, two motors (which vibrate the legs), a wide-angle infrared transceiver, and a microcontroller. An unlimited number of the little guys can be programmed via a computer-linked overhead infrared controller in under 40 seconds, and each have the ability to act autonomously, based on the parameters of that programming.

The Harvard researchers have so far gotten cooperating groups of Kilobots to do things such as foraging for "food," following a leader, dispersing from one another, and synchronizing the blinking of their built-in LEDs. While a bunch of little robots doing these things might not seem to have huge applications in the real world, the lessons learned from such research could lead to groups of more practical robots performing duties such as the exploration of hostile environments, search and rescue missions, environmental monitoring, or hazardous material clean-ups.

That kind of research would be quite costly to conduct using larger, more complex robots, and could be inaccurate just using computer models.

There's no word yet on whether or not K-Team will sell individual Kilobots to ordinary folks like us (although just buying one would be sort of like owning one ant), or how much they will cost. According to Harvard, however, each one costs about US$14 to build.

Here's a video overview of the Kilobot from Harvard's SSR Lab:

Harvesting energy from insects in quest to create tiny cyborg first responders

Insects have served as the inspiration for a number of Micro Air Vehicles(MAVs) that could be deployed to monitor hazardous situations without putting humans in harm's way. Now researchers at the University of Michigan College of Engineering are proposing using actual live insects enhanced with electronic sensors to achieve the same result. The insect cyborgs would use biological energy harvested from their body heat or movements to potentially power small sensors implanted on their bodies in order to gather vital information from hazardous environments.

To harvest energy from insects, the researchers have designed a spiral piezoelectric generator that converts the kinetic energy from the insect's wing movements into electricity. This power would be used to prolong the battery life of devices implanted on the insect, such as a small camera, a microphone or a gas sensor. The prototype piezoelectric generator was fabricated from bulk piezoelectric substrates and was designed to maximize the power output in a limited area.

"Through energy scavenging, we could potentially power cameras, microphones and other sensors and communications equipment that an insect could carry aboard a tiny backpack," said Professor Khalil Najafi, the chair of electrical and computer engineering at the U-M College of Engineering. "We could then send these 'bugged' bugs into dangerous or enclosed environments where we would not want humans to go."

The U-M team examined several techniques to scavenge energy from wing motion with their results were published in a paper titled "Energy scavenging from insect flight," which was recently published in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. The university is now pursuing a patent for the technology and is seeking commercialization partners to bring it to market.

Getting the insects to go where their handlers want them to is another part of the puzzle that needs to be solved before insect cyborgs can be deployed. But DARPA has been working on this, having put out a call some years back for research proposals for Hybrid-Insect-Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) interfaces to control the movement of living insects. Combining the two technologies could be just the thing to take insect cyborgs to the next level and see them used to monitor hazardous situations in the not to distant future.

Smartphones at 1cent (50 Paisa !!!!)

Amazon cuts top smartphone prices down to 1cent 

Amazon is holding a penny-pincher sale and has most smartphones (and regular phones) from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint  priced at $0.01 for a limited time. This obviously comes with a new contract and Amazon has said that the pricing is only valid for a limited time.

Among the top phones in the list, I have seen: the Droid RAZR, the Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G. the HTC Rezound, the Atrix 4G, and many more. If you’re not quite sure which one you want, you should start by reading our reviews, and drop a comment if you are still unsure. In any case, don’t worry if you can’t make up your mind, as another cooler, faster smartphone will come out a few weeks from now. The wonderful world of consumer electronics…

Electronics Latest Papers

In this blog updates on latest technology in the field of electronics,computers and mobile are posted which may be useful for students seeking topic for their seminar presentation.

Some selected papers are

Newly developed metallic "micro-lattice" material is world's lightest

Full-duplex technology could double wireless capacity with no new towers

Solid-state capacitor said to combine best qualities of batteries and capacitors

M-DISC offers up to 1,000 years of data storage on a DVD compatible disc

Skin-mounted electronics that can be applied and worn like a temporary tattoo

Floating-Gate Device may revolutionize computer memory

Molybdenite outshines silicon and graphene for electronic applications

More topics available on request. 

Newly developed metallic "micro-lattice" material is world's lightest

Earlier this year we looked at a "multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT) aerogel" -also dubbed "frozen smoke" - that, with a density of 4 mg/cm3, became the world's lightest solid material. Now frozen smoke has been knocked off its perch by a new metallic material with a density of just 0.9 mg/cm3, making it around 100 times lighter than Styrofoam. Despite being 99.99 percent open volume, the new material boasts impressive strength and energy absorption, making it potentially useful for a range of applications.

The 0.01 percent of the material that isn't air consists of a micro-lattice of interconnected hollow nickel-phosphorous tubes with a wall thickness of 100 nanometers - or 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. These tubes are angled to connect at nodes to form repeating, three-dimensional asterisk-like cells.

The new material draws parallels with large structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, which is incredibly light and weight-efficient thanks to its hierarchical lattice design. As an illustration of just how efficient such a design is, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal used in the Eiffel Tower were melted down it would fill just six centimeters (2.4 in) of the structure's 125 m2 (1,345 square ft) base.

The ultralight micro-lattice material shows the same concept can also reap benefits on a much smaller scale. The wall thickness of the hollow tubes can be measured in nanometers, the diameter of each tube in microns, each tube length in millimeters, and the entire micro-lattice in centimeters - or even one day, meters, claim the researchers.

