Power and Electrical Engineering

Fatronik Technological Centre has put the finishing touches to the development of a portable climbing robot capable of carrying out precision operations and originally designed for the aeronautics sector.

Despite being a highly technological industry, most aeronautical assemblies are still little automated, given the ever greater size of aeroplanes and the need to have large and expensive means of production.

Given this problem, Fatronik has designed a solution that is

Imagine a firefighter scrambling through a burning building, searching for survivors of a devastating explosion. Injured people on the far side of a brick wall, but out of reach. However, the partner on the other side promptly smashes through the wall, clears a path so both can help the survivors. Science fiction perhaps? No, this is exactly the scenario that partners in the PELOTE project have been working on.

Libor Preucil, from the Czech Technical University in Prague and coor

The potential applications for flexible plastic electronics are enormous — from electronic books to radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to electronics for cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptop computers — but certain technological hurdles must be overcome before we see such widespread use.

Now a Northwestern University team of materials chemists report a breakthrough in the race to find the right materials for producing cost-effective, high-performan

An improved method for depositing nanoporous, conducting polymer films on miniaturized device features has been demonstrated by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Described in the April 6 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society,* the method may be useful as a general technique for reproducibly fabricating microdevices such as sensors for detecting toxic chemicals.

Unlike most polymers, conducting polymers have the elec

A new type of transistor structure, invented by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has broken the 600 gigahertz speed barrier. The goal of a terahertz transistor for high-speed computing and communications applications could now be within reach. The new device – built from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide – is designed with a compositionally graded collector, base and emitter to reduce transit time and improve current density. With their pseud

The SINTEF Group, in co-operation with the re-cycling company Tomra now goes beyond cash deposits for bottles and cans to recycling plastic, glass and metal. Newly developed, patented technology makes it possible to sort different types of plastic, different colours of glass as well as metal – easily, effectively and inexpensively. A new, inexpensive gas-detector that contributes to a better indoor climate, is another area of use.

Although many things can be recycled or reused,