Impact Lab – Page 342 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

The Future of Cybernetics: 3D Printed Prosthetics Plus The Concept of Feedback

November 17, 2021

According to the famous MIT professor and father of cybernetics, Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), “intelligent behavior is the result of feedback mechanisms.” From MIT now comes one of its latest projects following in the footsteps of Wiener, which is human prostheses. It intends to combine 3D printing with metamaterials to have capabilities and have a highly specific function.

MetaSense is a software program developed by a team of researchers from MIT that uses 3D printing for devices that use embedded electrodes in their functioning. The materials are made from repeating and flexible cells that are 3D printed with conductive and non-conductive filament. When compressed, the cells become sensors for a variety of applications. What they are targeting is the field of human prostheses. The focus of the researchers is the concept of feedback.

3D Printer

AICT BUILDS WORLD’S FIRST 3D PRINTED PARK, RESEARCHERS EXPLORE CONCRETE 3D PRINTING WITH RECYCLED AGGREGATES

November 17, 2021

AICT’s 3D printed park

By HAYLEY EVERETT

Construction 3D printing firm Advanced Intelligent Construction Technology (AICT) has unveiled what it says is the world’s first 3D printed public park at the Shenzen World Exhibition and Convention Center in China.

Spanning 5,523 square meters and made up of more than 2,000 3D printed concrete pieces, the park was built using AICT’s robotic 3D printing technology, which makes use of a modular six-axis robotic arm system and the firm’s proprietary building material.

Meanwhile, in other construction-related news, researchers from Tongji Universityhave published the results of a study exploring the viability of using recycled fine aggregates (RFA) in 3D mortar printing. The study sought to achieve a more accurate picture of the buildability of 3D concrete printing, and how the use of recycled and waste material impacts upon the fabricated structures.

“As a form of intelligent construction, 3D printing concrete construction technology boasts great advantages,” said Xu Weiguo, Professor at the Tsinghua University School of Architecture who lead the technical support team for AICT’s 3D printed park.

Alternative Transportation

Flying Electric Cars Compete In A Drag Race

November 15, 2021

The Mk3 Speeders flew at over 100 kmph and heights of 10 metres above the ground.

A landmark moment in the future of motorsport played out in the deserts of South Australia last week as a pre-season test concluded with the first ever timed electric flying car drag-race. The drag-race was part of a key pre-season testing session for EXA, Airspeeder’s first electric flying car racing season, created by Alauda Aeronautics. This historic moment provided a first glimpse of flying car racing as a sporting entity, ahead of international competition in 2022.

Race events will see a grid of full-scale electric flying cars known as Speeders race blade-to-blade. Teams from a broad range of industries will be provided with the Speeders but given technical and tactical freedom to approach gaining competitive edge in the series as they see fit. This will ensure close motorsport based on pilot skill and race management.

Because flying car racing does not require the same physical infrastructure as legacy motorsport, this presents a sport built from the ground-up with sensitivity to the global requirement to race with minimal ecological impact.

This first drag-race represented the culmination of intense internal competition between two-sides of the Alauda Aeronautics technical team. The result was a tense and visually enthralling encounter with the internal teams forced to adapt strategy in line with wind and dust conditions in the selected desert location. As races play out in varying conditions including over ice, over sea, deserts and even forest locations, mastery of external factors add a compelling tactical layer to the sport.

Electric Vehicles

Electric Geely Homtruck to take on Tesla Semi with autonomous driving and built-in apartment

November 15, 2021

Long-haul tractor has all the comforts of home

By Gary Gastelu

China’s Geely has unveiled an electric semi truck with all of the comforts of home for long-haul truckers.

The Geely Homtruck will be avaialble with an all-electric drivetrain.

The Homtruck, built by Geely’s Farizon Auto commercial truck unit, is equipped with a full mini-apartment that includes a bed, shower, toilet, electric kitchen and washing machine.

Geely said the Homtruck will be offered around the world with several powertrain options, including all-electric, range-extended electric and a hybrid with a methanol-burning internal combustion engine. A projected driving range between charges for the all-electric version was not announced.

Food

World’s Most Advanced Lab-Grown Meat Facility Opens In California

November 15, 2021

By Katie Spalding

As people become more aware of the devastating environmental cost of animal agriculture, there’s been a veritable explosion in the number of plant-based alternatives hitting the shelves, with some promising vegan “meat” that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. One company named Upside Foods is ready and waiting to serve up an even more authentic experience: real meat, but with none of the agriculture.

On Thursday, November 4, the company opened a vast facility in Emeryville, California – 16,154 square meters (53,000 square feet) of renewably-powered vats and tubes going by the name of the Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center, or “EPIC”. It’s been billed as the first of its kind, and the company says it’s ready to start producing 22,680 kilograms (50,000 pounds) of cultured meat for commercial scale – just as soon as it’s legal in the US.

Driverless vehicles

‘Robotaxis will be disruptive to conventional taxis and ride-hailing, but not car ownership’, says new report

November 14, 2021

BY DAVID EDWARDS

Robotaxis remain one of the most pursued applications for autonomous vehicle technologies today, with many developers envisioning an end to – or at least a significant reduction in – car ownership.

Developers of autonomous vehicles, specifically those focused on Level-4 self-driving vehicles, often focus on mobility services as the first application.

Not only is there a demonstrated market for taxis and ride-hailing, but it’s a market where the high costs of labor create high prices, making it a ripe opportunity for autonomous vehicle deployment.

It is also a good technology fit as they can operate in geo-fenced areas, according to new data from Lux Research, a leading provider of tech-enabled research and innovation advisory services.

