Engineering – Page 15

3D Printer, Architecture, Engineering, Housing, Science & Technology News

ETH Zurich makes lightweight concrete ceiling using 3D sand-printing

April 19, 2019

A lightweight concrete ceiling with formwork 3D-printed from sand is among the innovations to feature in an experimental robot-made house built by university ETH Zurich.

The DFAB House, currently under construction in Dübendorf, Switzerland, showcases five digital building methods that have never before been seen in architecture, and the concrete Smart Slab is the latest addition.

The structure has been computationally designed to use only the minimal amount of material necessary to make it load-bearing, and is less than half the weight of usual concrete slabs.

Continue reading… “ETH Zurich makes lightweight concrete ceiling using 3D sand-printing”

City Planning, Engineering, Housing, Science & Technology News

The UN is supporting a design for a new floating city that can withstand Category 5 hurricanes

April 12, 2019

A rendering of Oceanix City. Oceanix

The United Nations just unveiled a concept for a floating city that can hold around 10,000 residents.
The city is built to withstand natural disasters like floods, tsunamis, and hurricanes.
The design comes from architect Bjarke Ingels and floating city builder Oceanix.
At a roundtable on Wednesday, the UN said floating cities could help protect people from sea-level rise while addressing the lack of affordable housing in major cities.

What once seemed like the moonshot vision of tech billionaires and idealistic architects could soon become a concrete solution to several of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Continue reading… “The UN is supporting a design for a new floating city that can withstand Category 5 hurricanes”

Engineering, new technology, Science & Technology News, Solar Energy, Solar Power

Nanocrystal ‘factory’ could revolutionize quantum dot manufacturing

March 29, 2019

A new system for synthesizing quantum dots across the entire spectrum of visible light drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

NC State researchers have developed a microfluidic system for synthesizing perovskite quantum dots that drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a microfluidic system for synthesizing perovskite quantum dots across the entire spectrum of visible light. The system drastically reduces manufacturing costs, can be tuned on demand to any color and allows for real-time process monitoring to ensure quality control.

Continue reading… “Nanocrystal ‘factory’ could revolutionize quantum dot manufacturing”

Engineering, Inventions, new technology, Science & Technology News

Near-perfect performance in low-cost semiconductors

March 29, 2019

Researchers redefine what it means for low-cost semiconductors, called quantum dots, to be near-perfect and find that quantum dots meet quality standards set by more expensive alternatives.

Tiny, easy-to-produce particles, called quantum dots, may soon take the place of more expensive single crystal semiconductors in advanced electronics found in solar panels, camera sensors and medical imaging tools. Although quantum dots have begun to break into the consumer market — in the form of quantum dot TVs — they have been hampered by long-standing uncertainties about their quality. Now, a new measurement technique developed by researchers at Stanford University may finally dissolve those doubts.

“Traditional semiconductors are single crystals, grown in vacuum under special conditions. These we can make in large numbers, in flask, in a lab and we’ve shown they are as good as the best single crystals,” said David Hanifi, graduate student in chemistry at Stanford and co-lead author of the paper written about this work, published March 15 in Science.

Continue reading… “Near-perfect performance in low-cost semiconductors”

Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, Engineering, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News

Refrigerants not required: Flexible metal cooling prototype demonstrates extreme efficiency

March 20, 2019

The prototype heating/cooling system uses the remarkable properties of shape-memory nitinol metals for environmentally friendly cooling and heating

A German research team has prototyped an extraordinary heating/cooling system that stresses and unloads nickel-titanium “muscle wires” to create heated and cooled air at twice the efficiency of a heat pump or three times the efficiency of an air conditioner. Crucially, the device also uses no refrigerant gases, meaning it’s a much more environmentally friendly way to heat or cool a space.

The device is based on a peculiar property of certain shape-memory metal alloys that spring back into shape after being deformed. In some cases – particularly with nickel-titanium, also known as nitinol – these metals absorb significant amounts of heat when they’re bent out of shape, and then release that heat when they’re allowed to revert to their normal shape. The difference between the loaded wire and the released wire can be as much as 20° C (36° F).

Continue reading… “Refrigerants not required: Flexible metal cooling prototype demonstrates extreme efficiency”

Engineering, Fashion, Science & Technology News, Wearables

RP Technologies help Cross Sword to launch luxury men’s high heel shoes

March 18, 2019

Cross Sword contacted RP Technologies after being recommended to use their prototype tooling & plastic injection moulding services. After initially contacting 2 different companies, both of which created more problems than solutions, Daniel Bush, founder of Cross Sword was relieved that RP listened to his needs and developed a solution to help launch his latest product.

Cross Sword develop and sell luxury high heel shoes for men that have a classic look. The company identified a lack of products for those that wish to wear masculine styled shoes with a high heel so launched the start-up company to offer a comfortable solution for the male high heel wearer.

Continue reading… “RP Technologies help Cross Sword to launch luxury men’s high heel shoes”

Engineering, Environment, Inventions, Science & Technology News

Scientists have discovered a shape that blocks all sound–even your co-workers

March 18, 2019

Offices and tiny apartments could be transformed by the work of Boston University researchers, who recently unveiled an “acoustic metamaterial” that blocks all sound.

