Tech for Good

☀️ Here is Sunday's summary of this week: 1️⃣ Travel across the lava - the failed drone operation to save dogs abandoned in the middle of the lava (dogs seem to be alright, though) 2️⃣ Fast and easy - the drone that can autonomously fly at a speed of 40 km/h through a forest or inside a building, dexterously maneuvering and flying around numerous obstacles 3️⃣ No ramp? No problem - the Scewo BRO automatically balanced wheelchair that can navigate up and down the stairs 4️⃣ Lightweight champion - a super-efficient and lightweight electric car with up to 1,000 miles of range that is partly solar-powered Guys, I have moved to Sri Lanka, so this week one of the posts was stolen from you by my surf training. Hope for your understanding ;) See you around next week. Your Tech for Good #weeksummary

Lightweight champion Aptera, a US-based EV startup, plans to start selling its first vehicle, a super-efficient and lightweight electric car with up to 1,000 miles of range, in 2022. The main idea behind the vehicle is efficiency. It claims a range of up to 1,000 miles and achieves that by making the car extremely lightweight, with three wheels and a drag coefficient (Cd) of only 0.13. Aptera offers the choice of a 100 kW front-wheel-drive system or a 150 kW all-wheel-drive powertrain. The interior of the Aptera is minimalist and reminiscent of Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y. It even has a similar display and user interface. There is space for two passengers and plenty of cargo room in the back. Another vehicle's feature is that it is partly solar-powered. Since the Aptera is so efficient, the solar power that it will generate can make a difference. There is an option to embed solar cells on the roof, hood, and back of the vehicle. The team says that it can add between 16 and 40 miles of range per day, depending on the configuration. The starting price is $25,900 for the 250 mi (400 km) version of the car. The 1,000 mi (1,600 km) version will have a $44,900 price tag. That is the second attempt for the startup founders. They unveiled the idea for a super-efficient, three-wheel electric car with a prototype in 2008. Aptera was extremely early with electric vehicles; the startup ran out of funds and failed. Now they are coming back with $28 mln raised from the crowdfunding campaign and 13K+ reservations. 🎬 1-minute video of the vehicle 💡 Article on Electrek #EV #startups

No ramp? No problem Five students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Zurich University of the Arts developed a self-balancing wheelchair capable of climbing stairs. The Scewo BRO device uses rigid rubber grips to navigate up and down steps. In addition, it can lift users to either provide them with a better vantage point or allow them to grab objects that would otherwise be out of reach. The wheelchair utilizes three gyroscopes which measure the angular velocity to keep the chair balanced automatically. That means the user requires no torso stability. Equipped with sensors, BRO measures the environment and recognizes, for example, the end of a staircase all by itself. Scewo BRO has a battery on board that can be monitored from the cell phone and achieves a range of 25 miles (40 kilometers). Its top speed is 6.2 miles (10 km) per hour. Considering that a person walks 3.0 miles (4.8 km) in an hour, that is not slow at all. Of course, the device has some limitations: it cannot climb spiral stairs, tackle those steeper than 40 degrees, or steps higher than 8.0 inches (20 cm). And as every high-tech device, BRO is quite expensive - $33,000. Currently, it is available in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. 🎬 1-minute video of the BRO 💡 Article on Pep Unlimited 🌐 Scewo website #startups #robotics #medtech

Fast and easy We have drones again. This drone can fly at a speed of 40 km/h through a forest or inside a building, dexterously maneuvering and flying around numerous obstacles. Not a single commercial UAV is capable of this yet. Scientists from the University of Zurich, in partnership with Intel, developed the device and, most importantly, the piloting algorithm. They managed to speed up the vehicle by abandoning the "traditional" approach to creating a flight control system. Conventional drones collect data from sensors, then create an area map and develop an action plan. All these calculations are time-consuming. Instead, scientists spent many hours training the neural network in simulations so that it crashed into virtual trees over and over again, learning to build an ideal obstacle avoidance trajectory based on sensor data. That is, this autopilot skips one step during calculations - creating a map - jumping from these sensors directly to the flight plan. Of course, the developers had fears that an algorithm trained in simulation might be ineffective in the real world - it is impossible to foresee all the variety of options and scenarios in a virtual environment. But field tests showed that the drone copes well with high-speed flight in a snow-covered forest, a train carriage, and abandoned buildings. Flesh and blood pilots reach this skill level after years of training; ML algorithms - in one day. But scientists admit that people are still cognitively ahead of such systems: they can instantly plan a route many steps forward, while this nimble drone calculates its actions only one second into the future. Also, the device is still experiencing problems in poor visibility conditions: in dark rooms, during fog, snowfall, or rain. The developers have not tested the drone in an environment with moving obstacles, although they assume that this should not be a problem if the speed of objects is much lower than the speed of the drone. More advanced event cameras with motion detection can improve the drone. 🎬 Video with a flying drone 💡 Article on IEEE 🤓 Scientific publication in Science Robotics #robotics #AI

