Helloplant Is a Smart Sensor That Helps You Keep Your Plants Alive

Gardening and growing your own plants is one of those things that sounds easier than it is. Mostly because there’s a fair amount of upkeep involved. It’s pretty easy to pick out a plant and place it in a pot or part of the garden, but keeping it alive is where things get tricky. That’s where Helloplant aims to help matters. It’s an inexpensive smart plant sensor that will keep an eye on things for you, giving you a heads up when you need to intervene.

Through its smart sensor, it’ll measure soil moisture, light intensity, as well as soil temperature. Once it has something to say, Helloplant will then send you a notification via your smartphone, informing you of any action you need to complete to keep your plant happy. No internet is required but an optional WiFi hub makes it possible to access your sensor from anywhere in the world. There’s also support for Amazon’s Alexa, and an open API for further smart home integration.

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Automotive Sensing: a Mature yet Highly Dynamic Market

Despite its age and maturity, the automotive market has witnessed many unexpected developments over the past two years. And as has always been the case, safety drives the market. Automotive OEMs and suppliers are now investing in technologies to develop autonomous and electric vehicles. Automation will spur the development of imaging and detection sensors like cameras, LiDAR, and radar, while electrification will boost the design of current and thermal sensors for battery management. And because sensors are becoming a must-have, other markets are dynamic and growing too.

Yole Développement (Yole), part of Yole Group of Companies, presents an overview of the different sensors involved in autonomous systems with its new report MEMS & Sensors for Automotive. It also describes the applications, technologies and players associated with the automotive sensors market’s impending changes. This analysis includes detailed roadmaps and market forecasts until 2022.

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Medtech research facility launched in Australia to help SMEs transition new discoveries from bench to bedside

CSIRO, Monash University and Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP[1]) have launched a new translational medical technology (medtech) research facility called M2 to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the sector transition new discoveries from the bench to prototyping, pre-clinical testing, industry evaluation and commercialisation.

This infrastructure is supported by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF). It is expected to accelerate the achievement of breakthroughs in life-changing medicine, including medical devices, vaccines and cell therapies.

Australia has more than 500 companies working in the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals (MTP) sector. Many of these are SMEs, which might not have the resources to make the expensive, time consuming transition from prototype to clinically tested product.  

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LIDAR is set to drastically change the world and how we drive. Here's how it works

LIDAR technology has been around for decades and used in everything from spacecraft and robots, to speed guns. It also happens to be one of the technologies driving the development of autonomous vehicles.

Driverless cars may not be a widespread reality on the roads just yet, but if they are ever to become truly mainstream, LIDAR will be one of the onboard technologies that make them possible and keeps passengers safe.

What is LIDAR?

A portmanteau of light and Radar, LIDAR is also an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging, or Light Imaging, Detection and Ranging. The technology was first developed in the early 1960s.

Put simply, LIDAR bounces light off objects to see where they are, just as radar uses radio waves and sonar uses sound. LIDAR systems send out pulses of light outside of the visible spectrum and time how long it takes for them to bounce back. The time it takes for the light to reflect back tells the sensor how far away it is and reveals its shape.

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Carrier-Based Launch of Aircraft to Use Power Electronics Instead of Steam Catapult

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, was the first to successfully test launch an aircraft using an electromagnetic launch system (EMALS). The mission and function of EMALS will be similar to the traditional steam catapult, however, it will employ power electronic technologies. After its test phase is completed and EMALS is operational it will expand the capability of the Navy’s future carriers to handle all current and future planned carrier aircraft—from lightweight unmanned aircraft to heavy strike fighters.

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the Navy’s newest nuclear aircraft carrier.

EMALS benefits include:

Increased reliability and efficiency.

More accurate end-speed control and smoother acceleration that puts less stress on airframes.

Expanded operational capability with increased sortie rates.

Cost reduction over time due to decreased manning and maintenance requirements.

Ability to launch a broader range of naval aircraft—from lightweight unmanned to heavy strike fighters—with less stress on the ship and aircraft.

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Could UV Light Improve Semiconductor Integration?

Integrating different semiconductor materials into an epitaxial device structure offers additional degrees of freedom to select for optimal material properties in each layer. However, interfaces between materials with different valences (i.e. III-V, II-VI and IV semiconductors) can be difficult to form with high quality. 

Now, a discovery by Kwangwook Park and Kirstin Alberi, at the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), suggests that careful application of UV illumination may be used to improve the optical properties of these material layers.

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'Smart bins' are coming to the UK and could spell the end of hand-separating recycling

A new "smart bin" could spell the end of environment-conscious families spending hours sorting tins, cartons, bottles, and cardboard for recycling.

The invention, which automatically sorts rubbish into recycling categories, is being trialed in Poland and is set to go on sale in UK within a few years.

The bin, designed by start-up company Bin.E, recognizes different type of waste via a system positioned inside the bin which uses sensors, image recognition and artificial intelligence. 

