Editorial

Esta é a Newsletter Nº 211 que se apresenta com o mesmo formato que as anteriores. Se gostar da Newsletter partilhe-a!

Todas as Newsletters encontram-se indexadas no link.

Esta Newsletter tem os seguintes tópicos:

• Novidades da Semana
• Ciência e Tecnologia
• Modelos 3D
• Documentação
• Projetos Maker

Faz hoje anos que nascia, em 1763, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin. Este químico francês ficou conhecido por ter descoberto os elementos crómio (1797) e berílio (1798).

Faz também hoje anos que nascia, em 1821, Pafnuty Chebyshev. Este matemático russo fundou a escola matemática de São Petersburgo, e que é lembrado principalmente pelo seu trabalho sobre a teoria dos números primos, incluindo a determinação do número de primos não excedendo um determinado número. Ele escreveu sobre muitos assuntos, incluindo a teoria das congruências em 1849, teoria da probabilidade, formas quadráticas, funções ortogonais, a teoria das integrais, a construção de mapas e o cálculo de volumes geométricos. Chebyshev também estava interessado em mecânica e estudou os problemas envolvidos na conversão de movimento rotativo em movimento rectilíneo por acoplamento mecânico. O movimento paralelo de Chebyshev é formado por três barras interligadas, aproximando-se do movimento rectilíneo.

Faz igualmente hoje anos que nascia, em 1831, David Edward Hughes. Este inventor anglo-americano do microfone de carbono, que foi uma contribuição significativa para a telefonia. A sua família emigrou para os EUA quando ele tinha sete anos. Em 1855, foi-lhe atribuída uma patente dos EUA para o primeiro sistema de telégrafo impresso de texto no envio e na recepção, com um código alfabético especial, conforme exigido pelo código Morse. Foi produzido antes mesmo que a máquina de escrever fosse inventada. Além disso, o microfone de contacto solto da Hughes, inventado em 1878, foi o precursor dos vários microfones de carbono actualmente em uso. Ele também inventou o equilíbrio de indução e trabalhou com a teoria do magnetismo.

Faz também hoje anos que nascia, em 1861, Irving Wightman Colburn. Este inventor e fabricante norte-americano é responsável pela criação do processo de fabricação de folhas contínuas de vidro plano que tornou possível a produção em massa de vidro para janelas. Colburn começou suas experiências em 1899, que resultaram na sua patente para uma máquina de desenho de chapa de vidro em 25 de março de 1902. Ele formou a Colburn Machine Glass Co. em Agosto de 1906, instalou máquinas de desenho em duas fábricas em 1908, mas faliu em 1911 antes da tecnologia ser aperfeiçoada. A Toledo Glass Company comprou as patentes de Colburn em 1912 e contratou-o logo de seguida. Ele começou a refinar o processo na fábrica experimental da Toledo Glass, onde o seu primeiro desenho de folhas de vidro ocorreu a 25 de Novembro de 1913. Posteriormente, a empresa foi organizada como a Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company em 1916. Colburn morreu no ano seguinte antes de poder ver o sucesso total do seu processo.

Faz igualmente hoje anos que nascia, em 1934, Roy Kerr. Este matemático neozelandês resolveu (1963) as equações de campo da relatividade geral de Einstein para descrever os buracos negros rotativos, fornecendo assim uma importante contribuição para o campo da astrofísica. Ele deduziu uma família única de soluções de dois parâmetros que descreve o espaço-tempo em torno dos buracos negros em Julho de 1963. Os dois parâmetros são a massa do buraco negro e o momento angular do buraco negro. (A solução estática, com momento angular zero, foi descoberta por Karl Schwarzschild em Dezembro de 1915.) Os buracos negros rotativos são frequentemente chamados de Buracos Negros de Kerr. Ele mostrou que existe uma região semelhante a um vórtice fora do horizonte de eventos, chamada de região ergo, que arrasta o espaço e o tempo com o buraco negro em rotação.

Por fim, faz anos hoje que nascia, em 1950, Georg Bednorz. Este Físico alemão partilhou o Prémio Nobel de Física de 1987 (com Karl Alex Müller) pela descoberta conjunta de supercondutividade numa nova classe de materiais a temperaturas mais altas do que se pensava anteriormente. Eles surpreenderam o mundo apresentando a supercondutividade num material cerâmico em camadas a uma temperatura de 33 Kelvin (33 graus acima do zero absoluto, ou cerca de -460 graus Fahrenheit). A sua descoberta desencadeou uma avalanche de pesquisas em todo o mundo sobre materiais relacionados que renderam dezenas de novos super-condutores, chegando a uma temperatura de transição de 135 Kelvin. Hoje, ele desenvolve compostos de óxidos complexos com novas estruturas de cristal para possíveis usos em micro-electrónica.

