Electro Communication

Bugatti Veyron

2011-01-01T02:10:00.000+05:30

The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a rear mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal car in the world, with a top speed of 431.07 km/h (267.85 mph). The original version has a top speed of 408.00 km/h (253.52 mph).

Designed and developed by the German Volkswagen Group and produced by Bugatti Automobiles SAS at their headquarters in Château St. Jean in Molsheim (Alsace, France), the Veyron's chief designer was Hartmut Warkuss, and the exterior was designed by Jozef Kabaň of Volkswagen, with much of the engineering work being conducted under the guidance of former Peterbilt engineer and now Bugatti Engineering chief Wolfgang Schreiber.

The car is named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatticompany. It was named Car of the Decade (2000–2009) by the BBC television programme Top Gear.

A number of special variants have been produced, including two targa tops. In December 2010, Bugatti began offering prospective buyers the ability to customize exterior and interiors colors by using the Veyron 16.4 Configurator application on the marque's official website.

Zephyr High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle completed a successful

2010-12-31T18:59:00.002+05:30

The three world records that QinetiQ applied for after its Zephyr High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle completed a successful 14-day flight in July 2010, have been confirmed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The aircraft has now officially been ratified as staying in the air longer and achieving the highest altitude of any surveillance craft in its class, and setting the absolute duration record of 14 days and 21 minutes.

The ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber aircraft trounced the duration record set by Global Hawk in 2001 by a factor of 11, and managed to rise a good 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) higher (NASA's Helios Prototype, although in a different class, did get a tad higher in 2001). QinetiQ claims that the Zephyr could also help governments, companies and universities cut costs, saying that the vehicle can be produced at "one tenth of the cost of other unmanned aerial vehicles and one hundredth of the cost of a satellite."

The Zephyr benefits from a full flight set of Sion Power lithium-ion batteries that are charged during the day by United Solar's paper-thin amorphous silicon arrays, which cover the aircraft's wings and provide the aircraft's power – day and night. QinetiQ also developed a novel solar charger and bespoke autopilot system for the craft, and for the Yuma, Arizona flight in July also included a UK Ministry of Defense communications payload.

QinetiQ says that development continues towards a goal of having the aircraft stay airborne for months at a time – making the Zephyr even more useful for aerial surveillance, communication, lightweight transport and research scenarios.

South Korean military hardware manufacturer DoDAMM

2010-12-31T18:41:00.000+05:30

South Korean military hardware manufacturer DoDAMM used the recent Korea Robot World 2010 expo to display its new Super aEgis 2, an automated gun turret that can detect and lock onto human targets from kilometers away, day or night and in any weather conditions, and deliver some heavy firepower.

The border between North and South Korea is a pretty amazing strip of land. Around 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, it stretches the entire width of the Korean peninsula and it's recognized as the most heavily fortified border in the world. Over the last 60 years, as North and South Korea have faced off in an aggressive and frequently violated ceasefire, this Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has been one of the deadliest places on Earth for humans. Step into the zone and there's hundreds of thousands of soldiers on either side ready to put a bullet in you just for being there.

As a fascinating aside, this has also made it one of the world's best-kept nature preserves - the complete absence of human interference leaving a more or less pristine habitat for all kinds of wildlife, endangered and otherwise.

The DMZ's history is full of incredible stories; the gigantic tunnels dug by North Korean incursion forces, the tragically doomed friendships between North and South Korean soldiers operating in the zone, the almost unbelievable defection of a South Korean farmer across the DMZ into North Korea. And perhaps this history will go on to include ice-cold robotic killers.

Through military eyes, the existence of a shoot-on-sight no-go zone several kilometers wide opens up options for some interesting high-tech hardware, like DoDaam's Super aEgis II, which we had a chance to look over in person at the Korea Robot World Expo 2010.

The Super aEgis 2 is an automated gun tower that can find and lock on to a human-sized target in pitch darkness at a distance of up to 1.36 miles (2.2 kilometers). It uses a 35x zoom CCD camera with 'enhancement feature' for bad weather, in conjunction with a dual FOV, autofocus Infra-Red sensor, to pick out targets.

Then it brings the pain, either with a standard 12.7mm caliber machine-gun, a 40mm automatic grenade launcher upgrade, or whatever other weapons system you want to bolt on to it, including surface-to-air missiles. A laser range finder helps to calibrate aim, and a gyroscopic stabilizer unit helps correct both the video system's aim and the direction of the guns after recoil pushes them off-target.

Each 140 kg (308.6 lb.) unit can be rigidly mounted or put on a moving vehicle, where the gyro stabilization would be a huge asset. They can operate in fully autonomous mode, firing first and asking questions later, or they can be put into a manual mode for more human intervention. All machines communicate back to headquarters through a LAN cable or wireless network.

There's no word about whether the Super aEgis 2 has been deployed in the Korean DMZ in the wake of several recent incidents that threaten to push the peninsula into full-scale, potentially nuclear war, but Dodaam has been exporting units as far afield as the United Arab Emirates.

Micron-sized solar cells

2009-12-28T23:16:00.000+05:30

PORTLAND, Ore. — Sandia National Labs has harnessed silicon's natural tendency to grow into islands and used micro-electro-mechanical systems techniques to free those islands into the world's smallest solar cells.

Sandia claims the micron-sized solar cells are as efficient as their wafer-sized big brothers, but consume only one hundredth the amount of semiconductor.

Rather than force solar cells to grow across an entire wafer in a perfect crystalline lattice, and throw the whole wafer away if any imperfections develop, Sandia National Labs has found that smaller is better.

Measuring just 100 microns round and just 14-to-20 microns thick—including electrodes—the tiny solar cells resemble snowflakes, but can be ganged together in parallel to provide whatever current generation capacity required by an application.

In addition, they can also be wired in series to generate high voltages that are impossible with conventional solar cells. In the space required for 12 volts from a traditional solar cell, hundreds of volts can be generated by micron-sized solar cells wired in series.

Sandia also claims their solar cells small size would allow them to be affixed to flexible surfaces, even clothing, turning almost any surface into a solar panel.

In tests, Sandia demonstrated that a conventional pick-and-place robot can assemble about 130,000 of the tiny solar cells per hour over several square meters at a cost of approximately one-tenth of a cent per cell.

Funding was provided by the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technology Program and Sandia National Laboratory's Directed Research & Development program.

