All-solid Li-polymer Battery Goes

Flexible, Slim

Mie Industry Enterprise Support Center (MIESC) announced that it prototyped a “sheet-type all-solid polymer lithium storage battery” by using only printing processes.

The battery is safe, thin, flexible and large in area, MIESC said. It will be exhibited at the 1st Int’l Rechargeable Battery Expo, which will take place from March 3 to 5, 2010, in Tokyo.

The positive electrode layer, electrolyte layer and negative electrode layer of the lithium-ion battery are made by roll-to-roll processes. No separator is used between layers.

The positive electrode is made with LiFePO₄ and a carbon complex while the negative electrode is made with Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and a complex of graphite, silicon, etc. A film made of a polymer material using a cross-linked polyethylene oxide is used for the electrolyte.

The polymer material is not in a gel state but in a solid state, and the battery does not use an organic electrolyte, which is flammable, ensuring high safety.

The A6-size lithium-ion battery is 450?m in thickness. Its initial capacity is 45mAh. When half of the capacity is discharged, its voltage is 1.8V. The discharge rate can be changed between 0.02C and 1.0C.

Existing all-solid lithium polymer storage batteries can hardly be used at a room temperature or below. But the new battery can be used even at a temperature from 0 to 25°C, MIESC said. The charge-discharge cycle is more than 100 and is still being evaluated, it said.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 4th March 2010

TATTOO YOUR CELL PHONE ONTO YOUR SKIN

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

E – BANDS FOR OLD HEART PATIENTS

REMOTELY REPORTS THEIR CONDITION TO HOSPITALS

This idea aims to provide medical attention to old incapacitated people who cannot intimate the hospitals about their health in case of a serious heart attack.

All such old peoples would be provided with an E-Band which would consist of  pulse rate detecting equipment.

This equipment would consist of a pulse rate detecting sensor and a microprocessor. The sensor would constantly monitor the pulse rate of the patient and at regular intervals send the pulse rate as input to the microprocessor.

The microprocessor would be so programmed so that it generates a high output if appreciable fall or rise in the pulse rate is observed.

This output would be in turn connected to the transmitter attached to the walking stick used by the patient. As soon as the transmitter receives a high signal, it would transmit data signals consisting of a certain bit combination which would be unique for each patient, to the nearest hospital.

The hospital would be provided with the receiver in order to receive the signals and depending bit pattern in the signal, the location of the victim can be easily identified and in this way immediate medical attention can be given to the patient.

For power supply, Batteries and a switch connection is provided in the walking stick. Whenever the switch is switched on the entire circuitry would perform the above mentioned functionality. The market acquiring capacity of this product would be immense as this only requires a normal pulse detecting sensor and a microprocessor which are quite easily available and a small interface circuit between them.

Again the transmitter also is an easily available component and connection also does not require a lot of hardware. Apart from this the idea involves the usage of some minor hardware such as wiring to provide dc power and to send the microprocessor output to the transmitter and a battery and switch connection.

In the hospital a receiver is required in order to receive the transmitted signals and determine the location of the patient depending on bit pattern. And the cost involved surely is worth saving a life.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

“Create the Future” Sustainable

Technologies Category Winner

The 2008 NASA Tech Briefs “Create the Future Design Contest,” presented by SolidWorks, recognized innovation in product design in six categories: Consumer Products, Machinery & Equipment, Medical, Safety & Security, Sustainable Technologies, and Transportation. Here is the winner of the Sustainable Technologies category, along with the two honorable mentions.

Efficient Air Conditioner

Lindsay Meek
Perth, Australia

This design improves the energy efficiency of a residential air conditioner by replacing the traditional reciprocating compressor (bore and stroke) with a higher efficiency permanent magnet motor coupled to a scroll compressor. Recent advances in permanent magnet motors used in modern hybrid car electric drives and wind turbine generation have seen the incorporation of strong NdFeB magnets into the rotor, which greatly improves the motor efficiency. The compressor motor is then driven by a compact IGBT inverter stage with a motor controller, so motor current consumption can be optimized at the different operating speeds.

The other improvement that can be made is to replace the traditional refrigerant expansion valve with a similar scroll expander turbine coupled to a second permanent magnet generator. The decompression of the refrigerant gas through the turbine on its way to the condenser allows some of the work used to compress the gas to be recovered and converted back into electrical energy. The generator is connected to a second compact IGBT inverter stage with a motor controller, and can be controlled in conjunction with the compressor motor controller to regulate the pressure and flow rate of the gas through the system.

The two inverters are connected together via a common, high-voltage DC bus, so the electrical energy recovered from the decompression state can be reused by the compression stage, improving the overall efficiency of the refrigeration cycle. Finally, an AC-DC rectifier power supply is needed to provide the main work energy for the DC bus to keep the cycle operating. The above improvements should lower the power consumption by at least 30%.

