Tech Center

Dexmo transfers your hand movements to the digital world.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sun, 26 Oct 2014 21:29:00 +0530

Kickstarter over the years has harbored and successfully brought more ideas into the commercial industry unlike anything else. The Virtual reality head mounted display Oculus Rift is a good example that proves the point. Oculas Rift started of as a $2.4 million project on kickstarter in 2012 and now its a company worth $2 Billion.

But we are not talking about Kickstarter or Oculas Rift here, we are talking about another revolutionary idea in the Virtual reality scene, called the 'Dexmo'.

Dexmo is a hand wearable exoskeleton that input your hand movements into the digital world and outputs force feed back to your finger so you feel the object in the digital world.

Dexmo is a project developed by Dexta Robotics, a robotics start-up based in Shenzhen, China.

Well the technology is not something very new. We have had countless university and academic projects that are quite similar to this. However what sets this itself apart is the fact that its going to be affordable to buy and cheaper to build. Its designed for mass production, its not just a prototype its developed on principle of DFM (Designed-for-manufacturing).

The product will be devoloped in 2 variant, the Dexmo Classic and Dexmo F2.

The Dexmo Classic is a wearable mechanical exoskeleton that captures 11 Degrees of your hand motion. This includes the rotation of the thumb, the bending of the individual fingers, and the degree to which they split apart from one another. It also uses a single IMU (inertial measurement unit) to track the hand's movement through space on X, Y and Z axes. This is expected to be a relatively inexpensive product.

The second variant the Dexmo F2 is comparitively more advanced. It provide you with digital force feedback (on/off only) for your index finger and thumb that allows you to feel a digital object on top of hand motion capturing. It achieves feedback by braking the joint using a patent pending technology: a miniaturized joint gear-disk braking mechanism.

When a collision is detected(either by the collision detector in a program or by a pressure sensor in real life), a signal is sent back to the device, then the actuators activate and brake the joint, the exoskeleton locks, preventing the finger from further bending inwards, thus creating a normal force on the user’s fingertip this is achieved by using micro servo motors.

All this is achieved with no compromise to your regular hand motion.

Well the application are endless. From Gaming to Virtual Reality to Robotics. This could be used by Gamer, Doctors, Astronauts and Roboticists alike.

So far they have raised about $33,000. They want a funding of $200,000.
You can back this project starting at $10 follow the link

Source

Skully: The Helmet of the future

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 21:43:00 +0530

In recent times we find smartphone technology almost reaching a point where we have almost packed everything in a very small box package. The processing power of a computer right in the palm of your hand. Now the time has come when the same needs to really spread out into wearable technology. Google Glass and Smart watches are two such things that have already proved the concept. May be in a few years from now wearable electronics would be a thing of everyday use.

So if you drive a bike you know how difficult it gets to access your phone once you put the helmet on. Skully AR-1 is the answer to just that and a lot more. Imagine a helmet that brings all the features of a smartphone right in front of your eyes. And yes no compromise on safety.

Check out these Tech Specs:

Features:

HEADS UP DISPLAY

Always in focus

Transparent display

Convenient display location

situational-awareness

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Ultra wide angle rear view camera

GPS navigation

High-speed microprocessor

SAFETY

DOT/ECE Certified

Fog, scratch & glare resistant visor

Quick release chin strap & visor

CONNECTIVITY

Bluetooth connection

Internet via phone

Air-sync software updates

PERFECT FIT

Sizes S-XXL

Interchangeable padding inserts

Lightweight & aerodynamic shell

INTELLIGENT SOUND

Intelligent audio

Hands-free calling

Streaming music

Although the technology is good. But all good things come at a price. The technology is new and yes you have to pay a premium for it. The project has raised about $1,224,907 on Indiegogo. Although the product is still due for production but is available for pre-order.

All this said there is a competition coming up

Check this out.

Source

StoreDot-nanodot battery technology can charge your smartphone in a matter of seconds

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Mon, 7 Apr 2014 22:48:00 +0530

What if charging your smartphone battery from empty to full just takes 30-40 seconds of your life. That would be such an awesome thing right?

An Israel based company by the name StoreDot demonstrated a new battery technology that could revolutionize the entire portable electronics and electric vehicle technology for the better at the Microsoft’s Think Next symposium in Tel Aviv on 7th April.

How it works

In a traditional battery the voltage is developed by a chemical reaction. The time needed to charge the battery is basically the time required to reverse the chemical reaction.

The new battery technology utilizes electrodes made with new materials and are called MFE- Multi Function Electrode. The electrode basically acts as a super-capacitor on one side (with very fast charging), and on the other is like a lithium electrode (with slow discharge). The electrolyte is modified with what are called Nanodots in order to make the multifunction electrode more effective.

Now Nanodots are nano-crystals of a uniform size, 2 nanometres in diameter and consist of bio-organic peptide molecules. They possess multi-functional intrinsic properties such as: unique fluorescence within the visible region; electrochemical, charge trapping, piezoelectric, non-linear optical and others. Fast charging batteries are just one part of the Nanodot technology. There can be a huge array of application for this technology. The best part overall of this is that the technology is organically synthesized. Other nanodot and quantum-dot technologies currently in use are heavy metal based, like cadmium and therefore toxic. StoreDot nanodots are bio compatible and superior to all previous discoveries in this field.

That being said, this technology is still in a prototype stage and is not yet ready for commercial use. The battery/charger shown in the demonstration video look like a brick on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

But surely being optimistic, this technology should be on shelves after 2016. That's what the company claims.The price however would probably be twice as much as the current battery technology, which doesn't seem to be a big deal considering what you get.

Source

Spike puts laser range finder technology in the back of a smartphone

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 23:05:00 +0530

If you have ever worked in the GIS industry; accurate, easy and portable data acquisitions system devices are the key forces that drive the industry. ikeGPS is a New Zealand based company that's been developing some really great portable GIS data acquisition hardware and software for quite some time now. Their flagship device called the 'ike' integrates a laser range finder, a camera, GPS and a 3D compass into a small portable package which made possible to measure the length or height of any geographic feature, just a matter of taking a few photographs and you have all the measurements in the palm of you hand.