Travel across the lava A volcano erupts on the Spanish island of La Palma. The rescue team evacuated the residents, but just in case, the authorities sent several drones to inspect and found three abandoned dogs. The animals have been starving for weeks now, so drones now carry food for them. The company Aerocamaras, which feeds the dogs, received permission from the special services to rescue them. One of these days, a 50 kg drone will go on a special operation to transport the dogs one by one to a safe place. They will use a net to capture the animals - there are only four minutes for this stage. Then, you need to lift the live weight and move it 450 meters across the red-hot lava (another 4 minutes). "I wouldn't want the drone to run out of battery at this point," says the head of Aerocamaras. It is impossible not to agree. The operation will be filmed. The date is not yet known - the company is conducting field tests. That will be the first time drone has ever been used to rescue animals from a disaster zone. Of course, there could be a lot of marketing in such an operation. However, I believe the abandoned dogs do not care. UPD: thanks to one of our subscribers who noted that the drones were not able to find the dogs during the rescue mission. They found only a banner stating that the dogs were safe. The actual rescuers are unknown. Hope the doggies are actually alright. 🎬 1 minute video with the dogs 💡 Article on The Hill #robotics

☀️ Here is your Sunday's summary of the week: 1️⃣ An ordinary miracle - exoskeletons for rehabilitation after severe injuries, restoring mobility, and wheelchairs replacement 2️⃣ Making aviation fuel from plants - a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from a type of mustard plant to reduce carbon emissions by up to 68% 3️⃣ To see through the fire - an AR headset upgrading the firefighting game 4️⃣ Moored vessels powered by waves - wave energy generators to deliver reliable renewable energy for moored vessels 5️⃣ Retro Wolf - an electric pickup featuring the retro-cute styling Welcome to all who joined the channel this week. I hope you will find something interesting for yourself here. Have a safe weekend and see you on Monday. Your Tech for Good #weeksummary

Retro Wolf We haven't been looking at EVs for a long time here. Let's fix that. The EV startup Alpha Motors stands out by bringing retro-cute styling to its vehicles. Their latest EV is a pickup truck called the Wolf, joining the Ace and Jax crossover coupes. The Wolf resembles old Japanese compact pickups. It is roughly the length of Ford Rangers, Nissan Hardbodys, and Toyota Trucks of the 1980s and into the '90s. EV has two powertrain options, single-motor front-wheel drive or dual-motor all-wheel drive. Alpha estimates 250 miles to 275 miles of range, 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds, and a 3,000-pound (1,360 kg) towing capacity. A 75-kWh lithium-ion battery has a boost back to an 80% charge in about 30 minutes. The Wolf has a "frunk" for added enclosed storage space. Images posted on Alpha's website also show a solar bed cover, plus a light bar that drives home the retro styling theme. Alpha is currently taking reservations and quoting pricing between $36,000 and $46,000. The company hasn't delivered a single vehicle yet. However, it expects to start deliveries in 2023. That looks too optimistic for me as only the estimated cost to cover design, development, and engineering, and get past the validation stage of production is around $2 bln for a U.S.-market vehicle. 💡 Article on Greencarreports #EV

Moored vessels powered by waves The aquaculture (seafood growing) industry uses barges to feed the fish in the offshore ponds. For now, this means they rely on diesel generators, which come with high costs and carbon emissions, as well as other environmental risks such as fuel spillage. Australian wave power technology company Carnegie Clean Energy is going to deliver reliable renewable energy for these moored vessels using their large-scale MoorPower wave energy generators. The MoorPower system converts the orbital motion of the waves into clean electricity. The system can be deployed for any type of moored vessel and is not limited to fish farming – and Carnegie’s vision for the technology is that it will be an integrated solution with other offshore renewable energy systems, including hydrogen and batteries. Wave energy has the benefits of consistency and predictability, and in some places, wave may be the only renewable energy that is practical. The company hopes their tech can be a major contributor to the harmful emissions reduction and contribute to a cleaner world for generations to come. The company reported it had received funding to install and operate a scaled demonstrator of the MoorPower offshore from its headquarters in North Fremantle, Western Australia. 💡 Article on RenewEconomy #tidal

