Most of today’s batteries are made up of rare lithium mined from the mountains of South America. If the world depletes this source, then battery production could stagnate. Sodium is a very cheap and earth-abundant alternative to using lithium-ion batteries that is also known to turn purple and combust if exposed to water – even […]
AI-Based Research Toward Autonomous Robots and Drones
What if a parent could feel safe allowing a drone to walk their child to the bus stop? Robots working without human intervention? That might occur sooner than you think with a new avenue of artificial intelligence, being studied by Purdue University researchers, that creates brain-inspired computing to allow systems such as drones, vehicles and robots […]
Trapping Light That Doesn’t Bounce Off Track For Faster Electronics
Replacing traditional computer chip components with light-based counterparts will eventually make electronic devices faster due to the wide bandwidth of light. A new protective metamaterial “cladding” prevents light from leaking out of the very curvy pathways it would travel in a computer chip. Because processing information with light can be more efficient than with electrons […]
Future Electronic Components To Be Printed Like Newspapers
A new manufacturing technique uses a process similar to newspaper printing to form smoother and more flexible metals for making ultrafast electronic devices. The low-cost process, developed by Purdue University researchers, combines tools already used in industry for manufacturing metals on a large scale, but uses the speed and precision of roll-to-roll newspaper printing to […]
Future Electronic Components To Be Printed Like Newspapers
A new manufacturing technique uses a process similar to newspaper printing to form smoother and more flexible metals for making ultrafast electronic devices. The low-cost process, developed by Purdue University researchers, combines tools already used in industry for manufacturing metals on a large scale, but uses the speed and precision of roll-to-roll newspaper printing to […]
Electronic Stickers To Streamline Large-Scale ‘Internet Of Things’
Billions of objects ranging from smartphones and watches to buildings, machine parts and medical devices have become wireless sensors of their environments, expanding a network called the “internet of things.” As society moves toward connecting all objects to the internet – even furniture and office supplies – the technology that enables these objects to communicate […]
New Device And Companion App Let Anyone Safely Trigger Fireworks From Their Smartphones
A Purdue University professor has created a device and a companion smartphone app that allow anyone to set off fireworks from a safe distance. The device, called ZapSpark, was created by Mithuna Thottethodi, an associate professor in Purdue’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. ZapSpark is designed as a compact and easy-to-use technology that allows […]
System Allows Surveillance Cameras To ‘Talk’ To Public With Smartphones
Purdue University researchers have created a technology that allows public cameras to send personalized messages to people without compromising their privacy. The team developed a real-time end-to-end system called PHADE to allow this process, known as private human addressing. While traditional data transmission protocols need to first learn the destination’s IP or MAC address, this […]
Silicon Provides Means To Control Quantum Bits For Faster Algorithms
Quantum bits are now easier to manipulate for devices in quantum computing, thanks to enhanced spin-orbit interaction in silicon. A silicon quantum computer chip has the potential to hold millions of quantum bits, or qubits, for much faster information processing than with the bits of today’s computers. This translates to high-speed database searches, better cybersecurity […]
Rare Element To Provide Better Material For High-Speed Electronics
Purdue researchers have discovered a new two-dimensional material, derived from the rare element tellurium, to make transistors that carry a current better throughout a computer chip. The discovery adds to a list of extremely thin, two-dimensional materials that engineers have tried to use for improving the operation speed of a chip’s transistors, which then allows […]