SAN DIEGO (UPI) — Increasingly sophisticated cars need to be protected from hackers who could tamper with computerized systems, U.S. scientists said.

As more cars become connected to the Internet through wireless systems, hackers could remotely sabotage the vehicles, The New York Times reported Friday.

In tests, computer security experts at the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego, said they were able to remotely control braking, stop the engine and activate dozens of other functions, almost all of them while a car was in motion.

The researchers tested two versions of a late-model car in laboratory and field settings. The researchers did not publicly identify the manufacturer or model, but said they believed the cars were representative of the computer network systems found in many late-model cars today.

“You should expect that various entry points in the automotive environment are no more secure in the automotive environment than they are in your PC,” said Stefan Savage, a computer scientist in San Diego.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th June 2010

‘Computer Viruses gone to your head?’

Science (May 26, 2010) — A scientist at the University of Reading has become the first person in the world to be infected by a computer virus.

Dr Mark Gasson, from the School of Systems Engineering, contaminated a computer chip which had been inserted into his hand as part of research into human enhancement and the potential risks of implantable devices.

These results could have huge implications for implantable computing technologies used medically to improve health, such as heart pacemakers and cochlear implants, and as new applications are found to enhance healthy humans.

Dr Gasson says that as the technology behind these implants develops, they become more vulnerable to computer viruses.

“Our research shows that implantable technology has developed to the point where implants are capable of communicating, storing and manipulating data,” he said. “They are essentially mini computers. This means that, like mainstream computers, they can be infected by viruses and the technology will need to keep pace with this so that implants, including medical devices, can be safely used in the future.”

Dr Gasson will present his results next month at the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society in Australia, which he is also chairing.

A high-end Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip was implanted into Dr Gasson’s left hand last year. Less sophisticated RFID technology is used in shop security tags to prevent theft and to identify missing pets.

The chip has allowed him secure access to his University building and his mobile phone. It has also enabled him to be tracked and profiled. Once infected, the chip corrupted the main system used to communicate with it. Should other devices have been connected to the system, the virus would have been passed on.

Dr Gasson said: “By infecting my own implant with a computer virus we have demonstrated how advanced these technologies are becoming and also had a glimpse at the problems of tomorrow.

“Much like people with medical implants, after a year of having the implant, I very much feel that it is part of my body. While it is exciting to be the first person to become infected by a computer virus in this way, I found it a surprisingly violating experience because the implant is so intimately connected to me but the situation is potentially out of my control.

“I believe it is necessary to acknowledge that our next evolutionary step may well mean that we all become part machine as we look to enhance ourselves. Indeed we may find that there are significant social pressures to have implantable technologies, either because it becomes as much of a social norm as say mobile phones, or because we’ll be disadvantaged if we do not. However we must be mindful of the new threats this step brings.”

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 28th May 2010

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

The UC San Diego RFIC chip could lead to less expensive imagers for detecting concealed weapons.

Electrical engineers from the University of California, San Diego are using W-Band silicon-germanium (SiGe) radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) for passive millimeter-wave imaging. The resulting imaging systems would identify concealed weapons, help helicopters land during dust storms, and enable high-frequency data communications.

The new millimeter-wave amplifier system works at the same frequency and follows the same principles as security imaging systems now in use in airports. The new circuit is unique in that it uses standard silicon semiconductor technology, while today’s security imaging systems often rely on expensive gallium arsenide or indium phosphide amplifiers.

The circuit includes an antenna that can be used to capture radiation in the millimeter-wave frequency emitted from the human body and from objects under a person’s clothing. This radiation passes through clothing largely or completely unaffected. Imagers operating at millimeter waves are particularly useful because they can resolve images down to a millimeter scale, fine enough detail to identify small objects and separate items on a person’s body. Using signal processing, these kinds of scanners can put together a temperature map of a person’s body that includes any objects underneath the clothing.

Click here for the full story.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st July 2009

with Human Presence Sensor

Eizo Nanao Corp will release a color wide LCD monitor equipped with a presence sensor.

Designed for use in offices,

the monitor detects the presence of a person with an infrared sensor.

And it shifts to the power saving mode when it finds the user leaving his or her desk and automatically resumes normal operation when the user returns.

The product comes in two types, the FlexScan EV2023W-H and the FlexScan EV2303W-T. The former is a 20-inch model with a resolution of 1,600 x 900, and the latter is a 23-inch model with 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.

