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Electronix Express Newsletter
June 2006 Issue
Welcome to the June 2006 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter
1. Samsung Looks At Fuel Cells for Cell Phones
U.S. fuel cell developer MTI Micro has entered into a partnership with mobile phone firm Samsung Electronics which could see fuel cells used to power commercial handsets for the first time. The firm's Mobion direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology has been chosen to power a series of prototypes designed for Samsung's mobile phone and mobile phone accessories. The advantages of fuel cells over today's battery cells are potentially longer runtimes and instant recharging. According to Peng Lim, president and CEO of MTI Micro: "Our goal is to make Mobion a standard power source used for powering all types of mobile products, and under this agreement, our work with Samsung on mobile phones and accessory applications will be a major step in achieving that goal."
Last year another US-based fuel cell firm, PolyFuel claimed to have passed a milestone in the development of direct methanol cells with a device operating for more than 5,000 hours. This, the firm said, is beyond the minimum necessary to commercialise fuel cells, which must last for between 2,000 and 3,000 hours, equivalent to the life of a rechargeable battery.
According to market watcher, Frost and Sullivan the market for micro fuel cells for consumer electronic devices should reach approximately 80 million units by 2012.
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2. Microsoft, Alcatel, IBM and HP Push Internet TV
Internet protocol television (IPTV) got a massive boost today when Alcatel and Microsoft announced a global deal with HP for servers that will support the next generation of television. The companies said the agreement will deliver advanced servers to carriers offering triple play to customers. Triple play is the provision of voice, video and data that will essentially allow on-demand TV in the home. The arrangement between the companies will speed time to market for IPTV, they claimed, and improve performance for telecoms providers. Today's announcement demonstrates the growing momentum of the IPTV industry.
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3. Enslaved Viruses Build Tiny Batteries?
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have altered the genes of a common virus to self-assemble into the anode of a yet to be built lithium-ion battery. By means of genetic manipulation, the microbes make proteins on their coats that collect molecules of cobalt-oxide and gold in a room-temperature reaction. When scientists coaxed these metal-plated viruses to align on a polymer sheet, the viruses formed wires 880 nm long and 6 nm in diameter.
The MIT researchers stated that, once these virus-based anodes become parts of complete manufactured batteries, the anodes will deliver energy density two to three times better than existing materials, thanks to their nanoscale structure. The group aims to build batteries ranging from the size of a rice grain to the size of hearing-aid batteries.
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4. Dual DC-Motor-Speed Controllers Navigate Robots
Mobile robots need simple and lightweight dc-motor-speed-control hardware that can work with low-power batteries. Flip-flop type navigation systems allow only one motor to operate at a time while the other motor remains off.
The dual DC motor speed controller circuit has two independent motor-speed-control channels: one for a righthand-side motor and the other for a left-hand-side motor. Power to each motor is pulse-width-modulated using a Basic computer program. The power-driver circuit uses npn power transistors. These transistors have high-power-kicking ability that the robotics require. The PC's parallel port directly controls the base of these transistors. LPT port data bit D0 operates a righthand-side motor, and data bit D4 operates a lefthand-side motor. Level one at the port pin turns on the motor power, and level zero turns off the motor power. If both D0 and D4 are set to one, then both motors operate together. Reverse control does not occur. Thus, only one motor needs to operate to turn the robot backward until rotation is complete. The circuit works for small dc motors operating from a power source in the range of 3 to 12V.
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5. Transmitting From Space
On Feb 3, 2006, the crew of Expedition 12 released the SuitSat-1 into orbit around the Earth. SuitSat-1 is a Russian Orlan space suit that had reached the end of its life, but the cosmonauts added a radio transmitter and sensors to measure temperature and battery power to support one last four to nine day mission. For more than two weeks, the space suit captured the attention of the world by acting as a temporary satellite, transmitting recorded messages and telemetry data that students and ham-radio operators could receive. A few weeks after the suit's final mission began, it re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up.
NASA and the Russian Space agency co-sponsored the SuitSat-1 project. The final confirmed reception of the Suit's voice audio was on Saturday, Feb. 18. The final confirmed telemetry recorded that the suit's 28V power source had dropped to 18.3V before the suit stopped transmitting its message. The transmitted message consisted of recorded greetings in English, French, Japanese, Russian, German, and Spanish. The suit transmitted the 30-second message and telemetry at 145.990 MHz FM, and then it paused for 30 seconds, to extend battery life, before repeating the message.
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6. Far-Sighted Researchers Envision Autofocus Eyeglasses
Scientists from the University of Arizona and the Georgia Institute of Technology are working to eliminate traditional bifocals by developing eyeglasses that can automatically refocus. The lenses in the team's prototype feature liquid-crystal material sandwiched between two flat sheets of glass. A transparent coating of indium-tin oxide (ITO), which researchers apply by photolithography in a circular pattern over the lenses, acts as an electrode. By applying a voltage as low as 1.8V, the researchers change the orientation of the liquid crystals, thus altering the focal length of the lenses.
The prototype changes focus by switching on and off, but the researchers claim that the advance will lead to active eyeglasses that automatically adjust their focus based on the position of the wearer's eyes. Interestingly, tests with human subjects confirm that the prototype lenses improve close-up vision when switched on and do not impair long-distance vision when switched off. Pixel Optics has purchased patent licenses to develop the technology commercially.
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7. Dell Opts for AMD Opteron
Breaking with a tradition of only using Intel microprocessors, Dell announced yesterday it will introduce a line of high-end servers using AMD's Opteron processor.
Speculation regarding this significant move on the part of Dell to use AMD microprocessors has been rampant for some time. The move to AMD was part of Dell's disappointing quarterly earnings announcement. In the first quarter, Dell earned $949 on sales of $14.22 billion. Year-to-year, sales rose 6% while earnings plunged 19%. Sales rose in the Asia/Pacific and in emerging companies such as Brazil. Clearly, U.S. sales flagged for Dell when we consider that overall sales outside the U.S. rose 12% to 44% of the total.
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