Tag Archives: georgia tech

Georgia Tech develops self-charging battery that marches to the owner’s beat

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Georgia Tech develops selfcharging battery with laws of physics still intact

One of the last times we saw the concept of a self-recharging battery, it was part of a high-minded Nokia patent whose ideas still haven't seen the light of day. Researchers at Georgia Tech are more inclined to put theory into practice. Starting from a regular lithium-ion coin battery, the team has replaced the usual divider between electrodes with a polyvinylidene difluoride film whose piezoelectric nature produces a charging action inside that gap through just a little pressure, with no outside voltage required to make the magic happen. The developers have even thumbed their noses at skeptics by very literally walking the walk -- slipping the test battery under a shoe sole gives it a proper dose of energy with every footstep. At this stage, the challenge mostly involves ramping up the maximum power through upgrades such as more squeezable piezoelectrics. Georgia Tech hasn't progressed so far as to have production plans in mind; it's nonetheless close enough that we could see future forms of wearable computing that rarely need an electrical pick-me-up.

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Georgia Tech develops self-charging battery that marches to the owner's beat originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia Tech models swimming, cargo-carrying nanobots

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Georgia Tech models swimming, cargocarrying nanobots

The nanobot war is escalating. Not content to let Penn State's nanospiders win the day, Georgia Tech has answered back with a noticeably less creepy blood-swimming robot model of its own, whose look is more that of a fish than any arachnid this time around. It still uses material changes to exert movement -- here exposing hydrogels to electricity, heat, light or magnetism -- but Georgia Tech's method steers the 10-micron trooper to its destination through far more innocuous-sounding flaps. Researchers' goals are still as benign as ever, with the goal either to deliver drugs or to build minuscule structures piece-by-piece. The catch is that rather important mention of a "model" from earlier: Georgia Tech only has a scientifically viable design to work from and needs someone to build it. Should someone step up, there's a world of potential from schools of tiny swimmers targeting exactly what ails us.

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Georgia Tech models swimming, cargo-carrying nanobots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills

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Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation, motor skills

We've seen a good number of electronic gloves before, and now researchers at Georgia Tech have devised one to rehabilitate patients who suffer from paralyzing spinal cord injuries while teaching them how to tickle the ivories. Christened Mobile Music Touch, the black mitt pairs with a keyboard and cues individual fingers with vibrations to play notes. The handgear also buzzes constantly for several hours to stimulate recovery while users go about their day, similar to another yellowjacket-developed solution. After treatment, some patients could pick up objects and feel textures they hadn't been able to -- especially remarkable since, according to the university, little improvement is typically seen a year after injuries are sustained. Folks who learned to play the piano with the device also experienced better results than those who did without it. Project leader Dr. Tanya Markow believes that the rehab's success could be caused by renewed brain activity that sometimes lies dormant. For the full skinny, head past the break for the press release and a video of the gauntlet in action.

[Thanks, Timothy]

Continue reading Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills

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Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robotic Camera Mimics Eye Movement

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For all of our advances in robotics, robots still have trouble reproducing the complicated movements of the human eye. We have not had the ability to effectively mimic the movement of our eyes, so researchers have been creating robots with unnatural eyes. However, now their eyes will be crafted more like ours. Researchers at Georgia Tech have finally created robotic cameras with a more natural eye movement thanks to piezoelectric cellular actuators.

robot eye
A piezoelectric cellular actuator is able to expand or contract when current is applied, which turns signals into motion in the actuator. The research is being conducted by Joshua Schultz and assistant professor Jun Ueda.

This research can lead to not only more lifelike robots, but better surgical robots and a host nof other applications as well. It’s a big step for robotics.

[via The Verge via Geekosystem]


Georgia Tech scientists developing biology-inspired system to give robot eyes more human-like motion

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Georgia Tech scientists develop biologyinspired system to give robot eyes more humanlike motion

Having difficulty getting your robot parts to work as planned? Turn to nature -- or better yet, look inside yourself. After all, where better to find inspiration than the humans that the machines will one day enslave, right? Researchers at Georgia Tech have been working to develop a system to control cameras in robots that utilizes similar functionality as human muscle. Says Ph.D. candidate Joshua Schultz,

The actuators developed in our lab embody many properties in common with biological muscle, especially a cellular structure. Essentially, in the human eye muscles are controlled by neural impulses. Eventually, the actuators we are developing will be used to capture the kinematics and performance of the human eye.

The team recently showed off their work at the EEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics in Rome. When fully developed, they anticipate that the piezoelectric system could be used for MRI-based surgery, rehabilitation and research of the human eye.

Georgia Tech scientists developing biology-inspired system to give robot eyes more human-like motion originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 04:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia Tech’s Shimi robot wants to rock with you all night, rock the night away

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Georgia Tech's Shimi robot wants to rock with you all night, rock the night away

Shimi certainly has the makings of a viral video hit, but its creators at Georgia Tech want you to know that there's more to the dancing robot than just a pretty face. The "interactive musical buddy," designed by the school's Center for Music Technology, is a one-foot-tall smartphone-enabled "docking station with a brain." Shimi has a whole slew of functionality, using the phone's face-detection to track listeners and better position its speakers. Users can also clap out a beat, which the 'bot will use to pull a matching song from the phone's playlist, playing the track and, naturally, dancing to the beat. Forthcoming functionality includes the ability for users to shake their heads or wave a hand to affect Shimi's song choices. Google I/O attendees will get the opportunity for a closer look at Shimi this week in San Francisco. In the meantime, check out a couple of videos of the robot doing its thing after the break.

Continue reading Georgia Tech's Shimi robot wants to rock with you all night, rock the night away

Georgia Tech's Shimi robot wants to rock with you all night, rock the night away originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The new stars of reggae are nothing like the old ones

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The new stars of the reggae scene... are stars

Earthly music just ain't enough for reggae / rock band Echo Movement. In search of extraterrestrial inspiration, they hooked up with researchers at Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab, which specializes in turning ugly numbers into beautiful music. Using data from NASA's Kepler telescope and its search for Earth II, SonLab generated "sequences of sonified musical pitches" from fluctuations in a star's brightness (meet Kepler 4665989). Echo Movement got their loop on and composed a harmony from the sequences, adding a tremolo effect from another star's pattern for a softer sound. Unfortunately, the finished track isn't out til September, but in the meantime you can hear the six-second celestial hook at the source link -- just don't blame us if you get pangs of Nokia-stalgia. Also, if you want to imagine how Echo Movement might use the sample, we've embedded one of their rarer songs -- that doesn't involve Spider-Man's girlfriend -- after the break.

Continue reading The new stars of reggae are nothing like the old ones

The new stars of reggae are nothing like the old ones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jun 2012 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia Tech develops poultry deboning robot / chicken nightmare machine

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If you have any chickens in the house, you're going to want to keep them away from the computer. Georgia Tech researchers have developed the device that will haunt their feathered dreams. The prototype Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System has a built-in 3D vision system in order to help it cut and debone a chicken. The robot uses collected data and custom algorithms to help reduce bone fragments and increase yield on birds, whilst ensuring that no fowl with ever get a full night's sleep again. The school has begun testing the system, as evidenced by the unfortunate bird picture above. Press release after the break, if you're not too chicken.

Continue reading Georgia Tech develops poultry deboning robot / chicken nightmare machine

Georgia Tech develops poultry deboning robot / chicken nightmare machine originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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