MIT researchers have designed an algorithm to ensure the fruitful cooperation of information-gathering robot teams. Their approach relies on balancing a tradeoff between data collected and energy expended — which eliminates the chance that a robot might execute a wasteful maneuver to gain just a smidgeon of information. The researchers say this assurance is vital […]
The top 5 most read articles online, from May 10-16, 2021, for Control Engineering covered automation resiliency, IIoT advantages, IIoT automation, safety instrumented systems and OT cybersecurity. Links to each article below. 1. Automation built for resiliency Resilient automation products and practices are a necessity for most industrial applications using sensors, wiring, power distribution, controllers, networks, […]
3D Systems says that it to expand its healthcare business in Denver, Colorado by over 50%. This follows the company’s strategy to develop new metal and polymer additive manufacturing (AM) products for applications in the industry, including patient-specific surgical instruments and implants manufactured. Plans are to improve 3D Systems’ time-to-market, expand its range and better […]
The organizers of ceramics industry conference ceramitec report that the next conference has been postponed to 21–24 June 2022. The decision to postpone the event was taken by Messe München and the exhibitors’ advisory board of ceramitec, which includes companies and associations of the ceramics industry. ‘The majority of partners and exhibitors would like to […]
Fiber handling specialist Cygnet Texkimp and The Northwest Composites Centre (NWCC) in the UK have partnered to test the company’s fiber winding technology against braiding and traditional filament winding. The project will demonstrate the damage tolerance and impact resistance of composite parts manufactured using Cygnet Texkimp’s multi axis winder (MAW) and 3D Winder technologies. Tests […]
NASA has a long history of supporting America’s entrepreneurs as they develop technologies from ideas to commercial readiness. The agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is furthering that legacy with 140 new Phase II awards to 127 U.S. small businesses that will help them move their innovations to market. The awards to these small […]
The 'chameleon skin' hydrogel-based chemosensor changes color in response to biogenic volatile amine vapors, which are a well-known indicator of fish and shrimp spoilage. Image: Lu et al./Cell Reports Physical Science. Researchers in China and Germany have designed an artificial color-changing material that mimics chameleon skin. The material is made up of luminogens (molecules that […]
This image shows 2D materials intersecting and twisting on top of each other, which modifies the energy landscape of the materials. Image: Ventsislav Valev. In 1884, Edwin Abbott wrote the novel Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions as a satire of Victorian hierarchy. He imagined a world that existed in only two dimensions, where the […]
It’s a classic case of industry hype overtaking any realistic expectations of a new technology — the story of the birth of narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) and how commercial hopes for the 4G technology have been severely damped down, at least in North America and Europe. The technology is designed to serve a specialized niche: connectivity based […]
MADISON, Wis. — In the digital age, we’ve either become more gullible or the hucksters who prey upon us, armed as they are with a plethora of shiny high-tech objects, have forsaken subterfuge entirely. They trust us to be stupid, and they might be right. I notice this on television, now rife with commercials aimed […]