Once waste is placed inside, the camera and sensors identify its type and place it in one of the smaller bins. Then it compresses the waste so it occupies less space.

News of the launch comes after this newspaper revealed that more than a million households are being forced to accept bin collections every three or four weeks, because councils are trying to force them to recycle more.

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How Technology Facilitates Patient Care at Home

Human beings are living longer than at any point in history. In fact, the average lifespan for people in developed countries is around 80 years. As a point of reference, life expectancy in the United States in the year 1900 was 47 years. This is quite a substantial increase in a little more than a century.

This increase in human lifespan can be attributed, in large part, to improved medical treatments and technologies. Innovations – such as the discovery of antibiotics and new procedures for treating heart attacks – have allowed people to live longer.

But advancements in medical technology are also impacting the quality of life people experience as they age. By helping people age in place rather than at a hospital or in nursing care, these breakthroughs are improving our ability to remain healthy into our elderly years. Additionally, technologies aimed at improving home care will help the healthcare industry deal with challenges such as overcrowded hospitals, remote populations, and treatment for the rising numbers of elderly people who have difficulty getting around.

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Banner Engineering breaks ground on new R&D building

Banner Engineering, a provider of technology for industrial automation, broke ground on a new R&D building at the company’s global headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. The new R&D building will allow Banner Engineering to create more than 225 new high-tech jobs locally, as well as accelerate new product development to meet the increasing demand for smart sensor technologies in factories around the world.

First founded in 1966 by engineer and entrepreneur Bob Fayfield, CEO, Banner Engineering has developed innovative sensor solutions to challenging industry applications since the early 1970s.

“Sensors have long been the eyes of the factory, but now the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) allows businesses to leverage sensor data in more meaningful ways,” says Carla Grafstrom, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, “From remote monitoring to predictive maintenance for machines, IIoT capabilities help businesses make better, data-driven decisions. Because of this, the demand for IIoT-capable technologies, including smart sensors and controllers, is growing exponentially.”

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3D Tactile Sensors Detect Pressure as well as Touch Position

Researchers have developed a 3D tactile sensor that can detect an unprecedented range of pressures and generate an electrical signal based on the actions of touch, giving it great potential for use in touchscreens and other next-generation device technology, they said.

The work comes from a team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea led by Professor Jang-Ung Park of the Materials Science and Engineering department, who developed a novel method for fabricating a transistor-type active-matrix 3D pressure sensor with air-dielectric layers.

The work differs from similar research chiefly because of the materials the team used to develop transistors, Park said. Today, most transistors are created with silicon channel and silicon oxide-based dielectrics. However, these transistors either lack transparency or are inflexible, hindering their use for the development of highly integrated pressure sensor arrays and transparent pressure sensors, he said.

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Comment: 5G – has government learned the lessons of history?

In 1989, mobile phones were not much smaller than house‑bricks. And few people used them. But the UK government, convinced by its advisers that something very important was about to happen in personal communications, took the imaginative step of creating five mobile operator licences, based on new technology which was yet to be designed.

The UK was the first country to do this, and it started a cellular communications revolution in this country which would create an innovative and financially lucrative mobile communications industry. It also helped to create a global company – Vodafone.

Are we prepared for the 5G step-change?

In 2017 the present government hopes to be just as successful with its plans for the next mobile step-change, 5G. It’s a tough ask.

This is now the most competitive of global technology industries, defining leading technologies in microprocessors, battery tech and plastic displays. But the UK government believes it can help give local companies the opportunity to play a leading role in the creation of 5G mobile communications networks.

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LIDAR Market revenue will reach $1.5 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research & Consulting

As per the report “LIDAR Market by Product (Terrestrial/Static, Aerial, Mobile, Short-range), and By Application (Corridor mapping, Seismology), Industry Trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016-2024”, the global LIDAR market was valued at $332.2 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2024, having a CAGR of 21.4 % from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, Aerial LIDAR technology lead the market garnering a revenue of $182.5 million and growing with the highest growth rate, having a CAGR of 17.4% during the forecast period. Among major regions, North America leads the market having the highest market share of $154.8 million; however, the highest growth rate would be experienced by Asia Pacific growing with a rate of 28.2 % during the forecast period.

“Developed regions such as North America and Europe are holding the largest market share of the LIDAR system market. The increasing demand of improvised automation and enhancement of metrological devices will open growth gateways for the LIDAR technology market in the emerging countries.”

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Smart Sensor Market revenue will reach $81.99 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research and Consulting

As per the report “Smart Sensor Market by Product (Image, Touch, motion, temperature, pressure, positions), Industry Trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016-2024”, the global Smart Sensor market was valued at $20.75 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $81.99 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 18.9% from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, Image Sensors occupied the largest revenue share in the global smart sensor market. Among major regions, European smart sensor market was the largest revenue generating market valued at $6.93 billion in 2016.