The typical power consumption of the former model is 25W, and that of the latter model is 18W. In the power saving mode, the power consumption of the both models is 0.7W or lower.

The “EcoView Sense,” a power saving function based on the presence sensor, detects objects within a 120cm range from the sensor unit by using an infrared sensor installed on the lower part of the front face of the monitor. The monitor shifts to the power saving mode when it determines that nobody is in the detection range for 40 seconds.

In order to avoid malfunction in small offices or in similar situations, the monitor checks the fluctuations in the detected values. And the monitor judges that the user has left the desk when the fluctuation in the detected value is lower than the predetermined level. To discriminate a person from a chair, etc, an object that does not move for one minute or longer is determined to be a still object even if it is in the 120cm range.

From the perspective of environmental friendliness, the product has an improved recycling efficiency and is compliant with “TCO Displays 5.0,” the latest version of an international environmental standard, according to Nanao.

Also, the new product features a thin and light monitor unit. Each model has a monitor unit that is approximately 40% lighter than that of the existing model. Nanao reduced the number of sheet metal parts and increased the number of ribs in the resin parts to maintain the strength.

Furthermore, the company adopted new stand mechanisms called the “FlexStand” and the “TriStand.” The FlexStand mechanism adopted for the EV2023W-H has the “world’s largest class” height adjustment range of 225mm, according to Nanao. The mechanism has a tilt angle of 30° and a horizontal rotation angle of up to 172°. It can be vertically rotated as well.

The TriStand mechanism adopted for the EV2303W-T has a height adjustment range of 60mm, a tilt angle of 25° and a horizontal rotation angle of up to 172°. The EV2023W and the EV2303W respectively employs the vertical alignment (VA) and twisted nematic (TN) driving methods for the LCD panel.

Although there are no manufacturer’s suggested retail prices, the direct sales prices of the EV2023W-H and the EV2303W-T are ¥37,800 (approx US$385) and ¥44,800 (both including tax). They will be released May 21, 2009.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st July 209

Passes Down Cultural Heritage to

Future Generations

Japanese researchers prototyped a memory system that can store large volumes of data for more than a thousand years.

The system, “Digital Rosetta Stone (DRS),” was announced June 16, 2009, by Keio University, Sharp Corp and Kyoto University at the 2009 Symposium on VLSI Circuits, which is taking place in Kyoto, Japan (lecture number: C3-3). They stacked wafers mounted with mask ROM and packaged it with SiO₂. Power supply and signal communication are conducted by wireless.

To store various cultural heritage that has so far been created by mankind as digital information and hand it down to posterity, it is necessary to develop a memory system that can store data for more than a thousand years and has a capacity of 1 Tbit or more and a data access speed of 100Mbps or more, according to the researchers.

In the case of HDDs, data could be lost in four to 40 years due to the influence of magnetic field. And data stored in an optical disc could be lost in 30 to 100 years when affected by oxygen or moisture. On the other hand, semiconductor devices can keep data intact for a thousand years or more if the humidity around the chip is kept at 2% or less.

Thus, the researchers proposed the idea of saving data on the mask ROM with electron-beam direct-writing technology, stocking the wafers and packaging them with SiO₂ to form a “slate.” When a wafer (reader) for reading data is attached to the slate, it becomes possible to supply power and communicate signals by wireless.

If four 15-inch wafers made by using 45nm CMOS technology are stacked, the memory capacity will be 2.5 Tbits.

This time, the researchers utilized 0.18?m CMOS technology and prototyped test chips corresponding to the slate and the reader. The size of the test chips is 5 x 5mm. The diameter of the inductor is 2mm for power supply and 0.4mm for data communication. And the capacity of the mask ROM is 1 Mbit.

They succeeded in providing 56mW power to the slate by four-channel wireless transmission when the distance between the slate and the reader is 0.2mm. By this method, a data transmission speed of 150Mbps can be realized.

• [VLSI] Univ of Tokyo Doubles SSD Random Write Speed
• [VLSI] NEC Develops Technology to Slash Write Current of Embedded MRAM

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st July 2009

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (UPI) — U.S. scientists say they’ve created tunable fluidic micro lenses that can focus light at will while remaining stationary and can be fabricated on a chip.

The Pennsylvania State University research engineers said such fluidic lenses can be used for many applications, such as counting cells, evaluating molecules or creating on-chip optical tweezers. The lenses might also provide imaging in medical devices, eliminating the necessity of moving the tip of a probe, they added.

