Browse Topic: Consumer electronics

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SAE TOMORROW TODAY UNPLUGGED: Can Autonomous Vehicles Eliminate Distracted Driving?

1346507/10/2024

Distracted driving is an epidemic that shows no signs of slowing down. But autonomous vehicles could be the cure. As NHTSA gets ready to publish new data on distracted driving, hear from Grayson Brulte, Host of SAE Tomorrow Today, on why the addiction to our smart phones must be dealt with--and how AVs can help. Have your own thoughts on this topic? We'd love to hear from you! Share your comments, questions or ideas for future topics with Grayson on Twitter or send them to podcast@sae.org.

Hineman, Marcie

An Efficient and Cost-Effective Solution for Battery Recycling

TBMG-5084906/01/2024

Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops, and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited mostly to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries. The current state of the art methods can pose environmental challenges and be difficult to make economical at the industrial scale.

A Molecular-Sized, More Efficient Electronic Sensor

TBMG-4981301/01/2024

Australian researchers have developed a molecular-sized, more efficient version of a widely used electronic sensor, in a breakthrough that could bring widespread benefits.

Wearables: Gold Sensor Performs On-Body Chemical Analysis

TBMG-4695611/01/2022

Liquid Metal Turns Motion into Electricity, Even Underwater

TBMG-4691311/01/2022

The Short-flight Alternative

22AVEP04_0804/01/2022

The Budget Airline Car is an EV alt-shuttle seating six adults, with luggage storage in each door. Short-haul airline flights can be a great convenience for travelers, but they produce more CO2 emissions - about 250 g/km per person - than any other form of passenger transportation, including compact EVs and electric trains. That's about 25% more emissions than long-haul flights, because short-hop flying uses proportionately more fuel at takeoff and landing. Could an automotive alternative offer a solution? That is what Car Design Research (CDR), a U.K.-based consultancy, set out to investigate, working with design associates Yichen Shu in China and Aditya Jangid in India. The resulting concept is the Budget Airline Car, one of six new passenger-vehicle types that CDR director Sam Livingston and his team feel would be enabled by new mobility technologies.

Sensors Integrated in Clothing Monitor Heart Rate

TBMG-4553304/01/2022

Stretchable, bendable “smart” textiles are poised to reshape clothes of all kinds, creating new opportunities for integrating advanced monitoring technologies into everyday items. Researchers are applying neuroscience and psychophysiology to build responsive technologies like those integrated in smart textiles. They found that wearable sensor systems don't seem to perform as well in monitoring heart rates as traditional electrodes.

SintzUSER, Jeneane

Direct Alert to In-Vehicle Infotainment (DAIVI)

2022-01-026203/29/2022

Nowadays, the mobile phone features are widely used by drivers to get the notifications and alerts on the head unit. However, there are no available products in the market to get important notifications in Head units without the use of mobile phones. There are many important notifications that are critical for a user when he is away from home. Some of them are alerts from home security systems, smoke and gas detection alarms etc. Most of the existing systems push alerts to customer mobile phones. In this paper, the authors propose a concept to direct the alerts to In-Vehicle Infotainment systems. Proposed here is a new approach, Direct Alert to In-Vehicle Infotainment (DAIVI), in which the infotainment head unit will be able to get the notification or alerts without using a mobile phone. The DAIVI complements the existing systems of alerts to the user by using in-vehicle infotainment for alerting on the critical issue.

A Comparison of Mobile Phone Lidar Capture and Established Ground based 3d Scanning Methodologies.

2022-01-098803/29/2022

Ground-based LiDAR using FARO 3d scanners and other brands of scanners have been shown to be an accurate way to capture the geometry of accident scenes, accident vehicles and exemplar vehicles, as well as corresponding evidence from these sources such as roadway gouge marks, vehicle crush depth, and burn areas. However, ground-based scanners do require expensive and larger equipment to be brought on-site, as well as other materials that may be required depending on the scenario. New technologies, such as Apple’s mobile phone LiDAR capture, have been released recently in their newer model phones, and they offer a chance to obtain similar results but with less cumbersome and less expensive equipment. This technology embeds photos with lidar data that can then be exported into point cloud data using different applications available in the app store. This paper will investigate the accuracy of Apple mobile phone LiDAR on obtaining geometry from multiple exemplar vehicles. This mobile LiDAR

