The future impacts of automation and artificial intelligence on the lives of human beings will be addressed at a symposium in Brisbane (Australia) Nov. 13-15, 2019
Tag: Mechanical Engineering
NSF grant provides next step for assistive walking exoskeletons
To understand, model and optimize the comfort of lower limb robotic exoskeletons, researchers in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering have been awarded a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
AI learns to design
AI agents imitate engineers to construct effective new designs using visual cues like humans do
On the way to intelligent microrobots
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have developed a micromachine that can perform different actions. First nanomagnets in the components of the microrobots are magnetically programmed and then the various movements are controlled by magnetic fields.…
UK needs to act to prevent electric vehicle battery waste mountain — new study
Recycling technologies for end-of-life lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are not keeping pace with the rapid rise of electric vehicles, storing up a potentially huge waste management problem for the future, according to a new study. A review of lithium ion…
AI learns to design
AI agents imitate engineers to construct effective new designs using visual cues like humans do
On the way to intelligent microrobots
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have developed a micromachine that can perform different actions. First nanomagnets in the components of the microrobots are magnetically programmed and then the various movements are controlled by magnetic fields.…
UK needs to act to prevent electric vehicle battery waste mountain — new study
Recycling technologies for end-of-life lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are not keeping pace with the rapid rise of electric vehicles, storing up a potentially huge waste management problem for the future, according to a new study. A review of lithium ion…
Measuring cell-cell forces using snapshots from time-lapse videos of cells
A new computational method can measure the forces cells exert on each other by analyzing time-lapse videos of cell colonies. It could enable researchers to gain fundamental insights into what role intercellular forces play in cellular biology and how they differ in healthy and diseased states.
3D-Printed Plastics With High Performance Electrical Circuits
Rutgers innovation could lead to better drones, satellites, biomedical devices
Better autonomous ‘reasoning’ at tricky intersections
Model alerts driverless cars when it’s safest to merge into traffic at intersections with obstructed views.
Better autonomous ‘reasoning’ at tricky intersections
Model alerts driverless cars when it’s safest to merge into traffic at intersections with obstructed views.
Scientists create ‘artificial leaf’ that turns carbon into fuel
Converts harmful carbon dioxide into useful alternative fuel
Scientists create ‘artificial leaf’ that turns carbon into fuel
Converts harmful carbon dioxide into useful alternative fuel
Better autonomous ‘reasoning’ at tricky intersections
Model alerts driverless cars when it’s safest to merge into traffic at intersections with obstructed views.
Scientists create ‘artificial leaf’ that turns carbon into fuel
Converts harmful carbon dioxide into useful alternative fuel
Bionic breakthrough
University of Utah mechanical engineers are developing the world’s first truly bionic legs, a self-powered prosthetic limb with a computer processor and motorized joints in the ankle and knee that enable an amputee to walk with more power, vigor and better balance.
Most complete exploration of fly landing maneuvers to advance future robots
To inspire advanced robotic technology, researchers in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering have published the most complete description of how flying insects land upside-down.
NREL publishes Science journal article posing three challenges to wind energy potential
Wind energy researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are among a team of authors inviting the scientific community to address three challenges that will drive the innovation needed for wind to become one of…
New lightweight, portable robotic suit to increase running and walking performance
Newly developed robot suit made of fabric vest and wires to help people with restricted mobility to walk or run more efficiently
Composite metal foam outperforms aluminum for use in aircraft wings
The leading edges of aircraft wings have to meet a very demanding set of characteristics. New research shows that a combination of steel composite metal foam (CMF) and epoxy resin has more desirable characteristics for use as a leading-edge material…
All plastic waste could become new, high-quality plastic through advanced steam cracking
A research group at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has developed an efficient process for breaking down any plastic waste to a molecular level. The resulting gases can then be transformed back into new plastics – of the same quality…
Giving robots a faster grasp
An algorithm speeds up the planning process robots use to adjust their grip on objects, for picking and sorting, or tool use
Highest throughput 3D printer is the future of manufacturing
Rapid manufacturing on-demand could make parts-warehousing and expensive molds a thing of the past
Computer models show clear advantages in new types of wind turbines
Researchers have modelled the fluid dynamics of multi-rotor wind turbines, and how they interact in wind farms; the research demonstrates a clear advantage for a turbine model with four rotors
Assembler robots make large structures from little pieces
Systems of tiny robots may someday build high-performance structures, from airplanes to space settlements
Improving mine ventilation focus of $1.25 million grant
Improving ventilation in underground mines with large openings is the focus of a new project funded by the Center for Disease Control’s Office of Mine Safety and Health Research. Penn State researchers received a five-year, $1.25 million grant to study…
‘Electroadhesive’ stamp picks up and puts down microscopic structures
New technique could enable assembly of circuit boards and displays with more minute components
Technology to use hot air balloons for rocket launches competes in a startup battlefield
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Leo Aerospace, a Purdue University-affiliated startup looking to launch rockets with the help of hot air balloons, has taken to the technology battlefield to receive worldwide attention for its technology. Members of the Leo team took…
Researchers develop intelligent, shape-morphing, self-healing material for soft robotics
PITTSBURGH– Advances in the fields of soft robotics, wearable technologies, and human/machine interfaces require a new class of stretchable materials that can change shape adaptively while relying only on portable electronics for power. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed…
ORNL, U-Toledo to collaborate on advanced materials, manufacturing research for vehicles
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., October 10, 2019–The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Toledo have entered into a memorandum of understanding for collaborative research into the advanced design and manufacturing of high-strength, intelligent, lightweight materials…
Lithuanian researchers developed new technology for precision grinding
By experimenting with tungsten carbide a team of researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, created an innovative technology allowing to shape the extremely strong and yet easily breakable material into a desirable form.