The researchers, led by Assistant Professor Tony Jun Huang, said conventional, fixed focal length lenses can focus light at only one distance and the entire lens must move to focus on an object or to change the direction of the light. Fluidic lenses, however, can change focal length or direction in less than a second while remaining in the same place.

“We use water and a calcium chloride solution because they are readily available and safe and their optical properties have been well characterized,” said Huang.

The research that included graduate students Sz-Chin Lin, Michael Lapsley, Jinjie Shi, Bala Juluri and Xiaole Mao was reported in a recent issue of the journal Lab on a Chip.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 18th May 2009

wireless way

Dr Jun Jo controls his robots with his mobile phone (Image: Griffith University)

A robot controlled by wireless technology could be used to control bomb disposal and security reconnaissance vehicles, its Australian creator says.

Dr Jun Jo, a senior lecturer at Griffith University, created the prototype of a ‘bomb removal car’ with postgraduate students.

The robotic car is controlled by Bluetooth wireless networking technology, which potentially allows an operator to stay at a safe distance while sending the vehicle into a hazardous situation.

A video camera mounted onto the front of the robot streams images back to the operator.

The operator can then direct the robot to a particular location, identify a suspicious package and scoop it up with an in-built shovel.

“Through a camera I can see what the robot sees and with Bluetooth I can control it within 100 metres,” says Jo.

At 20 centimetres long, the robotic vehicle is about the size of a child’s model car.

“It looks like a toy at this stage, but I want to build a larger one,” he says.

Linking technology

Bluetooth networking is commonly used to link computers and mobiles to peripheral devices. But Jo says there are also many potential applications for Bluetooth and robotics, not just in dangerous situations.

“I am looking at applications in both the security industry and in entertainment,” says Jo, who also runs the university’s robotics and games research laboratory.

“Robotics and games share many qualities in their control methods and algorithms,” he says. “I feel in the near future there will be more
applications for robots in the games industry.”

Robotic football, for example, is a concept that enthusiasts already explore using teams of four-legged players: Sony Aibo robot dogs.

Meanwhile, mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson is exploring using Bluetooth applications for fun, such as a tiny toy car that can be controlled easily by mobile phone.

Recently the company also unveiled a remote-controlled digital camera on wheels called ROB-1. The camera can be steered from a mobile and sends a video stream back to handset, so the owner can decide what pictures to shoot.

Problems with video

There are limitations to the quality of video people can expect from Bluetooth, says Jo.

“One of the drawbacks of Bluetooth is that it is a medium transmission speed. It’s not bad for five frames per second, which would allow you to work out where an object is.”

Jo’s prototype is based on Bluetooth for now, but could be adapted to other current or future networking standards.

“At the moment Bluetooth is one of the most advanced mobile networking technologies, but others will come in time and they could be easily added to such a system,” he says.

The robotic car could be expanded to work with Australia’s 3G or GPRS mobile data networks, which he says could make control possible from distant locations.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 13th May 2009

ZARAGOZA, Spain (UPI) — Spanish university scientists have developed a wheelchair controlled by the power of thought, promising to transform life for people with severe disabilities.

The wheelchair, developed at the University of Zaragoza, has a laser sensor and a screen that displays a real-time, three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of the wheelchair’s surroundings. To steer the chair, a user concentrates on the part of the display where he or she wants to go, and electrodes in a skullcap detect the user’s brain activity and work out the destination, the researchers said.

Sensors on the wheels keep track of the chair’s position as it moves. The laser scanner detects obstacles to avoid collisions, so the chair can be used in unfamiliar surroundings, the researchers said in a paper.

Volunteers took just 45 minutes to learn how to use a prototype chair safely and accurately, said associate professor Javier Minguez, an expert in mobile robotic navigation and brain-computer interfaces who headed the chair-development team.

The prototype can handle only two thought commands a minute and can be used for only about two hours since the wet gel used to fix the electrodes to a user’s head dries and loses its effectiveness.

An improved version that could go into commercial production is being developed, Minguez said.

The wheelchair is not the first to be controlled by brain waves, but is the first to incorporate mind-control in a system of real-time navigation, route planning and collision avoidance, computer science lecturer Palaniappan Ramaswamy of Britain’s University of Essex, told New Scientist magazine.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 4th May 2009

Andy Greenberg , 11.08.07, 6:00AM ET

. In Pictures: Putting Robots To Work

Drive all by themselves. But TerraMax’s autonomous driving technology could save lives by doing more mundane chores, including automatically following another car in a convoy or providing a warning system aimed at preventing a human driver from making dangerous mistakes.

