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Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have applied for a patent on the robot, which they say could be used for search and rescue operations as well as robotics research.

Its two modules have two joints at the center, which can rotate 180 degrees, and two rotating faceplates at each end, as the researchers explain. The faceplates turn continuously, allowing the robot to roll along as though it were driving. Future research will explore clusters of iMobots working together in even larger modular platforms.

Creators Graham Ryland and Harry Cheng received a $150,000 National Science Foundation grant to start Barobo Inc., a business aimed at commercializing the iMobot. You can find out how to get one here.

Modular robots could be a more cost-effective way to build robot helpers for a variety of tasks, like search-and-rescue snakebots or tree-climbing spy cams. The inventors hope it will be for sale by the end of the year.

[R&D Magazine]

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In a paper published online in the journal Advanced Materials, scientists at Oregon State University report the creation of a high-performance "metal-insulator-metal" diode, something scientists have been trying to do since the 1960s. This is important for super-fast computing, advanced displays and other technologies, because current diode systems might be nearing their limits. In conventional silicon-based electronics, the one-way flow of electrons is controlled through transistors, but the devices are limited by how quickly electrons can move through these materials.

Instead of a typical piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals, the new diode acts like a sandwich, with an insulator in between two layers of metal. Electrons tunnel through the insulator, emerging on the other side almost instantaneously, according to an OSU press release.

Douglas Keszler, a chemistry professor and materials science researcher at OSU, said the new method could revolutionize electronics: "It's a basic way to eliminate the current speed limitations of electrons that have to move through materials."

The researchers have applied for a patent, and they say new companies and new industries could arise from their method.

Meanwhile, researchers in Australia are using metamaterials — stuff not found in nature — to make diodes that take advantage of the wave function of electrons.

Electrons exhibit both wave and particle properties, and while physicists have known for some time that it’s possible to make electromagnetic wave diodes, no one has figured out how to make non-linear ones — an essential function — until now. Ilya Shadrivov and colleagues at the Australian National University in Canberra say it is possible to create diode-like behavior using metamolecules.

Technology Review’s arXiv blog has a much more detailed description, but basically microwaves cause the metamaterials to either reinforce or cancel out currents at certain frequencies, which allows for a non-linear diode. It behaves like a memristor, in that it has several different outputs for one input. Diodes like this could be used to make simpler electronic logic circuits or even information processors that mimic how the brain works, Tech Review explains.

Both types of diode could yield better electronic devices, researchers say. At least that's easy to understand.

[Eurekalert, Technology Review]

Even the Army Corps of Engineers is involved in the effort to protect bats

Any wildlife biologist will tell you it’s difficult to study wild, free-ranging animals in their natural habitats. You have to find them first, then catch them, examine them, attach radio transmitters or tags to them, and let them go. Now try that when your subject is silent, nocturnal and all but invisible.

Advanced technology is intrinsic in the study of bats — for the most part, we can neither see nor hear them, so biologists use a suite of special microphones, cameras and telemetry equipment to uncover their secrets.

“You need special equipment to get into their world. To get even the most basic information, you need really advanced technology,” said Carter, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland.

Carter studies cooperation and social behavior among vampire bats, and he uses equipment that costs nearly as much as tuition. One of his ultrasonic microphones is worth $10,000 — he’s borrowing it so he didn’t have to buy it.

“If I was studying birds, I could just go to Radio Shack and get a digital recorder,” he said.

Vendors like Dalton offer the latest infrared lights and cameras; high-speed video; ultrasonic microphones; and special processing software that allows researchers to better see and hear bats. At the North American Society for Bat Research annual conference this week, biologists are buying technology like tiny radio transmitters — the smallest one on the market weighs just 0.006 ounces — and learning how to shoot and edit video to improve their research and communicate with the public. Carter has even used high-speed cameras to watch vampire bats running on a treadmill. Software called Sonobat can capture bat calls, slow them down and turn them into digital images, which biologists can use to tell different species apart.

Even the Army is involved, at least tangentially — technology initially developed to track missiles is now being used to track bats. The Army Corps of Engineers worked with the US Fish & Wildlife Service to set up thermal infrared cameras that can track the heat signatures of individual bats, said Tony Elliott, a staff scientist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. The cameras can help researchers monitor bats flying in and out of caves.