With the new device called 'Spike' short for "Smart Phone ike" , the company has taken its reach to a whole new level. On the hardware side, Spike is basically a small device that piggy backs on a smartphone and converts it into a full blown accurate laser measurement device and a 3D modelling device.

So how it works is, basically Spike has a built in Laser range finder, 3D compass, a very accurate GPS and Bluetooth. All this fits inside a really small package. The device connects to the smartphone seamlessly via Bluetooth. The Spike App takes control of all that hardware and pairs it up with the camera on the smartphone. The UI of the app allows to place points on the screen to measure the distances.

Specs
Device Weight - 100gms
Dimensions - 90 x 50 x 20 mm
Laser - 905 nm, Class 1 Eyesafe laser
Laser Range - 2 to 200 m (6 to 600 ft)

Features
- Measure distances at any angle.
- Identify bearing and relative altitude of any object.
- Measure area, volume of objects
- Model an object in 3D.
- Share data right from the phone.

The device costs $599 as pre-order. The device is expected to start shipping in May 2014.

Source

AirMule takes UAS technology to a new dimension

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 13:56:00 +0530

UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) technology comes in all shapes and sizes these days. Although the bigger ones are mostly used by the armed forces for international reconnaissance and in some cases attack, like the Predator B.

A system developed by the Tactical Robotics LTD a subsidiary of the the Urban Aeronautics LTD based in Israel have developed a unique UAS system which due to its VTOL and and high maneuverability, can perform a multitude of tasks and could possibly take the capability of UAS to a totally new level in terms of both civilian and military use.

At first glance it looks something straight from a SciFi action movie. The Aircraft is only slightly larger than the size of a standard Hummer. The biggest advantage for this aircraft are the internal lift rotors (Enclosed in the body) which gives it the benefit of flying in mountainous and urban environments, conventional helicopters or other multirotor platforms have a risk in such environments due to their exposed rotors.

Airmule Specs

Features:

Total available cargo volume is 2,640 liters
AirMule can hover at a place with high precision and operate in harsh weather and winds of up to 50 knots (92km/hr), a significant improvement over existing helicopters.
AirMule is equipped with a rocket deployed parachute, that will safely lower the complete vehicle and its payload from almost any height in the case of an unlikely malfunction of its engine or lift rotors.
AirMule is designed on the most stringent FAA design requirements for rotor aircraft.
AirMule can be used either as a remotely piloted vehicle where a human controls it or it can be sent on a completely autonomous pre-programmed mission.
The AirMule is innovative due to its internal rotors and significant payload capacity that allows for the evacuation of 2 casualties as well as fast and flexible payload reconfiguration for other missions. It is also ideally suited for special robotic operation via Tele-Presence.
It can precisely take off and land within an area of 40 Square meters.

All that said the platform is still under development, a "Full Mission Demonstration" is expected to be carried out next year with a newer prototype.

Check out some video Extract from some of its trial runs:

Source

Heat Sink technology used for efficient cookware.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 00:42:00 +0530

If you have ever looked into the insides of a Desktop computer you might have noticed a prominent fan placed over finned metal block mostly made out of aluminium. That's called a heat sink and its designed to take away all the heat generated by the microprocessor. Without a proper heat sink the processor might just burn up or melt away. The heat sink basically spreads out the heat over a larger area thus dissipates heats in lesser time.

Physicist Lee Huang though just the opposite, how about using a heat sink to absorb more heat from a gas stove flame more efficiently? A normal cooking pot as you know has a smooth surface at the bottom. A lot of heat from the burner flame escapes from the sides ending up being uselessly lost to the surrounding. A seemingly simple but effective idea is to attached fins at the bottom/base of the cooking pot. This results in more heat being utilized for heating the content in the pot compared to that of a normal pot with a smooth bottom. This results in lesser cooking time resulting in saving time and money. A great solution for commercial and house hold applications. The finned pots end up being 30-50% more energy efficient then their smooth counterparts.

Picture Courtesy http://www.sustainablefoodservice.com

On the downside though the pot might end up being difficult to clean and can only be used on Gas Stoves. Despite the fact, Mr. Lee now holds a patent for this idea. The idea first became popular some 50 years ago but was never put to commercial use.

Whatever may be the case, Mr. Lee has his own Company called 'Eneron' located at the heart of Silicon Valley, a line a products called Turbo Pot being extensively used by household and commercial customers alike.

Sometimes the most simplest of Ideas can truly end up being innovative and revolutionary.

You might think why didn't that ever crossed my mind!?

Source

DALER: A drone that's capable of flying and crawling on the ground

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 15:22:00 +0530

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have been doing some remarkable work when it comes to innovation in flying robots.

This time from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), researchers at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems have come up with an innovative concept of a flying platform that can not only fly but even crawl on the ground. The backronym 'DALER' stands for "Deployable Air Land Exploration Robot". Its actually named after the man behind the Project 'Ludovic Daler' a Ph.D candidate.

The project goes by the title 'Adaptive Morphology for Multi-Modal Locomotion' and is aimed at developing robots capable of multiple modes of locomotion. For task such as exploration, search-and-rescue, or monitoring of the environment autonomous or remotely operated robots are the obvious choice. But for these kind of tasks robots may have to deal with complex terrains, such as semi-collapsed buildings, deep caverns, or forests with a lot of vegetation. In general, flying robots are considered most capable for the purpose. However for exploring areas close to the ground it is found that ground locomotion is more efficient than flying. Hence a robot with both capabilities is suited for the purpose.

So basically the project tries to incorporate two modes of motion into a single platform, this approach is called "Adaptive Morphology", where parts of the structure of a robot are shared between the different modes of locomotion, instead of simply adding a second locomotion structure to an existing robot.

Here the flying wing platform utilizes its wings both for flying as well as for crawling/walking on the ground. These structures have been so named 'whegs'. This results in reduction in the overall weight of the air frame thus making it efficient for flying. A locking wing mechanism ensures the wing stay rigid in flight.

On ground the robot can move forward at 0.2 m/s and can rotate on spot at 25°/s. The robot is capable of walking with different gaits, it can move on different surfaces, it can overcome high obstacles, and can also navigate in rough terrains. Its still in prototype phase and expected further improve.

Check out the Prototype Video of DALER

Source

Contour Crafting:The Future of Construction?

