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Parking meters enter the 21st century

Mike Pearson says:

But how will it affect peoples perception of their local council?

Amplify’d from www.stuff.co.nz
a hi-tech wireless parking system that monitors all vehicle movements

The MeterEye system offers “electronic chalking” on cars which overstay in parking spaces through its in-ground dinner plate-sized sensors, wireless “mesh” networking and a web-based reporting system.

At the top end, there is even scope for automatic number plate recognition cameras with which the system can “date stamp” when vehicles arrive and leave the central business district.

The MeterEye system’s reporting and analysis offers reports on parking space occupancy, length of stays and enforcement efficiency at the punch of a button. Mr Perrier said sensors also ensured meters were reset to zero when a car left a space “so there is no piggy-backing on unused time”.

Read more at www.stuff.co.nz
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 days ago

A 25-Year Nuclear Battery

Amplify’d from www.technologyreview.com
A 25-Year Battery

Long-lived nuclear batteries powered by hydrogen isotopes are in testing for military applications.

Batteries that harvest energy from the nuclear decay of isotopes can produce very low levels of current and last for decades without needing to be replaced. A new version of the batteries, called betavoltaics, is being developed by an Ithaca, NY-based company and tested by Lockheed Martin. The batteries could potentially power electrical circuits that protect military planes and missiles from tampering by destroying information stored in the systems, or by sending out a warning signal to a military center. The batteries are expected to last for 25 years. The company, called Widetronix, is also working with medical-device makers to develop batteries that could last decades for implantable medical devices.

Read more at www.technologyreview.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  2 months ago

Kiwi company delivers low-cost telemetry solution

Amplify’d from computerworld.co.nz

Digital Telemetry steps up for Hutt City

Kiwi company delivers low-cost telemetry solution

A year ago it became aware of a system developed by a Hutt-based company, Digital Telemetry, which has developed its own Java-based software that communicates via the Vodafone cellphone network.
“We’d been looking at a system the Rotorua Council uses but that cost $20,000 a unit,” George says. Digital Telemetry’s units were just $1000 each, plus $65 a month for the service.”
“We’re also looking at setting up a semi-portable unit as a plug and play device that can be connected to instrumentation that measures pH (acidity and alkalinity),” he says.
The council has also used the technology for a digital road sign on the Wainui hill road that can be changed on the fly to warn of accidents or changing traffic conditions.
The cost was just $5000 compared with around $60,000 per sign spent on the nearby Hutt Road.
“If you’re saving a site visit a month, you’re paying for the technology immediately,”Read more at computerworld.co.nz
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  2 months ago

New tech to stop Li-ion battery fires

Amplify’d from www.stuff.co.nz

New tech to stop laptop fires

A new technology to prevent lithium-ion batteries from catching fire or exploding in laptops and mobile phones may be on the market as soon as the first quarter of 2010, its inventor said.

The invention, called Stoba, was developed at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan’s national research organisation.

When lithium-ion batteries develop internal shorts they can quickly heat up to as much as 500 degrees centigrade (932 degrees Fahrenheit) and catch fire or explode.

Stoba sits between the positive and negative sides of the battery and when the battery hits 130 degrees centigrade (266 degrees Fahrenheit), Stoba transforms from a porous material to a film and shuts down the reaction.

Read more at www.stuff.co.nz
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  2 months ago

Slowing Down Speeders With Optical Illusions

Amplify’d from www.sciencedaily.com

Slowing Down Speeders
Pavement Markings Make Drivers Feel They Are Going Too Fast

Engineers have developed new pavement markings that give drivers the illusion that the car is moving faster than it really is. The markings, called optical speed bars, are series of lines painted at decreasing intervals on the road. Early tests show the bars are getting drivers to slow down. Read more at www.sciencedaily.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago

Liquid Granite: Building Material Of The Future Unveiled

Amplify’d from www.sciencedaily.com

Liquid Granite: Building Material Of The Future Unveiled

Scientists have developed a new building material that is fire resistant to temperatures in excess of 1100 degrees Celsius, is made largely from recycled material and is as versatile as concrete.
The material is made up of between 30 and 70 per cent recycled material, mainly base products from industry. It uses less than one third of the cement used in precast concrete, which also reduces its carbon footprint.
“Liquid Granite is a very versatile material that can be used in a similar way to concrete. The fact it has a high level of fire resistance means that it can be used in areas where fire safety is crucial, such as around power stations, and in domestic and commercial buildings can offer added time for evacuation in case of an emergency.Read more at www.sciencedaily.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago

Muscle-Controlled Computer Interface

Amplify’d from www.technologyreview.com
Muscle-Bound Computer Interface

Forearm electrodes could enable new forms of hands-free computer interaction.

It’s a good time to be communicating with computers. No longer are we constrained by the mouse and keyboard–touch screens and gesture-based controllers are becoming increasingly common. A startup called Emotiv Systems even sells a cap that reads brain activity, allowing the wearer to control a computer game with her thoughts.

Now, researchers at Microsoft, the University of Washington in Seattle, and the University of Toronto in Canada have come up with another way to interact with computers: a muscle-controlled interface that allows for hands-free, gestural interaction.

Read more at www.technologyreview.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago

Coin-sized nuclear batteries to revolutionise electronics

Amplify’d from blogs.zdnet.com

Coin-sized nuclear batteries to revolutionise electronics

A nuclear battery is not a new concept. For years they have been praised for their longevity and ability to keep running for years, decades longer than the lifespan of ordinary batteries.

Research engineers at the University of Missouri have developed a battery which takes advantage of the decay of benign radioactive elements to create electricity. While nuclear batteries have been used in healthcare, space equipment and military devices, the potential they hold could rule out the need for wireless power.

The real development here is the size factor. Before this feat of engineering, due to the nature of the battery, the radioactive element would decay and provide power, but in the process would damage the semiconductor device which actually collects the energy.

Read more at blogs.zdnet.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago

Satellite Data Look Behind The Scenes Of Deadly Earthquake

Amplify’d from www.sciencedaily.com

Satellite Data Look Behind The Scenes Of Deadly Earthquake

Using satellite radar data and GPS measurements, Chinese researchers have explained the exceptional geological events leading to the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake that killed nearly 90,000 people in China’s Sichuan Province.

To learn this, Sun and Prof. Zhengkang Shen of IGCEA and Peking University’s Department of Geophysics, and collaborators acquired two kinds of satellite radar data: Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data in C-band from ESA’s Envisat satellite and Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data from Japan’s ALOS satellite.

“This is perhaps the very first time people have seen the complete deformation field produced by an earthquake on such a large scale,” Sun said.

Read more at www.sciencedaily.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago

Video Camera That Records At The Speed Of Thought

Amplify’d from www.sciencedaily.com

Video Camera That Records At The Speed Of Thought

European researchers who created an ultra-fast, extremely high-resolution video camera have enabled dozens of medical applications, including one scenario that can record ‘thought’ processes travelling along neurons.

The Megaframe project scored a staggering number of breakthroughs to create the world’s first 1024 pixel, photon-resolution, million-frame-per-second CMOS camera.

Their work has pushed the boundaries of CMOS (a type of semiconductor) miniaturisation and sophistication. But it is in the application of their technology that the most stunning impacts of the Megaframe project will be seen, particularly in medical applications.

That is because the camera can detect a single photon at a million times a second, and so it can record molecular processes in unprecedented detail. Read more at www.sciencedaily.com
 
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Posted by Mike Pearson  3 months ago
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