Chip Morphing

2009-12-28T11:55:00.002+05:30

Engineering is a study of tradeoffs. In computer engineering the tradeoff has traditionally been between performance, measured in instructions per second, and price. Because of fabrication technology, price is closely related to chip size and transistor count. With the emergence of embedded systems, a new tradeoff has become the focus of design. This new tradeoff is between performance and power or energy consumption. The computational requirements of early embedded systems were generally more modest, and so the performance-power tradeoff tended to be weighted towards power. "High performance" and "energy efficient" were generally opposing concepts.
However, new classes of embedded applications are emerging which not only have significant energy constraints, but also require considerable computational resources. Devices such as space rovers, cell phones, automotive control systems, and portable consumer electronics all require or can benefit from high-performance processors. The future generations of such devices should continue this trend.
Processors for these devices must be able to deliver high performance with low energy dissipation. Additionally, these devices evidence large fluctuations in their performance requirements. Often a device will have very low performance demands for the bulk of its operation, but will experience periodic or asynchronous "spikes" when high-performance is needed to meet a deadline or handle some interrupt event. These devices not only require a fundamental improvement in the performance power tradeoff, but also necessitate a processor which can dynamically adjust its performance and power characteristics to provide the tradeoff which best fits the system requirements at that time.

1.2. Fast, Powerful but Cheap, and Lots of Control
These motivations point to three major objectives for a power conscious embedded processor. Such a processor must be capable of high performance, must consume low amounts of power, and must be able to adapt to changing performance and power requirements at runtime.
The objective of this seminar is to define a micro-architecture which can exhibit low power consumption without sacrificing high performance. This will require a fundamental shift to the power-performance curve presented by traditional microprocessors. Additionally, the processor design must be flexible and reconfigurable at run-time so that it may present a series of configurations corresponding to different tradeoffs between performance and power consumption.
1.3. MORPH
These objectives and motivations were identified during the MORPH project, a part of the Power Aware Computing / Communication (PACC) initiative. In addition to exploring several mechanisms to fundamentally improve performance, the MORPH project brought forth the idea of "gear shifting" as an analogy for run-time reconfiguration. Realizing that real world applications vary their performance requirements dramatically over time, a major goal of the project was to design microarchitectures which could adjust to provide the minimal required performance at the lowest energy cost. The MORPH project explored a number of microarchitectural techniques to achieve this goal, such as morphable cache hierarchies and exploiting bit-slice inactivity. One technique, multi-cluster architectures, is the direct predecessor of this work. In addition to microarchitectural changes, MORPH also conducted a survey of realistic embedded applications which may be power constrained. Also, design implications of a power aware runtime system were explored.

VIDEO EYEWEAR

2009-12-28T11:37:00.001+05:30

Vuzix Corporation, the leader in video eyewear for the consumer, defense and low vision markets, is thrilled to be shipping the Wrap 310 worldwide. The game-changing Wrap 310 challenges the status quo of traditional video viewing devices by looking and feeling like normal sunglasses. The Wrap 310, featuring twin high-resolution video displays and projecting a 55-inch screen at 10-feet is now available through Vuzix.com and a number of other retailers and distribution partners.

"The Wrap 310 promises to change the game in portable video and we're thrilled to officially deliver this product to the masses," said Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers. "The Wrap 310 also brings advanced features to the video Eyewear category that no product has. With capabilities to add tracking and cameras that enable augmented reality and incredible gaming experiences; there is nothing like it on the market" added Travers.

Whether you are an executive business traveler or want an immersive console gaming experience, the Wrap 310 gets the job done in style. With composite video input and optional VGA and component compatibility adapters, the Wrap 310 is the most versatile pair of video eyewear on the market. Additionally, as the first video eyewear designed for upgradeability, the Wrap 310 features an expansion port designed to provide the product with near limitless compatibility. In addition to the VGA and Component adapters available later this year, Vuzix has plans for new and exciting accessories designed to keep the Wrap 310 on the cutting edge.

The Wrap 310 also features an improved on-screen user interface, included independent focus adjustments for users with corrective lenses and still features compatibility with all major 3D video formats. Powered for up to 6 hours on just 2 AA batteries, the Wrap 310 will accept video from almost any video player, including the iPod and iPhone. The Wrap 310 has a MSRP of $249.95.

ELECTRONICS ORANGE SOLAR POWERED TENT

2009-12-28T11:31:00.000+05:30

Camping is always fun. A chance to get away from the world, and live in a world of isolation without any form of electrical aids or entertainment. Well, up until now that is. Orange have just revealed their new solar powered tent which is labelled as a 'tent of the future'. The tent will ensure that all your gadgets and electronics will function during your camping visit, though some may feel this defeats the purpose of camping.

Orange teamed up with American product design consultants, Kaleidoscope, to create this modern day tent which harnesses solar energy in order to power your gadgets and equipment via a wireless charging pouch. The tent uses a photovoltaic fabric to receive the maximum amount of energy directly from the sun throughout the day. There is also an integrated "glo-cation" technology instilled which assists campers in finding their way back to their tent. You can use your mobile phone to send a text message to your tent, which will then cause the camp to glow and become easily identifiable.

The solar powered tent has a wireless control hub which illustrates the total amount of energy generated and also the amount of that energy consumed. There is also a wireless internet signal on a touch screen display , and even a heating system, which kicks into action as soon as the temperature within the tent drops below a certain level.

This definitely is the future of camping.

Best of both worlds UAV

2009-12-26T11:37:00.003+05:30

If one rotor is good, four must be better. That’s the general idea behind the CyberQuad, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Australian manufacturer Cyber Technology. The CyberQuad is an electric, remote-controlled reconnaissance platform that features four ducted rotors to provide lift and maneuverability, allowing the remote-control UAV to be used in urban and enclosed environments. The four rotors give the CyberQuad the payload capacity and stability of a helicopter-type UAV, while the ducted design avoids the dangers associated with exposed propellers.

According to the manufacturer, open propeller helicopters typically cannot fly through doorways or near people because of the risk of snagging their large exposed rotors. Ducted fan designs eliminate this danger, but require additional stabilization and generally cannot carry as much payload or provide as much endurance. The CyberQuad’s ducted quadrotor chassis is designed to take advantage of the best of both types of platforms. It features the simple mechanics, stability, and agility of a helicopter, plus the safety, compact size, and efficiency of ducted fans.