Nesta semana que passou foi tornada publica mais uma falha de segurança que afecta quase todos os processadores da Intel desde 2011. "ZombieLoad", como é chamado, é um ataque de canal lateral possível nos chips da Intel, permitindo que os hackers explorem efectivamente falhas de desenho em vez de injectar código malicioso. A Intel informou que o ZombieLoad é composto de quatro bugs, que os investigadores reportaram ao fabricante de chips há apenas um mês. Quase todos os computadores com chips da Intel datados de 2011 são afectados pelas vulnerabilidades.

Também esta semana ficámos a saber que o MRO da NASA concluiu 60.000 viagens em torno de Marte. O Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter da NASA entrou em órbita a 10 de Março de 2006, e tem recolhido informação diária sobre a superfície e a atmosfera do planeta, incluindo visualizações detalhadas com sua câmara de experiências científicas de imagens de alta resolução (HiRISE). O HiRISE é poderoso o suficiente para ver características da superfície do tamanho de uma mesa de jantar a cerca de 480 quilómetros acima da superfície.

Na Newsletter desta semana apresentamos diversos projetos de maker assim como um modelo 3D que poderá ser útil. É apresentada a revista newelectronics de 14 de Maio, um livro sobre Kotlin e outro livro sobre Python.

João Alves ([email protected])

O conteúdo da Newsletter encontra-se sob a licença Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

New secret-spilling flaw affects almost every Intel chip since 2011

"Security researchers have found a new class of vulnerabilities in Intel chips which, if exploited, can be used to steal sensitive information directly from the processor., The bugs are reminiscent of Meltdown and Spectre, which exploited a weakness in speculative execution, an important part of how modern processors work. Speculative execution helps processors predict to a certain degree what an application or operating system might need next and in the near-future, making the app run faster and more efficient. The processor will execute its predictions if they’re needed, or discard them if they’re not. Both Meltdown and Spectre leaked sensitive data stored briefly in the processor, including secrets — such as passwords, secret keys and account tokens, and private messages. Now some of the same researchers are back with an entirely new round of data-leaking bugs. “ZombieLoad,” as it’s called, is a side-channel attack targeting Intel chips, allowing hackers to effectively exploit design flaws rather than injecting malicious code." [...]

NASA's MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars

"NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter hit a dizzying milestone this morning: It completed 60,000 loops around the Red Planet at 10:39 a.m. PDT (1:39 p.m. EDT). On average, MRO takes 112 minutes to circle Mars, whipping around at about 2 miles per second (3.4 kilometers per second). Since entering orbit on March 10, 2006, the spacecraft has been collecting daily science about the planet's surface and atmosphere, including detailed views with its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE). HiRISE is powerful enough to see surface features the size of a dining room table from 186 miles (300 kilometers) above the surface. Meanwhile, MRO is watching the daily weather and probing the subsurface for ice, providing data that can influence the designs of future missions that will take humans to Mars. But MRO isn't just sending back its own science; it serves in a network of relays that beam data back to Earth from NASA's Mars rovers and landers." [...]

Lilium reveals new air taxi as it celebrates maiden flight

"Lilium, the Munich-based startup developing a revolutionary on- demand air taxi service, today revealed its new five-seater air taxi prototype for the first time. The unveiling of the new Lilium Jet came as the all-electric aircraft completed its maiden flight in the skies over Germany earlier this month. The full-scale, full-weight prototype is powered by 36 all-electric jet engines that allow it to take-off and land vertically, while achieving remarkably efficient horizontal, or cruise, flight. The simplicity of the aircraft design, with no tail, no rudder, no propellers, no gearbox and only one moving part in the engine not only contributes to the safety and affordability of the aircraft, but it has also allowed the design team to focus their efforts on creating a magical customer experience in the cabin, from panoramic windows to gull-wing doors. Celebrating the landmark, Daniel Wiegand, co-founder and CEO, said: “Today we are taking another huge step towards making urban air mobility a reality. In less than two years we have been able to design, build and successfully fly an aircraft that will serve as our template for mass production." [...]

Physicists propose perfect material for lasers

"Weyl semimetals are a recently discovered class of materials, in which charge carriers behave the way electrons and positrons do in particle accelerators. Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg have shown that these materials represent perfect gain media for lasers. The research findings were published in Physical Review B. The 21st-century physics is marked by the search for phenomena from the world of fundamental particles in tabletop materials. In some crystals, electrons move as high-energy particles in accelerators. In others, particles even have properties somewhat similar to black hole matter." [...]

