For environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, infrastructure maintenance and certain security applications, slow and energy efficient can be better than fast and always needing a recharge. That’s where “SlothBot” comes in. Powered by a pair of photovoltaic panels and designed to linger in the forest canopy continuously for months, SlothBot moves only when it must to […]
Durability Vs. Recyclability: Dueling Goals in Making Electronics More Sustainable
The falling cost of solar power has led to a boom in recent years, with more and more photovoltaic panels popping up on rooftops and backyard solar farms around the world. But what happens to all of those solar panels in a couple of decades when they reach the end of their useful life? And […]
Ultra-Low Power Chips Help Make Small Robots More Capable
An ultra-low power hybrid chip inspired by the brain could help give palm-sized robots the ability to collaborate and learn from their experiences. Combined with new generations of low-power motors and sensors, the new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) – which operates on milliwatts of power – could help intelligent swarm robots operate for hours instead […]
Brilliant Glow of Paint-On Semiconductors Comes from Ornate Quantum Physics
LED lights and monitors, and quality solar panels were born of a revolution in semiconductors that efficiently convert energy to light or vice versa. Now, next-generation semiconducting materials are on the horizon, and in a new study, researchers have uncovered eccentric physics behind their potential to transform lighting technology and photovoltaics yet again. Comparing the quantum properties of […]
Researchers Help Close Security Hole In Popular Encryption Software
Cybersecurity researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have helped close a security vulnerability that could have allowed hackers to steal encryption keys from a popular security package by briefly listening in on unintended “side channel” signals from smartphones. The attack, which was reported to software developers before it was publicized, took advantage of programming […]
Research Charts The Way To More Reliable Carbon-Based Microelectronics
Carbon nanotubes – cylindrical formations of carbon atoms with incredible strength and electrical conductivity – hold great promise for creating new micron-scale low-power electronic devices. But finding a way to build a reliable computing platform based on the carbon material has been a major challenge for researchers. Now, a team of mechanical and materials engineers at Georgia […]
Wearable Ring, Wristband Allow Users To Control Smart Tech With Hand Gestures
New technology created by a team of Georgia Tech researchers could make controlling text or other mobile applications as simple as “1-2-3.” Using acoustic chirps emitted from a ring and received by a wristband, like a smartwatch, the system is able to recognize 22 different micro finger gestures that could be programmed to various commands […]
Robot Teaches Itself How To Dress People
More than 1 million Americans require daily physical assistance to get dressed because of injury, disease and advanced age. Robots could potentially help, but cloth and the human body are complex. To help address this need, a robot at the Georgia Institute of Technology is successfully sliding hospital gowns on people’s arms. The machine doesn’t […]
Flexible, Wearable Oral Sodium Sensor Could Help Improve Hypertension Control
For people who have hypertension and certain other conditions, eating too much salt raises blood pressure and increases the likelihood of heart complications. To help monitor salt intake, researchers have developed a flexible and stretchable wireless sensing system designed to be comfortably worn in the mouth to measure the amount of sodium a person consumes. […]
Robot Designed To Defend Factories Against Cyberthreats
It’s small enough to fit inside a shoebox, yet this robot on four wheels has a big mission: keeping factories and other large facilities safe from hackers. Meet the HoneyBot. Developed by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the diminutive device is designed to lure in digital troublemakers who have set […]