“With the advancement of technology and increasing demand of automation, new emerging trends such as smart home, smart cities and smart parking may contribute a lot in the future growth opportunities for the smart sensor market. Steep growth in the usage of consumer electronic devices and their development may accord in the market growth”

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Pressure Sensor Market revenue will reach $12.07 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research and Consulting

As per the report “Pressure Sensor Market by Type (Piezo-resistive, Electromagnetic, Capacitive, Resonant, solid state, Optical), Industry trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016 - 2024", the global pressure sensor market was valued at $7.2 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $12.07 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, the Piezoresistive sensor market generated the highest revenue share in the global pressure sensor market. Among major regions, North American pressure sensor market was the highest revenue generating market valued at $2 billion in 2016.

“A drastic increment in the usage of pressure sensors in automotive industry, improvisations in MEMS & NEMS technologies and demand of pressure sensors in consumer electronics has boosted the growth of pressure sensor market all over the globe. The use of pressure sensors in the medical field can act as a growth opportunity for the market.”

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Power Management IC (PMIC) Market will reach 61.33 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research and Consultancy

As per the report “Power Management IC Market By Type (Voltage Regulators, Battery Management ICs, Motor Control ICs and Integrated ASSP (application-specific standard product), By Industry Verticals (Electronics, Automotive, Telecommunications and Others (Defense and aerospace, railway and healthcare) Industry trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016 - 2024", the global Power Management IC (PMIC) market was valued at $40.21 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $61.33 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2017 to 2023. In 2016, the voltage regulators segment generated the highest revenue share in the global PMIC market with highest growth rate, having a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period. Among major regions, Asia-Pacific PMIC market was the highest revenue generating market valued at 18.09 billion in 2016.

“PMIC is an electronic power switching device used to control, and manage power in an effective manner. It is designed to perform a single set of tasks with superior reliability and performance. Moreover, they offer several benefits such as high efficiency, reduced system complexity, and minimized system maintenance. Voltage regulator contributes almost 25% of the total PMIC market, owing to its resilience and higher efficiency.”

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Instrumented Bearing Market revenue will reach $164.84 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research and Consulting

As per the report “Instrumented Bearing Market by product type (Ball bearings, Plain bearings, Roller bearings),Industry Trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016-2024”, the global Instrumented Bearing Market was valued at $92.75 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $164.84 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 7.6% from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, the ball bearing segment generated the highest revenue share, accounting to more around 50% of in the global instrumented bearing market in 2016. Among major regions, Asia Pacific instrumented bearing market was the highest revenue generating market valued at $38.81 billion in 2016.

“Associated technologies such as micro ball bearing technology for MEMS will help manufacturers monitor bearing operations constantly to ensure robustness, low friction and moving parts stability. Instrumented bearings are integrated with sensors to provide information on their surrounding environment, including vibration, temperature, direction, speed, load, levels of debris and other factors. The usage of MEMS technology will enable the instrumented bearing manufacturers to explore new application areas”

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Microcontroller Market revenue will reach $18.8 billion by 2024, says Esticast Research and Consulting

As per the report “Microcontroller Market by Application (Automotive, Industrial, Consumer Goods,Communications, Computer), by Product Type (8 bit, 16 bit, 32 bit), Industry trends, estimation & forecast, 2015 - 2024",the global Microcontroller market was valued at $9.80 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $18.8 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2017 to 2024. In 2016, the 32-bit microcontroller segment generated the highest revenue share in the global microcontroller market. Among major regions, Asia Pacific microcontroller market was the highest revenue generating market valued at $3.76 billion in 2016.

“The rapidly growing automotive industry is expected to be the key driver of the market over the forecast period. Additionally, a high degree of competition in the industry has resulted in the price reduction, which is expected to further boost the market growth. Moreover, the emphasis on the implementation of energy efficient solutions for both discrete and process industries will propel the sustainable manufacturing in industrial automation for a more efficient process”

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DARPA tunes machine learning to radio signals

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencies is looking to apply the same kind of machine learning to the radio spectrum as is used by advanced systems for applications ranging from voice recognition to management of internet-of-things devices to autonomous vehicles.

DARPA has issued a broad agency announcement for a new Radio Frequency Machine Learning Systems (RFMLS) program that will address the need for enhanced situational awareness regarding the ever-changing composition of RF signals in the IoT and spectrum sharing. 

Machine learning is widely used to manage data and images, but the similar work in the radio spectrum offers unique challenges, making a more compelling case for developing a native approach.

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GE to Provide Upgrade Service for P&O Oceana

P&O Cruises has again partnered with GE’s Marine Solutions to provide upgrades on critical components on board its 77,499-ton Oceana, according to a statement.

Formerly known as Ocean Princess, the cruise vessel was built in 1998 and had GE’s Syconum 2 electronic controller onboard.

GE will be responsible for replacing existing controllers with the new generation of power electronics controllers on the four propulsion drives.

Enabled by a decentralized architecture, the new digital propulsion controller benefits from a compact design, reducing its installation costs while improving operational safety through enhanced efficiency, asset availability and operational precision.