Miller, Seth Higgins, Hashemian, Alireza, Gillihan, Robert, Helms, Ethan

Rider State Monitoring for Attentiveness Detection for Enhanced Two-wheeler Safety

2021-26-002309/22/2021

Statistics report that one death occurs on Indian roads every three and a half minutes. With discussions on regulating new safety technologies like ABS, ESC, Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) etc. for two-wheelers in India, the automotive industry has been grappling with challenges, in terms of developing cost-effective and innovative solutions adapted to regional market and its customers. Also, regulations that mandate the use of rider assistive technologies not only present opportunities to improve road safety, but also challenges for safe adoption and implementation. Distracted and inattentive riding is one of the major causes for severe road accidents in two-wheeler segments . The causes of distraction can be many - but the foremost one - as indicated by the accident data analysis - is the distraction due to mobile phones. Additionally, distracted riding might interfere with safe activation of ARAS functionalities that feature highly dynamic interventions, as the rider is

UdayaShankar, Ashrith, Damodharan, Suchitra, Notani, Vipul, Gopinath, Anjana, Aravind, V, Y P, Nithin, Rao, Aditya

5 Ws of Puncture-Proof Soft Electronics

TBMG-3978809/01/2021

The durable soft electronics could be used in wearable electronics and soft robotics and could someday be part of a stretchable smartphone.

UV Sensors for Wearables Are Flexible, Sensitive

TBMG-3977009/01/2021

To enable the development of wearable devices that possess advanced ultraviolet (UV) detection functions, scientists have created a new type of light sensor that is both flexible and highly sensitive. A wearable device, such as a T-shirt or watch that monitors the actual personal UV exposure throughout the day, would be a useful and more accurate guide for people seeking to avoid sun damage.

Radiated emissions testing gathers bandwidth

21AUTP08_0708/01/2021

In a non-descript business park in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Bureau Veritas (BV) is conducting tests to help prevent electronic havoc. With today's vehicles chock full of wired and wireless devices - and tomorrow's more automated machines destined to expand the complement - ensuring this burgeoning technology isn't radiating disruptive frequencies will be crucial to expanding functions and features. For the coming electric/autonomous age, radiated frequencies will become the new emissions challenge. Often summarized as electro-magnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, the BV facility (which sits in sight of the re-christened Stellantis North American HQ) provides a host of testing, inspection and certification services designed to simplify and speed vehicle development. The Motown BV crew does this by helping to ensure electronic components don't radiate spurious electromagnetic interference known as radiated and conducted emissions, and that they remain functioning even when subjected to

Seredynski, Paul

Ultrahigh-Energy-Density Capacitor

TBMG-3961308/01/2021

Capacitors that rapidly store and release electric energy are key components in modern electronics and power systems; however, the most commonly used ones have low energy densities compared to other storage systems like batteries or fuel cells, which in turn cannot discharge and recharge rapidly without sustaining damage. By introducing isolated defects to a type of commercially available thin film in a straightforward post-processing step, a team has demonstrated that a common material can be processed into a top-performing energy storage material.

Stretchable Thermoelectric Generators

TBMG-3959908/01/2021

A soft and stretchable organic thermoelectric module has been created that can harvest energy from body heat. The breakthrough was enabled by a new composite material that may have widespread use in smart clothing, wearable electronics, and electronic skin.

Wearable Device Captures Cancer Cells from Blood

TBMG-3961808/01/2021

Tumors can release more than 1,000 cancer cells into the bloodstream in a single minute. Current methods of capturing cancer cells from blood rely on samples from the patient — usually no more than a tablespoon taken in a single draw. Some blood draws come back with no cancer cells, even in patients with advanced cancer, and a typical sample contains no more than 10 cancer cells.

Wearable, All-in-One Health Monitor

TBMG-3958508/01/2021

Engineers developed a soft, stretchy skin patch that can be worn on the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate while measuring the wearer’s levels of glucose as well as lactate, alcohol, or caffeine. It is the first wearable device that monitors cardiovascular signals and multiple biochemical levels in the human body at the same time.