To see through the fire Firefighting is one of the most challenging environments for new tech. Smoke and heat quickly damage hardware, fires interfere with wireless communications, rendering software all but useless. So not that much has changed today in how firefighters operate. Qwake Technologies, a startup based in San Francisco, is upgrading the game. Their AR headset named C-THRU is attached to the responder's helmet. The device scans surrounding and uploads environmental data to the cloud, allowing all responders and commanders to have one common picture. The goal is to improve situational awareness and increase the effectiveness of firefighters, minimizing potential injuries and casualties. The company has just raised about $5.5 million in financing and has already secured contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. The firefighters in several states are testing the device. A public release is planned for the end of the year. 💡 Article on Techcrunch 🌐 Qwake website #AR #Startups

​Making aviation fuel from plants Puneet Dwivedi, a scientist from the US University of Georgia, led a research team that estimated replacing petroleum-based aviation fuel with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from a type of mustard plant can reduce carbon emissions by up to 68%. In the US, the aviation industry emits 2.5% of all carbon dioxide emissions nationwide and is responsible for 3.5% of global warming. The country has set the goal of a 20% drop in aviation emissions by 2030 and achieving a fully zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050. The study proposes to derive SAF from Brassica carinata, a non-edible oilseed crop that can grow in the southern United States. Carinata can be grown in the "off-season" (winter). It will not compete with other food crops, and it will not trigger food versus fuel issues. Additionally, growing carinata provides all the cover-crop benefits related to water quality, soil health, biodiversity, and pollination. As per the study, the price for producing SAF from carinata ranged from $0.12 to $1.28 per liter compared to $0.50 per liter for petroleum-based aviation fuel, taking into account the existing tax credit from the state. The team is now working on the missing puzzle piece - the lack of local infrastructure for crushing the seed and processing the oil into SAF. They are modeling the economic and environmental feasibility of producing and consuming carinata-based SAF across Georgia, Alabama, and Florida by taking a supply-chain perspective. If everything goes well, Carinata has the potential to be a win-win situation for the rural areas, the aviation industry, and, most importantly, climate change. 💡 Article on Science Daily

An ordinary miracle Wandercraft is another French startup with an in-demand product. The team designs and manufactures Atlante exoskeletons for rehabilitation after severe injuries, restoring mobility, and wheelchairs replacement. The device looks like the back of an office chair with legs. In the video below, a man paralyzed below the waist uses Atlante to move around the house and perform daily activities such as cooking. The inventor of the exoskeleton, chairman of the robotics club at the Paris Polytechnic, Nicholas Simon, began working on its creation in 2010. Two years later, he registered a company and received angel investments from a serial entrepreneur and father of a boy with limited mobility, Jean-Louis Costanza. Later, the investor joined the team in the role of CMO. In 2017, clinical trials of the exoskeleton began, and sales began in 2019. Many hospitals and rehabilitation centers throughout Europe are now using Atlante. The company aims to become global and start selling on other continents. Several customers from the US have already bought Atlante. This year, the company expects to file with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the US federal agency that issues an opinion on the safety of a particular product. The exoskeleton is controlled using a joystick-like device that you need to hold in your hand. That limits the ability to perform tasks requiring both hands, such as picking up a large pot of soup. The company is thinking about further development of the product and invites everyone to take a short survey about the future of exoskeletons. I wonder how many people in this survey remember Elon Musk's Neuralink? When (and if) its neural interface starts working, it could become a much more convenient way to control the device. For those,of course, who are ready for a brain implant. 🌐 Wandercraft website #medtech #robotics #startups

☀️ Here is your Sunday review of the week's posts: 1️⃣ The Fair Phone - easy to repair smartphones made out of ethically sourced materials 2️⃣ Hydrogen-powered drone pizza delivery - pizza delivered by drones in the South Korean Sejong 3️⃣ Brain fix - an electrical brain implant to treat sever depression not cured by drugs 4️⃣ Hyperbike - a new high-speed electric bicycle that can reach speeds of up to 31 mph (50 km/h) This week has been a little bit messy for me. Hope to get back to a normal schedule next week. Will be glad to see you around Your Tech for Good

