Right from the start, with its futuristic name, the TF-X is clear about one thing: the future is happening now! Terrafugia has at heart to produce a fascinating car, so please let us introduce you to a very special project: the development of the world’s first hybrid-electric flying car! In order to make this awaited dream come true, key elements such as safety, simpl...
As the size of electronic devices and chips continues to decrease and their level of interconnectivity continues to increase, we are presented with new challenges: namely, how do we power these technologies at a low-cost. Several recent ideas have proposed using wifi waves to charge wireless devices as well as batteryless gadgets that run on body heat. Amin Arbabian, an ...
Solar thermophotovoltaics (STVP) is the answer proposed by team of MIT-researchers’ to the need for hybrid solar power. The highly efficient technology harnesses the entire solar spectrum, unlike traditional photovoltaic or solar–thermal solutions. According to MIT associate professor of mechanical engineering Evelyn Wang, this new technology could potentially surpass th...
No one will argue with the fact that finding alternative energy sources is one of our century’s main stakes. With the recent catastrophy in Fukushima, it’s also not surprising that Japan has placed a lot of hope on solar energy. Maybe too much since the Shimizu Corporation, a Japanese construction firm, is seriously aiming to power the whole Earth with solar energy harve...
At long last, BMW has unveiled its two hydrogen-powered, fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV), and the i8 prototype in particular looks amazing. BMW has spent five years working on a way to integrate hydrogen fuel cell technology into their line of vehicles and chose BMW’s Innovation Days 2015 event as the ideal moment to present the modified 5 Series GT and i8 coupe. The ...
An MIT start-up called 24M claims it has “reinvented the process” to make lithium-ion batteries and believes the technology could be used to provide batteries for storing renewable energy and electric cars. Yet-Ming Chiang, the Kyocera Professor of Ceramics at MIT and co-founder of 24M describes the company’s innovation as “the most significant advancement in lithium-ion...
Tesla has made the widely anticipated move into batteries for homes and businesses to broaden its base beyond its vehicle business. Tesla’s internationally-renowned CEO, Elon Musk made the announcement last week that the company would produce batteries that store solar energy and could act as a back-up system during blackouts. Tesla expects to start shipping the units to...
We’ve heard of a urinal being used in art, but as a source of power, that’s a new one. In fact, researchers at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) are using the urine collected in the urinal as the source of electricity. Via a series of microbial fuel cell (MFC) convertor stacks the urine is broken down by live bacteria which use the waste product as fuel...
The Solar Impulse 2 has at last taken off on what is set to be the first round-the-world solar flight. The Swiss-designed aeroplane took off from Abu Dhabi this morning with Andre Borschberg at the controls. Borschberg will share the flying duties over the next few months with Bertrand Piccard as they attempt to be the first to fly around the world in a solar-powered pla...
The Clean Energy Incubator Network was recently launched through a partnership involving the U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and is aimed at improving entrepreneurship in the clean energy sector. Its new website will provide a space for networking opportunities and will also act as a p...
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is setting records yet again. DARPA’s Terahertz Electronics program has received the Guinness Book of Records award for the fastest solid-state amplifier integrated circuit. The Terahertz Monolithic Integrated Circuit (TMIC), which was developed by Northrop Grumman, “is a ten-stage common-source amplifier that cranks ...
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three Japanese scientists for their work on developing efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LED) in the early 1990’s. Their discovery enabled the development of low-energy white light sources, effectively, LED lamps. Before this period only green and red LEDs were commercially available; when blue LEDs are added to gre...
Short battery life is one of the most common complaints of smartphone and laptop users on the move. Arguably, the second biggest is the difficulty in finding a place to charge their appliance. Well uBeam, the brain-child of Meredith Perry may provide the answer to these most ubiquitous of problems. Ms. Perry came up with a new type of wireless charging system while atten...
A research group at Cambridge University in Britain has set a new record by trapping a magnetic field of 17.6 Tesla. The team of researchers created a new type of high temperature superconductor (HTS) which they used to break the previous record, that had stood for ten years. Scientists and engineers are extremely interested in HTS due to their applications in intelligen...
Audi’s Wireless Charging technology looks to have taken a big step forward in it’s bid to replace plug-in charging systems. The recently unveiled Audi TT Offroad Concept will recharge itself using the wireless system. This represents a big vote of confidence for the technology. Audi’s Wireless Charging technology is made up of a plate, set on the ground, equipped with...
The UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded Manchester Metropolitan University with a £500,000 grant to research the 3D printing of graphene batteries. Manchester Met’s Prof. Craig Banks and Matt Pilling want to develop a graphene 3D printer to produce super batteries from unique 3D structures. This technology could ideally be used to ...
Researchers from Berkeley Lab and Columbia University have claimed to have created the highest-performing, single-molecule diode ever made, which is reportedly up to 50 times more powerful and efficient than anything currently in production. Typical diodes are usually made from silicon with a p-n (positive-negative) junction formed at the meeting point of a positively ‘d...
At Photonics West 2014, Spectra-Physics unveiled a new family of UV and green diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) Q-switched lasers. Spectra-Physics promise increased precision and reduced costs with the Talon, most especially for long duration manufacturing processes. They have a lot of experience in producing lasers destined for 24/7 applications and the reliability of th...