Reduced Heat Leakage Improves Wearable Health Device

TBMG-3961708/01/2021

Researchers have enhanced a flexible body heat harvester by preventing heat leakage. The harvesters use heat energy from the human body to power wearable technologies. The technology relies on the same principles governing rigid thermoelectric harvesters that convert heat to electrical energy.

21AUTP03_1303/01/2021

As part of its series of virtual Tech Talks at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Panasonic hosted key battery engineers to discuss the fast-paced development of the cylindrical lithium-ion cells being produced at Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada. Providing insights into battery-production logistics, scale and automation was Celina Mikolajczak, VP of battery technology for Panasonic Energy of North America.

Seredynski, Paul

Empowering Soldiers Through ISPDS

TBMG-3853802/01/2021

According to research conducted by Markets and Markets (Northbrook, IL), the military wearables market is projected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2019 to $6.4 billion by 2025. That’s a 7.2% growth from 2019 in six short years. Soldier modernization programs that increase soldier coordination, rising asymmetric warfare, and potential geopolitical conflicts are all factors fueling the growth of this market.

Manufacturing Ultra-Thin Camera Lenses

TBMG-3849002/01/2021

In the future, camera lenses could be thousands of times thinner and significantly less resource-intensive to manufacture using new technology for making the artificial materials known as metasurfaces. These materials consist of a multitude of interacting nanoparticles that together can control light. Meta-surfaces can be used for optical components in portable electronics, sensors, cameras, or space satellites. The new technology for making such planar surfaces is based on a plastic that is already used today to create other microstructures.

Empowering Soldiers Through ISPDS

21AERP02_0102/01/2021

According to research conducted by MarketsandMarkets (Northbrook, IL), the military wearables market is projected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2019 to $6.4 billion by 2025. That's a 7.2% growth from 2019 in six short years. Soldier modernization programs that increase soldier coordination, rising asymmetric warfare, and potential geopolitical conflicts are all factors fueling the growth of this market. As soldier-carry technologies continue to expand in scope, soldier power solutions are becoming a critical operational issue. Without access to adequate power, however, these technologies (that include mobile control, communications, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, etc.) become useless on the battlefield and rapidly degrade capabilities. When without sufficient power, the wearable technologies meant to help soldiers more effectively execute operations can instead put them in harms' way.

Compact Infrared Spectrometer

TBMG-3847302/01/2021

Mobile phones can do almost anything. With these devices, it might even be possible to ascertain a beer’s alcohol content or how ripe a piece of fruit is. The infrared spectrometers used today for chemical analyses generally weigh several kilograms and are difficult to integrate into a handheld device.

Stretchable Micro-Supercapacitors to Self-Power Wearable Devices

TBMG-3854802/01/2021

A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international team of researchers, led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, the Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in Penn State’s department of engineering science and mechanics. The research team, with members from Penn State and Minjiang University and Nanjing University, both in China, recently published its results in Nano Energy.

Wearable Device Measures Cortisol in Sweat

TBMG-3834301/01/2021

The hormone cortisol rises and falls naturally throughout the day and can spike in response to stress, but current methods for measuring cortisol levels require waiting several days for results from a lab. By the time a person learns the results of a cortisol test — which may inform treatment for certain medical conditions — it is likely different from when the test was taken.

Energy-Harvesting Device Turns Wi-Fi Signals into Usable Power

TBMG-3833401/01/2021

Any device that sends out a Wi-Fi signal also emits terahertz waves — electromagnetic waves with a frequency somewhere between microwaves and infrared light. These high-frequency radiation waves, known as T-rays, are also produced by almost anything that registers a temperature including human bodies and inanimate objects. If harnessed, the concentrated power of terahertz waves could potentially serve as an alternate energy source; however, to date, terahertz waves are wasted energy, as there has been no practical way to capture and convert them into any usable form.

Supercapacitor Based on Manganese Oxide

TBMG-3833801/01/2021

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors. By combining manganese oxide with cobalt manganese oxide, a heterostructure is formed in which interfacial properties can be tuned.