Cyber Technology, which produces several different types of UAVs, believes their CyberQuad is well-suited to the emerging market for urban aerial reconnaissance. With a payload capacity up to 1.5kg (3.3lbs) the Cyber Quad can carry a high-definition video camera or sensors for detecting gases, industrial pollutants, chemical warfare agents, or other materials. The brushless electric motors do not produce sparks so the UAV can be deployed in volatile atmospheres. In fact in November, the CyberQuad was successfully used to investigate a fire on an oil platform. The UAV was able to maneuver throughout the superstructure and transmit back high-definition video to operators located a safe distance away.

The UAV features vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and hovering capabilities like a helicopter. It measures just 53 x 53 x 16cm (21 x 21 x 6.3in.) so it is easy to transport and can be deployed rapidly.

The manufacturer claims the CyberQuad’s top speed is around 40mph (65kph) and the run time is 25 to 40 minutes. The CyberQuad’s mission time can be extended, however, because the UAV is able to “perch” on a suitable landing spot and observe without flying.

Cyber Technology designed the CyberQuad for “stealth” operations by reducing the rotor noise. The four modular rotors do not use noisy gearboxes, and noise from the propeller tips is reduced by the duct walls. The fans are arranged in counter-rotating pairs to reduce gyroscopic issues and provide better stability. Each fan is independently controlled, allowing maneuverability without the need for additional control surfaces. In addition, the CyberQuad uses inertial sensors and high-frequency speed controllers to actively stabilize the UAV’s attitude and heading.

There is no word on availability or pricing. For more information visit Cyber Technology.

The robotic shopper

2009-12-26T11:27:00.002+05:30

For some elderly citizens the simple act of shopping can prove daunting and an assistant or carer may be required to help out. Aiming to help increasingly (if sometimes reluctantly) tech-savvy seniors, is Robovie II - a robotic assistant that takes a pre-transmitted shopping list and follows the customer around the store, carrying their goods while communicating and even offering suggestions.

The advanced version of the Robovie II android is being developed by the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR) has been designed with the aim of making shopping an easier and more entertaining experience for seniors. The android is part of a bigger network of sensors and wireless devices, with the customer’s experience beginning before they even enter the store.

A user inputs their shopping list on a mobile device from home, telling the robot’s on-screen avatar what they require. This information is wirelessly transmitted to a waiting robot, which greets the customer by name as they enter the supermarket. The robot then proceeds to carry the user’s shopping, verbally read out the next item to be collected while also making suggestions for suitable additional items. Robovie II is currently being tested in the Apita Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto until March 2010.

Check out the vid below to see Robovie II helping and communicating with a 67 year old shopper. After the demonstration the woman said she almost felt like she was shopping with her grandchild. So either she has an incredibly well behaved grandchild, or the Robovie II's developers have included a pester subroutine.

Via Pink Tentacle

TAKE A TOUR OF THAT

Photovoltaic cells revolutionizing solar power

2009-12-24T20:46:00.003+05:30

Scientists from Sandia National Laboratories have developed tiny, glitter-sized photovoltaic cells that are ten times thinner than conventional solar cells and could one day be used in a variety of applications – from satellites and remote-sensing, to tents and perhaps even clothing. Yep, these cells could turn the average Joe into a walking solar-battery charger.

The Sandia research team identified over 20 benefits of scale for these tiny cells over traditional solar cells, including better performance, more efficiencies and possibly reduced costs. Sandia lead investigator, Greg Nielson said, “Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integrated solar, tents and maybe even clothing,” he said. This would make it possible for hunters, hikers or military personnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.”

While solar-charged clothing is not a particularly new concept, these solar particles - made from crystalline silicon – are expected to have more applications, be less expensive and have greater efficiencies than the photovoltaic cells made from six-inch square solar cells. In addition, the team believes that the modules made from the photovoltaic cells could have intelligent controls, inverters and storage integrated at the chip level. An integrated module such as this could reduce problems such as cumbersome design and grid integration processes currently experienced by solar technical assistance teams.

Cheap as chips

The cost reduction is due partly to the fact the microcells don’t need a lot of material to become highly efficient and well-controlled devices. They are just 14 to 20 micrometers thick - a human hair is approximately 70 micrometers thick – and are ten times thinner than a conventional 6 x 6 inch solar cell, however they are capable of being used in large-scale power production. This could mean a reduction in the manufacturing and installation costs when compared to current photovoltaic techniques.

Sandia researcher, Murat Okandan, said, “So they use 100 times less silicon to generate the same amount of electricity. Since they are much smaller and have fewer mechanical deformations for a given environment than the conventional cells, they may also be more reliable over the long term.”

Using a commercial machine called a pick-and-place, up to 130,000 pieces of glitter can be placed per hour at electrical contact points pre-established on the substrate. The cost is estimated at one-tenth of a cent per piece and it is expected each module will contain 10,000 to 50,000 cells per meter – depending on the level of optical concentration required.

Low cost solar concentrators can be placed over each cell which will increase the number of photons being converted into electrons via the photovoltaic effect. And although the cells are small they have a high voltage output which will reduce the costs associated with wiring.

Smaller can sometimes be better

As the cells are so small, they can be manufactured from commercial wafers of any size and if one cell is defunct, it can simply be replaced rather than having to replace an entire brick-sized unit. These small cells have individualized wiring, eliminating the need for thicker power lines to cope with the increased power. There is also less of an issue with shading from overhead obstructions. “The shade tolerance of our units to overhead obstructions is better than conventional PV panels,” said Nielson, “because portions of our units not in shade will keep sending out electricity where a partially shaded conventional panel may turn off entirely.”

Change is good

Although there is a huge change from manufacturing conventional silicon wafers to manufacturing microscale PV cells, the team believes the process would be relatively straightforward because they would use the techniques used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), electronics and LED industries.

The cells will be formed on silicon wafers, etched and produced in a hexagonal shape with electrical contacts contained on each shape. At this stage, electricity can be harvested at a rate of 14.9 percent efficiency from the cells – this compares favorably with commercial modules which have a range of 13 to 20 percent efficiency.

Via Sandia National Laboratories

Next 5 big ideas for the next 5 years

2009-12-23T11:43:00.002+05:30

Casting one’s eye into a crystal ball is a risky undertaking that can leave the forecaster as visionary or fool – particularly if they are short term predictions that can easily be checked. But that hasn’t deterred the soothsayers at IBM coming up with their fourth annual “Next 5 in 5” list of innovations that will impact our lives in the next five years.

