Perpetual motion: A piezoelectric pacemaker that is powered by your heartbeat It sounds like the theoretical impossibility of perpetual motion, but engineers at the University of Michigan have created a pacemaker that is powered by the beating of your heart — no batteries required. The technology behind this new infinite-duration pacemaker is one that we’ve discussed before at length on ExtremeTech: piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity is literally “pressure electricity,” and it relates to certain materials that generate tiny amounts of electricity when deformed by an external force. Piezoelectricity is exciting because it can harvest energy from kinetic energy that is currently wasted — the vibration of machines, the straining of floorboards in public/commercial spaces, the wobbling of bridges, the soles of your feet as you walk. A conventional pacemaker. Or, in the case of the perpetual pacemaker, the vibrations in your chest as your heart pumps blood around your body. But why stop there?
Richard Lazzara - #PiezoElectric Richard Lazzara - #PiezoElectric Richard Lazzara - get smart RTD where is my #PiezoElectric General Electric Will Light Up 2014 NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Technology and infrastructure giant General Electric (GE_) began the year by focusing on growth of its industrial business and improvement in margins. GE, the world's leading jet engine and medical scanner maker, is now moving forward with its plan to reduce its reliance on the financial sector. For 2014, GE is targeting up to a 5% increase in sales, while its industrial division could contribute up to 70% of profits. With cost cutting measures and top-line growth, the business will consistently improve its profitability through 2016. Over the next couple of years, GE is looking for significant growth in international markets, driven by China and other regions rich in natural resources. The company's takeover strategy will fuel its inorganic growth. I am staying bullish on General Electric. Improving Profitability GE could enter 2014 on a high note. The business has consistently grown the margins of its Industrial unit since 2011.
Graphene For Smartphones Memscap Expands MUMPS(R) Standard Process Portfolio with Introduction of PiezoMUMPS(TM) MEMSCAP is First in Industry to Offer Piezoelectric Film-Integrated MEMS Prototyping Service GRENOBLE, France & Durham, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 02, 2013-- Regulatory News: MEMSCAP (NYSE Euronext: MEMS) (Paris:MEMS), the leading provider of innovative solutions based on MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) technology, today announces that it has expanded its standard process-based Multi Project Wafer(MPW) service with PiezoMUMPs(TM), the first publicly-available MPW service to incorporate a Piezoelectric film. This addition gives MEMSCAP an unparalleled four unique standard process offerings in its Multi User MEMS Processes (MUMPs(R)): PolyMUMPs(TM), SOIMUMPs(TM), MetalMUMPs(TM), and PiezoMUMPs(TM). "We'd been looking hard for another process to add to our service", said Buzz Hardy, Business Development Manager of MEMSCAP's Custom Products business unit, "but wanted to make sure it was something our loyal community would support. About MUMPs(R) About MEMSCAP steve.wilcenski@memscap.com
Fossil Fuels Just Lost the Race Against Renewables The race for renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there's no going back. The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels, according to an analysis presented Tuesday at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance annual summit in New York. "The electricity system is shifting to clean,'' Michael Liebreich, founder of BNEF, said in his keynote address. The Beginning of the End The price of wind and solar power continues to plummet, and is now on par or cheaper than grid electricity in many areas of the world. The question is no longer if the world will transition to cleaner energy, but how long it will take. The blue lines are what's needed, in billions; the red lines show what's actually being spent. Investment Needed to Minimize Climate Change Read This Next:
History Of Robots Could Change With More Life-like Eyeball July 6, 2012 Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online In Harry Potter, the paintings at Hogwarts did more than just follow you with their eyes, but in the real world, having a painting eye you down in a hallway would be creepy in itself. Researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye by using piezoelectric materials, allowing the robot eye to move more like a real eye. The new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safe, and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation, according to the team. The research will also be useful for studies on human eye movement, as well as making video feeds from robots more intuitive. The team’s cellular actuator concept was inspired by biological muscle structure that connects many small actuator units in a series or in parallel. The team presented a camera position driven by a cellular actuator technology, using a contractile ceramic to generate motion. Image 2 (below): Georgia Tech Ph.D.
Eye muscle inspires piezo-actuator - 7/6 The eye has inspired robot vision steering at Georgia Tech. Key to the control system is a muscle-like piezoelectric actuator. In muscle, many small actuator units are connected in series or in parallel. “The actuators developed in our lab embody many properties in common with biological muscle, especially a cellular structure,” said researcher Joshua Schultz. While piezoelectric materials expand or contract when electricity is applied, the minuscule displacement of piezo-ceramics limits use in robotics. In the Georgia Tech system “each muscle-like actuator consists of a piezoelectric material and a nested hierarchical set of strain amplifying mechanisms”, said fellow researcher Jun Ueda. The motor units are linked by flexible tissue, which serves two functions: combining the action of each motor, and presenting a compliant interface with the world, “which is critical in unstructured environments”, said Ueda. It uses 16 amplified piezoelectric stacks per side. Related posts
Systems: History of Piezoelectricity DISCOVERY AND INSIGHTS 1880 - 1882The first experimental demonstration of a connection between macroscopic piezoelectric phenomena and crystallographic structure was published in 1880 by Pierre and Jacques Curie. Their experiment consisted of a conclusive measurement of surface charges appearing on specially prepared crystals (tourmaline, quartz, topaz, cane sugar and Rochelle salt among them) which were subjected to mechanical stress. These results were a credit to the Curies' imagination and perseverance, considering that they were obtained with nothing more than tinfoil, glue, wire, magnets and a jeweler's saw. In the scientific circles of the day, this effect was considered quite a "discovery," and was quickly dubbed as "piezoelectricity" in order to distinguish it from other areas of scientific phenomenological experience such as "contact electricity" (friction generated static electricity) and "pyroelectricity" (electricity generated from crystals by heating).