All this advanced tech will help bat biologists in the battle against white-nose syndrome, which is killing hundreds of thousands of bats throughout North America.

Passive acoustic monitoring equipment can inform biologists when bats behave abnormally, such as using echolocation in the middle of the day or during the height of winter. Michael Schirmacher, a biologist with Bat Conservation International, said most bat researchers have special Anabat II acoustic detectors sitting in storage over the winter, but they can easily be used to monitor white-nose in the cold months. Last winter, he placed detectors in infected caves throughout Pennsylvania and was able to verify abnormal activity without ever setting foot in a hibernacula. That’s important because many biologists believe humans can carry white-nose fungus on their clothing or equipment, unwittingly infecting bat caves.

Researchers also use lasers to monitor cave emergences and infrared cameras to watch bats grooming themselves — until, as grad student Sarah Brownlee found out, a wayward rabbit chews through the cables.

There are some low-tech solutions, too. Thomas Kunz, a biologist at Boston University, advocates using scrap wood to build roost modules, basically little nests where lactating bats can hang out. Bats cluster together to keep warm, and when they’re dying by the hundreds of thousands, maternity colonies will have less ambient heat to help the few survivors. Artificial roost crevices can help, Kunz said.

Bat biologists are frequently asked how they can help save bats from white-nose, and Kunz said bat houses and roost modules are one easy answer. Then again, electrical engineers with a penchant for designing cameras could pitch in, too.

Al Hicks, a retired wildlife biologist from New York, said bats need all the help they can get: “It’s our obligation to get a handle on this. if you can contribute in any way, we need you. It’s going to take quite an imagination to get a handle on this.”

Created by Dutch research firm IMEC, Human++ is a type of wireless BAN (body area network). This particular version uses a dongle that actually plugs into your phone's microSD slot (which is one reason it's limited to Android--the iPhone, for one, doesn't have a microSD slot) and receives data over a low-power radio system. Though Bluetooth is more popular, the nRF24L01+ frequency was chosen for its low power requirements. IMEC says a Bluetooth connection would barely last the day, while the RF frequency can last a week.

The sensors from one of IMEC's low-power ECG systems are on a sort of transmitting necklace which communicates with this dongle. That dongle in turn can issue status updates as well as send alerts to a doctor via the smartphone's 3G or Wi-Fi connection--a major step up from the old system, which actually used landlines.

There are non-medical uses for the tech too--athletes and trainers are interested in the ability to remotely track the inner workings of the body in real-time. It's not clear how the system might work with phones, like iOS, Palm WebOS, and Microsoft Windows Phone devices, that don't have expandable microSD slots--maybe an external dongle, rather than a (neater, certainly) internal one.

Using consumer tech to monitor health seems to be a big trend these days: Webcam monitoring, infrared glucose tests, and all kinds of helpful machines are popping up, using gadgets we already have in new and helpful ways.

The Human++ system is still in development, but shows a ton of promise, as proven by the positive reaction it got upon its introduction at this year's Wireless Health Conference in San Diego.

[New Scientist]

Hitachi has come up with a motor that uses a ferrite magnet, made of ferric oxide. The material is the main source of iron for the steel industry, and it’s cheaper and more common than the rare-earth metals typically used to make electric car motors.

Quoting the Nikkei business daily, business blogs are reporting today that Hitachi hopes to use the motors for hybrid car manufacturing. It’s not yet big enough for a car motor, but Hitachi will also use them in air conditioners, Tech Eye reports.

What’s more, the chemical firm Teijin and Tohoku University have developed technology to make a powerful magnet using a new composite made of iron and nitrogen, Forbes.com reports.

Japan and China are the world’s biggest users of rare-earth metals, which are used to produce small batteries for hybrid cars and handheld gadgets. The metals, 17 in all, are also used to make lasers, magnets, camera lenses, computer memory chips and more.

China produces about 90 percent of the world’s rare-earths, and announced in July that it would slash exports by 40 percent. As Forbes.com reports, China said the move was meant to protect the environment; others claim restricting supplies could give Chinese manufacturers an edge.

Rare-earths are also used in weapons systems, so China’s rare-earth wealth has sparked a flurry of U.S. government reports on how to obtain a home-grown supply. Until mining firms ramp up production, innovation seems like a smart solution.

[TechEye, Forbes.com]