System Bits: July 30


A camera that sees around corners Researchers at Stanford University developed a camera system that can detect moving objects around a corner, looking at single particles of light reflected on a wall. “People talk about building a camera that can see as well as humans for applications such as autonomous cars and robots, but we want to build systems that go well beyond that,” said Gordon... » read more

System Bits: July 10


Light waves run on silicon-based chips Researchers at the University of Sydney’s Nano Institute and Singapore University of Technology and Design collaborated on manipulating light waves on silicon-based microchips to keep coherent data as it travels thousands of miles on fiber-optic cables. Such waves—whether a tsunami or a photonic packet of information—are known as solitons. The... » read more

System Bits: June 10


SlothBot swings through the trees, slowly A robot that doesn’t often move, spending its days, weeks, months, in the forest canopy, monitoring the local environment – that’s SlothBot, from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The robot has two photovoltaic solar panels for its power source. It is designed to stay in the trees for months at a time. It’s gone through trials on the Geor... » read more

The Limits Of Energy Harvesting


Energy harvesting, once considered an inexpensive alternative to low-power design and a way of achieving nearly unlimited power in mobile devices, has settled down to more modest expectations. This approach to generating energy through a variety of means—from solar to motion to ambient RF and even pH differences between soil and trees—has been proven to work. The problem is that it doesn... » read more

System Bits: Feb. 11


Modeling computer vision on human vision University of Michigan scientists used digital foveation technology to render images that are more comprehensible to machine vision systems, while also reducing energy consumption by 80%. The effect is achieved by manipulating a camera’s firmware. “It'll make new things and things that were infeasible before, practical,” Professor Robert Dick s... » read more

System Bits: Jan. 29


Quantum physics make hybrid semiconductors glow Hybrid semiconducting materials have quantum properties capable of bringing significant changes to light-emitting diode lighting and monitors, along with photovoltaic solar cells, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology report. Physical chemists worked with halide organic-inorganic perovskite (HOIP), which combines a crystal lattice wi... » read more

What’s the Right Path For Scaling?


The growing challenges of traditional chip scaling at advanced nodes are prompting the industry to take a harder look at different options for future devices. Scaling is still on the list, with the industry laying plans for 5nm and beyond. But less conventional approaches are becoming more viable and gaining traction, as well, including advanced packaging and in-memory computing. Some option... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 18


Better AI technique for chemistry predictions CalTech researchers have found a new technique that uses machine learning more effectively to predict how complex chemicals will react to reagents. The tool is a new twist on similar machine learning techniques to find more effective catalysts without having the time-consuming trial-and-error research, making it a time-saver for drug researchers. ... » read more

System Bits: Aug. 21


Two types of computers create faster, less energy-intensive image processor for autonomous cars, security cameras, medical devices Stanford University researchers reminded that the image recognition technology that underlies today’s autonomous cars and aerial drones depends on artificial intelligence. These are the computers that essentially teach themselves to recognize objects like a dog, ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 10


Heating up EV batteries Researchers from Pennsylvania State University developed a self-heating battery that can charge rapidly in cold conditions, a step they hope could spread adoption of electric vehicles. "Electric vehicles are popular on the west coast because the weather is conducive," said Xiao-Guang Yang, assistant research professor in mechanical engineering, Penn State. "Once you ... » read more

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