5G wireless to connect robots on the ground to AI in the cloud
BROOKLYN, New York, Wednesday, October 9, 2019 – A research team at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, with the support of the National Science Foundation’s National Robotics Initiative 2.0 , is building the foundations of a wireless system that…
NTU Singapore start-up unveils robot with human-like dexterous grip
A robotics technology start-up from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) named Eureka Robotics, has unveiled a new robot that can pick up delicate optical lenses and mirrors with care and precision, just like a human hand. Named Archimedes, the…
Scientists observe a single quantum vibration under ordinary conditions
Studying a common material at room temperature, researchers bring quantum behavior ‘closer to our daily life’
Shape-shifting structures take the form of a face, antenna
Complex lattices that change in response to stimuli open a range of applications in electronics, robotics, medicine
Teams of mobile 3D printing robots could fix bridges on Earth and build them to Mars
BROOKLYN, New York, Wednesday, October 2, 2019 – Commercial 3D printing — or additive manufacturing (AM) — is a booming industry. But if printers were liberated from the typical setup involving an immobile box and a gantry, and set free…
New research identifies the strengths and weaknesses of super material
Scientists from Aarhus University and the University of Cambridge are first to measure and set guidelines for bolted joints using the up-coming replacement for Kevlar: the ultra-strong material with the catchy name ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
Through NSF grant, researchers creating advanced autopilot to mimic the ‘Sully Factor’
It’s called the “Miracle on the Hudson.” On January 15, 2009, U.S. Airways Flight 1549 left LaGuardia Airport in New York City en route to Seattle via Charlotte. Shortly after takeoff, the plane hit birds and lost two engines. Faced…
Collagen fibers encourage cell streaming through balancing act
Fiber length may be a key, overlooked parameter that some normal cells use to become invasive.
Shape affects performance of micropillars in heat transfer
New study shows how the shape of nanostructures impacts how well they retain water — and heat
Material for nuclear reactors to become harder
Scientists from NUST MISIS developed a unique composite material that can be used in harsh temperature conditions, such as those in nuclear reactors. The microhardness of the sandwich material is 3 times higher compared to the microhardness of its individual…
Autonomous electric minibus in development to tour Timanfaya
The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) leads CITIES Timanfaya, a sustainable mobility project that has developed the first completely autonomous electric vehicle to replace the combustion vehicles that currently tour the Route of the Volcanoes in the Timanfaya National…
NASA sale launches HRL laboratories’ commercial 3D-printed aluminum effort
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is the first customer for commercial sale of feedstock for additive high-strength aluminum
This flat structure morphs into shape of a human face when temperature changes
New structural design could lead to self-deploying tents or adaptive robotic fins.
Silicon technology boost with graphene and 2D materials
Silicon semiconductor technology has done marvels for the advancement of our society, who has benefited tremendously from its versatile use and amazing capabilities. The development of electronics, automation, computers, digital cameras and recent smartphones based on this material and its…
Physicists found weak spots in ceramic/graphene composites
Physicists found out the structures in nanomaterials made of ceramic and graphene plates, in which cracks appear most frequently
Lithuanian scientists offer cheaper and safer solutions for defense training
Group of researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania have designed a field training equipment for short-range air defence systems, which imitates the natural conditions of missile defence including detection, tracking and destruction
Tractor overturn prediction using a bouncing ball model could save the lives of farmers
How a bouncing ball could save the lives of farmers
Seeing sound: Scientists observe how acoustic interactions change materials at the atomic level
By using sound waves, scientists have begun to explore fundamental stress behaviors in a crystalline material that could form the basis for quantum information technologies.