Because the world is experiencing unprecedented urbanization, with last year seeing the majority of the world’s population residing in cities for the first time in history, IBM has focused on innovations that have the potential to change how people live, work and play in cities around the globe in the coming years. The list is based on market and societal trends expected to transform cities, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s labs around the world that have the potential to turn these predictions into reality. So what does IBM think we can expect?

Cities will have healthier immune systems

Given their population density, IBM says cities will remain hotbeds of communicable diseases. However, the emergence of a “health Internet” will give city officials, hospitals, schools and workplaces the ability to better detect, track, prepare for and prevent infections. IBM predicts this system will share anonymous medical information contained in electronic health records to provide information for public health officials to know when, where and how diseases are spreading and even which neighborhoods will be affected next. IBM is already working with organizations to standardize methods for sharing health information and analyzing infectious disease outbreaks that would enable such a system.

City buildings will sense and respond like living organisms

The trend towards “smart buildings” has already started and IBM says the trend will only gather pace with technology used to manage building systems such as heat, water, sewage, electricity, etc. Thousands of sensors inside buildings will monitor everything from motion and temperature to humidity, occupancy and light. This system will enable repairs before something breaks, emergency units to respond quickly with the necessary resources, and consumers and business owners to monitor their energy consumption and carbon emission in real-time and take action to reduce them.

Cars and buses will run on empty

This one is a pretty safe bet too. The switch from fossil fuel powered vehicles is already underway and, although there are a few potential energy sources includinghydrogen and various biofuels vying for consideration, IBM predicts that improved battery technology will be the technology to power the next generation of eco-friendly vehicles. It says the new batteries won’t need to be recharged for days or months at a time, depending on how often the vehicles are driven, and will allow trips of 300 to 500 miles (480 – 800km) on a single charge. Also smart grids in cities will allow vehicles to be charged in public places using renewable energy, such as wind power, for charging so they no longer rely on coal-powered plants.

Smarter systems will quench cities’ thirst for water and save energy

To deal with the estimate that demand for water is expected to increase sixfold in the next 50 years cities will install smarter water systems to reduce water waste by up to 50 percent. Smart sewer systems will also be installed that not only prevent run-off pollution in rivers and lakes, but purify water to make it drinkable. Advanced water purification technologies will help cities recycle and reuse water locally, reducing energy used to transport water by up to 20 percent. Like smart electricity meters, interactive meters and sensors will be integrated into water systems to provide users with real time, accurate information about their water consumption to allow them to make better decisions about how and when they use this valuable resource.

Cities will respond to a crisis – even before receiving an emergency phone call

IBM hasn’t given a lot of details about just how such technology would be implemented - although it won’t be through the use of precogs like those used in the movie Minority Report – simply saying that analyzing the right information at the right time will help prevent emergencies, such as crime and disasters.

IBM says it is already helping law enforcement agencies analyze information that will allow public servants to take proactive measures to head off crime. Also the New York Fire Department has selected IBM to build a state-of-the-art system for collecting and sharing data in real-time and the company is also designing smart levee systems to prevent cities from devastating floods.

IBM hasn’t really gone out on a limb with any of their predictions. As any regular reader would know, all of the innovations outlined by IBM are already emerging, which is hardly surprising given IBM’s next five years timeframe.

Five years could be an optimistic time frame, especially when you look back at thefirst IBM Next 5 in 5 list compiled in 2006. It predicted the rise of a 3-D Internet and real-time speech translation becoming the norm. That leaves only one year for this to take place. Although there have been advances in both areas, it couldn’t really be said that either has changed many people’s lives just yet. It's hard to think the same won't be true for this new list five years from now

MIT debuts the Copenhagen Wheel

2009-12-19T04:22:00.004+05:30

Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SENSEable City team have chosen the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change to show off a new bicycle wheel prototype which not only provides electric rider assist, but also contains "a veritable Swiss army knife's worth of electronic gadgets and novel functions", including sensors to monitor air quality and noise pollution, GPRS and Bluetooth connectivity.

Unlike other electric assist solutions, the Copenhagen Wheel can be fitted to an existing bicycle. As the rider pedals away, the hub harvests energy from movement and braking and stores it for later use in the internal batteries. The hub also contains an electric motor (naturally), 3-speed gears and an array of sensors to give the cyclist information about his or her surroundings.

Sensing the environment

Environmental sensors detect and report carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and noise levels. The rider is provided with relative humidity and ambient temperature readings and the hub also includes a torque sensor and GPRS for speed, distance traveled and route information. The tech can even detect the presence of friends in the local vicinity.

As there is no external wiring, all of this information and more is transmitted via Bluetooth to the rider's smartphone (which can be secured to the bike's handlebars). Whether a bit of a boost is needed or it's just a case of taking it easy for a while, the smartphone is also used to control the level of motor assist and the gears as well as locking and unlocking the wheel. In essence it looks like an earlier MIT offering has received quite a bit of an upgrade.

In an interesting safety twist, bikes fitted with a Copenhagen Wheel could even alert owners if someone attempts theft and send back location reports, the project's Assaf Biderman explains: "the Wheel has a smart lock: if somebody tries to steal it, it goes into a mode where the brake regenerates the maximum amount of power, and sends you a text message. So in the worst case scenario the thief will have charged your batteries before you get back your bike."

Impressing the locals

The innovation has been well received by the locals, Ritt Bjerregaard, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen commented: "Our city's ambition is that 50 percent of the citizens will take their bike to work or school every day. So for us, this project is part of the answer to how can we make using a bike even more attractive."

Riders could even benefit directly if discussions about a reward scheme come to fruition. "One of the applications that we have discussed with the City of Copenhagen is that of an incentive scheme whereby citizens collect Green Miles - something similar to frequent flyer miles, but good for the environment," says Christine Outram, who led the team of MIT researchers.

It is hoped that a production version of the wheel will be available next year, pricing is unknown but is thought to be "competitive" with standard electric bikes. If the definition of "standard" is an Elmoto or Mosquito then it could be pricey, but if it is more in line with, or cheaper than the likes of the Gocycle, then it will no doubt attract much more interest.