Driverless vehicles

GE Appliances and Einride unveil first autonomous and electric truck operating on US soil

November 14, 2021

Einride will bring its Pods to the US for the first time on GE Appliances’ 750-acre Appliance Park campus in Louisville, Kentucky.

By Jonathan Greig

Transportation is about to get a technology-driven reboot. The details are still taking shape, but future transport systems will certainly be connected, data-driven and highly automated.

GE Appliances and Swedish freight technology company Einride announced the debut of what they say is the first autonomous and electric truck to operate on US soil this week.

Einride has been operating internationally since 2019 but will bring its autonomous Pods to the US for the first time on GE Appliances’ 750-acre Appliance Park campus in Louisville, Kentucky.

Einride is also providing GE Appliances with electric vehicles at locations in Tennessee and Georgia. The companies claimed that the partnership would save GE Appliances 970 tons of CO2 emissions within the first year.

“Sustainability and cost-efficiency is a prerequisite for implementing innovation into our business strategy,” said Bill Good, vice president of manufacturing at GE Appliances.

quantum computing

‘Giant atoms’ May Create All-in-One Quantum Processing and Communication

November 14, 2021

By Matt Swayne

MIT News reports that researchers have introduced a quantum computing architecture that can perform low-error quantum computations while also rapidly sharing quantum information between processors. The work represents a key advance toward a complete quantum computing platform.

Before, small-scale quantum processors have successfully performed tasks at a rate exponentially faster than that of classical computers. However, it has been difficult to controllably communicate quantum information between distant parts of a processor. In classical computers, wired interconnects are used to route information back and forth throughout a processor during the course of a computation. In a quantum computer, however, the information itself is quantum mechanical and fragile, requiring fundamentally new strategies to simultaneously process and communicate quantum information on a chip.

“One of the main challenges in scaling quantum computers is to enable quantum bits to interact with each other when they are not co-located,” says William Oliver, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, MIT Lincoln Laboratory fellow, and associate director of the Research Laboratory for Electronics. “For example, nearest-neighbor qubits can easily interact, but how do I make ‘quantum interconnects’ that connect qubits at distant locations?”

The answer lies in going beyond conventional light-matter interactions.

Cancer

A revolutionary clinical trial is testing customized vaccines that target cancerous tumors

November 13, 2021

By Jessica Brown Anchor/Reporter

A vaccine with the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment is being tested in Boston. The customized vaccines are intended to help the body’s immune system target an individual’s tumor.

Heather Walker, a wife, mother and Boston Celtics executive, is participating in the clinical trial. In July, doctors discovered a fast-growing tumor in her brain, called glioblastoma. Advertisement

The rare and aggressive form of cancer is diagnosed in about 13,000 adults in the U.S. each year. More than 93% of patients die within 5 years and the average survival is about 15 months.

“Historically, when a glioblastoma was diagnosed, patients were often referred to a palliative care, a kind of hospice situation because treatment was not able to be effective,” said Dr. David Reardon, clinical director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Alternative Transportation

Electric air taxis planned to fly above potholes of Rome

November 13, 2021

The Volocopter displayed in the Piazza San Silvestro in central Rome on Thursday.

By Soraya Ebrahimi

Flying cab could be taking travellers from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport within three years.

With streets full of potholes, buses erupting in flames and soul-crushing traffic in the Eternal City, some say the only way is up.

A new electric air taxi could take passengers from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to the city centre within three years, according to German company Volocopter, Rome’s airport operator ADR and transport infrastructure holding company Atlantia.

The project, called VoloCity – which is also planned for Paris and Singapore – promises to whisk people from the airport to the city in 20 minutes, with no traffic and zero emissions, travelling at a maximum of 110kph.

Initially, the taxi will carry the pilot plus one passenger, “until the aircraft will fly completely autonomously”, when it will be able to take two passengers, the partners said.

brain hacking

A system to control robotic arms based on augmented reality and a brain-computer interface

November 13, 2021

By Ingrid Fadelli

For people with motor impairments or physical disabilities, completing daily tasks and house chores can be incredibly challenging. Recent advancements in robotics, such as brain-controlled robotic limbs, have the potential to significantly improve their quality of life.

Researchers at Hebei University of Technology and other institutes in China have developed an innovative system for controlling robotic arms that is based on augmented reality (AR) and a brain-computer interface. This system, presented in a paper published in the Journal of Neural Engineering, could enable the development of bionic or prosthetic arms that are easier for users to control.

“In recent years, with the development of robotic arms, brain science and information decoding technology, brain-controlled robotic arms have attained increasing achievements,” Zhiguo Luo, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. “However, disadvantages like poor flexibility restrict their widespread application. We aim to promote the lightweight and practicality of brain-controlled robotic arms.”

The system developed by Luo and his colleagues integrates AR technology, which allows users to view an enhanced version of their surroundings that includes digital elements, and a brain-controlled interface, with a conventional method for controlling robotic limbs known as asynchronous control. This ultimately allows users to achieve greater control over robotic arms, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of the resulting movements.

quantum computing

A New Quantum Computing Method Is 2,500 Percent More Efficient

November 12, 2021

And it’s ‘absolutely amazing.’

By Brad Bergan

We just moved years closer to viable quantum computers.

A company has revealed the results of benchmarking experiments that demonstrate how an advanced error-suppression method increased the probability of success for quantum computing algorithms to succeed on real hardware, according to a press release shared with Interesting Engineering via email.

And the new method increased the likelihood of success by an unprecedented 2,500%.