A Summary Of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting For Autonomous Smart Structures


The technology of energy harvesting has great potential to enable energy autonomy of wireless sensors. The drop of power requirements of micro-electronic devices allows confidence that piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) is able to reliably power a wireless sensor network (WSN). The present work summarizes results of ongoing research in the field of PEH. With the aid of a performance metric a... » read more

System Bits: July 15


Automating bridge inspections with robotics The University of Waterloo has come up with robotics that could be used in automated inspection of bridges, making sure such critical infrastructure is safe and sound. The technology promises to make bridge inspection cheaper and easier. The system collects data for defect detection and analysis through a combination of autonomous robots, cameras,... » read more

System Bits: Aug. 1


Quantum Computing Takes A Step Forward UCLA physicists have developed a technique for measuring and controlling the energy differences of electron valley states in silicon quantum dots, which they view as a key component of quantum computing. Joshua Schoenfield, a UCLA graduate student and one of the paper's authors, explained that "an individual qubit can exist in a complex wave-like m... » read more