Cat’s eyes have been used as a safety feature on our roads since the middle of the last century, and anyone who has ever driven on an unlit road at night knows their value. However, in terms of design it is very likely original creator Percy Shaw would recognise today’s cat’s eyes, as they have changed so little since the 1930’s. But now Ministers in the UK are set to am...
Massoud Hassani is a 30-year-old promising creator, willing to combine engineering skills and knowledge with society’s needs. His name may sound familiar as we have already talked about his life-changing project, the Mine Kafon – Deminer (2012). Massoud grew up in Qasaba, Kabul, where his family moved when he was 5. The several wars going on impacted his daily life an...
Each module is a circuit with a specific function—power supply, gear, motor, sensor, switch or wiring. Combining them teaches children and adults how technology works, in addition to enabling them to create small devices. The process is so simple, no instructions are necessary. And the cloudBit module can be used to connect other circuits to the internet to enable remote...
1.125lm/W Ultra High Light Efficiency. 2.Unique "Patented" Sunflower Heat Sink for Better Thermal Dissipation. 3.Power Supply, Reliable and High Efficiency. 4.Light Weight but Rugged Die-Cast Aluminum Housing (No Maintenance Required). 5.Anti-Corrosion Coating Surface . 6.Quick and Easy Installation with Various Choices. 7.Optimized Vent Increases Air C...
The combination is currently used to collect and analyze device data, and to manage those devices. Scalability is an important plus for cloud users. While some say 95% of businesses will be using cloud technology in 10 years, others warn against adopting new technology too quickly. Still, these developments enable smart grids, in which interconnectivity is established by...
But visualizing it in detail is problematic. Holography, the decades-old “illusory” technology could float to the rescue. It soon should be possible to render 3D data as a hologram that makes real objects appear to hover in midair. This would enable engineers and scientists to examine them from any angle. The related process of dynamic holography—slowing rather than stop...
SCHURTER's T9 fuseholder style circuit breaker series is now expanded to include a version for vertical PCB mounting. The full range of mounting styles provides a form and fit alternative to equivalent closed fuseholders. The T9 family of thermal circuit breakers provides an array of mounting styles alternative to industry standard closed fuseholders, including vertic...
When it comes to cables, energy supply system specialist igus® is the first- and only –manufacturer to provide a guarantee program for continuous-flexing cables. In the newly dubbed “Chainflex Guarantee Program,” machine designers and manufacturers can receive a guarantee that goes far beyond just the basic legal conditions. igus guarantees the durability and functio...
“This is the holy grail – a low cost, non-toxic, environmentally friendly way to produce high performance lithium ion battery anodes,” said Zachary Favors, a graduate student working with Cengiz and Mihri Ozkan, both engineering professors at UC Riverside. The idea came to Favors six months ago. He was relaxing on the beach after surfing in San Clemente, Calif. when h...
With IHS forecasting 58 billion connectable devices by 2022, demand for the sensors that will effectively “connect” those devices via the Internet of Things (IoT) is on the rise. Enabling everything from smart homes, to health monitoring devices to wearables on the consumer side, and drones, robotics, and agricultural asset tracking on the industrial side, the sensor mar...
The fourth industrial revolution is upon us. At least that’s what the German government believed when it coined the term 'Industry 4.0' to refer not just to increased industrial automation, but also cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the ever-growing link between the virtual and physical worlds in manufacturing. The BMW Group has taken an active rol...
High excess gain and a 64-element imager combine to minimise errors in detection, counting and validating orientation, says the company. It offers an angled four-digit, seven-segment LED display and bright output indicator provides high visibility of operation. Bipolar (PNP and NPN) outputs integrate the sensor with PLC or other control units. The company claims the ...
Frame in resistant and light steel sheet. Coiling spool with a diameter of 550mm and with a folding handle to take of the coil. Special uncoiler spool with a dimater of 550mm with a central core of 25mm for reels and with 3 adjustable cores to uncoil cable coils. Dimension and weight: 550x1200x285 mm, weight 25 Kg. OPTIONAL: Two level truck with wheels 0301
The range extends also in other types of amperage with flow rates that depart from 12A up to a maximum of 63A. www.tecnomaticsrl.it ITALY
PROBLEM : INSTALLATION OF A GENERATOR IN A PIGGERY This pig farm decided to make its 250-animal facility safe. A power cut, even a short one, could compromise the safety of the animals. SOLUTION: We installed a TIGER-125YC 125 kVA GELEC Energy generator set. It is fitted with an automatic source inverter. This equipment enables the generator to be started automatically ...
In April 2021, our company received an inquiry of LV distribution box from an African customer. This project has a large quantity. Based on the first cooperation, the customer ordered a prototype first. After several rounds of discussion and research, the drawings and technical requirements were finally confirmed. In a very short time, we completed the production of the...
PROBLEM : INSTALLATION OF A SMOKE EXTRACTION GENERATOR This establishment has installed a smoke extraction system for its premises. The company decided to invest in a generator to ensure that the system could be activated safely. A fire could compromise the operation of the smoke extraction system. SOLUTION: We installed a JAGUAR-55YC 55 kVA GELEC Energy generator set. ...
The aim of the methanisation site is to diversify the income of a farm focused on arable crops, while at the same time taking an environmental approach. In addition, the project has been designed to operate mainly on a self-sufficient input basis, using intermediate crops and beet pulp. Since the end of 2019, the methanisation unit has been feeding 55 tonnes of plant ma...