Processor Power and Energy Efficiency

TBMG-3834801/01/2021

Think about what your cellphone was like 15 years ago. Most likely, it could be used only for telephone calls — no texting, no photos, no videos, and no music. Think about your business trips then with your carry-on bag crammed with a camera, a portable CD player, a travel alarm, maybe a GPS, possibly a tape recorder, a day planner, a calculator, and more.

Device Camouflages Wearer from Heat-Detecting Sensors

TBMG-3821512/01/2020

Researchers developed a wearable technology that can hide its wearer from heat-detecting sensors such as night vision goggles, even when the ambient temperature changes. The technology can adapt to temperature changes in just a few minutes, while keeping the wearer comfortable.

2020 Create the Future Design Contest: Electronics/Sensors/IoT Category Winner – PrintIC Flexible Circuits

TBMG-3822112/01/2020

System Allows Untethered, High-Quality, Multi-Player Virtual Reality

TBMG-3817512/01/2020

Virtual reality (VR) headsets and application programs for VR are not gaining traction with users because of a chicken-and-egg dilemma, lack of VR content, and slow market penetration of custom-made VR units.

Replacing Multiple RF Receivers with Just One Using Channelization

TBMG-3824312/01/2020

From the early days of analog radio receivers to the superheterodyne channelized receivers of today, many things have changed. Today, different technologies are in use and their capabilities have grown immensely. This article will give you a brief overview of the development of radio receivers. Furthermore, it will show how channelization has made it possible to use one radio receiver to listen to many different radio stations simultaneously.

Vote for Medical Design Briefs Product of the Year 2020

TBMG-3829012/01/2020

Each month, the editors of Medical Design Briefs choose a Product of the Month that has exceptional technical merit and practical value for MDB’s design engineering readers.

Earphone Tracks Facial Expressions, Even with a Facemask

TBMG-3818212/01/2020

Researchers have invented an earphone that can continuously track full facial expressions by observing the contour of the cheeks — and can then translate expressions into emojis or silent speech commands. With the ear-mounted device (called C-Face), users could express emotions to online collaborators without holding cameras in front of their faces — an especially useful communication tool as much of the world engages in remote work or learning.

Replacing Multiple RF Receivers with Just One Using Channelization

20AERP12_0512/01/2020

From the early days of analog radio receivers to the super-heterodyne channelized receivers of today, many things have changed. Today, different technologies are in use and their capabilities have grown immensely. This article will give you a brief overview of the development of radio receivers. Furthermore, it will show how channelization has made it possible to use one radio receiver to listen to many different radio stations simultaneously.

Essentials of PCBA Cleaning for Wearables

TBMG-3815312/01/2020

Wearable healthcare is on the rise. In fact, the wearable medical devices market size was valued at over USD 9.0 billion in 2018 and is expected to witness 39.4 percent CAGR from 2019 to 2025. The demand for digital wellness, remote monitoring, and diagnostics means an increasing requirement to produce complex miniature electronic components with ever-tighter tolerances. This brings with it printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) cleaning challenges that must be addressed at the design stage in order to ensure reliability. This article discusses how PCBA cleaning can be incorporated into the planning and production of wearables and the essential methods to be used.

Products of Tomorrow: November 2020

TBMG-3799611/01/2020

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow. To learn more about each technology, see the contact information provided for that innovation.

Tiny Energy Storage Power for Wearable Skin Sensors

TBMG-3805911/01/2020

Researchers have fabricated tiny energy storage devices that can effectively power flexible and wearable skin sensors along with other electronic devices, paving the way toward remote medical monitoring and diagnoses and wearable devices.

Patches Detect When a Viral Disease Is About to Get Worse

TBMG-3807811/01/2020

Just before a viral illness such as the flu or COVID-19 worsens, bodies start producing more inflammatory biomarkers, and the concentrations of these biomarkers in bodily fluids increases. Therefore by continuously monitoring these biomarker concentrations on our skin’s surface, doctors can spot such turns for the worse and act immediately, preventing complications and saving lives.

Ring Detects Finger Location to Track Hand Movements

TBMG-3800211/01/2020

Researchers have created AuraRing, a ring and wristband combination that can detect the precise location of someone’s index finger and continuously track hand movements. The ring emits a signal that can be picked up on the wristband, which can then identify the position and orientation of the ring and the finger it’s attached to. It captures the fine-grain manipulation performed by the fingers — not just a gesture or where the finger is pointed but something that can track the finger completely.