“Oceana is a very popular vessel, offering fly-cruise holidays to an increasing number of new cruise guests. Having reliable and capable ships across our fleet is crucial to capitalize on this growing opportunity,” said Donnacha O'Driscoll, Carnival UK senior vice president. “Following the successful first-phase upgrade provided by GE on Queen Mary 2 last year, we are delighted to continue this partnership with GE and embrace its latest technology to ensure smooth sailing for our guests.”

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Barometric sensors for battery operated mobile devices

Two MEMS-based barometric pressure sensors from Omron are said to be specifically designed to support height and pressure measurement in drones, smartphones, pedometers and other battery powered mobile systems.

The 2SMPB-02B and 2SMPB-02E sensors are said to provide stable and reliable height and pressure measurements, allowing changes in elevation of 2m to be reliably recorded.

Developed as an evolution of the blood pressure gauge, the sensors have been specifically remodelled for mobile applications and measure 2.0 x 2.5 x 0.85mm in size.

With a built-in low noise 24bit A/D converter, the barometric sensors feature digital control and output via I2C / SPI interfaces and automatically power down non-working circuits to minimise the power consumption.

Individual calibration parameters are stored in One Time Programmable-ROM, and are retained when the system is powered down. An integrated temperature compensation circuit helps ensure accurate absolute pressure measurements.

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Seeking Greater Global Power, China Looks to Robots and Microchips

BEIJING — In Chinese schools, students learn that the United States became a great nation partly by stealing technology from Britain. In the halls of government, officials speak of the need to inspire innovation by protecting inventions. In boardrooms, executives strategize about using infringement laws to fell foreign rivals.

China is often portrayed as a land of fake gadgets and pirated software, where intellectual property like patents, trademarks and copyrights are routinely ignored. The reality is more complex.

China takes conflicting positions on intellectual property, ignoring it in some cases while upholding it in others. Underlying those contradictions is a long-held view of intellectual property not as a rigid legal principle but as a tool to meet the country’s goals.

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New exhibition will showcase Dundee’s pioneering medical technologies

Scottish Government science minister Shirley-Anne Somerville announce the £248,000 funding deal on a visit to the Science Centre on Wednesday morning.

She also revealed the Scottish Government will pay another £250,000 to support a number of science festivals across Scotland, including events planned in Dundee and Fife.

Linda Leuchars, chief executive of Dundee Science Centre, said: “We are delighted to have received this significant contribution from the Scottish Government towards our £2 million upgrade and expansion programme, which includes the introduction of a major new exhibition.

“This ambitious development not only adds huge value to the visitor experience but also reinforces our deserved reputation as a hub for lifelong science learning and public engagement within our community.”

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ANSYS 18.2 Focuses on Electromagnetics and Electronics Design

ANSYS has just released version 18.2 of the company’s flagship computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. This release aims to improve ANSYS’ ease-of-use, speed and accuracy for electromagnetics, mechanical and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

One example of increased accuracy comes in the form of a new visual ray tracing tool, available in the electromagnetics suite. The tool will help simulate the interactions between high-frequency electromagnetic waves in a macro-environment. This should be useful to engineers working to optimize their designs for radar scattering and antenna placements.

The electromagnetics suite also includes a new RF Link Analysis tool. This can help engineers assess how their wireless products might stack up when dealing with both radio frequency and electromagnetic interference.

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Taiwan Power Outages Disrupt Some Semiconductor Manufacturing

A blackout caused by a blunder at Taiwan’s biggest gas-fired plant is the latest challenge to an electricity grid recently pushed to its limit and to President Tsai Ing-wen’s efforts to reshape the island’s power mix.

A combination of unusually hot weather, infrastructure damage from typhoons and Tsai’s drive to abandon nuclear power left Taiwan barely able to supply sufficient electricity to residential and business users in the past week. That balance gave way just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when the Tatan power plant, which accounts for almost 9 percent of the island’s generation capacity, stopped after workers accidentally shut off its natural gas supply.

Tsai publicly apologized for the power outage that hit more than 6 million households and disrupted some semiconductor production. Electricity was restored by 10 p.m., but not before Lee Chih-kung, Tsai’s economy minister, offered his resignation. Both the operator and supplier of the plant, Taiwan Power Co. and CPC Corp., are state-run.

“The outages hurt President Tsai’s creditability,” Jeffrey Bor, economics professor at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, said by phone. “The impact on the economy is comprehensive. It’s like sending a signal to companies to escape fast, because of the risks of electricity supply disruption.”

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Nanusens solves MEMS inertial sensor stiction problem

“Our first silicon nano-sensor samples from GLOBALFOUNDRIES exceeded our expectations showing outstanding resilience to stiction, with the devices going through more than 10,000 switching cycles, each equivalent to more than 1000G shocks,” says Nanusens’ CEO, Dr Josep Montanyà i Silvestre. “and the sensitivity is an order of magnitude above what is needed for a motion sensor in most applications.”

