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Honda adds driver assist tech to all 2019 Civics
In 2014, Honda added driver-assist technology called Sensing to its higher-end trim packages on select models. The system is part of the automaker's plans to bring Sensing to all its vehicles by 2022 and perfect self-driving cars by 2025. It's available, but not standard, as of 2019 for all Honda vehicles. This year, however, the company will include Sensing safety features for all trim levels of the Civic Sedan and Coupe.
Smartphone-powered mine detectors readied for field-testing in Cambodia (video)
Red Lotus Technologies is now refining and pitching its PETALS technology for real-world use around the world. Short for Pattern Enhancement Tool for Assisting Landmine Sensing, the system connects acoustic sensors to smartphones, outputting a silhouette of what lies below onto the phone's screen. The company has expanded from an initial research project that paired mine-detecting sensors with the processing clout (and availability of) smartphones. It's now developed some tablet-based training equipment for de-miners and, working alongside the Landmine Relief Fund, aims to field-test the devices in Cambodia before launching them next year.
Ford, GE and University of Michigan team up on sensor to track EV battery life, keep us on the road
Believe it or not, EV battery life is still something of a Pandora's Box, even for automakers: they can tell you the battery pack's current and voltage, but not how it's really performing under pressure. Ford, GE and the University of Michigan are uniting to unlock that mystery through a new ARPA-E project. In its role, GE is developing a minuscule sensor array that will track the nuances of battery cells that existing technology misses; it will promptly hand the baton to researchers at the University of Michigan, who plan to both prove that GE's data is on the mark as well as develop tricks for predicting behavior. Ford handles the last mile, almost literally: it's planning to fit the GE sensor technology to one of its cars and test in a more realistic environment. Before you fantasize about knowing the lifespan of your Focus Electric's battery down to the minute, however, the new alliance is stressing that it's only just getting started -- there's another three years and $3.1 million to go before the project wraps up. If all goes according to plan, though, we'll have electric cars and plug-in hybrids that can not only tell when they've seen better days but can eke out extra miles through smarter battery designs.
ARM forms UK group to foster an Internet of Things, put 50 billion devices online by 2020
ARM isn't content with dominating the mobile space. It's been by the far the most vocal about an Internet of Things where everything is connected -- and to make that happen, it just established an industry forum in the UK that it hopes will establish common ground for all those internet-linked light bulbs, refrigerators and thermostats. Home energy firm Alertme, cloud-aware sensing outfit AquaMW, lighting maker EnLight and white space wireless guru Neul will start meeting with ARM from August 24th onwards to hash out our automated, eco-friendly future. There's a certain urgency in this for the chip designer: it expects 50 billion devices on the grid by 2020. With IDC estimating a billion new connected devices just in 2011, the clock on that connected device transition is ticking very loudly.
Nokia and X-Prize put medical sensors on the spot for next challenge
Sometimes the X-Prize foundation gets a little ahead of itself. We couldn't get a private mission to the moon off the ground and apparently we can't built a tricorder either. But, we can take baby steps. Presumably that's what the newest X Challenge is all about. The group has teamed up with a certain Finnish phone maker to introduce the Nokia Sensing X Challenge. Rather than dive head first into Star Trek tech, the two are offering $2.25 million to further the development of health sensors and their associated technology. Nokia's interest is clear: it's widely expected that those tricorders of our dreams will one day become a reality and take the form of our cellphones. The challenge will actually be broken up into three different events to be held over the next three years, with many of the same competitors expected to follow up by entering Qualcomm's competition. For more, check out the PR after the break.
