Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a soft and stretchable device that converts movement into electricity and can work in wet environments.

“Mechanical energy—such as the kinetic energy of wind, waves, body movement and vibrations from motors—is abundant,” says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and Camille & Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State. “We have created a device that can turn this type of mechanical motion into electricity. And one of its remarkable attributes is that it works perfectly well underwater.”

Continue reading “Using liquid metal to turn motion into electricity, even underwater” »

The automotive electric vehicle revolution paves the way for urban air mobility, but people must not be naive to believe that electric vehicle batteries are enough for electric flight. The need for fast charging, 30 times the energy throughput, and three times the power demand requires a new generation of batteries.

Engineers at Penn State have now demonstrated two energy-dense lithium-ion batteries that can recharge with enough energy for a 50-mile eVTOL trip in five to ten minutes. These batteries could sustain more than 2,000 fast charges over their lifetime.

In the last couple of years, several prototypes have emerged – including from companies like Volocopter, Boeing, Lilium, SkyDrive. While some prototypes have included wheels, they all incorporate spinning rotors to facilitate takeoff and landing, including the air taxi shown off last year by Hyundai, which is basically a small helicopter.

Continue reading “Innovative flying car batteries promise 50-mile trips on 10-minute charge” »

Belgium-based hydrogen solution company CMB.TECH and crane equipment developer Luyckx have presented what they believe to be the world’s first hydrogen-powered dual fuel excavator. The team has converted a 37 ton Hitachi ZX350LC-7 excavator to a dual fuel machine that can continue to operate on diesel if the supply of hydrogen is not available.

The dual-fuel excavator provides gradual ecological development within the heavy construction and earthmoving sector. With this machine, companies within the sector can embark on energy transition with today’s machines without being permanently dependent on the availability of hydrogen. The solution allows companies to take a first concrete step toward greening the entire heavy excavator sector without limiting the machine’s power or autonomy.

“Driven by the wishes of our end users and fleet owners, we launched an own-initiative feasibility study with regard to possible alternative solutions that help to reduce CO₂ emissions, make the machine park more sustainable and do business in a socially responsible way. We have been looking for the right solutions for several years. The challenge was mainly in the area of energy requirements for heavy machinery,” said Jos Luyckx, the CEO of Luyckx.

Continue reading “World’s first hydrogen-powered dual fuel excavator unveiled” »

Batteries are widely used in everyday applications like powering electric vehicles, electronic gadgets and are promising candidates for sustainable energy storage. However, as you’ve likely noticed with daily charging of batteries, their functionality drops off over time. Eventually, we need to replace these batteries, which is not only expensive but also depletes the rare earth elements used in making them.

A key factor in battery life reduction is the degradation of a battery’s structural integrity. To discourage structural degradation, a team of researchers from USC Viterbi School of Engineering are hoping to introduce “stretch” into battery materials so they can be cycled repeatedly without structural fatigue. This research was led by Ananya Renuka-Balakrishna, WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and USC Viterbi Ph.D candidate, Delin Zhang, as well as Brown University researchers from Professor Brian Sheldon’s group. Their work was published in the Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids.

A typical battery works through a repetitive cycle of inserting and extracting Li-ions from electrodes, Zhang said. This insertion and extraction expands and compresses the electrode lattices. These volume shifts create microcracks, fractures and defects over time.

Tesla has a number of programs that have the potential to change markets, and one of these is arguably the 4,680 cells. Created using a dry electrode process and optimized for price and efficiency, the 4,680 batteries could very well be the key to Tesla’s possible invasion of the mainstream auto and energy market. If Tesla pulls off its 4,680 production ramp, its place at the summit of the sustainable energy market would be all but ensured.

Unfortunately, Tesla’s publicly disclosed target for the 4,680 cells’ production ramp appears to have been made on “Elon Time.” This means that during Battery Day last year, Tesla’s target of hitting a capacity of 10 GWh by late September2021included some optimistic assumptions. Similar to other projects like Elon Musk’s Alien Dreadnaught factory, however, the pilot production of the 4,680 cells have met some challenges.

Tesla admitted to these difficulties during the Q22021earnings call, when Elon Musk explained that one of the main challenges in the 4,680 cell production ramp was related to the batteries’ calendaring, or the process when the dry cathode material is squashed to a particular height. Partly due to the use of nickel in the 4,680 cells, which are extremely hard, some of the calendar rolls end up being dented.

The California-based startup HyPoint has collaborated with the aircraft developer Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle applications. The ultimate goal is to deliver a customizable, FAA-certified, zero carbon-emission hydrogen fuel cell system to the global eVTOL market.

Through the partnership, Piasecki will gain an exclusive license to the technology created as part of the partnership, while HyPoint will maintain ownership of its underlying hydrogen fuel cell technology.

HyPoint’s revolutionary approach uses compressed air for both cooling and oxygen supply to deliver a hydrogen fuel cell system that significantly outperforms existing battery and hydrogen fuel cell alternatives. According to the company, the new system will offer eVTOL makers four times the energy density of existing lithium-ion batteries, double the specific power of existing hydrogen fuel cell systems, and that costs up to 50% less relative to the operative costs of turbine-powered rotorcraft.

Continue reading “HyPoint, Piasecki team up to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems for eVTOLs” »

A team of researchers at Korea’s LG Electronics, working with a group at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, has successfully sent data 100 meters over a 6G signal. Officials at LG have posted details of their test of the next step wireless transmission technology on their company news page.

As 5G networks for cellular service have slowly made their way around the globe, engineers at multiple telecommunications companies have been hard at work on next-generation 6G communications technology. Moving to the new technology is expected to push data transmission speeds to 50 times faster than 5G. It is also expected to cut latency to just 10% that of 5G, making conversations sound more natural. And the new standard is also expected to improve the accuracy of the data sent. Together, these improvements could drive a wave of new “Internet of Everything” development, with new devices aimed at both the home and workplace.

Scientists have long recognized that achieving the next step in transmission technology will be more difficult than those that came before due to a major problem with 6G signaling; it is short-range due to loss of power as it is transmitted. For this reason, the global standards body for data communications has set its commercialization date for 2,025 while most in the field do not expect actual sales to begin until2029or later.