Archives for August 23, 2019

Scurrying cockroaches help researchers steady staggering robots

Ew, a cockroach! But it zips off before the swatter appears. Now, researchers have leveraged the bug’s superb scurrying skills to create a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots.

Normally, tedious modeling of mechanics, electronics, and information science is required to understand how insects’ or robots’ moving parts coordinate smoothly to take them places.

But in a new study, biomechanics researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology boiled down the sprints of cockroaches to handy principles and equations they then used to make a test robot amble about better. [Read more…] about Scurrying cockroaches help researchers steady staggering robots

Huawei claims its new chip is ‘world’s most powerful AI processor’

Huawei has launched the Ascend 910, claiming it to be “the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence processor”. The company has also unveiled MindSpore, “an all-scenario AI computing framework”.

The Chinese electronics and telecommunications giant has been under pressure in the global market after the US effectively banned it from trading there.

So this is its response. [Read more…] about Huawei claims its new chip is ‘world’s most powerful AI processor’

New lasers can weld ceramics without furnace, claim scientists

Smartphones that don’t scratch or shatter. Metal-free pacemakers. Electronics for space and other harsh environments.

These could all be made possible thanks to a new ceramic welding technology developed by a team of engineers at the University of California San Diego and the University of California Riverside.

The process, published in the August 23 issue of Science, uses an ultrafast pulsed laser to melt ceramic materials along the interface and fuse them together. [Read more…] about New lasers can weld ceramics without furnace, claim scientists

PC running slow? Speed up your computer by cleaning it with CCleaner

By William Downhill, MoltenSoft

Every computer gets there at some point. Everything is running slower, the fans are turning at ten thousand rpm, and every so often the screen just freezes arbitrarily, even if there isn’t anything running.

Regular users immediately think “I must have a virus!”

But that’s not always right. Often times, the only thing making your computer run like a turtle through a vat of cold honey is just that your computer needs to be cleaned up. [Read more…] about PC running slow? Speed up your computer by cleaning it with CCleaner

Kuka receives large order from Donghee for robotic welding systems

Industrial robot manufacturer Kuka says it has received an order in the “single-digit million euro range” from the Korean automotive supplier Donghee Industrial.

The order was booked in the second quarter of 2019.

Donghee relies on robot-based friction stir welding from Kuka in the area of electric mobility. [Read more…] about Kuka receives large order from Donghee for robotic welding systems

GM to invest $150 million in Flint truck assembly plant

General Motors has announced the second major expansion of its full-size pickup production capacity this year: a $150 million investment at Flint Assembly to increase production of the all-new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups.

This news follows GM’s announcement last month to expand light-duty, full-size pickup production capacity in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in response to strong customer demand.

GM has invested more than $1.6 billion in the Flint Assembly since 2013, enabling an increase in the truck plant’s production capacity of the all-new Chevrolet and GMC HD pickups by about 40,000 vehicles annually, including more crew cab models and diesels. [Read more…] about GM to invest $150 million in Flint truck assembly plant