3 Dimensions for more powerful and environmentally-friendly microchips

2009-12-17T23:54:00.007+05:30

We've seen vertically oriented transistors, now it's time for entire chips to explore the z-axis. Collaborating with Swiss research institutes EPFL and ETH Zurich, IBM has made another important step toward creating faster, higher-efficiency "3D" processors stacking their cores vertically to increase the number of interconnections and sensibly reduce heat.

From single-core to multicore

You may argue that writing a text document or viewing your holiday pictures are very simple tasks that don't require much number crunching at all, but the fact is that periodically updated, stable and secure operating systems with pretty-looking graphics invariably require more and more processing power.

So, when a single core just isn't enough to write that novel you've been working on, multicore designs come into play. But why can't we just keep using faster and faster single-cores? Power consumption is often the only reason cited to motivate the transition, but there are at least another two that deserve to be mentioned.

Instruction-level parallelism refers to how well a complex operation can be subdivided into simpler steps that can be computed in parallel, then recombining the partial results for a performance increase that is a factor of how many different "processing streams" were created. Using multiple cores improves parallelism both at the instruction level and, taking a few steps back, at the process level, improving the system's responsiveness.

Memory usage is another big issue. Memory clock speeds don't increase as quickly as CPU clock speeds and this means that, to keep pace, larger and larger caches should be used. Given their cost, this is quite obviously an unpractical road. The lower clock speeds in multicore processors is one of the factors that help achieve a more efficient use of memory.

Finally, power efficiency is also extremely important. A presentation from Intel (PDF) offers a very fitting example. Suppose we have a single-core processor running at its normal frequency: we may use this as a benchmark and say that it yields one unit of performance per unit of power drawn. If we try to overclock it, which is what hardcore gamers and other demanding professionals often do, we typically obtain a 13 percent increase in performance, but we pay for it with a (typically) 73 percent increase in power, which makes overclocking generally a bad idea.

What we can do instead is experiment by going against the current and actuallyunderclock the processor. If we are willing to accept a specular 13 percent decrease in performance down to 0.87 "performance units," we find that now only 0.51 units of power are required: our CPU suddenly becomes much more power-efficient — about 1.73 units of performance per unit of power, a 73 percent increase with respect to our benchmark. To obtain more processing power, we simply connect several underclocked cores together: the speeds won't simply add up — a dual-core 1.6GHz processor is a bit slower than a single-core 3.2GHz — but we'll preserve our power efficiency.

From multicore to 3D

Unfortunately, multicore processors have their issues too. The cores can't be placed very close together without showing heavy interference or sensibly slowing down the operations, meaning that the tiny wires the connect them to each other have to be relatively long. This poses two serious problems: first, more silicon real-estate is required, which makes costs skyrocket; and second, the time it takes for the electrical signals to propagate correctly is proportional to the square of the wire length, meaning such long wires have a heavy impact on intercommunication speeds.

An idea that starts to make sense is to simply stack integrated circuits one over the other vertically. The components can now be placed closer together, and interconnecting buses can not only be much shorter — there can be more of them too, and without seriously impacting costs.

Working on this technique, IBM and partners working at the CMOSAIC project say they can achieve 100 to 10,0000 connections per square millimeter, ensuring data transfer rates ten times higher than ever before.

Surprisingly, even with the cores packed so tightly together, three-dimensional chips actually produce less heat and consume less power, mainly because keeping a signal on-chip rather than on a wire reduces power consumption. But looking at the situation of power consumption generated by computers, it's now becoming very clear that we need even more drastic measures to reduce power consumption.

"In the United States, the industry's data centers already consume as much as 2% of available electricity. As consumption doubles over a five-year period, the supercomputers of 2100 would theoretically use up the whole of the USA's electrical supply," explained John R. Thome of the EPFL team.

For this reason, the researchers went even a step further to devise a completely new cooling system for their 3D chips. In it, channels with a 50 micron diameter (about the diameter of a human hair) are inserted between each core layer. These microchannels contain a cooling liquid, which exits the circuit in the form of vapor, is brought back to the liquid state by a condenser and then finally pumped back into the processor. Next year, a prototype of this cooling system will be implemented and tested under actual operating conditions.

The main challenge posed by the 3D chip approach is a direct consequence of the possibilities it opens up: now that interconnecting cores is cheap and easy, engineers need to find the best way to optimize the design even on (literally) a whole new dimension, and this means better and more capable CAD programs need to rise up to this difficult task. Then, there's also the question of complexity — chips that are this sophisticated need to be manufactured with absolute precision and without defects, or they could suddenly and inexplicably fail without a change to realize why.

For these and other reasons, the researchers estimate it will take a few years until 3D microchips equip consumer electronics. The initial 3D microprocessors, the researchers say, should be fitted on supercomputers by 2015, while the version with an integrated cooling system should reach the consumer market around 2020.

Seagate unveils 2.5-inch hard drive - the Momentus Thin

2009-12-17T23:48:00.001+05:30

After recently announcing its first foray into the solid state drive market, Seagate has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s thinnest hard drive for slimline laptops. Measuring a mere 7mm in thickness and featuring a SATA 3Gb/s interface and spin speed of 5400rpm, Seagate believes it could pave the way for a new class of entry-level thin laptop computers.

According to Seagate, around 90 percent of netbook computers in the market today are sold with 9.5mm 2.5” drives due to the excessive cost associated with SSDs and 1.8” hard drives. The Momentus Thin is not only 25 percent thinner than traditional 9.5mm drives, but is said to rival them in both energy efficiency and performance. With demand for ever slimmer laptops at an all time high Seagate is aiming to give its equipment manufacturers the option of offering affordable slimline options to a broader market.

The Momentus Thin features a SATA 3Gb/s interface, 8MB cache and 5400rpm spindle speed and like other drives in the Momentus range it is also equipped with self encryption and free-fall sensors.

Set to be available in 250GB and 160GB capacities, the Momentus Thin is due to be shipped to Seagate’s integrator partners in January 2010.

Millipore Scepter shrinks cell counting technology

2009-12-17T23:39:00.001+05:30

From identifying anemia by counting red blood cells to tracking the growth of cell/ tissue cultures in a laboratory, counting cells is the basis of many life science activities. Designed to replace the process of counting cells manually under a microscope using a hemocytometer or an expensive desk top automatic cell counter, Millipore's Scepter crams cell counting technology found in much larger instruments into a hand-held device the size of an automated pipette.

The instrument looks and works like a normal pipette and has on screen instruction for easy guidance. It contains electronic chips for cell sensing, signal processing, and data storage. A graphical display reports the cell count and average cell volume within 20 seconds of inserting the tip into a cell culture sample.

