Electronics & Software

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a compact, low-power receiver for 5G-compatible smart devices that is about 30 times more resilient to a certain type of interference than some traditional wireless receivers; a flexible, conductive skin, which is easy to fabricate and can be melted down and formed into a wide range of complex shapes; and tiny batteries that vanish after use inspired by Mission: Impossible.

New System Enables Robots to Solve Manipulation Problems in Seconds

Researchers from MIT and NVIDIA Research have developed a novel algorithm that dramatically speeds up a robot’s planning process. Their approach enables a robot to “think ahead” by evaluating thousands of possible solutions in parallel and then refining the best ones to meet the constraints of the robot and its environment. Read on to learn more.

Converting Waste Streams into Biofuel

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a novel technology that creates a cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that could reduce GHG emissions in the aviation industry by up to 70 percent. Read on to learn more.

Developing Durable Solar Panels Without Silicon

Using a new technology, Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena's lab has found a way to stabilize perovskite solar cells, which are built like a battery. Read on to learn more.

Ferroelectric Material Adapts to Light Stimuli by Reorganizing Atomic Connectivity

With this groundbreaking discovery of time-dependent changes in networked nanodomains, developers are on the path to building adaptive networks for information storage and processing. Read on to learn more.

Space Laser Tech Maps Mysterious Nearshore Terrain

Despite all the technological evolution in navigation, waters just off coastal shores around the globe have remained a black box. That is, until researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Oregon State University developed a new technology that uses satellites in space to map out these tricky areas. Read on to learn more about it.

Making Hydrogen Power a Practical Proposition

Occupying a unique space as both an energy vector and a fuel, hydrogen has gained interest for propulsion and power generation applications over the past several years. Hydrogen has been investigated thoroughly throughout the previous decades, but with advances in hydrogen generation and infrastructure, and the increasing need to low-carbon propulsion solutions across all sectors, hydrogen propulsion may be poised for significant market penetration. Read on to learn more.

Sealing the Future of Hydrogen: Advanced Gaskets for Electrolyzer Efficiency

As a key technology in the transition to cleaner energy, electrolyzers are critical in enabling hydrogen production without reliance on fossil fuels. However, these renewable systems face significant engineering challenges that require meticulous technical attention. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including Bosch Rexroth’s space-optimized SMS screw-driven small modules; the updated capabilities of PI's PICMA® piezo stack actuator series via the introduction of the new PICMA® Plus actuators; Beckhoff's expanded MX-System control cabinet-free automation platform; and more.

Advanced Simulation Enables Better Robot-Object Interactions

A human clearing junk out of an attic can often guess the contents of a box simply by picking it up and giving it a shake, without the need to see what’s inside. Researchers from MIT, Amazon Robotics, and the University of British Columbia have taught robots to do something similar. Read on to learn more.

An AI System Empowers Robots with Human-Like Perception

Researchers from Duke University have developed a novel framework named WildFusion that fuses vision, vibration, and touch to enable robots to “sense” complex outdoor environments much like humans do. Read on to learn more.

Drywall Finishing Robots Accelerate Construction Schedules

San Francisco startup Canvas has developed a robotic system handling one of the most labor-intensive trades in construction: drywall finishing. Leveraging robotic arms from Universal Robots, Canvas has built a machine that reduces the usual five to seven days of spraying and sanding the drywall to just around two days for both Level 4 and Level 5 finishes. Read on to learn more.

Retrofit in Industrial Production: Digitization of Existing Systems

Retrofitting offers a technically and economically sensible way to adapt existing production facilities to the requirements of modern manufacturing processes. The use of image processing, measurement technology, and deep learning in existing machines and systems can be decisive in this context. Read on to learn more.

Why Accurate SoC and SoH Estimation Is Critical for Battery Longevity and Business Success

The modern world runs on battery power. The world’s most critical industries are widely adopting battery-powered systems to achieve decarbonization goals, energy independence, and mobility. Still, like any technology, battery performance and business success depend on how well they’re managed. Read on to learn what this means.

New Products

See the new products, including Shin-Etsu Silicones of America's SDP-6560 A/B liquid-dispensed gap filling, a non-adhesive curing silicone thermal interface material; Navitas Semiconductor's new portfolio of Gen-3 ‘Fast’ (G3F) 650 V SiC MOSFETs; Freudenberg Sealing Technologies' optimized sealing material for e-mobility applications; and more.

Smoothing Over Rough Edges in Batteries

Battery performance suffers over time, like when a phone needs to be charged more frequently after years of use. A thin film that forms on the metal anode when the battery is charging and discharging plays a part in that issue. This film has benefits, but its roughness gradually wears the battery down. Researchers have discovered a temporary version of this film that appears at rapid discharge speeds and dissolves back into the battery when the process finishes. Read on to learn more.

How Battery Simulation Is Taking High-Performance EV Development to New Heights

What was once a specialized capability is now becoming a cornerstone of modern EV development. Simulation delivers speed, accuracy, and flexibility — qualities that are essential to staying competitive in advanced electrification. Read on to learn more.

Diagnosing a Dud May Lead to a Better Battery

A team of chemists led by Feng Lin and Louis Madsen found a way to see into battery interfaces, which are tight, tricky spots buried deep inside the cell. Read on to learn what this means.

How Can We Optimize Solid-State Batteries? Try Asking AI

Researchers at Tohoku University developed a data-driven AI framework that points out potential solid-state electrolyte candidates that could be “the one” to create an ideal sustainable energy solution. Read on to learn more.

Spray Drying Tech Used in Instant Coffee Applied to High-Capacity Battery Production

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) and the Korea Institute of Materials Science have jointly developed spray drying technology-based high-performance dry electrode manufacturing technology for the realization of high-capacity secondary batteries. Read on to learn more.

Laying the Building Blocks for the EV Smart Grid

This article introduces the fundamental concepts behind EV load management, which allows fleet operators to fit more EV chargers on the utility service that they currently have. Read on to learn more.

From Mine to Battery: The Growing Importance of Graphite Purity and Provenance

Collaborating across sectors and keeping up with developments in analysis tools will be crucial as the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape occurs in the future. Read on to learn more.

Test Your Knowledge of Solid-State Batteries

Solid-state battery technology offers several major advantages but also presents some engineering challenges. Test your knowledge of solid-state batteries in this quiz.

Robots React to Danger Like Humans

In the midst of the co-development of artificial intelligence and robotic advancements, developing technologies that enable robots to efficiently perceive and respond to their surroundings like humans has...

Teaching Robots to Build Without Blueprints

Unlike human manufacturing, the grand designs of bees, ants, and termites emerge simply from their collective action with no central planning required. Now, researchers at Penn’s School of...