The problem of stiction in MEMS is caused by attractive forces that occur on microscopic levels such as Van der Waals and Casimir.

These are surface area dependant and not mass dependant. In an inertial sensor design, there is a proof mass connected to a spring.

This mass moves when there is an acceleration and the movement is detected by the mass acting as one electrode and the change in capacitance is measured relative to a second fixed electrode.

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Self-driving car tech just took a big step closer to mainstream

Major car part supplier Delphi has inked a deal with a major LIDAR company, baking laser scanners into its turnkey kit for autonomous cars. The deal will see Innoviz Technologies supply solid-state LIDAR scanners to add to Delphi’s work-in-progress system, which should give car-makers a shortcut to vehicles that can drive themselves. While Delphi might not be a household name, the vehicle parked outside many of those houses are likely to have at least some of the company’s components inside.

That heft as a tier one supplier in the auto industry is what Delphi is counting on with its autonomous car system. The company has most recently been working on integrating the various sensors required for self-driving vehicles to understand the environment around them in a way that doesn’t look out of place compared to a regular, “dumb” vehicle. Back in May, for instance, we took a test ride in a customized Audi that, if it wasn’t for the Delphi wrap, probably wouldn’t be recognized as an SUV that could pilot itself.

One of the lingering issues around that move to sensor discretion has been LIDAR. A portmanteau of “light” and “radar”, the sensors have gained popularity in recent years for the technology’s ability to create 3D maps in real-time. Often seen mounted atop autonomous cars, they spin at high speed and bounce lasers off the surrounding area, building up a point cloud of depth information. From that, the vehicle can figure out what objects are around it, and how they’re moving.

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New technologies to diagnose and treat neurological diseases

The National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) are collaborating to develop innovative technologies to better diagnose and treat patients with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease and brain injuries.

These include developing an artificial intelligence system that can accurately identify types of traumatic brain injuries from computed tomography (CT) scans.

Another project involves coming up with a computing algorithm for more precise identification of tissues during brain surgeries. It aims to restore the neurological functions of patients suffering from various conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

Over the next three years, the collaboration will also foster closer working relations between medical practitioners and engineers through annual fellowships and student attachment programmes.

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Autonomous Cars Face a Slew of Sensory, AI, and Communications Challenges

Object-detection, communication, navigation, safety, and security are just a few of the challenges facing autonomous car makers. Many of these require advanced sensory and communications technologies, as well as advances in artificial intelligence (AI).

Presently, intelligence-based features on “semi-autonomous” cars include adaptive front lighting, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, self-parking, blind-spot detection, and emergency assist braking. But getting to the next level of truly driver-less autonomous cars requires greater use of AI, a robust global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and advanced sensing capabilities—tasks that are much more complex and challenging.

Sophisticated mapping and data analytics are needed for autonomous vehicles to be effective. The challenges will be even tougher for overseas car makers whose roadways and regulations are totally different from those in the U.S. and Canada. Car companies must also get legislative approvals to survey roadways and show studies on what affects the communities involved where such mapping occurs.

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Taiwan July export orders grow for 12th month but China, U.S. demand slows

Taiwan's export orders rose for the 12th straight month in July, fueled by solid demand for smartphones and other tech gadgets as global retailers and their suppliers prepare for peak-year end shopping season.

Solid demand for Asia's exports, particularly electronics, helped drive stronger-than-expected economic expansion across most of the region in the second quarter, and has prompted Taiwan to raise its 2017 growth forecast to the strongest in years.

Taiwan last week bumped up its forecast for this year to 2.11 percent from 2.05 percent seen in May, and predicted further gains in 2018.

July export orders jumped 10.5 percent year-on-year, government data showed on Monday.

While that was slightly slower than the 12.25 percent growth analysts had expected, and the 13 percent seen in June, the economics ministry predicted export orders by value would pick up again in August as retailers start stocking up their warehouses and shelves.

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Are Solid-State Transformers Ready for Prime Time?

Several companies are working on technologies that could replace large traditional power transformers with power semiconductors and smaller transformers mounted on circuit boards. Although they are called solid-state transformers, they are really power converters. 

The figure below is a conceptual circuit for a “solid-state transformer” that accepts a three-phase 60 Hz high-voltage input and provides a 60 Hz lower-voltage output. The transistors could be SiC or GaN types with the appropriate specifications. The input circuit converts 60 Hz high voltage ac input to a dc voltage. Then, the dc produces an ac voltage of 10 to 20 kHz that is applied to a step-down transformer. The transformer output is converted to dc and applied to an inverter to produce a lower voltage 60 Hz ac output. The transformer is necessary to provide isolation between the input and output. An advantage of this approach is reduction in size and weight of the transformer because it can operate at a much higher frequency than a 60Hz power transformer.