Noncytotoxic Adhesive Systems Meet Broad Requirements for Medical Devices and Wearables

TBMG-3785010/01/2020

The continued trend toward smaller, more complex electronic systems enables more sophisticated smart products but creates additional challenges in manufacturing. For wearable and medical applications, in particular, concerns about adverse effects on skin and tissue drive a fundamental need for safe adhesive, sealant, coating, and encapsulant compounds. Designed to address these concerns, a class of compounds combines proven biocompatibility and noncytotoxic characteristics with performance properties required for manufacture of medical devices and wearables intended for contact with the human body.

Adhesive Film Turns Smartwatch into Biochemical Health Monitoring System

TBMG-3785610/01/2020

UCLA engineers have designed a thin adhesive film that could upgrade a consumer smartwatch into a powerful health monitoring system. The system looks for chemical indicators found in sweat to give a real-time snapshot of what’s happening inside the body. A study detailing the technology was published in the journal Science Advances.

Drawing Electronics on Human Skin

TBMG-3781310/01/2020

Engineers have demonstrated that the simple combination of pencils and paper could be used to create devices that might be used to monitor personal health. Many existing commercial on-skin biomedical devices often contain two major components — a biomedical tracking component and a surrounding flexible material such as plastic — to provide a supportive structure for the component to maintain an on-skin connection with a person's body.

Protecting the New Generation of Sensors and Electronics: Smarter and Smaller Requires Advanced Protection

TBMG-3786410/01/2020

From advanced manufacturing operations to intricate consumer wearable devices, electronics are the heartbeat of many industries today. To meet growing demands for more advanced features and overall smarter devices, sensors, circuit boards, flex circuits, and other electronic components must continue to expand rapidly in their capabilities even as their packaging and the systems they are part of continue to shrink in size.

New Wearable Sensor Tracks Vitamin C Levels in Sweat

TBMG-3757709/01/2020

A team at the University of California San Diego has developed a wearable, noninvasive Vitamin C sensor that could provide a new, highly personalized option for users to track their daily nutritional intake and dietary adherence. The study was published in ACS Sensors.

Miniature Electronic Devices Work Under Extreme Pressure

TBMG-3764809/01/2020

Miniature devices have seamlessly found their way into pressure-sensing and energy-harvesting technologies because of their ability to be frequently stretched, compressed, or twisted. Despite their force-bearing abilities, it is still unclear if repeated physical stress can damage the working of these miniature devices, particularly if there is already a defect in their construction.

Breathable Electronics for Wearable Technologies

TBMG-3762809/01/2020

Engineering researchers have created ultrathin, stretchable electronic material that is gas-permeable, allowing the material to “breathe” and making it more comfortable for users — especially for long-term wear.

T-Ray Camera Speed Boosted a Hundred Times Over

TBMG-3767809/01/2020

Scientists from University of Warwick and Chinese University of Hong Kong have refined a new type of camera to make it a hundred times faster than the previous state of the art. The technique utilizes terahertz radiation, or Trays, that sit in-between infrared and Wi-Fi on the electromagnetic spectrum. Trays can ‘see’ through common materials such as plastics and clothing but are non-ionizing — making them ideal for non-invasive screening.

Paper-Based Device Analyzes Sweat

08/01/2020

Researchers have constructed a paper-based device as a model of wearables that can collect, transport, and analyze sweat in next-generation wearable technology. Using a process known as capillary action, akin to water transport in plants, the device uses evaporation to wick fluid that mimics the features of human sweat to a sensor for up to 10 days or longer.

3D-Printed Glucose Biosensors

TBMG-3745408/01/2020

People with diabetes most commonly monitor their disease with glucose meters that require constant fingerpricking. Continuous glucose monitoring systems are an alternative but they are not cost-effective. Researchers have been working to develop wearable, flexible electronics that can conform to patients’ skin and monitor the glucose in body fluids such as sweat. To build such sensors, manufacturers have used traditional manufacturing strategies such as photolithography or screen printing. While these methods work, they have several drawbacks including requiring the use of harmful chemicals and expensive cleanroom processing. They also create a lot of waste.

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