A team of Boston University researchers recently stuck a loudspeaker into one end of a PVC pipe. They cranked it up loud. What did they hear? Nothing.

How was this possible? Did they block the other end of the pipe with noise canceling foams or a chunk of concrete? No, nothing of the sort. The pipe was actually left open save for a small, 3D-printed ring placed around the rim. That ring cut 94% of the sound blasting from the speaker, enough to make it inaudible to the human ear.

Continue reading… “Scientists have discovered a shape that blocks all sound–even your co-workers”

3D Printer, Automation, Engineering, Science & Technology News

The ‘Hexbot’ transforms your desk into a 3D printer and high-tech assembly line

February 27, 2019

And yes, you can also play games with it.

In the early-to-mid 1960s, sci-fi television shows like The Jetsons and Lost In Space introduced America to the idea of personal, at-home robots (Rosey and “the Robot,” respectively) that also served a practical purpose. Rosey was primarily used for domestic chores, while “the Robot” helped the Robinson family with travel and security. And as the years went on, countless other science fiction series and movies further cemented the idea that it was only a matter of time before we’d all be using robots at home to solve real problems.

Fifty years later, an extraordinary amount of technological progress has been made. But we still seem to be lacking the personal, at-home robots we were promised. Sure, AI-assistants like Alexa are common, but they lack the physical presence we’ve come to expect. And while there are plenty of amazing toy robots and robot companions available, most lack any practical value. But a new Kickstarter campaign hopes to introduce the public to a robot that is both intelligent and practical.

Continue reading… “The ‘Hexbot’ transforms your desk into a 3D printer and high-tech assembly line”

Aviation, Engineering, Science & Technology News, Transportation

This futuristic jet takes off vertically so you can keep it in your backyard

February 25, 2019

Meet the TriFan 600.

Made by XTI Aircraft, the personal jet could change the way people travel with its ability to take off and land vertically.

The jet is equipped with three ducted fans that allow it to lift off and land vertically. That means you could stash this plane on a helipad near your house since it doesn’t need a runway.

Continue reading… “This futuristic jet takes off vertically so you can keep it in your backyard”

Engineering, Machine Learning, Robotics, Robots, Science & Technology News

Researchers develop a soft robotic finger with self-perception

February 20, 2019

Soft robotics is a rapidly growing field that has a huge amount of potential in applications where traditional rigid robots would be unsafe or unwieldy. But, building a soft robot comes with a number of unique challenges, particularly when it comes to actuation and position sensing. Fortunately, a newly-developed soft robotic finger with its own sense of self-perception may dramatically improve the situation.

This work comes from a team of researchers at the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab at the University of California San Diego and others around the globe. It’s intended to give soft robots the kind of positional sensing that is innately practical in rigid robots. Because a traditional robot’s frame is inflexible, it’s relatively simple to determine it’s exact position — you only need to measure the angle at each joint. But, due to their inherent flexibility, that’s not so easy with soft robots.

The solution that the researchers came up with was to use a neural network and machine learning to identify correlations between the readings from a motion capture system and flex sensors within the soft robotic finger. The flex sensors were placed somewhat arbitrarily, which would normally be extremely difficult to process through explicit programming. But, by using the neural network, the system is able to match those sensor readings to what it sees in the motion capture system.

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3D Printer, Engineering, Space, Space Flight

Take a look at the world’s largest 3D-printed rocket engine

February 15, 2019

3D printing in one piece avoids the weaknesses of welding.

It’s a long way from taking on Blue Origin or SpaceX, but UK startup Orbex is confident enough to show off its Prime Rocket’s second stage. Inside the engineering prototype’s shell is what it claims is the “world’s largest” 3D printed rocket engine, which is also designed to run on bio-propane, a renewable fuel source. The rocket itself is made of a carbon fiber and aluminum composite that’s supposed to be 30 percent lighter than any other vehicle in its category.

Continue reading… “Take a look at the world’s largest 3D-printed rocket engine”

DNA, Engineering, Genetics, Hot Issues

The CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species

February 14, 2019

The genetic-engineering tool could help combat malaria and invasive species. But should we use it?

Charles Darwin had no idea what a gene was. If we dropped the father of evolution into 2019, the idea that humans can willfully alter the genes of an entire species would surely seem like wizardry to him.

But CRISPR gene drives — a new, inconceivably powerful technique that forces genes to spread through a population — have the ability to do just that. Gene drives allow us to hone the blunt edges of natural selection for our own purposes, potentially preventing the spread of disease or eradicating invasive pests.

Yet as with any science performed at the frontier of our knowledge, we are still coming to terms with how powerful CRISPR gene drives might be. Playing the game of genomes means we may, in the future, choose which species live and which die — a near-unbelievable capability that scientists and ethicists agree presents us with unique moral, social and ethical challenges.

Continue reading… “The CRISPR machines that can wipe out entire species”