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:50:00 +0530

Hey guys your host Akib here, just been really busy these days, I haven't posted in a while. I will get back to posting about awesome stuff regularly in a couple of weeks. So this is just a quick post so you realize that the Blog is stills alive. I came across this awesome technology called "Counter Crafting". Though I would share with you guys.

So Counter Crafting is basically bringing 3D printing technology (Rapid Prototyping) to the Construction Industry. The brain child behind this technology is Mr. Behrokh Khoshnevis a professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Civil & Environmental Engineering, and is the Director of the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (CRAFT). He is also a Director of Manufacturing Engineering Graduate Program at the University of Southern California.

So getting back to Counter Crafting well, I would say is basically printing a house just like you would print a part with a 3D printer, only difference being the proportions of things and the materials used are big and its more complicated cause you have to install electrical, piping and stuff. The 3D Printer (Counter Crafting machine) can be assembled at site. It could be put on a truck and taken to any location and its not completely autonomous like a 3D printer. It require assistance in building a complete residable home.
The concrete used for the process is different, its called fiber reinforced plastic.

Check out these medias here to really understand how it works.

Resources

Virginia Tech's Robotic Jelly Fish: Another way to spy

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 01:28:00 +0530

In the past few years the US armed forces and other US Government agencies have been spending a lot of their funds on funding and allotting their projects to Universities and technical institutes across the United States. Most recent projects are robotic projects that mimic animals and can be used for potential surveillance and assistance to the armed forces both on and off the battlefield.

Here is another awesome potential spying/surveillance robot being developed by the Graduate students of Virginia Tech College of Engineering. This time its a Jelly Fish and its called 'Cryo'.

Click to see enlarged view

Cryo is basically a prototype robot that looks very much like a giant jelly fish. Its 5.7 feet wide (1.7 meters) and weighs in at 170 lbs (77kg) and its designed to be neutrally buoyant. The inspiration for the design is the 'Lion's mane jellyfish' also termed the 'Cyanea capillata' by biologist, that's were the name 'Cryo' comes from.

The robot basically has two major components, the inner rigid support structure and the outer silicon cover (Artificial Mesoglea) which looks like the skin of a jelly fish. The inner rigid structure holds the electronics. Attached to the body are eight mechanical arms that are actuated by linear actuators. The core idea of the project revolves around studying and mimicking the propulsion mechanism used by a real jelly fish. The movements of the arms are controlled by complex electronics and software; this makes it autonomous. Its like a deploy and forget kind of robot, although Cyro is hardly ready to be deployed in the oceans. The robot gives a mere 4 hour of swim time with its rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery.

The work on its more energy efficient successor is already underway. One of the reasons the jelly fish was chosen as a template for the robot is the fact that jelly fish are very energy efficient marine animals. Also they exist in various shapes and sizes and are found in a wide variety of marine and fresh water habitat. This gives the robot an easy cover to remain undetected. On the civilian front this robot can be used to explore marine animals by blending in the ecosystem, also this could be used to clean up oil spills in the Oceans.

This project is funded by the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research, that also involves research being conducted at Providence College in Rhode Island, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Stanford University.

The Virginia Tech team is headed by Prof. Shashank Priya.

Here is a video showing Cryo in action

Virginia Tech: Autonomous Robotic Jellyfish from virginiatech on Vimeo.

Source

VelociRoACH: Robotic Cockroach (hexapedal millirobot)

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:05:00 +0530

The Pestilent Cockroach have been here on planet earth for millions of years, and part of the reason of their evolutionary success is the shear speed at which they move. Most of the times the best engineering solution for a problem is mimicking nature, but mimicking nature obviously is very difficult. However day by day year by year we are getting closer and closer to doing that, specifically when we talk about legged robots.

Mr.Duncan Haldane and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkely), have been studying the six-legged pests to improve their millirobots. The 'VelociRoACH' as its called is the fastest legged robot in the world at the scale, however the fastest legged robot title stays with the LS3 from Boston dynamics (The Cheetah Robot).

Taking about specifications and technical details. The VelociRoACH can move with a velocity of 2.7 m/s actually making it faster than a real cockroach which do a maximum 1.5 m/s.

The secret of the the velocity of the VelociroACH is in the shape of its legs. Shaped like a 'C' they provide the spring action need to propel the robot really fast and at the same time absorbing the impact of the legs hitting the ground almost 15 times a second. The legs are similar to that of the R-Hex from Bostan Dynamics but don't work in the same way. Its body has been fabricated out of a good type of cardboard. Although it can lift 4 times its own weight. It weighs a mere 30 grams and is 10 cm long. To keep it stable, it must have 3 of the six legs making contact with the ground all time.

I really did not understand the purpose of the attachment on the top but its probably for stabilization and to avoid it getting flipped.

Check this video

Source

Your smartphone is a Desktop too with Ubuntu OS for smartphones.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sat, 5 Jan 2013 00:06:00 +0530

Today smartphones have become more powerful than ever before. We have smartphones which have high clock speed Quadcore processors, upto 2gigs of RAM and also a great deal of storage, well that's a lot of processing power in the palm of your hands. But all people end up doing with it hardly utilizes the full potential of the hardware they paid for. Practically its just a waste of hardware resources. Although that's not the users fault, Its the industries fault, The top three smartphone operating systems, the Android from Google, iOS from Apple and Windows Phone from Microsoft also have a separate PC OS. Why didn't these IT giants never though of developing an OS that works for/on both the devices or rather, just getting a Smartphone to do the work of an entry level PC.
Well Apple and Microsoft in the recent past made some effort and big talks about the Desktop-Mobile convergence but never made serious effort towards it, may be the industry was never ready enough for it cause they were already making good money by kinda fooling people.

That being said Ubuntu backed by Canonical may have set a spark to revolutionize the IT industry for good, by just doing that, Building an OS that works both on smartphones and PC, rather a smart phone that's also an efficient desktop computer when connected to a screen, keyboard and a Mouse.

In a recent announcement Ubuntu backed by canonical announced a new smartphone OS that's just the same as the PC OS, just with a Mobile friendly interface. What that means is you can convert your smartphone into a PC by just connecting it to a Screen, keyboard and a Mouse. Ubuntu is already available for Android Smartphones with a Dual core processor for free. What that means is you can run the full PC Ubuntu OS on a compatible smartphone.

Ubuntu for Mobile:

Interface:

The Ubuntu for mobile has a new refreshing concept for the interface, although its quite comparable to that of Windows Phone 8. There are no persistent back, menu, or home buttons at the bottom. Instead, you navigate by swiping on the edges of the display. The Interface is extremely customizable, the concept is, the interface should be your reflection.

Hardware:

Although there is no smartphone out yet, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth plans on partnering with smartphone manufacturers for Ubuntu Mobile. He thinks Ubuntu's security attract will attract enterprise customers, and its lean attractive UI will attract consumers.
Although here is a table that might give you some idea about the hardware.

Click to enlarge

Availability:
Well there is no specific phone that has been announced. Canonical still needs to talk to hardware manufacturers. Canonical is hoping for OEM hardware in early 2014. Although In the coming weeks, Galaxy Nexus owners will be able to download a compatible build of Ubuntu Mobile. Also chances are development community will embrace Ubuntu, creating flashable ROMs for many rooted Android phones. What that means is people will be able to install the Ubuntu Mobile OS on compatible Smartphone devices.

Check out this keynote video

Source

A Homemade Spacecraft (DIY Tech)

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 22:32:00 +0530

Hey guys your host Akib here, I came across this really interesting short documentary about how amateur Engineers and entrepreneurs Kristian von Bengston (worked at NASA) and Peter Madsenin in Denmark are working on a project to build a suborbital spacecraft to carry a human into space and then release a capsule to return the passenger back to safety.

The Team calls themselves Copenhagen Suborbitals, a not-for-profit which started off in 2008 and now comprises of 20 plus specialists determined to create the first homemade, manned spacecraft to go into suborbital flight. The idea is to prove that fact that rocket technology is not something beyond the reach of a common individual. The rockets that are undergoing testing are made from off the shelf components that are easily available to anyone. The project is completely open sourced you can have all the access to information and designs if you want to create your very own spacecraft.

Check this short documentary to know more. The credit for this awesome documentary goes to the Motherboard version of Vice http://motherboard.vice.com

Some really awesome technology stuff there.

Source

Hexacopter and hexapod union looks like a robotic insect

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:38:00 +0530

Hexacopter and Hexapod are amongst the latest and the most popular remote control robotic toys out there. How about combining them together to create a new walking and flying-walking hybrid machine. I bet you never though of that before. That's what the guys at Mad Lab Industries (MLI for short) have come up with. MLI is a fresh start up that sells robotic components online and on the side they do cool stuff too.

So the basic idea behind this unnamed project is to integrate a remote controlled Hexapod Robot with a remote controlled Hexacopter. With this idea, they received a PhantomX AX Hexapod kit from Trossen Robotics.

The PhantomX AX Hexapod

Now the integration wasn't an easy task, considering the fact that the PhantomX was originally designed to be tough and was quite heavy to be taken to the air. So it had to undergo a lot of surgery, the frame originally made of ABS plastic parts had to be replaced with lighter carbon fiber parts. Despite the fact, it was still heavy for it to be taken in the air by a quadcopter. Rather it needed a Hexacopter which has a much greater lifting force and was much stable than a quadcopter. A quadcoptor would have been cheaper considering the fact that it would have reduced the cost of 2 BLDC motors and ESC (Electronic Speed Controller).

So finally the the two creations were fixed together to form a totally new creation. Although the integration is pretty crude. It requires two people and two remote controls to control the Hybrid. The Mad labs team which includes Jason Penick, Don Miller, and Jason Williams, (with some help from Trossen Robotics’ Andrew Alter), started the project with no specific intentions and are yet to decide upon an official name for their creation. They’re open to suggestions.

The Final Hexapod-copter

Here is a peek into the specification of this machine.

Hexapod Specs

PhantomX Hexapod Kit from Trossen Robotics

Dynamixel AX-12 Servos

Arbotix Robocontroller

Arbotix Commander Controller

Custom 1/6th inch Carbon Fiber Plate Upgrade

Hexcopter Specs

Hoverfly Pro Flight Controller

Custom 1/16th inch Carbon Fiber Plates and Motor Mounts

2024 1/2inch OD 1/32 Wall Aluminum Booms

6 x E-flite Power 15 Motors W/ 13×6 props

6 x E-flite 40amp ESC

Spektrum dx7 Remote

Custom CNCed Delrin Boom Mounts

Overall Weight W/Batteries: 10.8 LBS

For the future the guys at MLI plans to develop a Hexapod Catch & Release Mechanism. That way the Hexapod and the coptor would attach and detach on command. Also they have to work on integrating the control into one remote controller.
In the end MLI are a very new start-up and are in the first year of operation so they are a little skeptical about launching this as a new product altogether. This machine is not some cheap RC toy. The whole unit roughly would cost around in the range of US $5,500.

Source

MSI N550 GTX-TI unboxing/review on Intel Pentium 4 PC

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:42:00 +0530

Hey guys this is the first ever GPU unboxing review on Tech Center, I m not a PRO. at reviewing graphics cards, so please bear with me. I would like to tell you first hand that this is not a GPU review that you might find all across the internet its more of a GPU review on an old desktop computer.

My desktop computer is now over 6 years old and I really needed to upgrade it to gain some performance improvements. My desktop wasn't even able to play HD videos smoothly with the age old on-board graphics. With my tight budget, I did not go for the processor and motherboard upgrade, cause that would be like buying a new computer that would end up being only a little better than the existing one.

Keeping in mind that I would buy a new computer in like one year, I had to go for a graphics card that would not only fit my budget but; improve my existing machine and also be useful in the new computer that i plan to buy a year later. So after quite a bit of research and looking at benchmark results online I went for the MSI Nvidia N550GTX-TI Cyclone II (1GB DDR5).

Now there are many reasons why I went for this particular graphic card. First of all its a value for money Graphics card from MSI, its based on Military Class Concept components, so you know it can last for a lifetime if taken care. The card supports all the latest graphics technology which includes,3D Vision, CUDA, DirectX 11, PhysX. Its pre-over-clocked by MSI, as a result performs a little better than the Nvidia reference GTX 550 TI. It has a really good active cooling system so you can always over-clock it with the simple to use MSI Afterburner software that comes with it. The card runs at low temperatures. I have never seen the core temperature go above 45 degrees Celsius.

Another major factor I went for this card is that it was fairly compatible with my existing CPU, RAM and power supply. My desktop has an Intel Pentium 4 630 processor with a clock speed of 3.0Ghz, 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 400 Watts PSU. Let me tell you that a 400 watt power supply is sufficient enough for the GPU to run. I didn't have problems for like 40 days since I installed it, although it gave up after that, it had already survived for more than 5 years. So now I have a 550 watts PSU and its perfectly running fine.

It features 2-way SLI so i can always buy another 550 TI in a couple of years when it might become significantly cheaper and double up my GPU performance if I want to. One more major reason is the fact that i always had this dream of building a Hackintosh in the near future. I looked up and found that this card is fairly compatible for it. So I got this card for Rs. 7900/- at a shop named 'Cassette World' at Lamington Road in Mumbai. I think i got a fair deal. The card comes with a 3 year warranty.

Here is a look into What's inside the box. The packaging is pretty eye catchy, the box is defiantly worth keeping.

Overall the addition of this GPU has obviously brought significant improvements on my desktop. Now i can play games that I wanted play for years, the videos look much better. This graphics card pretty much runs most of the popular games with full HD resolution and high graphics setting smoothly. Although the latest games don't run cause of my older processor.

Infact now the processor feels under powered to play games. All in all, If you are looking to upgrade your old desktop with the intention of buying a new PC in the near future this is a very good Graphics card which you can always install in the new computer later.

Lewis Hamilton burns some rubber on the streets of Mumbai.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:40:00 +0530

Formula 1 McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was in Mumbai this past Sunday night at Bandra-Kurla Complex. The run up was flagged off by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in the presence of Public Works Department and Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, among other dignitaries.

With the Singapore Grand Prix just a week ahead, Lewis Hamilton made this skilful burnout in the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 race car. Lewis Hamilton told that he is really looking forward for the Indian Grand Prix scheduled on 26-28 October later this year.

My cousin brother Rahil was able to capture the run up and burnout up close. Probably the best amateur footage available on YouTube.

DARPA's Cheetah Robot and the LS3 taking quadruped robot tech to new highs

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 22:43:00 +0530

DARPA in collaboration with Boston Dynamics has been brewing up some really awesome legged robot technology over the past few years. The various legged robot projects have been under constant update and improvement over the years. The list of the state of the art legged robots from Boston Dynamics includes the The Big Dog, Cheetah, Petman and the latest of the pack, the LS3. Each robots have been designed for a own unique purpose and have significant differences.

The latest updates however are from the Cheetah and the LS3.

The Cheetah

The Cheetah has been under development since 1989 under MIT and later under Boston Dynamics. It has been developed and funded under DARPA's Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program. A recent video update on YouTube shows The Cheetah running at 28.3 mph (45.5 km/h), breaking it previous record of 27.78 mph (44.7 km/h) which it achieved back in 2009. This makes it 0.5 mph faster than Usain Bolt.

Now that being said, The Cheetah has a lot of advantages over Usain Bolt, It runs on a high speed treadmill; plus, it is powered by an off board hydraulic pump and uses a boom-like device to keep it running in the center of the treadmill. Overall, significant improvements for the speeds have been made in the algorithms and a more powerful pump have been added. Although Boston Dynamics plans to test a free running Cheetah in the open environment by next year.

Not much details about the technology have been made public.

The LS3

The LS3 is like the improved younger brother of the Big Dog. Its looks much more ready than the Cheetah project. The project is an outcome of contribution of some of the most reputed team of Engineers and Scientists from various centres of technology which includes Boston Dynamics, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Bell Helicopter, AAI Corporation, Carnegie Mellon and Woodward HRT. The Biggest capability of this robot is that its all terrain. It could just go about anywhere a solider can. It is an autonomous system and interprets verbal and visual commands which is a big leap.

Its actually designed to follow a solider and carry gear and equipment to unburden the solider. It can carry upto 400lbs of weight and reach walking speeds ranging from 1mph to 7mph (1.6 kmph to 11.3 kmph), depending on the terrain. It can carry enough fuel of go for 20 miles and stay up for 24hours.

All that being said these robot represent the paramount of legged robot technology and have been developed to help solider to have a significant advantage over the enemy in any terrain.

Source

A Solar- powered system that's a Reverse air-conditioner to develop power for Developing world.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:30:00 +0530

In the developing world, electricity and other resources necessary to run clinics are difficult to achieve and many a times costly to produce. In many African countries electricity from the grid is very inconsistent and unavailable in rural parts. So medical centres and clinics in these areas rely on Diesel generators or Photovoltaic solar cells for power, now these are costly propositions and require recurring cost of fuel and maintenance. Also places in Africa that fall in the temperate regions face very cold winters and Hot water becomes a necessity. Health worker avoid washing hands as the water supply gets very cold thus creating unhygienic conditions.

A startup by the name STG (Solar Turbine Group) international established by alumni students of MIT have come up with a seemingly effective solution to the problem. The Technology is called Solar ORC and is somewhat similar to one those Concentrated solar power systems. It utilizes parabolic mirror reflectors that look like troughs. At the centre line of the these troughs lies a metal pipe which carries a HTF (Heat transfer fluid) inside. Now this HTF absorbs the heat from the concentrated sunlight and this results in raising the temperature of the HTF upto 160 degree Celsius.

Credit: stginternational.org (Click to enlarge)

This heated HTF now enters into an ORC unit/ORC engine, it works on an Organic Rankine cycle (Its a Rankine cycle except it works on Refrigerant rather than water as working fluid) . It works like a reversed air conditioning unit. Instead of utilizing electricity to cool the air and throw hot air outside. It actually uses the hot HTF and the cold ambient air to produces mechanical work which is converted into electricity.

The key element of the system a device called a scroll expander, which convert the heat difference into mechanical power is described in a paper to be published in the ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power.

Here are some of the technical specification of the unit that has been installed and currently functional.

Thermal Input

-Direct Sunlight

-800-1000 W/m2, peak

-400-600 W/m2, nominal

-50-70% thermal collector efficiency

Collector Thermal Output

-650 W/m2 peak thermal output

-150º C max. temperature

-70 m2 array = 40 kW thermal, nominal

ORC Heat and Power Outputs

-3 kW electrical / 23 kW thermal (co-generation mode)

-Upto 15% thermal-electric efficiency

-2-10% solar-electric efficiency

-48V DC output (battery charging)

-220 V AC inverter

-1000 L hot water / day

Matthew Orosz, President, Director and the lead author of the paper on this project says the idea for the project began years ago, when he spent two years working in a village in Lesotho as a Peace Corps volunteer with no access to electricity or hot water.

There are about 30,000 clinics and 60,000 schools worldwide that lack access to electricity but have sufficient sunshine to meet their power needs. This makes the project a perfect fit for these places. Another advantage is the system being self reliant.

After developing the first system in Lesotho back in 2008, which provided the reliability of the system to operate in remote locations. The STG team has now also developed a computerized control system, allowing the system to run virtually hands free; there is no need for a skilled operator. Once that system is installed, the only routine maintenance required is washing the huge mirrors every six months.

Over the years, this project from STG has won numerous awards and grants to help develop the technology, the financing systems and the supply chains using local materials and labour is what sets this project aside. It utilizes existing systems and hardware.

The project has also won the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge competition, followed by a grant from the World Bank, an Echoing Green Fellowship, a Conoco Philips Energy prize and others. The team’s ongoing research and development work will be aided by grants from the MIT Energy Initiative, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Government of India through IISc-Bangalore.

Source

3D printing and robotic technology helping doctors help patients

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Thu, 9 Aug 2012 23:14:00 +0530

3D printing technology has really given manufacturing a new dimension. Specially if you think in terms of manufacturing small intricate parts that might be useful in small robotic devices. Although personally I never thought that one day 3D printing technology would help doctors help patients until, I came across this story.

2 year old Emma suffers from a rare congenital disorder called Arthrogryposis that is characterized by multiple joint contractures (shortening and hardening of muscles) and can include muscle weakness and fibrosis. Emma was born with her legs folded up by her ears and her shoulders turned in. As a result she could not move her arms and lift things like normal 2 year olds would.

So the solution was to give her arms some external help by an exoskeleton. Researchers at a Delaware hospital 3D printed a durable custom device with the tiny, lightweight custom parts Emma needed. She calls them her “magic arms.” Now this allows her to freely move her hands around and pick up objects.

'Megan Lavelle' Emma's mother came across the exoskeleton concept in a conference held at Philadelphia for AMC (arthrogryposis multiplex congenita) families, Lavelle learned about the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton called WREX for short, an assistive device made of hinged metal bars and resistance bands.

Now the problem here was the original device was made for 6 year olds and was too bulky for 2 year old Emma to use it. So Lavelle met with the presenters, Tariq Rahman, Ph.D, head of pediatric engineering and research, and Whitney Sample, research designer, both from Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

Now the challenge for Mr.Tariq and Mr.Whitney was to scale down the size of the parts and bring down the weight so Emma could use it in her everyday life.

That's when a Stratasys 3D Printer came in handy for Mr Whitney. Now for those of you who don't know, just like a paper printer that prints on paper. A 3D printer actually prints out or rather manufactures 3D objects. All you need is a 3D CAD model of the object and a material, generally plastic. In this case the material used is ABS plastic which is also used to make Legos and is a pretty safe plastic to use.

The advantage of using a 3D printer here is pretty visible. Due to the ease of manufacturing, it is always possible to improve and update the design of the exoskeleton. Not only that, if any of the parts get broken, it could be easily printer out and replaced immediately. The benefit here is kids grow pretty fast and so the parts of the exoskeleton can be easily scaled up as and when needed.

Due to this innovation Emma and fourteen other kids her age now use custom 3D-printed WREX devices. Mr.Rahman explains, the benefits may extend beyond the obvious. Prolonged disuse of the arms can sometimes condition children to limited development, affecting cognitive and emotional growth. Doctors and therapists are watching Emma closely for the benefits of earlier arm use.

3D printing technology is now getting some really world application unlike before when it was only a fancy toy for rapid prototypers and innovators.

Source

Lockheed in Collaboration with LaserMotive Tests UAVs With Laser Power Beaming

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:17:00 +0530

The quest to transmit power without wires has been something people have been working on since centuries and obviously it not science fiction anymore, people have come up with different ways to transmit power wirelessly. We wrote about Wirticity back in 2010 which gained a lot of media attention back then.

Back in 2009 a Seattle-based company by the name 'LaserMotive' specializing in laser power beaming proved to be the only successful entrant and winner of the NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Challenge.

The idea of laser power is pretty simple. Just like a photovoltaic cell (solar cell) produces electricity from sun light, Laser power beaming acts in the same way. A powerful laser beam is used to carry energy over distances; this energy in the form of light and heat can be converted into electricity by using photovoltaic cells. This enables to transfer power wirelessly over distances and can be consider a more practical efficient and cost effective way compared to other wireless power transmission methods available. To get into the details you can check out this Laser power beaming fact sheet.

So now that we know about laser power beaming, the idea can be used for a wide variety of applications, only your imagination is the limit. Although there are a lot of safety and efficiency factors involved with makes it difficult to use over existing electric power grid, we wont get into that in this post. You can always leave a question or opinion in the comments.

Now in the modern warfare era of Drones, UAVs and UAS (unmanned ariel systems), endurance is one of the major challenges faced by UAV designers and developers. Battery based UAVs are silent but poor at endurance. Conventional fuel based UAVs have better endurance but they are very noisy and are difficult to use where you require to fly at low altitudes and small areas. So the application of laser power beaming seems to be the best solution.

Lockheed in Collaboration with LaserMotive have come up with just that. The platform selected for testing is the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works "Stalker" UAV. The testing team modifed the Stalker UAV to incorporate a Power Link system developed by Laser Motive.

Here is how it all works.

I think the picture pretty much explains it all, a powerful laser beam carries energy to the UAV that's over a distance, this is used to power the UAV. Beam powered UAVs can also operate far away from the beaming station through use of onboard energy storage like batteries. As a result UAVs can remain airborne indefinitely by regularly returning to the area near a beaming station to recharge its batteries.

The use of laser power beam has resulted to a whopping 2400% increase in flight duration. The Stalker UAV successfully stayed air borne for 48 hour without any stop.

There are a wide variety of applications this could be used, it could be also used to power low level satellites also called aerosat to provide catering for various needs. The company is even working on systems to beam power from the Earth’s surface to satellites and even the Moon.

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Miniand Tech its MiniX TV Box and Mini PC devices.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:03:00 +0530

In the past we have covered some really interesting and cost effective mini computers and plug computer devices. Here is a list if you are interested.

An Australia/China based company by the name "Miniand Tech" is selling two interesting mini computer devices. One is the MK802 Mini PC and the other is the MiniX TV Box H24 which can be rather compared to a TV box like Google TV.

The MK802 Mini PC.

The MK802 Mini PC is a kind of plug computer with very small dimensions i.e. 88.5 x 35 x 13.4 mm weighs in at 300 grams. The device has 2 USB ports one Full size standard USB and the other seems to be a micro USB. The best part is the standard USB could be used to connect plug and play devices like a wireless mouse and keyboard. It runs on the latest Android 4.0 OS ans supports most application and features supported by a top notch Android 4.0 smartphone. Its powered by an External adapter 5V/2A output, 110-240V input.

What that means you could even run it from an external battery if you get the right voltage and amps. Although i wont recommend you to do that if you don't know anything about electronics.

Specifications:
At the heart of this device is the Allwinner A10 1.0GHz Cortex-A8 processor + a 500Hz GPU. It comes in two RAM sizes 512MB and 1GB DDR3. For storage it has 4 GB of Nand Flash memory, expandable upto 32GB via microSD card It also features WiFi. HDMI out to connect it to you large screen TV as well.

Click to enlarge

Overall its an interesting device for the form factor and ships with Android 4.0 OS and you can also install all the popular Linux distributions if you want which is all good. All that said, the MK802 Mini PC is priced at $99 and goes around $117 including shipping which seems quite high for a mini computer. I mean you can get a low end tablet around the same price range which offers a lot more. So in my opinion i think the price should be brought down to be really appealing for me personally

MiniX TV Box.

Now as the name suggests the device is a TV Box or rather a high end media player so to speak. It comes in a pretty cool looking casing with a WiFi antenna. Just like the MK802 Mini PC, the TV box runs on the AllWinner A10 CPU, based on android 2.3 operating system, supporting Google Chrome browser, wireless networking access, USB OTG Interface, USB external hard disk, and single hand keyboard, mouse as well as easy like a normal remote control. The device ships with an ir remote control to operate the interface. Now this TV box runs on the Older version of Android i.e Gingerbread. out of the box. But I guess they it could be updated to the latest Android 4.0 OS.

Courtesy; dealextreme.com

The interesting thing about the device is the interface is custom designed to work with the remote. The specification are pretty much similar to that of the MK802 Mini PC. Except for the fact that it is not available with 1GB of RAM it comes with a 512MB RAM option only. Even this device is capable to run the latest Linux distribution.

Click to enlarge

All that said I think this seems to be a good device cause its a purpose specific device. Its available for $77.50 on dealextreme.com which seems a fair deal. Although on the official website it available for $99.

Source

Google 'Build' brings LEGO right in your chrome browser.

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Mon, 2 Jul 2012 21:34:00 +0530

LEGO has always been a craze among kids and also adults from a long time and has gained popularity around the world. LEGO is also pretty much a part of Google offices across the world. As a part LEGO Festival of Play online which marks the 50th anniversary of the LEGO in Australia, Google Australia and New Zealand announced; "Build with Chrome" or 'Build' for short. Build is the result of the latest Chrome Experiment. Build lets you explore and build a new world of LEGO creations together online.

Although Build looks like a simple Web App, this might not have been possible a couple years ago. Its proves the fact as to how far browser technology has come, which is making the internet an ever more creative platform. Build has been developed on the WebGL platform which brings the power of 3D graphics right in the browser.

All that being said its all about having fun creating something on a 32x32 platform with 12 different shapes of bricks available in 10 different colours that's made available to you. There are also doors and windows made available under the extras tab. The fun part however is that you can select an empty plot on your preferred location which is currently only restricted to the map of Australia and New Zealand and build your own creation for the world to see. Although Google plans to expand to more Maps around the world. All the creation are subjected to Approval before they take a permanent place on the plot.

Check out this time-lapse video of the Sydney Harbour Bridge using Build with Chrome.

Source

A Robot that never loses a Stone, Paper, Scissor game

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:48:00 +0530

The Japanese always come up with some really amazing robotic technology. A robotic hand developed by the University of Tokyo's Ishikawa Oku Lab is so good at the game of stone, paper, scissor or Jaken as the Japanese call it, that no human can ever beat the robot, its undefeatable.

The reason no human can't beat it is cause its a robot!, little stupid humour there. Obvioulsy its a machine that's designed for the purpose.The working is pretty simple to explain, it has what the researcher call the 'high-speed vision'. This lets the robot detect the movement of the hand and recognise the move being made by the human opponent with in 1 millisecond.

Now you might argue what's the point of developing a robot that beats a human in something like a stone-paper-scissor game. Well in reality the robot has been designed in an effort to show a possibility of cooperation control within a few milliseconds.

On a personal note; What that means is if we talk about exoskeletons that would help humans by assisting in your physical movements and give you super human like power. So how does the robot/exoskeleton mimic your motions? This is one possible technology that could be employed where the exoskeleton knows about your movement with in milliseconds.

Here is a video showing the Robot own its human opponent.

Source

Renault Duster to be launched next month in India

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:51:00 +0530

We haven't been writing articles about the automotive industry for a while now. Although, this news is specifically related to the Indian Auto industry. French automobile manufacturer Renault hasn't been doing quite well in India and the major reason being the poor range of option it provides to the Indian customer.

Although that's changing slowly, Renault has some very aggressive business strategies in the years to come and with the new Renault Duster, things might really turn around for Renault.

Renault Duster is a car that comes under the compact SUV segment which aims to provide the luxury of an SUV at the price of a Basic Sedan. The Duster is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 7-10 lac. It will be available in both Petrol and Diesel variants.

Here is an expected price list for the car. (ex-showroom Mumbai)
-Duster Diesel 85 PS RxE1.5 litre Diesel dCi Rs. 8,00,000
-Duster Diesel 85 PS RxL1.5 litre Diesel dCi Rs. 8,50,000
-Duster Diesel 110 PS RxL1.5 litre Diesel dCi Rs. 9,50,000
-Duster Petrol RxE1.6 litre petrol Rs. 7,00,000
-Duster Petrol RxL1.6 litre petrol Rs. 7,50,000

The Duster is built on the Logan platform. The SUV will be available with a lot of options so it seems quite appealing and would suffices the needs of a lot of people in terms of features. In my opinion if you are planing to buy a Car and have a budget of upto 10 lacs it would be a good option to wait for the Duster. The only problem however with Renault in India is the after sales service. It seems Renault has a lot of ambitions to achieve in the Indian market and its services may significantly improve in a while.

Here is a video from AutoCar India which will give you an idea as to what to expect from the Duster.

Here is a commercial thats been doing its rounds on the Internet.

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ASUS unveils its new Windows 8 Ultra Books: ASUS Taichi (dual screen) and ASUS Transformer

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:35:00 +0530

With the new ultra book line up of laptops hitting the market its all about having the computing power of the top of the line laptop and the weight and thin profile of a net-book. Now that's leading to more and more laptop-tablet hybrid devices. Laptops have the advantage of their productivity and the comfort of the keyboard. Tablets have the advantage of being light weight and ultra portable and give the best browsing and entertainment experience. ASUS is one company that been putting in a lot of efforts into these laptop-tablet hybrid devices. In the past ASUS came up with Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Now with the Windows 8 OS at hand things seem to have have become a lot easier for these kind of hybrid devices.

About a week ago popular computer hardware manufacturer ASUS unveiled to the world its new line up of Windows 8 ultra-books, tablets and desktop PCs at the Computex 2012 in TAIPEI, Taiwan.

Although what really caught the attention are two devices in particular, the ASUS Taichi (dual screen) and the ASUS Transformer.

ASUS Transformer Book

ASUS claims the ASUS Transformer Book to be the world’s first convertible ultra-book. Just like the Eee Pad transformer. The screen of the laptop simply detaches to turn into a independent tablet device.

This provides its users a seamless computing experience. Its aimed at users who prefer the portability of a multi-touch tablet computer for entertainment, and also want to use the device as a traditional laptop for productivity and work.

Specifications:

Remember its an ultra-book so there is no compromise on the hardware.

Processor - Intel Core i7

RAM - 4GB DDR3

Graphics - Discrete (No more details available)

Storage - HDD and SSD

Other specs include USB 3.0 port, dual cameras, with a HD front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing camera. It also features ASUS SonicMaster technology. The ultrabook is available with an 11.6”, 13” or 14” Full HD IPS display with multi-touch.

ASUS TAICHI

The ASUS Taichi is an ultra-book device unlike any other seen before. The most striking feature of the Taichi are its dual screens. There is one screen on the inside and surprisingly one on the outerside of the lid. This makes the device an ultra portable ultra-book on the inside and a multi-touch tablet on the outside.

With a touch screen on the outside of the lid, the TAICHI opens up a whole host of new mobile possibilities as it plays the role of both ultra-book and tablet. Both the screen access the same hardware but are independent to each other. What that means is that you can have something diffent running on the outside and inside at the same time. The outer screen has full support for multi-touch and also stylus support.

With the lid open, the TAICHI is just like any ultrabook computer, and comes With the lid closed, however, the TAICHI instantly becomes a multi-touch tablet computer with bringing a degree of flexibility that has never before been experienced on an ordinary ultrabook. Better still, while they provide access to the same hardware, the two screens are completely independent of each other and can also be used simultaneously, which means the Taichi can be shared with two users for a host of innovative new applications. The device seems perfect for a small presentation or sharing photos videos with your family and friends.

Specification:

There is no detailed specs available as of now, all we can say is it features the 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processors, SSD storage and DDR3 system memory, and comes with built-in dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity. Other features include dual Full HD/IPS panels, each at 1920 x 1080 resolution. It comes in two models 11.6” and 13.3".

The device seems pretty innovative although no details about the release or pricing have been told yet.

Here is a video showing the ASUS Taichi in action

Source

Tin could triple the capacity of lithium-ion batteries (Super Li-ion)

noreply@blogger.com (Tech Center) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:48:00 +0530

Lithium-Ion Battery technology hasn't changed much since 1991 when they first became commercially available. Although the devices that use them now need a lot more power to run than the devices that used them couple decades ago. And that's the problem why your smartphone barely lasts a day on a full charge and your laptop barley survives 3-5 hours before it needs a socket.

Researchers at the Washington State University have found a way that could triple Li-ion battery capacity plus make them charge faster and give them more charge cycles than existing Li-on batteries. A research group led by 'Grant Norton' a professor at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, the researchers have filed patents on this nanoscale-based technology.

The existing Li-ion batteries utilize a graphite anode (positive terminal). The key difference that makes these new batteries better is the anode, instead of graphite its made of Tin.

Norton and postdoctoral researcher Uttara Sahaym developed the idea for this novel material a little over a year ago while working on a project to reduce the problem of tin whiskers. Tin Whisker are a major problem which cause damage to electronic components. These whiskers can sometimes grow as long as 10 millimetres, are a big problem in microelectronics because they cause short circuits and arcing that can cause severe damage to electronic components and reduce reliability. Despite the fact that tin whiskers have been causing problems for more than 60 years, researchers have been unable to come up with ways to entirely avoid them. The only popular way is to add lead to the tin solder material but lead has its environmental problems and its use has been restrained by the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS).

Nano needles

In the process of trying to do away with Tin whiskers the researchers found a way to utilise this property to some good use in battery technology. During charging a Lithium-ion battery, the lithium ions move from the cathode to the anode. The anode holds the lithium ions and stores the battery’s energy. When the battery is put to use, the ions move from the anode to the cathode, discharging electrons and creating an electric current. So with the tin anode which has these nano scale (nano needles) whiskers the anode has more surface area and can hold up more charge than a graphite anode. Not only that its also said to cheaper than a Graphite anode. So the end product is a battery that's almost the same in size and structure but has a lot more capacity than the existing one. Electronics manufacturers wont have to redesign their products to accommodate this new battery.

The researcher hope to bring it to the market within a year. I hope that happens for good.

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