​Hyperbike Most people may think of electric bikes as purely recreational. However, they have also proven themselves as commuter vehicles. Not only do e-bike riders often outpace traffic, but they reduce everyone's wait by taking cars off crowded urban streets. A Dutch electric bicycle brand VanMoof is making the next step in replacing cars as the dominant city transport. They have just announced a new high-speed electric bicycle model known as the VanMoof V, which will reach speeds of up to 31 mph (50 km/h). The company is referring to it as a “hyperbike.” To reach that high top speed VanMoof has opted for two motors, one for each wheel. An intelligent controller will “enhance traction for safety and performance.” Other tech features will include full suspension, automatic shifting, theft deterrence via GPS tracking, and the Kick Lock that allows riders to lock their bikes without a key. The price has already been set at $3,598. The company expects to begin deliveries by the end of next year. The idea of using faster e-bikes to replace cars in cities is brilliant. Small, fast-moving electric vehicles are just more space and energy-efficient. They are also more fun to ride. E-bikes offer many advantages over cars, such as free parking, the ability to avoid traffic via bike lanes, fresh air, and added exercise. But when there is no traffic jam, cars can often travel faster than e-bikes – especially slower 15 mph (25 km/h) EU-compliant e-bikes. Faster e-bikes help solve one of the main downfalls of conventional bikes – that they sometimes cannot keep up with the speed of urban traffic. 💡 Article on Electrek

Brain fix Neuroscientists give hope to those with mental illnesses. Their recent tech advance has helped successfully treat a woman with severe depression with an electrical brain implant. The device detects patterns of brain activity linked to depression and interrupts them with tiny electrical impulses delivered deep inside the brain. The 36-year-old patient, Sarah, got a brain implant. At the initial phase lasting a week, the implant recorded a wide range of activity while Sarah regularly logged her mood on a tablet. A machine-learning algorithm identified a pattern of activity in the amygdala region accompanying Sarah's lowest points. Then, through trial and error, the scientists identified a brain area where a tiny dose of electricity had an immediate and profound impact. "When I first received stimulation, I felt the most intensely joyous sensation and my depression was a distant nightmare for a moment," said Sarah. "I just laughed out loud. It’s the first time I had spontaneously laughed or smiled … in five years." In the second round of minimally invasive surgery, the team implanted a permanent device with an embedded tiny battery. That automatically detected the activity and sent impulses 300 times a day. Sarah said she felt nothing aside from a subtle feeling of alertness and positivity. The device costs about $35,000 (£26,000) and is an adapted version of the NeuroPace RNS System used to treat epilepsy. The team has already enrolled two more patients and hopes to recruit a further nine to assess whether the technique can be more widely applied. Cyberpunk is here. We can imagine the flip side of this tech - people might use it instead of recreational drugs in the future. At the same time, it might help millions of people struggling with mental illnesses not cured with drugs. 💡 Article on Guardian 🎬 2-minute explanatory video #medical #AI

Hydrogen-powered drone pizza delivery Recent years have seen the rise of delivery services, and the pandemic has speeded up that process. In response, a lot of startups are entering the delivery service market, offering various solutions. The South Korean drone company P-Square and the global chain Domino's Pizza have launched a pizza delivery service using drones in Sejong. The delivery will have two routes from the Domino's branch, the first is 2.6 km to the concert venue, and the second is 2.2 km to Sejong Lake Park. The delivery will take from six to nine minutes with a frequency of two or three minutes. Customers will track the drone location through the official Domino's app. They will get the password after an order to receive the delivery, which prevents theft or loss. The drones will work on hydrogen fuel cells and use satellite navigation. Onboard sensors will detect any anomaly in the air, and self-driving drone technology will allow flying without a controller. I hope we won't see the pizza slices falling from the air, not to mention the drone parts. 💡 Article on Fuelcellsworks #drone #hydrogen #urbantech

​The Fair Phone When I broke the screen on my iPhone X last year and tried to replace it, the repair cost was about one-third of the new device price. I was so annoyed that I bought an Android. I suspect, however, the situation would not be very different in case something happens to it. If it sounds familiar to you, you should probably pay attention to the Fairphone company. The manufacturer focuses on making easy to repair smartphones made out of ethically sourced materials. The company has just released Fairphone 4 that uses a modular design, has a five-year warranty, and promises two major Android updates and software support until the end of 2025. Prices start at €579 for the phone, which will ship on October 25th. Fairphone is selling eight repair modules. They include replacement displays, batteries, back covers, USB-C ports, loudspeakers, earpieces, rear cameras, and selfie cameras. All of these are easily removable using a standard screwdriver, which means customers should be able to carry out a lot of repairs themselves. Fairphone will also supply the spare parts to the local repair shops in case you need professional help. In terms of materials, the team also had a thorough approach. The Fairphone 4 is made using Fairtrade-certified gold, responsibly sourced aluminum and tungsten, and recycled tin, rare earth minerals, and plastic. The company has initiatives to improve the working conditions of miners and factory workers. Fairphone also claims that the Fairphone 4 is the “first electronic waste neutral handset” because it will recycle one phone or an equal amount of e-waste for each device sold. 💡 Article on The Verge #smartphnones #recycle