In addition to its ultra-low density, the researchers say the new material's micro-lattice architecture gives it extraordinarily high energy absorption with the ability to completely recover from compression exceeding 50 percent strain. This is due to the fact that the extremely small wall thickness-to-diameter ratio of the material makes the individual tubes flexible. Its impressive properties could see it used for battery electrodes, catalyst supports, and acoustic, vibration or shock energy damping.

The novel material was developed by a team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and California-based company, HRL Laboratories. for DARPA.

The research team's paper, "Ultralight Metallic Microlattices," appears in the November 18 issue of Science.

mPowerPad - all-in-one portable solar charger, radio, reading light, torch, and ultrasonic insect repellent

With recent advances in photovoltaic panels and rechargeable batteries, it's only natural that there should now be an influx of solar-powered electronic devices. Just last week we profiled the Sunbox solar power system, that uses energy from the Sun to power three kinds of lights, recharge AA batteries, and juice up mobile phones. Now, it's time to take a look at a similar product, Third Wave Power's mPowerPad. It can charge mobile devices through its two USB ports, along with serving as a radio, flashlight, reading lamp, and even an ultrasonic insect-repelling device. As you might have noted in the photo, however, it has no external controls ... so how are you supposed to use the thing?

Third Wave describes the mPowerPad as the "world's first All-in-One portable solar charger with gesture-based technology." This doesn't mean that you gesture to it, but rather gesture with it - the pad contains an accelerometer, that allows users to change settings and functions by tilting or turning the device. That feature isn't just a quirky gimmick. Combined with its water-, dust- and shock-resistant qualities, the pad's lack of the traditional protruding knobs and switches makes it a fairly rugged little unit.

One does have to wonder if unintentional switches could be activated when simply moving the device around, although presumably this has been thought of.

In order to reach its full 2500mAh battery capacity, the mPowerPad's 4-watt solar panel must bask in the Sun for a little under six hours - it can likewise be charged from mains power or a car adapter in just one hour. A full charge is said to provide up to 20 hours of 8 watt bulb-equivalent illumination, radio listening, or bug-bothering. That figures goes down to 4-5 hours if it's simultaneously charging another device. The pad can also completely recharge an iPhone, reportedly in the same amount of time it would take using a traditional AC outlet.

The mPowerPad was unveiled in Singapore this month, and should start shipping in January. It is priced at US$80.

LuminAID solar-powered inflatable lantern - simply a good idea

Although it can be considered as a basic human need alongside food, water and shelter, 1.6 billion people all over the world have no access to stable and safe source of light. It's a situation that two bright young Architecture graduates are aiming to combat with the LuminAID solar-powered lantern. Like the Solar Pebble initiative, the LuminAID lantern is designed to address dependence on kerosene lamps in the developing world and its extremely lightweight and easy to transport inflatable design is also targeted at use in disaster relief situations ... plus it makes a very handy addition to your camping kit.

At first glance the LuminAID resembles a simple plastic bag, but its coating is made of flexible, semi-transparent waterproof material with a printed dot matrix to diffuse light and it incorporates a very thin solar panel, bright LEDs that provide the light source and a reinforced handle for easy carrying.

LuminAID is fully charged after 4-6 hours in sunlight makes and is reportedly good for up to four hours of lighting at 35 lumens, or up to six hours at 20 lumens. The battery can be recharged 800 times.

Founded by Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta, both graduates from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation in New York LuminAID Lab is currently field testing the inflatable lamp is in Rajasthan, India, where fifty percent of households lack electricity. It's being distributed to rural schools, homes and small-business owners.

LuminAID Lab says 100 percent of funds will go to producing and distributing the LuminAID lights to you and to our community projects.

It's possible to back LuminAID project by purchasing the lamp via onIndieGoGo. A pledge of US$25 results in purchasing two units - someone in need will obtain one lamp for free, while you'll get your own too.

Pico projector prototype used for interactive phone calls

The concept of pico projectors is an interesting one, although it’s probably a piece of technology which isn’t for everyone. However researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, have come up with a pretty novel concept of using a pico projector together with a smartphone that enables the sharing of data whilst on the phone.
As you can see in the photo above, the pico projector will project an image onto a surface, which is roughly the size of two tablets. One side of the display will be your phone’s menu/user interface, while the other will belong to the person on the other end of the line, assuming that they are using the same device as well.
From these screens, the users will be able to share data with each other and can drag and drop files onto each other’s screens. Users will also be able to share other forms of data as well, such as the sharing of calendars. The screens will be updated in real time so both parties will be able to see changes on the spot. As you can see from the video below, the pico projector attachment is by no means small, and is rather bulky, but should they manage to put it into production and shrink it down, this could very well be one of the new ways we interact with each other and share data in the future.

Nokia HumanForm phone is one beautiful phone

Remember the flexible Nokia concept phone that was shown off at Nokia World earlier this year? Well, it looks like that wasn’t the only bendy phone that Nokia had in mind. The creative folks over at the Nokia Research Lab have something even more ambitious than the bendy device but unfortunately it’s still just a concept phone without a working prototype.

Called the Nokia HumanForm, this oddly-shaped device defies almost all the rules of what makes a phone. Forget about a dedicated screen, physical buttons or even a conventional design. The Nokia HumanForm is designed to change the way we use phones. All buttons are replaced with onscreen taps and gestures, while the whole device works as a display in itself. In addition to working with regular taps and gestures, the phone itself can be bent to issue commands, just like the previously reported bendy phone.

All in all, if the future of smartphones is headed in this direction, then I’m certainly looking forward to it. Check out the concept video for yourself and let us know what you think: