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Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’

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Monarch Tractor has been showcasing what it says is “the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor” and has been selected for 2022 CES Innovation Award in the process.

The annual CES competition honors outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Monarch says it has been named a CES 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree and was honored in the Robotics category for its flagship MK-V tractor, which it says is “the first to deliver a convergence of electrification, automation and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming, increases efficiency and safety, and maximizes profitability for farmers”. [Read more…] about Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’

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World-first facility ‘will change the way we design and construct major infrastructure’

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High performance shaking tables and deep soil pit will cut financial and environmental costs whilst ensuring resilience of high-value infrastructure

The new UKCRIC Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction (SoFSI) facility is a one-of-a-kind facility that promises to deliver major cost savings and reduce the carbon cost of high-value infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), bridges and offshore wind farms.

The centre, located at Bristol University, western England, officially opens tomorrow, Thursday 27 January.

The University of Bristol received £12 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the construction of the SoFSI Laboratory at its Langford Campus to enable large, close to prototype scale experiments for use by both academics and industry. [Read more…] about World-first facility ‘will change the way we design and construct major infrastructure’

New electronic paper displays brilliant colours

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Imagine sitting out in the sun, reading a digital screen as thin as paper, but seeing the same image quality as if you were indoors. Thanks to research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, it could soon be a reality.

A new type of reflective screen – sometimes described as ‘electronic paper’ – offers optimal colour display, while using ambient light to keep energy consumption to a minimum.

Traditional digital screens use a backlight to illuminate the text or images displayed upon them. This is fine indoors, but we’ve all experienced the difficulties of viewing such screens in bright sunshine. Reflective screens, however, attempt to use the ambient light, mimicking the way our eyes respond to natural paper. [Read more…] about New electronic paper displays brilliant colours

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    New material to treat wounds can protect against resistant bacteriaResearchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new material that prevents infections in wounds – a specially designed hydrogel, that works against all types of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant ones. The new material offers great hope for combating a growing global problem. The World Health Organization describes antibiotic-resistant…
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  • Smart technology is not making us dumber
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    Smart technology is not making us dumberThere are plenty of negatives associated with smart technology – tech neck, texting and driving, blue light rays – but there is also a positive: the digital age is not making us stupid, says University of Cincinnati social/behavioral expert Anthony Chemero. "Despite the headlines, there is no scientific evidence that…
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A universal approach to tailoring soft robots

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By combining two distinct approaches into an integrated workflow, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) researchers have developed a novel automated process for designing and fabricating customised soft robots.

Their method, published in Advanced Materials Technologies, can be applied to other kinds of soft robots – allowing their mechanical properties to be tailored in an accessible manner.

Though robots are often depicted as stiff, metallic structures, an emerging class of pliable machines known as soft robots is rapidly gaining traction. Inspired by the flexible forms of living organisms, soft robots have wide applications in sensing, movement, object grasping and manipulation, among others. [Read more…] about A universal approach to tailoring soft robots

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  • Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured
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    Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when puncturedWant a smartphone that stretches, takes damage, and still doesn't miss a call? A team of Virginia Tech researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Macromolecules Innovation Institute has created a new type of soft electronics, paving the way for devices that are self-healing, reconfigurable, and recyclable. These…
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  • Robots sense human touch using camera and shadows
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    Robots sense human touch using camera and shadowsSoft robots may not be in touch with human feelings, but they are getting better at feeling human touch. Cornell University researchers have created a low-cost method for soft, deformable robots to detect a range of physical interactions, from pats to punches to hugs, without relying on touch at all.…
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    How modern robots are developedToday, neuroscience and robotics are developing hand in hand. Mikhail Lebedev, academic supervisor at HSE University’s Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces, spoke about how studying the brain inspires the development of robots. Robots are interesting to neuroscience and neuroscience is interesting to robots – this is what the article “Neuroengineering challenges…
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Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?

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Scientists at KAIST have fabricated a laser system that generates highly interactive quantum particles at room temperature.

Their findings, published in the journal Nature Photonics, could lead to a single microcavity laser system that requires lower threshold energy as its energy loss increases.