“The Scepter handheld cell counter represents a breakthrough for life science researchers,” said John Sweeney, Vice President of Millipore’s life science business. “Unlike any other cell counter, this handheld device provides researchers with a simple and affordable automated option for counting cells and monitoring the health of their cultures.”

In addition to showing cell counts and average cell volume, the instrument also displays a bar chart of cell distribution by volume or diameter. The bar chart can be used to provide an instant snapshot of the health of the culture. Up to 72 results can be stored on the instrument or downloaded to a computer via a USB connector. The instrument is found to match theoretical standards and also matches the precision and accuracy of much larger machines based on Coulter counting techniques.

Millipore plans to launch Scepter during the latter half of the first quarter of 2010 at a "very affordable price". And if that happens we can look forward to not only having more efficient laboratories but also an affordable, easy and handy way of identifying anemia in rural and remote locations of the world.

Fan-tastic Keystick keyboard concept

2009-12-15T18:15:00.001+05:30

Decent portable keyboards can be hard to find. Roll-up solutions like the ElekTex Smart Fabric Keyboard are extremely portable but lack the feel of traditional keys. Others that do provide traditional keys, like the Goldtouch Go! Travel keyboard, opt for a folding solution that doesn’t really reduce their size all that much. The Keystick keyboard looks to overcome both of these shortfalls with a full-sized QWERTY chicklet keyboard design that folds away like a Japanese fan to become an easily transportable stick.

Designed by Yoonsang Kim and Eunsung Park, the Keystick keyboard is part of their None Bacteria Project, which is aimed at cutting down the spread of infections. Since keyboards are generally some of the most germ-ridden devices going around, Kim and Park came up with a keyboard that can be easily carried around so users don’t have to contaminate their fingers using shared keyboards.

Looking a bit like Apple’s wireless Bluetooth keyboard the design is unfortunately only a concept at this time. Aside from the pictures there isn’t a lot of info to go on, but it looks like the Keystick is designed as a wireless keyboard that connects to a PC using a tiny USB receiver that can be removed from its home in the upper right of the keyboard and placed in a PC’s USB port.

Providing they could give the keys a decent amount of travel when pressed, any keyboard manufacturer willing to take the design and run with it could be onto a winner.

Via Yanko Design and DVICE.

iPhone 3GS Supreme – the 3 million dollar mobile phone

2009-12-14T01:07:00.002+05:30

Goldstriker International, a company which specializes in dipping mobile phones ingold and platinum, appears to have snatched the title of world’s most expensive mobile phone from the iPhone 3G King’s Button with the creation of the iPhone 3GS Supreme. Priced at £1.92 million (approx. US$3.14 million at time of publication) this is one phone you definitely wouldn’t want to leave on a bus.

The extravagant (read ludicrously expensive) phone was designed by Stuart Hughes of Liverpool, England and was ten months in the making. The whole casing was created with 271 grams of 22ct solid gold, while the front bezel houses 136 flawless diamonds, which total to a massive 68cts.

The rear logo in solid gold has 53 flawless diamonds amounting to 1ct and the front navigation button is home to a single cut very rare diamond at 7.1cts. And where does one keep such a phone? Why in a 7kg chest made from a single block of Granite, offset with Kashmir gold and with Nubuck top grain leather inner lining.

Before you go reaching for your Titanium credit card, you should know the iPhone 3GS Supreme was commissioned by an anonymous Australian businessman from the gold mining industry, who is obviously benefiting nicely from the current soaring gold price thank you very much. If you want something similar you’ll just have to contact Goldstriker International and commission your own. Just remember to leave your conscience at the door.

The Emperor Workstation

2009-12-14T00:11:00.000+05:30

Talk about over the top! This US40,000 contraption acts like a sedentary gamer's life-support system. Three synchronised 19" monitors adjustable to the perfect height, inbuilt 5.1 surround sound with a woofer right under your leather-coddled hiney - which is gently warmed or cooled by the seat depending on temperature, electronic posture-controlled reclining, subtle lighting, HEPA air filtration, and it gently and automatically rotates to avoid external glare. The Emperor Workstation uncoils like a scorpion to let you in, then closes in around you once you sit down to lock you into workstation world. Stick a hole in the seat with some plumbing, and sit it next to the fridge, and you wouldn't have to pause your game for ANYTHING.

Devices like this are surely one of the signs of the coming apocalypse, or that the human race is almost ready to evolve into dalek-like sedentary beings, food processing tubes with excellent mouse control.

The Canadian-built Emperor Workstation replaces your desk, chair and cpmputer setup with an electric, flexible pod. You recline in a luxury Recaro leather seat (originally developed as an aftermarket car add-on) with huge postural adjustment available, lumbar supports and a climate package that vents the seat on warm days and heats it when it's cold.

As you sit down and recline to your desired position, the Emperor's 'tail' closes in hydraulically from above, housing three synchronised 19" monitors, side by side. You have to see the video to understand exactly how cool this process looks. A HEPA air purification system pumps filtered air into your workstation, and handles ventilation.

Adjustable LED highlights let you tune the lighting in a subtle fashion, and there's a full spectrum light up top to deliver a sensation of being in natural light, even though you may never see such a thing again, because the Emperor gently rotates on its base to shield your delicate eyes from any external glare that might interfere with your monitor use. All these features are tunable through your 7" LCD touch screen control pad.

A standard reasonably well-specified Mac or PC computer is built in, or of course there's the option to spec your own killer box, or even dock a laptop into the back of the seat. Audio is handled by an inbuilt 5.1 surround system with multiple speakers around the canopy and a woofer under the seat to shake your butt for you. There's a built-in power supply with up to 30 minutes of power autonomy in the event of a power failure. In such an event, the Emperor will calmly shut your PC down before its battery life runs out.

At a starting price of US$39,990, it's safe to say that if you can afford one, you'll be the only kid on the block to have one. It's also fairly safe to say that the Emperor Workstation is one of the most outrageously indulgent inventions we've seen at the Vegas CES!

The Emperor Workstation is available now from NovelQuest.

Next-gen Global Hawk HALE UAS completes its first flight

2009-12-11T23:28:00.000+05:30

The first of the next generation of Northrop Grumman’s Block 40 configuration RQ-4Global Hawk has successfully completed its first flight. The two hour flight took the aircraft from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, California to Edwards Air Force Base, California. Designated AF-18, the Block 40 configuration of the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) will carry the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) active electronically scanned array radar that will help warfighters detect, track and identify stationary and moving targets.

