Posted on September 30th, 2010 by jxh
Imagine hefting 200 pounds as though it were a mere 12. Raytheon Company has just released a full-body suit that could make the Iron Man fantasy become a reality.
Called the XOS-2 Exoskeleton, it essentially grants the wearer superhuman strength (and also looks really awesome). The new suit has made significant improvements over its predecessor, the XOS-1, which was first demonstrated two and a half years ago.
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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Mechanical | 4 Comments »
Tags: Electrical, Mechanical, Robotics
Posted on September 22nd, 2010 by jxh
The Army is currently developing tanks that run on hydrogen fuel cells
The U.S. military often struggles – unsuccessfully – to supply enough batteries for troops’ equipment. GPS units and radios demand a lot of energy, so a sustainable source would be really beneficial.
That’s why the U.S. Army has created the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System (REPPS), which collects solar energy for the troops in Afghanistan, where there are high levels of sunlight.
The REPPS features a 62-watt, anti-glint solar panel blanket tucked into a backpack. Not only can the system recharge batteries in a matter of hours, it can also be hooked up to electronic devices, providing them with more power.
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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Environmental | 1 Comment »
Tags: Electrical, Energy, Environmental, Green Technology, Military, renewable energy, Technology
Posted on September 22nd, 2010 by axb
Human skin is extraordinarily sensitive – our fingertips can perceive extremely small differences in pressure, texture, and temperature. Mimicking this ability artificially is a real technological challenge, but fortunately electrical engineers at Stanford and UC Berkeley seem to be up to the task.
At Stanford, a team led by chemical engineering professor Zhenan Bao has developed an artificial skin that is reportedly over 1,000 times more sensitive than its human counterpart. It consists of a thin rubber material placed between two parallel electrodes. When an object touches the skin and compresses the rubber, the surrounding electrodes register this pressure and convert it to electrical signals.
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Filed under: Biomedical, Chemical, e-News, Electrical, Materials | Comments Off on Engineering Artificial Skin
Tags: Biomedical, Chemical, Electrical, Materials, Nanotechnology, Robotics
Posted on September 16th, 2010 by jxh
Find waiting at an empty intersection annoying?
Your driving frustrations may soon be relieved, if city planners adopt a new self-organizing system for traffic lights.
European engineers have designed and tested a system that would give each traffic signal a sensor, to read the current traffic situation, and a computer chip, to calculate the expected flow of vehicles and then determine how long the light should stay green.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical, Industrial / Manufacturing, Transportation | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, Electrical, Industrial, Transportation
Posted on September 15th, 2010 by axb
Still searching for a new backpack this school season? Look no further than UC Berkeley Labs, where engineers have created a laser-scanning backpack that makes instant 3D maps of its surroundings. It may not have room for textbooks, but it can generate perfect digital likenesses of the inside of just about any building.
Developed in collaboration with the US Airforce, this device could allow troops to quickly and efficiently scout out new areas and map battlefield locations.
The backpack is outfitted with four cameras pointing in different directions, lasers, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical | 2 Comments »
Tags: Computer, Electrical