There may be more to this than meets the eye. Michael Kanellos in his March 2011 article Next for the Grid: Solid State Transformer, published by Greentech Media, wrote, “This process could begin to pave the way for a number of improvements in the way that power gets delivered. Integrating and managing renewable power and electrical storage could become easier. Microgrids could be deployed much more rapidly. Grid efficiency could conceivably be increased by up to 8% to 10% because of lower conversion and transmission losses.”

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Are These Thin, Low-Power Semiconductors The Future of Computing?

Silicon may no longer be the go-to material used in electronics, if two recently discovered materials are implemented. Electrical engineers at Stanford recently observed that two semiconductors — hafnium diselenide and zirconium diselenide, two forms of the same inorganic compound — share similar qualities with silicon, but outperformed the material in other aspects.

A study published in the journal Science Advances explains the finding. Co-authored by Eric Pop, an associate professor of electrical engineering, with post-doctoral scholar Michal Mleczko, the report places the biggest emphasis on how all three materials cause rust.

It’s the same kind of rust that’s usually deemed harmful to metals and other materials, but within the context of electronics and circuitry, it’s actually a good thing: when silicon is exposed to oxygen, it rusts and becomes an insulator for circuitry, protecting it from harm. Other materials can be used to achieve the same effect, but they require additional work and layers of insulation, making silicon the preferred material to use.

Hafnium diselenide and zirconium diselenide both rust in a similar way to silicon, but their benefits go beyond this. They’re able to form what are known as “high-k” insulators, which ultimately require less power than silicon and silicon oxide insulators.

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Advanced System Measures Battery Impedance While in Use

As closed “black box” components, batteries are challenging energy-storage systems to fully assess. It’s obviously easy to measure their terminal voltage and input/output current, and to estimate their internal temperature based on external readings and appropriate thermal models. However, measuring their impedance is difficult, especially when the battery is in use. Yet that last factor is needed to fully judge their health and condition in active use or during a maintenance cycle.

To address this issue, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has developed an impedance measurement box (IMB) that directly addresses the in-use characterization of this parameter (Fig. 1). (INL is a leading government laboratory in the U.S. for research, development, demonstration, and deployment related to nuclear and other types of energy.) The project was developed in conjunction with Montana Tech, Motloch Consulting, and Qualtech Systems Inc., with support from the DoE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office.

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MEMS and wireless options: User localization in cellular phones

Navigation has been revolutionized by micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor development, offering new capabilities for wireless positioning technologies and their integration into modern smartphones.

These new technologies range from simple IrDA using infrared light for short-range, point-to-point communications, to wireless personal area network (WPAN) for short range, point-to multi-point communications, such as Bluetooth and ZigBee, to mid-range, multi-hop wireless local area network (WLAN, also known as wireless fidelity or Wi-Fi), to long-distance cellular phone systems, such as GSM/GPRS and CDMA.

With these technologies, navigation itself has become much broader than just providing a solution to location-based services (LBS) questions, such as “Where am I?” or “How to get from start point to destination?”

It has moved into new areas such as games, geolocation, mobile mapping, virtual reality, tracking, health monitoring and context awareness.

MEMS sensors are now essential components of modern smartphones and tablets. Miniaturized devices and structures produced with micro-fabrication techniques, their physical dimensions range from less than 1 micrometer (μm, a millionth of a meter) to several millimeters (mm).

The types of MEMS devices vary from relatively simple structures having no moving elements to complex electromechanical systems with multiple moving elements under the control of integrated microelectronics.

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What are common RF noise sources?

In response to the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiry on whether it should study changes in the radio frequency noise floor, a number of commenters identified common sources of RF noise and interference that they encounter. The most common RF noise sources include:

Harmful LED lamp interference. “The solution in most cases is to replace the lamp with a different brand that does not cause harmful interference. … The bottom line is that the interference is strong enough to affect a 700/800 MHz cellular base station,” said Pericle Engineering in its FCC comment.

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Medical technology companies gain investment from North-West accelerator

Future of Health accelerator, which launched in April, was designed to help start-ups within the health and medical sectors attract investors and create new business opportunities.

The accelerator was delivered by a partnership between Manchester-based The Landing, PwC and tech investment specialist UP. Nine start-ups were involved in the accelerator and nearly every firm managed to secure new investment.

The firms were supported by networking opportunities between thought leaders, industry executives and health-tech specialists. Those taking part were also given the chance to pilot their new technologies and pitch their ideas to healthcare organisations and potential investors.

Technology-enabled homecare provider Cera closed £2.7 million in seed funding and established 15 partnerships with NHS organisations and councils.

11 Health, based in Hertfordshire are in discussion with Salford Royal Hospital to pilot its ‘smart’ colostomy bag.

Manchester’s Aerobit, who have developed an IoT-enabled asthma inhaler, closed an investment round from existing investors and are working on securing a further seed round of investment.