The system, developed by KAIST physicist Yong-Hoon Cho and colleagues, involves shining light through a single hexagonal-shaped microcavity treated with a loss-modulated silicon nitride substrate. [Read more…] about Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?

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  • Researchers harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devices
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    Researchers harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devicesFrom microwave ovens to Wi-Fi connections, the radio waves that permeate the environment are not just signals of energy consumed but are also sources of energy themselves. An international team of researchers, led by Huanyu "Larry" Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in the Penn State Department of Engineering Science…
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Similarity of legs, wheels, tracks suggests target for energy-efficient robots

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A new formula from Army scientists is leading to new insights on how to build an energy-efficient legged teammate for dismounted warfighters. 

In a recent peer-reviewed PLOS One paper, the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory’s Drs Alexander Kott, Sean Gart and Jason Pusey offer new insights on building autonomous military robotic legged platforms to operate as efficiently as any other ground mobile systems.

Its use could lead to potentially important changes to Army vehicle development. Scientists said they may not know exactly why legged, wheeled and tracked systems fit the same curve yet, but they are convinced their findings drive further inquiry. [Read more…] about Similarity of legs, wheels, tracks suggests target for energy-efficient robots

Researchers create world’s most power-efficient high-speed ADC microchip

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To meet soaring demand for lightning-quick mobile technology, each year tech giants create faster, more powerful devices with longer-lasting battery power than previous models.

A major reason companies like Apple and Samsung can miraculously pull this off year after year is because engineers and researchers around the world are designing increasingly power-efficient microchips that still deliver high speeds.

To that end, researchers led by a team at Brigham Young University have just built the world’s most power-efficient high-speed analog-to-digital converter (ADC) microchip. An ADC is a tiny piece of technology present in almost every electronic piece of equipment that converts analog signals (like a radio wave) to a digital signal. [Read more…] about Researchers create world’s most power-efficient high-speed ADC microchip

Six out of every 10 teachers believe that changing the design of the classroom is key to improving learning

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The image of rows of chairs and desks facing a teacher at a blackboard has been a reality for decades. However, research reveals that this way of organizing the classroom furniture in schools is not the best way for favouring the learning process.

Especially if the needs of 21st-century students are taken into account, who, according to the OECD, require a social environment that fosters autonomy, flexibility, decision-making capacity and the connection of knowledge by individual students or through teamwork.

It is also the opinion of 6 out of every 10 teachers that changing the design of the classroom is key to improving learning. [Read more…] about Six out of every 10 teachers believe that changing the design of the classroom is key to improving learning

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Small generator captures heat given off by skin to power wearable devices

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Scientists in China have developed a small, flexible device that can convert heat emitted from human skin to electrical power.

In their research, presented April 29 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the team showed that the device could power an LED light in real time when worn on a wristband.

The findings suggest that body temperature could someday power wearable electronics such as fitness trackers. [Read more…] about Small generator captures heat given off by skin to power wearable devices

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Vertical turbines could be the future for wind farms

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The now-familiar sight of traditional propeller wind turbines could be replaced in the future with wind farms containing more compact and efficient vertical turbines.

New research from Oxford Brookes University has found that the vertical turbine design is far more efficient than traditional turbines in large scale wind farms, and when set in pairs the vertical turbines increase each other’s performance by up to 15%.

A research team from the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (ECM) at Oxford Brookes led by Professor Iakovos Tzanakis conducted an in-depth study using more than 11,500 hours of computer simulation to show that wind farms can perform more efficiently by substituting the traditional propeller type Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), for compact Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs). [Read more…] about Vertical turbines could be the future for wind farms

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  • Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?
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    Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?Scientists at KAIST have fabricated a laser system that generates highly interactive quantum particles at room temperature. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Photonics, could lead to a single microcavity laser system that requires lower threshold energy as its energy loss increases. The system, developed by KAIST physicist Yong-Hoon Cho…
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  • Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’
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    Monarch Tractor showcases ‘world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor’Monarch Tractor has been showcasing what it says is “the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor” and has been selected for 2022 CES Innovation Award in the process. The annual CES competition honors outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products. Monarch says it has been named a CES 2022…
    Tags: engineering, design, news