Northrop Grumman tout the Global Hawk as providing the safest and most cost-effective and efficient means of gathering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information over a vast geographic area without putting anyone in harm’s way. Flying at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for more than 32 hoursper sortie at speeds approaching 340 knots, the MP-RTIP-equipped Block 40 Global Hawk can persistently see through most type of weather, day or night and is the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS.

The aircraft is flown autonomously by flight control software under the direct supervision of a pilot. The pilot does not physically manipulate the control surfaces in flight but instead, he commands the computer to take action when needed, or the system can be left alone and fly a complete pre-programmed mission.

Takeoff and landing are software controlled and poor weather is not a limiting factor for operation like it can be for other unmanned systems. The company says this allows the pilot and crew to focus on executing the national security intelligence collection mission, collecting thousands of pixels full of critical security intelligence, while the aircraft is flown by the sophisticated flight control computer.

When fully fueled for flight, the Block 20/30/40 weighs approximately 32,250 pounds. More than half the system's components are constructed of lightweight, high-strength composite materials, including its wings, wing fairings, empennage, engine cover, nacelles, and three radomes. Its main fuselage is standard aluminum, semi-monocoque construction.

This first flight marks the end of an era, as Global Hawk production acceptance activities will transition in the near future from Edwards Air Force Base to Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, to improve efficiency and flow of company products. The AF-18 is the eleventh of the next-gen Global Hawk Block 20/30/40s to arrive at Edwards and is the first of 15 Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft scheduled for fielding to Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, in 2010.

ScoreLight musical instrument turns drawings into sound

2009-12-11T14:35:00.000+05:30

Scientists at the University of Tokyo have found a curious way to translate drawings and three-dimensional shapes into music. The prototype laser-based musical instrument known as scoreLight uses 3D tracking technology to generate real-time sounds based on the shapes and colors it encounters along the way, transforming doodling into a truly synthesized experience.

As a laser tracker travels along the contours, scoreLight produces and modulates sound according to the curvature, angle, texture, color and contrast of the surface it is exploring. For instance, a sudden change of direction generates a beat-like sound, which translates in a rhythm when the laser is forced into a loop. Size and shape of the lines determine tempo as well as the structure of the beat. As more than one laser pointer is activated, generating more and more complex sounds is as simple as doodling.

The concept of drawing your own music is certainly interesting, but it is really when exploring the third dimension that even more interactive and entertaining ways of using this instrument become possible:

Another interesting application could be to use the lasers to scan the shape of buildings or trafficked roads tens or hundreds of meters away and "read" the city landscape.

It's not clear at this point whether scoreLight could be developed into a fully-fledged musical instrument — especially as it seems to lack in terms of expressivity — but even as it is now, it's certainly a very unique way to compose music and experience the reality around us.

scoreLight (Alvaro Cassinelli, Daito Manabe and Yusaku Kuribara) via Pink Tentacle.

Fancy your own full-scale lunar module

2009-12-09T21:49:00.000+05:30

Anyone with a serious fondness for the moon landings and the craft that got us there, or even just those with a penchant for big toys, will be sure to sit up and take notice at Space Toys built to order full scale lunar modules.

The authentic replicas are built to order and can be matched to a particular lunar mission. Promising “amazing detail and fantastic authenticity” the units are available with or without a complete interior. One may need to have a little room spare though, as they measure around 20ft high and 30ft wide. And while the fully customizable units do cost a lot less than the hundreds of millions of dollars of their original counterparts, buyers are looking at parting with a cool US$89,000 should they choose to live out their Neil Armstrong fantasies.

If you're looking to downsize, there's also a one fifth scale replica on offer for around US10K.

Space Toys via Dvice .

California regulators green light space-based solar

2009-12-09T05:02:00.000+05:30

Earlier this year we reported that California’s biggest power utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), was seeking to buy power generated by space-based solar panels pending regulatory approval from its home state of California. Now, true to the State’s goal of increasing its reliance on a diverse supply of renewable energy resources and of supporting renewable technologies at reasonable costs and risks to ratepayers, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted said approval.

The news shouldn’t come as any great surprise as the approval is not for the project itself. In fact there is no financial risk to PG&E or California ratepayers at all. Rather the approval is for a deal that sees PG&E agreeing to buy power generated from the first-of-its-kind project at a certain rate for a term of 15 years starting in 2016.

Solaren, the California-based company actually faced with the task of getting the out-of-this-world project up in the air, anticipates the system will provide 1,700 gigawatt-hours of energy per year throughout the 15-year contract term.

Space-based solar power has been researched in the U.S. for several decades and this summer the Japanese government announced plans to pursue a space-based solar program. The experimental technology uses orbiting satellites equipped with solar cells to convert the sun's energy into electricity, which is then converted into radio frequency energy that can be transmitted to a local receiver station, which will be located in Fresno County.

Via inhabitat via CNET

New laser tuning method from MIT promises smarter airport scanners

2009-12-09T04:58:00.000+05:30

New research out of MIT could lead to smarter airport scanners able to detect the presence of drugs and explosives. At the heart of the development is a new approach to laser tuning designed to harness terahertz rays so that they can be used to determine an object's chemical composition.

Thought to be safer than x-rays, terahertz rays (or T-rays) can pass through things like clothing, wood, masonry, plastic, ceramics and human tissue. Because åthey are absorbed to different degrees by different molecules, they can be used to tell chemicals apart.

The problem is that to achieve this with accuracy, the rays need to be applied in a continuous range of terahertz frequencies, something that has proved difficult to achieve using current laser tuning methods.

The solution proposed by ProfessorQing Hu and his colleagues at MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics involves a the first practical method for tuning the lasers used to produce terahertz radiation (known as quantum cascade lasers).

The analogy of a guitar string is used to explain the process:

Tuning a laser usually requires either changing the length of its light-emitting cavity or changing its temperature. Hu compares these two approaches to changing the pitch of a guitar string by pressing down on it — changing its length — or screwing its tuning peg — changing its tension. Neither approach, however, works very well with terahertz quantum cascade lasers.

A third way to change the pitch of a guitar string, however, is to change its diameter: the lower-pitched strings on a guitar are thicker than the higher-pitched ones. And Hu’s tuning technique is, roughly speaking, to change the diameter of the light beam.

