TechBlog

The concept of wireless sensing is a fascinating and promising area. The potential for industrial, commercial and consumer uses boggles the mind and in some cases sounds like something from a futuristic movie.

Because of the vastness of potential applications, the hype at the introductory stages of this technology to some degree exceeds the level of technology available now in the real world. While some manufacturers have ventured forth with solutions for specific industrial applications, other organizations (including sensor manufacturers, the government and academia) are doing research and development on the bleeding edge of the vision for wireless sensor networks.

Wireless sensors are used in a variety of industrial and commercial applications such as machine condition monitoring, structural health monitoring, process control/discrete manufacturing control, biomedical, heating and ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) controls, logistics and agriculture. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it demonstrates the already wide array of uses being investigated for wireless technology.

Continue reading ‘Wireless develops extrasensory vision of future’ »

By Kimberly Patch, Technology Research News

It turns out that butterflies’ fluttering is neither random nor clumsy.

Researchers from Oxford University in England have devised a method of studying the way butterflies fly, and their initial results show that the insects have many more tricks of flight than they get credit for.

The researchers trained red admiral butterflies to fly between artificial flowers in a wind tunnel, and recorded the way air flowed around their wings using smoke and high-resolution cameras. The work provides fodder for researchers working on insect-sized flying robots.

Continue reading ‘Butterflies offer lessons for robots’ »

A Spy And A RoboFly:

This radio-controlled insect-like aircraft is actually a robotic dragonfly spy called DelFly II developed by robot jockeys at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. It can fly for at least 15 minutes and can take off and land vertically, and can even fly backwards. Imagine this robot improved even further; its developers is planning to create a DelFly Nano with a wingspan of just two inches, making it effectively invisible. Check out the video after the jump.

Here is its Video:

I’m in two minds about this story - impressed, because nanotechnology is cool and tiny robots are even cooler, but more than a little disturbed at the idea of killer robots flying around and zapping people in the neck.  Reuters is reporting that Israel are developing a bionic hornet that could chase, photograph and eventually kill enemy combatants or terrorists.  Able to navigate tightly confined areas and so small as to be difficult to target by traditional weaponry, the concept is expected to reach prototype stage within three years.

It’s uncertain as yet whether the robots would be remotely controlled or have some sort of AI, though a combination of both is perhaps most likely; general targeting by remote, while short-range sensors automatically manage obstacle avoidance, tracking and flight.

The motors are not really servos, they are more like digital actuators and are called AIMotors because they have all these cool features like position and current feedback. This particular model is the second gen of the Ai series, the AI701 specially designed for robotics by Korean manufacturer MegaRobotics. The dog kit used fourteen of these AI701 modules for the dog’s body and head. The more powerful AI1001 is also available. More on this when I get some free time.

You can find the kit at Tribotix and also E-Clec-Tech for a bit less.

Continue reading ‘MGR-K401 Robotic Dog’ »

      Christopher Conte is a New York artist and prosthesis engineer. Like his early inspiration, HR Giger, he likes smudging the boundaries between flesh and machinery. His site features some of his impressive sculptures and BEAM robots. Seen above are (top to bottom): His “Singer Insect,” made from antique instrument and sewing machine parts, the “Steam-Powered Insect,” made from cast bronze and stainless steel components, and a “Microbotic Insect,” a vibrobot made from watch parts, a pager motor, and piano wire. While on his site, make sure to take a look at the gas-powered R/C helicopter he outfitted with four model rocket missiles. A pyromaniacal kid’s wet dream!

The molecular machinery behind gene transcription — the intricate transfer of information from a segment of DNA to a corresponding strand of messenger RNA — isn’t stationed in special “transcription factories” within a cell nucleus, according to Cornell researchers. Instead, the enzyme RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and other key molecules can assemble at the site of an activated gene, regardless of the gene’s position.

The findings, published recently in the journal Molecular Cell, are the result of an ongoing collaboration between the laboratories of John T. Lis, the Barbara McClintock Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Watt W. Webb, professor of applied physics and the S.B. Eckert Professor in Engineering. Jie Yao, the paper’s lead author, recently finished his Ph.D. at Cornell under Webb.

Watching genes turn on: Multiphoton microscopy images of living cells show the transcriptional activation of heat shock loci in real time.Using multiphoton microscopy, a technique developed by Webb that allows high-precision 3D imaging in living cells, the researchers observed polytene chromosomes — giant, multistranded chromosomes in the salivary gland tissue of fruit flies that have hundreds of sets of the genome instead of the usual two sets in conventional cells.They activated heat shock genes, which protect cells from sudden rises in temperature, and watched them in real time as they began to be transcribed. The researchers also tagged Pol II with a fluorescent marker to track its movements within the nucleus.

Continue reading ‘Research Sheds Light On The Mechanics Of Gene Transcription’ »