Other firms that managed to secure partnerships include Altogame, a company focused on behavioural research conducted through virtual online games and learning simulations, and Kafoodle, a hospitatlity business that works with healthcare providers to create personalised hospital diet plans. Altogame were selected in the Alder Hey Hospital Innovation Hub and are working on securing pilots there. Kafoodle is in talks with a CCG to develop a healthy eating programme and is in talks with various hospitals and care homes.

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Plessey LED Module Wins Architectural Innovation Award

Pallidus, a spin-off from the Houston-based materials company Melior Innovations, has announced its M-SiC material and technology platform with the capability to deliver cost/performance parity against silicon devices in the $12.5 billion power device market.

With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of greater than 25 percent, SiC power devices deliver superior performance in key segments of the power electronics market – wind energy, electronic vehicles and aerospace. A hurdle to market expansion, however, is the cost and availability of high quality SiC wafers.

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Smart Dust Market to Witness Healthy Growth in the Coming Years

 The current ultramodern technologies are prominently focusing on miniaturization and automation. The increased connectivity, decreasing computing device size, and increasing communication with the physical world have characterized computing’s history. Recently, the popularity of small computing devices, such as cell phones and hand held computers, diminishing size and cost of sensors, rapidly flourishing internet group and decreasing size of transistors have mainly accelerated technological developments. The emergence of small computing elements, with increased interaction with the environment and sporadic connectivity provides enriched opportunities to reshape interactions between computers and people and spur the ubiquitous computing researches.

Smart Dust devices are nothing but small wireless microelectromechanical sensors (MEMS) that can detect everything from vibrations to light. Smart dust device is of tiny dust size with enhanced extraordinary capabilities.

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Seeking Greater Global Power, China Looks to Robots and Microchips

BEIJING — In Chinese schools, students learn that the United States became a great nation partly by stealing technology from Britain. In the halls of government, officials speak of the need to inspire innovation by protecting inventions. In boardrooms, executives strategize about using infringement laws to fell foreign rivals.

China is often portrayed as a land of fake gadgets and pirated software, where intellectual property like patents, trademarks and copyrights are routinely ignored. The reality is more complex.

China takes conflicting positions on intellectual property, ignoring it in some cases while upholding it in others. Underlying those contradictions is a long-held view of intellectual property not as a rigid legal principle but as a tool to meet the country’s goals.

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One Of The USA’s Largest Southern Data Centres Is About To Become An Infrastructure Giant

QTS, one of the most active data centre real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the US today, is planning to expand its 300,000 sqf data centre in Dallas, Texas.

According to Dallas News, the company has put forward plans worth $78m to expand its hub in Las Colinas by building out two data halls within the existing 700,000 sqf shell and constructing a new data centre building.

The shell was bought by QTS back in 2013 from Maxim which used the site as a semiconductor manufacturing plant.

With the asset, QTS became also the owner of the 40-acre land plot owned by Maxim. The site is powered by an on-site 140MW dual-fed substation.

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Doctors are saving lives with VR

Earlier this year, inside a cramped, windowless corner office at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, I put on a virtual reality headset and tried to save a little girl’s life.

It wasn’t real, of course, but it sure felt like it was. The blotchy, wheezing, seven-year-old struggling to survive while suffering from anaphylactic shock was nothing more than a bunch of digital polygons. Still, the experience triggered every real human reaction you’d expect, flooding my brain with fear, stress, and anxiety.

Once I slipped the VR goggles off of my head, one other emotion struck me too: excitement. After a few tough years for the virtual reality industry, a wave of medical VR programs are breathing new life into this cutting-edge technology.

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Veeco’s Q2 revenue up 21% year-on-year organically

For second-quarter 2017, epitaxial deposition and process equipment maker Veeco Instruments Inc of Plainview, NY, USA has reported revenue of $115.1m, up 22% on $94.4m last quarter and up 53% on $75.3m a year ago.

However, this includes $24m from about one month of business from Ultratech Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which designs and makes lithography, laser-processing and inspection systems for the advanced packaging, front-end semiconductor and LED markets), which was acquired on 26 May. Ultratech’s main businesses address the advanced packaging lithography and semiconductor laser annealing markets, both of which are highly complementary to Veeco.

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Review: Dodge Demon is a 840-horsepower slice of muscle-car heaven

Demon? I think not.

Dodge’s 840-horsepower modern muscle car is a slice of heaven, delivered unto our drag strips because a higher power — the executives on the 15th floor of Fiat Chrysler’s headquarters tower — want us to be happy. And fast. Really, really fast.

I just spent a steamy afternoon in auto racing’s Promised Land: Indianapolis. I have seen the second coming of the pavement ripping, tire-shredding, straight-lining American muscle car and I believe.

The Dodge Demon’s technology lets novices master the finer points of drag racing — a much more nuanced form of motor sport than non-believers accept — and leads them to a paradise of sub 10-second quarter miles, 2.3-second zero-to-60 mile per hour sprints and 1.8G acceleration, highest of any production car.