A light beam confined in, say, an optical fiber or a long, thin, quantum cascade laser exhibits an electromagnetic-field pattern called a “transverse mode.” The transverse mode is kind of like another electromagnetic wave that’s perpendicular to the light beam, except that unlike a light beam, it dies off very quickly.

Using a particular type of quantum cascade laser called a wire laser, Hu's team have demonstrated that the wavelength of the emitted light can be changed by deforming the transverse mode with a block of a material like metal (which shortens the wavelength) or silicon (which lengthens it). How close the blocks are brought to the laser also varies the extent of the shift, therefore providing an accurate control mechanism.

The next stage is to design an electronically controlled tuning device that can control the metal and silicon blocks in order to deliver the continuous range of terahertz frequencies required.

The Paper “Tuning a terahertz wire laser” by Qi Qin, Benjamin S. Williams, Sushil Kumar, John L. Reno and Qing Hu, was published in Nature Photonics on November 22.

Source: MIT.

Virgin Galactic reveals SpaceshipTwo

2009-12-09T04:52:00.000+05:30

We’ve seen the mothership from which the world’s first manned commercial spaceship will be air launched and we’ve even seen design images of the craft itself. Now Virgin Galactic has unveiled the actual spaceship that will take private astronauts into space - SpaceshipTwo (SS2). The unveiling at Mojave Air and Spaceport today marks the first time the craft has been revealed to the public since construction began in 2007 and brings Virgin Galactic another step closer to realizing its goal of becoming the world’s first commercial space line providing private sector access to space.

Subject to certain U.S. regulatory requirements that will guide the unveiling, SS2 will be attached to her WK2 mothership, EVE, which was unveiled last year. In the future, WK2 will carry SS2 to above 50,000 feet (16km) before the spaceship is dropped and fires her rocket motor to launch into space from that altitude. Following the long tradition of using the word Enterprise in the naming of Royal Navy, US Navy, NASA vehicles and even science fiction spacecraft, Governor Schwarzenegger of California and Governor Richardson of New Mexico christened SS2 with the name Virgin Space Ship (VSS) ENTERPRISE.

The SS2 draws on the experience developed during the successful flights of SS1 in 2004, which won the Ansari X-Prize for completing the world’s first manned private space flights. The WK2 mothership has now also completed a year of rigorous and successful first phase flight-testing prior to today’s attachment of SS2. Virgin Galactic says the SS2’s design will be refined and completed during an extensive test flying program to commence shortly, and it will be an entirely new vehicle by the time it is capable of carrying up to six passenger astronauts and up to two pilot astronauts into space on a sub-orbital flight. By then SS2 will be powered by a unique hybrid rocket motor, which is currently under development.

“This is truly a momentous day", said Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Galactic. "The team has created not only a world first but also a work of art. The unveil of SS2 takes the Virgin Galactic vision to the next level and continues to provide tangible evidence that this ambitious project is not only moving rapidly, but also making tremendous progress towards our goal of safe commercial operation”.

It is hoped that new commercial space companies like Virgin Galactic will be an engine for employment, growth and the creation of a new technology and science base in the United States. Recent research has indicated that 12,500 jobs have already been created by the new space companies; the Virgin Galactic project alone is creating significant opportunities for employment in both the company itself and with suppliers in both California and New Mexico. Approximately 600 people are now working on activities relating to the project and it is estimated that this figure will rise to over 1,100 jobs during the peak of the construction phase at the space port and through the introduction of the commercial space vehicles into regular astronaut service.

Nao - a robot that sees, speaks, reacts to touch and surfs the web

2009-12-07T18:54:00.002+05:30

The versatile humanoid robot Nao caught Gizmag's attention at the 2009 International Robot Exhibition (iREX 2009). What Nao lacks in size, he makes up for in features and capabilities. Nao can see (via two cameras), will react to touch, can surf the Web and can interact with other Naos. He can speak (in English or French, so far) by reading out any file stored locally in his storage space or captured from a website RSS flow. The bot is fitted with an accelerometer and gyrometer so he won't fall down, he's also equipped with two pairs of ultra-sound senders/receivers on his torso that give feedback on several echoes so Nao is aware of obstacles close by and can avoid them.

Nao’s vision is provided by two CMOS 640 x 480 cameras, which can capture up to 30 images per second. One is positioned on his forehead, aimed at Nao’s horizon, while the second camera is placed at mouth level to scan Nao’s immediate environment. And Nao’s software even lets you recover photos and video stream of his vision.

But Nao’s vision is more than just a movie-maker. His eyes can interpret his surroundings thanks to a set of algorithms in his on-board computer that can detect faces and shapes. This enables Nao to recognize the person talking to him, find a ball, and more complex objects. These algorithms have been specially developed for Nao by his makers, Aldebaran Robotics, and care has been taken to ensure they use up minimum processor resources.

Nao reacts to touch

Nao is fitted with a capacitive sensor on the top of his head that is divided into three sections which lets him react appropriately to touch. For example, pressing once can turn him off, or this sensor can be used as a series of buttons to register an associated action. The system comes with LED lights that indicating the type of contact that has been made. Nao’s designers say it is also possible to program complex sequences into him.

Nao can communicate in several ways. For local connections, infrared senders/receivers in his eyes allow him to connect to the objects in his environment, serving as a remote control. Yet Nao can also logon to your local network via Wi-Fi, making it easy to pilot and program him through a computer, or any other object that has a Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi key is connected to the motherboard and accepts a, b and g standards.

Furthermore, Nao’s SDK lets you develop your own custom-built modules interfaced with OpenCV (the Open Source Computer Vision library initially developed by Intel). Nao’s makers say it’s easy to execute modules on Nao or transfer them to another PC connected to NAO because the OpenCV display functions allow developers to test their own algorithms with image feedback.

Nao can browse the Internet, of course, and interface with any website to send or retrieve data.

"Watching two Nao’s interacting was almost mesmerizing," reports Gizmag's Mike Hanlon. "At the show the two joked and played tricks and then performed a synchronized dance routine that kept most of the audience spellbound – not too difficult for robots with the same chipset and programming, but effective nevertheless."

"While the dancing was cute, it really showed off the possibilities of having the robots work in tandem to complete complex tasks such as geographic positioning or pooling analytical capacity."

No word on pricing but availability is getting closer.