In Pictures: Putting Robots To Work

TerraMax is the largest–and easily the most terrifying–of the 11 robotic vehicles that participated in the final race of DARPA’s Urban Challenge in early November, a milestone event that showcased the robotic cars’ ability to follow complex routes and negotiate traffic completely under their own control through 60 city miles. (See: “Viva La Robot Revolution!”) The race, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon’s research wing, offered $3.5 million in prizes designed to springboard the robotics industry and help fulfill Congress’s ambitious mandate that one-third of all military vehicles be unmanned by the year 2015.

But the race also underscored how far away that goal still is: At one point, two robotic SUVs collided. Another mistook a driveway for a road. TerraMax itself came within inches of plowing into a concrete pillar and had to be taken off the course.

Taken together, all of these imperfections prove to many roboticists that the dream of a totally driverless fleet of military vehicles is still too complex–both technically and politically–to be more than science fiction. But that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of time. What DARPA’s race really demonstrated, they argue, is that robotic driving technology is ready to work together with human drivers–not to replace them.

“This was a fun event, but it clearly shows that the world is not ready for autonomous driving,” says Sebastian Thrun, the head of the Stanford team whose robotic Passat, “Junior,” took the competition’s second-place prize. In the near term, Thrun says, these autonomous driving technologies should be put to work in warning systems and automatic stopping controls, devices that he says could reduce the 95% of vehicular deaths that are caused by human error. Thrun points out that more than 42,000 automobile casualties occur in the United States every year. “It’s a number that keeps me up at night,” Thrun says. “If we could cut that in half, it would be an incredible achievement.”

The key to applying imperfect robotic technology to present problems, says autonomous-driving researcher Jay Gowdy, is to combine humans’ ability to understand their surroundings with a robot’s ability to measure and react consistently.

“We’re not building autonomous chauffeurs,” says Gowdy. “We’re building robotic horses.” Like a horse, Gowdy says, a robotic car of the near future might control much of the moment-by-moment decision-making that goes into getting from point A to point B. But if the robotic car were “spooked,” he says, a human driver could take control.

That kind of robotic integration is well on its way. Gowdy works for Natick, Mass.-based Cognex (nasdaq: CGNX – news – people ), a company that has developed lane-departure warnings systems that “watch” the lane lines on the road. Installed in trucks, those sensors can alert a sleepy driver who is weaving out of his or her lane.

Adaptive cruise control, pioneered by companies like Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, uses the same laser and radar scanners installed on DARPA’s robotic cars to maintain a set distance from other vehicles on a highway. Sensor developers like IBEO and its parent company, SICK, in Walkirch, Germany, are working on electronic eyes that could one day help cars spot–and so avoid–pedestrians, animals or other obstacles.

Off-road, where traffic doesn’t complicate matters, robotic driving is even more practical. Caterpillar Construction (nyse: CAT – news – people ), which sponsored the three top teams in this year’s DARPA’s challenge, now equips some of its bulldozers with a combination of GPS and laser scanners to allow for semi-autonomous earth-moving. The driver has merely to guide the vehicle back and forth, and the blade robotically positions itself to create a perfectly flat surface.

Red Whittaker, the head of Carnegie Mellon’s Tartan Racing Team, whose robotic Chevy Tahoe called “Boss” took the top prize of $2 million in the most recent DARPA race, cites another off-road application: farming. Whittaker, who farms about 300 acres of land in his spare time, points out that Trimble, the company that created global-positioning satellite systems for many of the robots in the race, also sells a system called “EZ Steer,” a small steering-wheel attachment that robotically guides tractors. “Farmland goes for miles–you want straight, even, careful rows. You don’t want to compact the land you’re driving on, so you drive in the same tracks year after year after year,” he says. “A good guidance system creates much higher quality and higher performance.”

If all of these developing technologies mean that DARPA’s dollars are funding commercial applications more than military advances, it wouldn’t be the first time, says Stanford’s Sebastian Thrun. The Internet, Thrun points out, was also originally sponsored by DARPA, with technology built by university and industry teams. “Did the military intend to foster porn-surfing on the Web?” he asks. “I doubt it.”

Whether DARPA’s autonomous driving initiative spurs more military or civilian spin-offs isn’t as important as simply making driving safer, Thrun says.

“A life saved is a life saved,” he says. “In these moments of disruptive technology, everyone benefits.”

In Pictures: Putting Robots To Work

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 1st May 2009