Industries
Components drive targets automotive applications
The portfolio of automotive-qualified products at Farnell element14 has been extended with the addition of over 250 new ROHM semiconductors. The ranges include LSI, diodes, transistors and power management solutions, suited for the different automotive application segments. To meet the increasing needs of digitisation in new automotive applications, ROHM is developing new products to deliver full system solutions.
Soft motor could power versatile soft robots
A small, squishy vehicle equipped with soft wheels rolls over rough terrain and runs under water. Future versions of the versatile vehicle might be suitable for search and rescue missions after disasters, deep space and planet exploration, and manipulating objects during MRI, according to its creators at Rutgers University.
NASA brings internet to the entire solar system
NASA has taken a major step toward creating a Solar System internet by establishing operational Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) service on the ISS. The DTN service will help automate and improve data availability for space station experimenters and will result in more efficient bandwidth utilisation and more data return.
Micro-camera can be injected with a syringe
German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging—and clandestine surveillance. Using 3D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs. Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in t...
Drones to monitor light pollution
Astronomers at Nottingham Trent University have developed a light, low cost system, deployable on a drone, that could help everyone monitor and control light pollution. The team, led by undergraduate student Ashley Fuller, present their work at the National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Nottingham. Excessive light is a pollutant in its own right, as is the energy, and carbon footprint, needed to generate it.
Robots help each other by using body language
Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have completed work on an EU project aimed at enabling robots to cooperate with one another on complex jobs, by using body language. Dimos Dimarogonas, an associate professor at KTH and project coordinator for RECONFIG, says the research project has developed protocols that enable robots to ask for help from each other and to recognise when other robots need assistance - and change t...
NASA technology implemented in breast cancer research
Getting spacecraft ready for launch may have more to do with medical research than you think. For a study on microbes that may be associated with a history of breast cancer, researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, employed the same sequencing and analysis methods used for examining bacteria in spacecraft assembly rooms. Those techniques were designed for planetary protection—ensuring that NASA spacecraft do no...
3D printing creates cartilage patches from bioink
Strands of cow cartilage substitute for ink in a 3D bioprinting process that may one day create cartilage patches for worn out joints, according to a team of engineers. "Our goal is to create tissue that can be used to replace large amounts of worn out tissue or design patches," said Ibrahim T. Ozbolat, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics. "Those who have osteoarthritis in their joints suffer a lot. We need a new alternative ...
Cryogel model to further prostate cancer research
A team of researchers led by Dr. Friederike J. Gruhl and Professor Andrew C. B. Cato at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are developing a three-dimensional model for prostate cancer research based on cryogels. The model will be used to reproduce natural processes and above all to examine the development and the progression of tumors.
Robotic arm aids Arduino designs
The Arduino development kit portfolio at RS Components has been expanded with the availability of the new TinkerKit Braccio, which delivers highly affordable robotics capability for the worldwide community of Arduino makers and developers, including students, hobbyists, artists, programmers and professionals.