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Genesis Robotics launches revolutionary new actuator for robots that eliminates the need for gears

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Company claims its LiveDrive actuator system offers “unparalleled performance”, and will replace traditional gears – and change the global robotics market forever

A well-funded startup called Genesis Robotics claims it has developed “breakthrough” technology which is set to change the global robotics market. 

The vast majority of robots today use gears in their actuators and other parts. Gears – as an invention – are thousands of years old and have served industry and humanity well and will continue to do so, but Genesis claims it has developed a better solution, which it calls LiveDrive.

Genesis says traditional gears are slow, expensive and the way their teeth work creates something called “backlash” – like a rebound or bounceback as the teeth from different gears interact or collide, as well as friction. This inevitably leads to waste of energy.

Genesis’ LiveDrive system does not use teeth, so doesn’t have bounceback and reduces that type of friction. The company says its actuator is also less expensive to begin with and could lead to longer-term savings because it’s more energy-efficient – so its total cost of ownership is much lower.  [Read more…] about Genesis Robotics launches revolutionary new actuator for robots that eliminates the need for gears

Nvidia launches new board for robotics development

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Company says its IoT platform for manufacturing, industrial, retail will be made possible by Nvidia’s artificially intelligent-powered Jetson 

Nvidia has unveiled the Nvidia Jetson TX2, a credit card-sized platform that it says delivers AI computing at the edge – opening the door to “powerfully intelligent” factory robots, commercial drones and smart cameras for AI cities. 

Jetson TX2 offers twice the performance of its predecessor, or it can run at more than twice the power efficiency, while drawing less than 7.5 watts of power. This allows Jetson TX2 to run larger, deeper neural networks on edge devices.

The result: smarter devices with higher accuracy and faster response times for tasks like image classification, navigation and speech recognition. [Read more…] about Nvidia launches new board for robotics development

Most complex nanoparticle crystal ever made by design

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complex crystal

The most complex crystal designed and built from nanoparticles has been reported by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. The work demonstrates that some of nature’s most complicated structures can be deliberately assembled if researchers can control the shapes of the particles and the way they connect using DNA.

“This is a tour de force demonstration of what is possible when one harnesses the chemistry of DNA and combines it with nanoparticles whose shapes encourage a particular crystal structure,” said Chad A. Mirkin, the George B. Rathmann Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.

Nanotechnology promises to bring materials together in new ways, forging new capabilities by design. One potential application for crystals built of nanoparticles, such as these newly reported ones, is the control of light — nanoparticles interact well with light waves because they are similar in size. This could lead to materials that can change colors or patterns on command or block certain wavelengths of light, while transmitting or amplifying others. New types of lenses, lasers and even Star Trek-like cloaking materials are possible. [Read more…] about Most complex nanoparticle crystal ever made by design

How protein misfolding may kickstart chemical evolution

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gene

Researchers from Emory University and Georgia Tech have demonstrated the connection between abnormal folding of proteins and the emergence of life. Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions involving abnormal folding of proteins, may help explain the emergence of life – and how to create it.

Researchers at Emory University and Georgia Tech demonstrated this connection in two new papers published by Nature Chemistry: “Design of multi-phase dynamic chemical networks” and “Catalytic diversity in self-propagating peptide assemblies.”

“In the first paper we showed that you can create tension between a chemical and physical system to give rise to more complex systems. And in the second paper, we showed that these complex systems can have remarkable and unexpected functions,” said David Lynn, a systems chemist at Emory who led the research. “The work was inspired by our current understanding of Darwinian selection of protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.” [Read more…] about How protein misfolding may kickstart chemical evolution

Sugar’s ‘tipping point’ link to Alzheimer’s disease revealed

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sugar cubes

For the first time a “tipping point” molecular link between the blood sugar glucose and Alzheimer’s disease has been established by scientists, who have shown that excess glucose damages a vital enzyme involved with inflammation response to the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycaemia, is well-known as a characteristic of diabetes and obesity, but its link to Alzheimer’s disease is less familiar.

Diabetes patients have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy individuals. In Alzheimer’s disease abnormal proteins aggregate to form plaques and tangles in the brain which progressively damage the brain and lead to severe cognitive decline. [Read more…] about Sugar’s ‘tipping point’ link to Alzheimer’s disease revealed

Echord++ produces new video showcasing its robotics research and development facilities

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The European Coordination Hub for Open Robotics Development has been showcasing its innovation facilities through a new video.

The organisation likes to be known as Echord++ and offers funding to develop robotics technology for real use-cases.

The new video provides an insight of the group’s robotics innovation facilities, their technical equipment, application domains and services.  [Read more…] about Echord++ produces new video showcasing its robotics research and development facilities

Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage

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hydrogen

Sometimes, you have to go small to win big. That is the approach a multilab, interdisciplinary team took in using nanoparticles and a novel nanoconfinement system to develop a method to change hydrogen storage properties.

This discovery could enable the creation of high-capacity hydrogen storage materials capable of quick refueling, improving the performance of emerging hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, collaborated on the research, which was published Feb. 8 in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

The work was funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office and the Boeing Co. [Read more…] about Big changes from a small package for hydrogen storage

Genetic ‘switch’ in animals offers clues to evolutionary origins of fine motor skills

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gene

Switch drives supply of nerve cells to hands and feet – findings highlight complexity and diversity of cells in the central nervous system that are required for movement

Researchers have identified a genetic signature found exclusively in the nerve cells that supply, or innervate, the muscles of an organism’s outermost extremities: the hands and feet.

This signature, observed in both mice and chicks, involves the coordinated activity of multiple genes, and is fundamentally distinct from cells innervating nearby anatomical regions, such as more proximal muscles in the limb.

The findings suggest that the evolution of the extremities may be related to the emergence of fine motor control, such as grasping – one of biology’s most essential adaptations.

The study, led by neuroscientists at Columbia University’s Mortimer Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and New York University, was published today in the journal Neuron. [Read more…] about Genetic ‘switch’ in animals offers clues to evolutionary origins of fine motor skills

UCLA physicists map the atomic structure of an alloy

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nanoparticles

Researchers measured the coordinates of more than 23,000 atoms in a technologically important material.

The results demonstrate that the positions of tens of thousands of atoms can be precisely identified and then fed into quantum mechanics calculations to correlate imperfections and defects with material properties at the single-atom level.

This research will be published February 2 in the journal Nature. [Read more…] about UCLA physicists map the atomic structure of an alloy

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