☀️ Here is your Sunday review of the week: 1️⃣ New life for sawdust - making 3D-printed objects from upcycled sawdust which otherwise is often treated as a waste going to a landfill 2️⃣ The new age of prosthetics - a first-of-its-kind bionic arm that allows wearers to think, behave and function as a person without an amputation 3️⃣ Freshwater for 2.1 billion people - the two revolutionary methods for water desalination to solve fresh water global problem at a competitive cost 4️⃣ Dutch students' solar road-tripping - solar-powered self-sustainable house on wheels as a drive to tackle climate change 5️⃣ Intelligent hearing aid - hearing aids with AI to help automatically adjust the volume to the environment I am thinking of having some quizzes on the channel. Next week I will make a poll to understand if you want it or not. Please participate. Have a safe weekend Your Tech for Good #weeksummary

Intelligent hearing aid The health tech company Audibel announced the launch of its new artificial intelligence hearing aids called the Arc AI. The AI automatically adjusts the volume of the hearing aid to the environment 55 million times per hour. If the room is noisy, Arc AI will reduce background noise. If you go out for a walk, it will pick up the sound direction. In a city where you're going from a busy street filled with honking to a quiet office building, automatic adjustments are a must. Users can set up their hearing aids to give them reminders about appointments or medications. The aids come with Bluetooth to take phone calls or listen to multimedia. The Arc AI also has a fall detection algorithm, which contacts a caregiver in case of a potential accident. Not sure how it works. Would it call an ambulance if your dog accidentally dropped the device on the floor? Users can choose from multiple styles, including in-canal and behind-the-ear styles. 💡 Article on Mobihealthnews #AI #medical

Dutch students' solar road tripping A group of Dutch students has reimagined a campervan life. A team from Eindhoven Technical University is driving 3000 km (1864 mi) from Paris to Spain's Tarifa in a groundbreaking self-sustainable house on wheels. Solar panels on the Stella Vita vehicle roof generate enough energy to drive and live off the grid. The student team says that, on a sunny day, it can travel 730 kilometers (454 miles) at a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph). And thanks to its 60 kilowatt-hours battery, it can drive 600 kilometers (373 miles) at night. Once it's parked and its roof unfolded, it boasts 17.5 square meters (188 square feet) of solar panels—about as much as an average home's roof can accommodate. The onboard information system shows how much energy you use when you cook, take a shower, or watch television. "I think that is really cool because if you are aware of your energy consumption, you can make better choices to use less energy," said team member Tijn ter Horst. The van's creators are sure that their mobile home is part of a drive to tackle climate change by harnessing renewable energy sources. I would definitely like to hit the road in this thing myself. And what about you? 💡 Article on Techxplore with more photos #solar

Freshwater for 2.1 billion people 2.1 billion people globally are struggling to access safe drinking water. Desalination (obtaining freshwater for human consumption from seawater) may be the answer to long-term water security. However, the existing solutions are expensive and energy-intensive. They also require connection to the electricity grid, which is often inaccessible in isolated regions. The good news is that scientists are developing some viable solutions. The two revolutionary methods are microbial desalination cells (MDC) and a wave-driven desalination system. 1) MDC uses electro-active bacteria to treat wastewater and simultaneously produce enough energy to remove the salt content in seawater without external energy input. With this innovative tech, desalination is becoming a viable low-cost solution for water resources in many world areas, removing water scarcity. 2) A wave-driven desalination system uses Wave Energy Converter (WEC). It extracts energy from the waves. This energy is used to pressurize seawater sent to the shore to drive a conventional desalination system. Ocean waves alone produce fresh water without requiring any additional source of energy such as electricity. The WEC can be deployed quickly, operate completely off-grid and supply large quantities of fresh water at a competitive cost. 💡 Article with more details on Techxplore