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Category: transportation – Page 71

Charge your Laptop in a Minute? Supercapacitors can help; new research offers clues

Imagine if your dead laptop or phone could charge in a minute or if an electric car could be fully powered in 10 minutes. While not possible yet, new research by a team of CU Boulder scientists could potentially lead to such advances.

Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Ankur Gupta’s lab discovered how ions, move within a complex network of minuscule pores. The breakthrough could lead to the development of more efficient energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors, said Gupta, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering.

“Given the critical role of energy in the future of the planet, I felt inspired to apply my chemical engineering knowledge to advancing energy storage devices,” Gupta said. “It felt like the topic was somewhat underexplored and, as such, the perfect opportunity.”

AI RoboCasa simulation developed to train robots for household chores

From mundane chores to complex interactions, RoboCasa trains robots to navigate the real world:

Researchers have developed a large-scale simulation framework for training general-purpose robots in diverse, everyday settings.

The framework, called RoboCasa, provides access to thousands of 3D assets over more than 150 object categories, as well as dozens of furniture and appliances that may be interacted with.

A range of generative AI tools are used to increase realism and diversity, including text-to-3D models for object assets and text-to-image models for environmental textures.

New concrete can turn your home into a giant battery

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered that adding a highly conductive substance called carbon black to a water and cement mixture created a construction material that could also serve as a supercapacitor.

Supercapacitors can charge and discharge extremely efficiently but are typically not capable of storing energy for long amounts of time. So while they lack the functionality of traditional lithium-ion batteries – which are found in everything from smartphones to electric cars – they are a useful method of storing excess electricity generated from renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

Since first unveiling the technology last year, the team has now built a working proof-of-concept concrete battery, the BBC reported. The MIT researchers are now hoping to build a 45-cubic-metre (1,590-cubic-feet) version capable of meeting the energy needs of a residential home.

Researchers wonder what if you just put a robot in the driver’s seat instead of automating the car?

A team of roboticists at the University of Tokyo has taken a new approach to autonomous driving—instead of automating the entire car, simply put a robot in the driver’s seat. The group built a robot capable of driving a car and tested it on a real-world track. They also published a paper describing their efforts on the arXiv preprint server.

Jeep is launching an electric Renegade for under $25,000

An all-electric Jeep Renegade is finally confirmed. Even better, it will start at under $25,000 as Jeep expands into new markets. In the US, the Jeep Renegade EV will join two other all-electric Jeep vehicles, the Wagoneer S and Wangler-inspired Recon.

The news was confirmed during Stellantis 2024 Investor Day on Thursday. Jeep’s electric Renegade will be among three new EVs launching in North America.

Although Jeep was recently voted America’s most patriotic brand, sales have slipped over the past few years. After sales quadrupled in the US, reaching nearly 1 million in 2018, Jeep has struggled to gain momentum.

Tesla clears another hurdle to launching full self-driving in China

Hong Kong (CNN) — Tesla is one step closer to launching full-self driving (FSD) technology in China after it clinched an agreement with Baidu to upgrade its mapping software.

The Chinese tech giant said Saturday that it was providing lane-level navigation services for Tesla cars. Baidu (BIDU) says this level of navigation can provide drivers with detailed information, including making lane recommendations ahead of upcoming turns, to enhance safety.

Researchers ask industry to develop signal processing algorithms for ship-tracking over-the-horizon radar

Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., has issued a solicitation (DARPA-PA-23–03-11) for the Defense Applications of Innovative Remote Sensing (DAIRS) project.

Primary emphasis will be in the high frequency (HF) band nominally at 4 to 15 MHz. Key applications in this frequency band are SWOTHR for aircraft, ship, and boat tracking, oceanographic SWOTHR, and sounding for ionospheric characterization.

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