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Exclusive: U.S. toughens stance on foreign deals in blow to China's buying spree

A secretive U.S. government panel has objected to at least nine acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign buyers so far this year, people familiar with the matter said, a historically high number that bodes poorly for China's overseas buying spree.

The objections indicate that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews acquisitions by foreign entities for potential national security risks, is becoming more risk-averse under U.S. President Donald Trump.

Chinese companies and investors eyeing U.S. assets could face more roadblocks as a result, at a time when the Chinese government is also restricting the flow of capital out of China following a bonanza of Chinese overseas deals.

There have been 87 announced acquisitions of U.S. companies by Chinese firms so far in 2017, the highest on record and up from 77 deals in the corresponding period in 2016.

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II-VI Inc buys Kaiam’s 6” fab in UK for $80m

Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA has acquired Kaiam Laser Ltd, a 6-inch wafer fabrication plant in Newton Aycliffe, UK, for $80m in cash reserves. The acquisition is expected to be breakeven at the EBITDA level within 12 months.

The 300,000ft2 facility has a 100,000ft2 cleanroom designed for high-volume manufacturing of compound semiconductor devices based on gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon carbide (SiC) and indium phosphide (InP) materials.

“This facility hosts one of the best cleanrooms in the entire compound semiconductor industry and augments our capabilities at a time when industry capacity is rapidly becoming fully subscribed,” notes II-VI’s president & CEO Dr Chuck Mattera. “Given the demand we anticipate, this acquisition will allow us faster time to market than building a proprietary green-field site,” he adds. “It adds to our in-house capacity for VCSELs [vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers], and is also as part of a broader strategic move to provide a versatile 6” wafer fab for GaAs-, SiC- and InP-based devices. This acquisition will significantly expand our capacity and is expected to enable us over time to penetrate high-growth markets driven by, for example, 3D sensing, 5G wireless, the electrification of the car, and data-center communications,” he adds.

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AIM Photonics selects University of Arizona for industrial demo of integrated photonic cryogenic datalink for focal plane arrays

The Rochester, NY-based consortium AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics) - an industry-driven public-private partnership advancing the USA’s photonics manufacturing capabilities - has announced the winner of a proposal call for a new Defense Department Government Directed Project for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) data links for cryogenic focal plane arrays (FPAs).

The $1,200,000 US Department of Defense (DoD) project, along with an additional $400,000 in matching funds from a team led by the University of Arizona (UA), will support a consortium that includes Sandia National Labs, Raytheon (RTN) and other aerospace firms engaged in FPA technology.

The project will encompass the design, fabrication and test of cryogenic PIC-based datalinks for FPA readout and has the potential to strongly advance imaging capabilities for national defense applications. Capitalizing on the national reach and capabilities of this consortium, the PICs will be manufactured in the AIM Photonics silicon photonics fabrication facility at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany, NY, and could also lead to fabrication opportunities at AIM Photonics’ Test, Assembly, and Packaging (TAP) facility, which is being built in in Rochester, NY.

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New device can heal with a single touch, and even repair brain injuries

A new device developed at The Ohio State University can start healing organs in a "fraction of a second," researchers say.  

The technology, known as Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), has the potential to save the lives of car crash victims and even deployed soldiers injured on site. It's a dime-sized silicone chip that "injects genetic code into skin cells, turning those skin cells into other types of cells required for treating diseased conditions," according to a release.

In lab tests, one touch of TNT completely repaired injured legs of mice over three weeks by turning skin cells into vascular cells.

And, it not only works on skin cells, it can restore any type of tissue, Chandan Sen, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies, said. For example, the technology restored brain function in a mouse who suffered a stroke by growing brain cells on its skin

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With Immelt out, Flannery era begins

The John Flannery era at General Electric Co. is under way.
For the past 17 years, GE has been led by Jeff Immelt, who reshaped the company into the industrial powerhouse it has become today, focused on high-tech manufacturing in the energy, transportation and health care sector. Immelt's last day as CEO was July 31. Flannery, one of his top lieutenants, took over Aug. 1.

The GE transformation under Immelt has been a good one for the Capital Region. Although Immelt sold off commodity businesses like plastics and silicones that had local plants, he invested heavily in GE's Schenectady County operations, home to GE Power and the GE Global Research Center.

GE employs roughly 7,000 people locally making it one of the most important – and indispensable – companies to the region and the state.

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14 Expansion Plans in China’s LED Industry 1H17 Part II

On May 22, San'an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd announced its wholly owned daughter company, Sanan Optoelectronics Hong Kong Company Limited would set up a subsidiary in the USA with its own funding of USD 10 million. This US-based firm would mostly focus on research, development, manufacture, and distribution of visible light communication (VLC) technology.

Meanwhile, another subsidiary Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. would also spend USD 20 million setting up a wholly owned subsidiary in Hong Kong. This new firm in Hong Kong would center on filter development & research, manufacture and distribution. After the Hong Kong firm is established, it will soon set up another subsidiary with a funding of JYP 90 million and this company will focus on the R&D of compound semiconductors.

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