Insert Coin: Knut WiFi-enabled sensor hub (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. On the surface, Knut (pronounced Kah-noot) doesn't sound terribly exciting -- it's a pocketable WiFi-enabled device that beams you realtime stats over the web. But consider the possible applications, and you'll be much more anxious to pick one up. You can use Knut to measure humidity in your humidor, the temperature in your fish tank or even the status of a door or window. You can monitor stats in realtime, or set alerts so you'll know something's wrong before your goldfish cooks in the tank, those precious Cuban cigars you smuggled through Customs dry up and crumble or someone sneaks into your house through a window after you check in miles away on Foursquare. After popping in a pair of AAA batteries (which are said to last from 2 weeks to 10 years, depending on the battery and syncing options), you assign Knut an email address, which it then uses to communicate. Other Knuts can use the same email address, from which they'll send updates at pre-set intervals. Knut ships with built-in temperature and battery level sensors, and it's compatible with a variety of add-ons, from humidity and vibration to door and water presence sensors. You can also create your own sensor using the breakout board. The project creators have developed a functional prototype, but they need to raise additional funds to pay programmers and buy materials for mass production. As usual, that's where you come in. The first 200 Kickstarter backers can hop on board the pre-order train with a pledge of $80, while an unlimited number of devices will be available for $95. A $115 pledge will get you a Knut and an additional sensor, while $175 will up the order to one Knut, three sensors and a three-port hub. There's six weeks left to go on the campaign, with a goal of $25,000 and an estimated September ship date. As always, you'll find everything you need in the demo video and source link, just after the break.
Metal detectors and smartphones make beautiful, mine-sniffing music together
Harvard researchers have married a smartphone to a metal detector to create PETALS, a low cost way to improve mine detection in third-world countries. Traditionally, locating land mines has required a carefully trained ear to distinguish deadly explosives from, say, a can. This new system removes some of the guesswork by mapping the beeps on a cell phone screen, creating a silhouette of whatever is beneath the surface. Similar results have been accomplished using acoustic sensors, but so far they've been relegated to research projects and would likely be too expensive for use where they're needed most. Not only should the simplicity of PETALS (which stands for Pattern Enhancement Tool for Assisting Land mine Sensing) make it cheap and easy to deploy but, in tests novice de-miners were able to improve their performance by 80 percent -- that's a least a few less brave humanitarians going "boom" in the field.
Scientists stumble upon bomb-sniffing laser with a boomerang effect
You might think of a laser as light forced into a single, directed beam, but scientists have recently discovered that if you fire a laser in one direction, the air itself can fire another right back. Using a 226nm UV laser, researchers at Princeton University managed to excite oxygen atoms to the point that they emit infrared light along the same channel as the original beam, except this time pointed back where it came from. Since the return beam's chemistry depends on the particles in the air to generate the return beam, the "backward laser" could potentially carry the signature of those particles back to the source and help identify them there. That seems to be the entire goal, in fact -- the project, funded by an Office of Naval Research program on "Sciences Addressing Asymmetric Explosive Threats," hopes that such a laser can ID bombs from a distance by hunting for trace chemicals in the air. Sounds like the perfect addition to our terahertz specs, and one step closer to the tricorder of our dreams.
Kinect turned into a quadrocopter radar (video)
Every night we go to bed thinking that we've finally seen the best Kinect hack done and every morning we wake up to see something even crazier concocted with Microsoft's motion controller. Today, it's been mounted atop a quadrocopter -- yes, man's future worst enemy -- and utilized essentially as a 3D radar, facilitating the bot's autonomous maneuvering around a predetermined track. The random introduction of obstacles is also handled in stride, leaving us equal parts impressed, apprehensive, and eager for more. See the video after the break. [Thanks, Glen]
Ubuntu prototype uses face recognition to intelligently move UI elements (video)
(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg Not that we haven't seen mock-ups before for systems using webcams to intelligently move user interface elements, but it's another thing entirely for a company to make a public proclamation that it's tinkering with implementing something of the sort into a future build of its OS. Over at the Canonical design blog, one Christian Giordano has revealed that the company is in the early stages of creating new ways to interact with Ubuntu, primarily by using proximity and orientation sensors in order to have one's PC react based on how they're sitting, where they're sitting and where their eyes / head are at. For instance -- once a user fires up a video and leans back, said video would automatically go into fullscreen mode. Similarly, if a user walked away to grab some coffee and a notification appeared, that notification would be displayed at fullscreen so that he / she could read it from faraway. There's no mention just yet on when the company plans to actually bring these ideas to end-users, but the video embedded after the break makes us long for "sooner" rather than "later."
