This week on WDD’s HotSpot:

• Casetop from Livi Design is a netbook-like combo that uses a smartphone for its computing power. Compatible with any smartphone that sports Bluetooth and a video output, the Casetop features an 11-inch, glass-covered LED LCD display, a full-size 78 key, island-style keyboard, and a built-in 56 Watt battery, which is good for at least 30 hours per charge.
• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has created new microbatteries, sought to achieve a more favorable balance between energy and density. Lithium-ion chemistry was used to provide good energy density, and electrodes with a high porous 3D structure were arranged in interlocking strips to maximize the surface area, and help obtain a large power density. These new 3D microbatteries could drive new, small-scale battery applications in radio communications, medical devices, computer hardware, and compact electronics.
• The DRL’s Institute of Space Systems will be equipping satellites with instruments that listen in on Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast, or ADS-B signals, to help track aircraft over the course of their entire journey where radar range is limited. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B, monitor their own location using GPS, and report that data to other aircraft and Air Traffic Control using a data link transmitter.
• SM Instrument Company and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have created a sound camera, the SeeSV-S205, which shows the location of troublesome noises in machinery, engines, and appliances. With a total of 30 MEMS microphones, arranged in 5 spiral arrays, the camera utilizes a beam-forming algorithm to detect and locate both stationary and moving noise sources. The output from the microphones and the optical camera are displayed on a linked computer. They’re combined to show both a real-time image of the subject, with a thermograph-like color-coded overlay that indicates the location or locations at which the noise is loudest.