For more information, contact the inventor at lindsaymeek@hotmail.com

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

Electromagnetic Rail Motor
Tim Cormier
Beavercreek, OH

The Electromagnetic Rail Motor (ERM) can power anything from aircraft and cars, to artificial human limbs. The ERM is based on the modern rail gun. By taking the two rails and forming a ring, a continuous rotational force is created that is easily managed and controlled. The speed of rotation can be directly controlled by adjusting the voltage, similar to a gas pedal. Once the ERM powers up, the motor rotation will accelerate to its terminal speed. The blades act as both rotational shafts and as propeller blades to help cool the motor during extremely high speeds. The rail housing holds the assembly together and keeps the rails in place to counter the immense separation force.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th Sept 2009

20 of the least known

inventors

1…GEORGE C BEIDLER. USA inventor of the photocopier in 19…

2…HARRY BREARLY. English inventor of stainless steel in 1913

3…WILLIS CARRIER.USA inventor of air-conditioning in 1902

5…MRS W.A. COCHRAN. USA inventor of the auto dishwasher

6…ADOLF E FICK. German inventor of contact lenses in 1887

7…DR. R.N. HARGER. American inventor of the breathaliser in 1938 [or drunkometer as it was known then]

8…EDWIN T HOLMES. USA inventor of the burglar alarm in 1858

9…MILLER REECE HUTCHINSON. USA inventor of hearing aid

10..WITCOMB L JUDSON. American inventor of the zip in 1893

11..CARLTON C MAGEE. USA inventor of the park meter in 19…

12..JACK MARKS. English inventor of the boxer’s gumshield 1902

13..KARL LUDWIG NESSLER. German inventor of the hair perm in 1906 [only became a hairdresser because his eyesight was too poor for shoe making]

14..JAMES RANSOME. English inventor of the motor mower 1902

15..ERIK ROTHEIM. Norwegian inventor of the aerosol in 1926

16..LUCIEN B SMITH. American inventor of barbed wire in 1874

17..CHARLES STRITE. American inventor of the toaster in 1927

18..JOHAAN VAALER. Norwegian inventor of the paperclip in 1900

19..ARTHUR WYNNE. English inventor of the crossword in 1913

20..JOSEPH L ZIMMERMAN. American inventor of the telephone answering machine in 1949. [His first device was called the Electronic Secretary]

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th July 2009

Imaging System Identifies Concealed Weapons Using RF Chips

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

[VLSI] ‘Digital Rosetta Stone’

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

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MONKEY

GLOWS IN THE DARK??

Oregon researchers have created the first genetically modified monkey. ANDi, a playful, coffee-colored rhesus monkey born on October 2nd 2000, has been engineered to carry a gene from another species. The work demonstrates that a foreign gene can be delivered and inserted into a primate chromosome. The researchers anticipate that gene insertions in the monkey will lead to primate models of human diseases—like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease and obesity—that will offer a more robust testing ground for new drugs, gene therapy and modified stem cells. ANDi (DNA inserted spelled backward) is the first transgenic monkey. “Our ultimate goal is to produce human disease models. Primates show human pathology better than mice, which, in many cases, are the only systems we have for modeling human diseases,” says Anthony Chan, of the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, in Beaverton. The report is published in this week’s issue of Science. Chan’s goal was to show that a foreign gene can be inserted into a monkey’s chromosome and produce a functional protein. The GFP gene was chosen because the protein it produces emits a fluorescent green glow that can easily be seen through a microscope. Eventually scientists want to insert human disease genes and study disease progression in monkeys, says Chan. Tissue samples taken from ANDi’s cheek, hair, umbilical cord and placenta confirm that the cells contain the GFP gene and corresponding mRNA; the molecule that bridges the gap between DNA and protein. However, when the tissue was examined under the microscope, no green protein could be seen. “Maybe the quantity of protein is too small to be seen or maybe the mRNA is not being translated,” says Chan. The team will continue to monitor ANDi for GFP; Some transgenic animals do not produce any foreign protein until after the first year. (LEFT)Virus particles carrying the GFP gene are injected into the unfertilized egg. The gene (white) is released from the virus and incorporated into the chromosome. (RIGHT)About 6 hours after introducing the virus scientists artificially fertilize the egg by injecting a sperm from a male rhesus. The fertilized egg then begins to grow and divide. Two to three days later when the egg has divided twice and become a four-celled embryo it is implanted into a surrogate mother. Courtesy Oregon Regional Primate Research Cente VIEW THE LINK BELOW FOR MORE

• Introducing ANDi: The first genetically modified monkey
  Oregon researchers have created the first genetically modified monkey. ANDi, a playful, coffee-colored rhesus monkey born on October 2nd 2000, …
  www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/01_01/ANDi.shtml
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• Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 29th May 2009
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Scientists create liquid lens on a chip

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