There is a growing movement across the globe to use 3D printing against limited supplies of medical care for frontline healthcare workers. Nations across the world are trying to meet the growing shortage of masks, testing swabs, and face shields through whatever means possible. Omar Badar, an assembly engineer at Texas Instruments, understood this need…
Emerging technologies in speech BCI
Speech, as we know, is the primary avenue of communication between people. But some people are robbed of their ability to speak by neurodegenerative diseases, strokes, and brain injuries. In such conditions, patients are unable to communicate, despite their brains’ speech centers remaining intact. Fortunately, neuroscientists have come up with synthetic speech algorithms that help…
Use of AI for cybersecurity
Given the plethora of cyber threats, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a highly valuable domain as it involves leveraging AI to identify and stop cyber-attacks with a minimum of human intervention. AI tools and techniques autonomously identify, discover, predict, justify, act, and learn about potential cybersecurity threats without needing much human intervention. In the…
Technological advances in smart city development
Urbanization is a rapidly-growing phenomenon. As per the United Nations estimates, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. All this necessitates the development of smart-city initiatives backed by environmental, social, and economic sustainability to keep pace with the rapid expansion that will impinge heavily on cities’ resources worldwide. Among many…
Brain implants – Can they make the blind see?
Recent advances in neuroscience and neurotechnology promise restoration of functional sight to the blind through sending signals straight to the brain’s visual cortex. Similar to cochlear implant that has done wonders for the deaf, research is under way to restore visual perception to the blind through an implant that work by stimulating the visual cortex…
The challenge of optimizing battery designs
Battery developers face some difficult challenges when engineering these electrochemical cells. Depending on a battery’s use and application, such challenges include: Energy & power density Battery life Costs Sustainability Modeling and simulation are two current methods that researchers and developers use to test and improve such issues. Optimization of each component of a battery and…
Autonomous farming is closer than you think
During the inaugural Future Farming Technology event, held in Birmingham’s NEC late last year, a key message was clear: agriculture in its current state is unfeasible. Practices that have barely changed in decades are typically resulting in stagnate yields across the globe. Many feel the industry is over-reliant on chemicals and machinery that’s pressing the…
Developing a million-mile EV battery
Tesla recently said that a million-mile electric vehicle (EV) battery is technologically feasible and that it should be available soon. According to a detailed study in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, one way a long-lasting lithium-ion battery is made possible is if certain electrolytes work in conjunction with a nanomaterial coating on the cathode.…
How LiFi may solve several WiFi challenges
LiFi, an emerging wireless technology, which empowers users to send and receive data in beams of LED light, is expected to help overcome the limitations of radio frequency transmissions. Wireless data has become essential for much of today’s work and lifestyles. As the demand for connected devices continues to increase and new technologies — such…
Understanding battery management system
Electric vehicles (EVs) have many benefits over internal combustion engine vehicles, including superior performance, a high energy density, less pollution, excellent acceleration, and more. But EVs are not perfect. One major drawback is the need for a costly battery system with specific maintenance requirements, including a long charge time. One of the key components of…
The quest to develop “stretchable” electronics
Electronics are now part of our everyday portables and used in phones, iPads, and laptops. They’re also becoming something we wear, such as those wearable health trackers and watches. However, to some extent, the capabilities of such wearables has been limited by battery. Larger, stronger batteries would be required to do more. However, bigger batteries…
How a digital app is improving agriculture
Digitalization is rapidly changing workplaces and industries, offering data, efficiency, and often better workflows. The agricultural sector is no different. Although the government in India has created several initiatives to relieve concerns in the country related to water scarcity, crop cycle shortages, weather challenges, and others, life as a farmer is one of concern. To…
An e-mobility lab for EV charging and education
There’s a new concept in India that aims to encourage greater electric vehicle (EV) use with the support of an advanced charging station. The “E-Mobility Tech Experience Center” is designed to support all types of EV ratings and configurations while helping drivers (and passengers!) better understand the broad ecosystem of EV charging solutions. Delta Electronics…
Pluses and perils of face recognition
Built on computer programs that analyze images of human faces to identify them, face recognition technology has seen an amazing maturity in a relatively short amount of time. Law enforcement agencies use it to keep society safer, retailers to reduce the incidence of thefts, airports to enhance travelers’ comfort and security, and cell phone companies…
An IoT-enabled smart helmet that may save lives
When Prateek Kumar was at Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), he experienced a road accident near campus — which turned out to be a vital turning point in his life. That experience in 2016 not only transformed the way he approached his life but it also gave him a purpose: to make a device that…
How digitalization is changing the workforce
Digitalization and the fourth industrial revolution are changing production industries with unparalleled speed and scale. Influenced by a series of micro and macro-level advancements and disruptions, global value chains are being reconfigured. On a micro level, electronics and automation are changing the face of nearly every industry. According to one report, more than 25 percent…
Electric air taxi – Opening skies above cities
The air taxi could become a viable mode of urban transportation in the future, taking cars off the road, saving time, and obliterating urban boundaries. The new flying car donning the looks of a helicopter-drone hybrid will initially cruise at a speed of 180 mph, with the ability to seat few passengers, including a pilot.…
Living with humanoid robots
The use of humanoid robots is becoming widespread all over the world. Humanoid robots are designed to mimic the human body and differ from other kinds of robots such as industrial ones in that their movement is human-like, based on legged locomotion, especially biped gait. They move about the “real world” and interact with it,…
Interested in robotics? Here are a few projects to research
Robots and automation are changing the face of nearly every industry. According to the Brookings Institution, a global research firm, more than 25 percent of jobs in the U.S. are experiencing high levels of disruption due to automation. PricewaterhouseCoopers found that robots could displace 20 million manufacturing jobs by 2030. The reason? For the most…
How AI and robots may alter your career path
Global workforces continually undergo changes and advancements. Take the industrial revolution, for example, which revolutionized manufacturing and changed the labor force. More recently, digitalization is altering jobs and the workplace. It started with computers and wireless networks, and now the internet-of-things is connecting devices and allowing greater automation than ever before. With the additions of…