PlayStation Move gets broken down -- so easy, an end-user could do it
Another week, another well-detailed tear down from the kids at iFixit. Blessed with an eight out of ten on the repairability index, the PlayStation Move was said to be one of the easiest devices yet to break down and reassemble, so there's a good chance that any novice DIYer with a steady hand and a Phillips screwdriver could accomplish what's shown in the link below. No huge surprises were found once the PCB's clothing was removed, but we were told that the Move controller contains a great many components that are found in today's modern smartphones: a processor, accelerometer, gyroscope, Bluetooth transmitter, vibrating motor, and even a MEMS compass. The sphere at the top can flash any color thanks to the included LEDs, and the integrated Li-ion battery can be disconnected (and thus, replaced) from the device without any soldering. Hit the source for the nitty-gritty, and hop on past the break for the highlights. Oh, and as a reminder, you can grab your own Move starting today if you call North America home.
UC Berkeley researchers craft ultra-sensitive artificial skin, robots dream of holding eggs
Researchers and engineers have been toiling on synthetic skins for years now, but most of 'em have run into one major problem: the fact that organic materials are poor semiconductors. In other words, older skins have required high levels of power to operate, and those using inorganic materials have traditionally been too fragile for use on prosthetics. Thanks to a team of researchers at UC Berkeley, though, we're looking at a new "pressure-sensitive electronic material from semiconductor nanowires." The new 'e-skin' is supposedly the first material made out of inorganic single crystalline semiconductors, and at least in theory, it could be widely used in at least two applications. First off, robots could use this skin to accurately determine how much force should be applied (or not applied, as the case may be) to hold a given object. Secondly, this skin could give touch back to those with artificial hands and limbs, though that would first require "significant advances in the integration of electronic sensors with the human nervous system. Dollars to donuts this gets tested on the gridiron when UCLA and / or Stanford comes to town.
250GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle tipped on 4GB packaging
Well, well -- what have we here? We already knew that Microsoft was planning to ship a 4GB Xbox 360 bundle that included Kinect, and now it seems as if the Big M will also package its forthcoming motion sensor with the 250GB 'box. Based on the packaging of a 4GB bundle over in Australia, it definitely looks as if consumers will have a more capacious option if buying an Xbox 360 for the first time with Kinect, but we're all waiting with bated breath to hear the official confirmation (or denial, but mostly just confirmation) from Ballmer's crew. Anytime now, folks....
iBuyPower's Magic makes any game playable through multitouch (video)
So, you just sprung for a multitouch-enabled Battalion CZ-11, eh? Too bad there's hardly any software out there for you to take advantage of. Er, was out there. iBuyPower -- a company most often associated with new hardware -- has just flexed its software muscle by creating a new system that will enable any game to played via multitouch, regardless of whether the game's creators gave it so much as a thought. Magic, which is short for Multitouch Advanced Gaming Interface and Control, is a proprietary piece of code designed specifically for the company's own touch-enabled laptops, and it works by linking a multitouch gesture to a command the game already understands, emulating multitouch commands by mapping keystrokes or mouse clicks. Best of all, it's available now as a gratis download, and we have little doubt that the hackers in attendance will have this working on Dells, Alienwares, Lenovos and HPs before you can spin around twice and add another smudge mark to your LCD.
'PlayStation Move' trademarked by Sony in Europe, reeks of motion controller involvement
We're exceptionally likely to find out the official name of Sony's PlayStation motion controller in just a few hours during the company's GDC press event, but till then, we've got one more late-breaking morsel to chew on: Move. According to trademark divers across the web, Sony has filed a European trademark for "PlayStation Move," which certainly sounds like a plausible title for some sort of motion-sensing apparatus. To date, we've also heard "Arc" thrown around (which we tend to prefer, if we're being candid), and the logo shown here -- which is said to belong to a separate trademark application -- definitely looks more like an "A" than an "M." Keep it locked right here for more as we get it.
