Sensors

We've been following the evolution of patient-embedded medical sensors for some time - miniature devices that run on batteries, transcutaneous (through-the-skin) induced current, even sugar and provide constant monitoring of various metabolic parameters. Now, a team from Purdue University's Birck Nanotechnology Center has developed a prototype pressure sensor which promises to address the shortcomings of previous designs and utilizes a novel power supply: the acoustic energy from bass-heavy riffs of rap music. Read More

In the early 1900’s, Birmigham’s Oliver Lucas developed a steering wheel fitted with an electric car horn that quickly became an industry standard. For many years the horn remained the only button found on vehicle steering wheels, but nowadays they are covered with a multitude of buttons for controlling everything from the vehicle’s sound and climate control systems to on board computer functions and a connected smartphone. Researchers from Germany's Technische Universitaet Muenchen, working in collaboration with BMW, have now extended the function of the humble steering wheel even further with the development of a sensor system integrated into the steering wheel that can give the driver a quick health check while driving. Read More

Over the past ten years, scientists at the University of Sussex have been developing electric potential sensors, that could detect minute voltage changes in electrical fields from a distance. This October, England’s Plessey Semiconductors began shipping demo units of the commercialized product. Called the Electric Potential Integrated Circuit (EPIC) sensor, the device has several potential applications, not the least of which is its ability to deliver electrocardiogram (ECG) readings much less obtrusively than is currently possible. Read More

For a long time, the technological advances in footwear were limited to lighter and more durable materials, and improved support and comfort. But the miniaturization of electronics and wireless technology is opening up the possibilities for extending the capabilities of the humble shoe. With sports men and women striving to find even the tiniest advantage over their opponents, sports footwear is generally the place to look for the latest advances in footwear as evidenced by the latest offering from adidas. The company describes its new adizero f50 football boot, (or soccer boot depending on your location), as a “football boot with a brain.” Read More

When it comes to toxic gases, what you can’t see can most definitely hurt you. To improve the safety of military personnel, firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel who are often called into situations where they may be exposed to toxic gases, Morphix Technologies has developed the Chameleon chemical detection device. Designed to be worn on the forearm, the device can hold up to ten disposable cassettes, each of which detects a different toxic gas. Read More

According to a 2009 estimate by the U.S. Society of Civil Engineers, more than one in four U.S. bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. While newer “smart” bridges have embedded wired networks of sensors to monitor their structural integrity, the high cost of installing such systems on existing bridges is simply unaffordable for strained city, state and federal budgets. Now University of Maryland electrical engineering researcher Mehdi Kalantari has developed a tiny wireless sensor that monitors and transmits minute-by-minute data on a bridge’s structural integrity that he estimates is one-hundredth the cost of a wired network approach. Read More

For most of us, digitally capturing our six-string virtuosity involves plugging an axe into a guitar interface like Apogee's JAM and then launching some software on a laptop or mobile device. Researchers from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films are currently developing a somewhat neater, and potentially more accurate, solution that also holds the promise of replacing the humble guitar pickup. The guitar's tailpiece has been thinly coated with a contact material which is claimed to precisely capture complex playing movements in minute detail and convert them to digital control signals for onward processing. Read More

Concrete may be one of the toughest buildings materials in common use but it does develop cracks over time, and in the case of structures such as buildings or bridges, it is imperative that those cracks are noticed before they lead to a collapse. While visual inspections are useful, they are also time-consuming, and may miss tiny but structurally-significant cracks. Some technologies have been developed to automate the process, such as rust sensors for steel-reinforced concrete. Now, an international team of scientists is proposing a system of flexible crack-detecting skins, that could be applied to the surfaces of concrete surfaces. Read More

Providing robots with sensory inputs is one of the keys to the development of more capable and useful machines. Sight and hearing are the most common senses bestowed upon our mechanical friends (perhaps soon to be foes?), but even taste and smell have got a look in. With the sense of touch so important to human beings, there have also been a number of efforts to give robots the sense of touch so they can better navigate and interact with their environments. The latest attempt to create a touchy feely robot comes from the Technical University Munich (TUM) where researchers have produced small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, form a sensitive skin. Read More