STMicroelectronics' 3-axis MEMS gyroscope gives a new level of control to your mobile
Man, talk about timely. We heard right around 11 months ago that MEMS gyroscopes would be hitting an array of handsets in 2009, and while it's looking like that estimate will be just a touch off, you won't catch us kvetching with "early 2010." STMicroelectronics has just announced its new 3-axis MEMS gyroscope, which promises 360 degree "angular-rate detection for high-precision 3D gesture and motion recognition in mobile phones, game controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices." The gyro is said to provide two separate outputs for each of the three axes at the same time: a 400dps full-scale value for slow motion, and a 1,600dps full-scale value to detect and measure speedy gestures and movements. We're told that samples of the tech are available now with mass production scheduled for Q1 2010; and yeah PSP, it's totally cool if you keep sweating. NGage is about to be back... with a vengeance! [Via FarEastGizmos]
InvenSense gloats about world's first 6-axis MEMS-based motion sensing solution
We tell ya, some proud folks work at InvenSense. After boasting last year about its Wii MotionPlus-powering IDG-600 motion sensor, the company is set to gloat once more at E3 this year. The cause for celebration? Its 6-axis motion processing solution, which it's calling a world's first. Said solution weds its IME-3000 3-axis accelerometer with its IDG dual-axis family of gyros in order to produce a wicked small 6-axis motion sensor. In theory, at least, this creation is small enough to add MotionPlus-like capabilities to smartphones and other ridiculously small devices, with even TV remotes holding the promise of one day letting you "roll through" the EPG. Currently, the only big-name devices utilizing 5- or 6-axis motion functionality is Logitech's MX Air Mouse and the aforementioned MotionPlus accessory, but obviously InvenSense is hungry for more. Too bad that DSi already launched, right?
eSoles record foot pressure, not Inner City Pressure
The city is alive, the city is expanding, and we all know that living in the city can be demanding. But when lyrics from Jemaine and Bret just can't get you through the day, there's always eSoles -- er, something like that. At any rate, the aforesaid startup has developed specialized shoe insoles that are laced with pressure sensors (11 to be exact), all of which can communicate wirelessly with a nearby cellphone in order to provide real time analysis of one's step. In theory, these devices would enable athletes such as bikers and golfers to better understand how to position their feet in order to maximize performance. Founder Glen Hinshaw has stated that he hopes to have the product available in trial form by July, with full commercialization happening later this year. The pain? Around $300 to start, but he's hoping to bring that closer to $50 when production ramps up.
Space Invaders used to encourage exercising, snag an A+ in EE316
For those of us who haven't moved our fundament in three days, we can definitely attest to the fact that finding motivation to exercise is amongst life's greatest challenges. Not to fear, as Allen, Matt and Doug have decided to provide all the encourage we nerds need with their final EE316 (Computer Engineering) project. By utilizing an Axis network camera, a Bluetooth heart rate sensor and a few intelligent lines of code, they concocted a Space Invaders exercise program that requires the player to physically move in order to stay alive. Talk about incentive. Check the vid and full description in the read link.[Via Hack-A-Day]
Eizo's FlexScan EV2023W / EV2303W LCD monitors turn off when humans are away
Not that we haven't seen LCD monitors get less demanding when it comes to energy, but we've yet to see a company take eco-friendliness this far. Professional LCD maker Eizo has just announced a new pair of panels (the 20-inch FlexScan EV2023W-H and the 23-inch EV2303W-T) that boast a "human presence sensor." As the phrase implies, these displays are designed to shift to power saving mode when it realizes that its master has vacated the area, and when they return, it automatically flips back on in order to keep from being bashed by one of many USB-connected peripherals. Unfortunately, it seems the human detection timer can't be changed from 40 seconds, and no, there are no current plans to implement a robot presence sensor once the Apocalypse is realized.[Via FarEastGizmos]