New way to 'see' objects accelerates future of self-driving cars

"The laser sensors currently used to detect 3D objects in the paths of autonomous cars are bulky, ugly, expensive, energy-inefficient – and highly accurate. These Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors are affixed to cars’ roofs, where they increase wind drag, a particular disadvantage for electric cars. They can add around $10,000 to a car’s cost. But despite their drawbacks, most experts have considered LiDAR sensors the only plausible way for self-driving vehicles to safely perceive pedestrians, cars and other hazards on the road. Now, Cornell researchers have discovered that a simpler method, using two inexpensive cameras on either side of the windshield, can detect objects with nearly LiDAR’s accuracy and at a fraction of the cost. The researchers found that analyzing the captured images from a bird’s-eye view rather than the more traditional frontal view more than tripled their accuracy, making stereo camera a viable and low-cost alternative to LiDAR." [...]

Methane-consuming bacteria could be the future of fuel

"Researchers at the University of East Anglia have helped discover how bacteria turn methane gas into a useable fuel - liquid methanol. Methanotrophic bacteria (or ‘methanotrophs’) oxidize methane and convert it to methanol. In doing so, not only are they removing a dangerous greenhouse gas from the environment, but creating a sustainable fuel for cars, electricity and more. But exactly how these bacteria naturally perform such a complex reaction has been a mystery. Now, a study published in Science, provides a major leap forward in understanding how bacteria methane-to-methanol conversion happens. Research led by Northwestern University (US) in collaboration with UEA found that the enzyme responsible for the methane-methanol conversion catalyses this reaction at a site that contains just one copper ion." [...]

Artificial intelligence accelerates efforts to develop clean, virtually limitless fusion energy

"Artificial intelligence (AI), a branch of computer science that is transforming scientific inquiry and industry, could now speed the development of safe, clean and virtually limitless fusion energy for generating electricity. A major step in this direction is under way at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University, where a team of scientists working with a Harvard graduate student is for the first time applying deep learning — a powerful new version of the machine learning form of AI — to forecast sudden disruptions that can halt fusion reactions and damage the doughnut-shaped tokamaks that house the reactions. Promising new chapter in fusion research “This research opens a promising new chapter in the effort to bring unlimited energy to Earth,” Steve Cowley, director of PPPL, said of the findings (link is external), which are reported in the current issue of Nature magazine. “Artificial intelligence is exploding across the sciences and now it’s beginning to contribute to the worldwide quest for fusion power.” Fusion, which drives the sun and stars, is the fusing of light elements in the form of plasma — the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei — that generates energy. Scientists are seeking to replicate fusion on Earth for an abundant supply of power for the production of electricity. Crucial to demonstrating the ability of deep learning to forecast disruptions — the sudden loss of confinement of plasma particles and energy — has been access to huge databases provided by two major fusion facilities: the DIII-D National Fusion Facility that General Atomics operates for the DOE in California, the largest facility in the United States, and the Joint European Torus (JET) in the United Kingdom, the largest facility in the world, which is managed by EUROfusion, the European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy." [...]

Just like toothpaste: fluoride radically improves the stability of perovskite solar cells

"Researchers from the TU/e have discovered that adding a small amount of fluoride to perovskite solar cells significantly increases their stability. Solar cells made of perovskite hold much promise for the future of solar energy. The material is cheap, easy to produce and almost as efficient as silicon, the material traditionally used in solar cells. However, perovskite degrades quickly, severely limiting its efficiency and stability over time. Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology, energy research institute Differ, Peking University and University of Twente have discovered that adding a small amount of fluoride to the perovskite leaves a protective layer, increasing stability of the materials and the solar cells significantly. The solar cells retain 90 percent of their efficiency after 1000 hours operation at various extreme testing conditions." [...]

Optimizing Network Software to Advance Scientific Discovery

"A team of computer scientists, physicists, and software engineers optimized software for Intel's high-speed communication network to accelerate application codes for particle physics and machine learning. High-performance computing (HPC)—the use of supercomputers and parallel processing techniques to solve large computational problems—is of great use in the scientific community. For example, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory rely on HPC to analyze the data they collect at the large-scale experimental facilities on site and to model complex processes that would be too expensive or impossible to demonstrate experimentally. Modern science applications, such as simulating particle interactions, often require a combination of aggregated computing power, high-speed networks for data transfer, large amounts of memory, and high-capacity storage capabilities. Advances in HPC hardware and software are needed to meet these requirements. Computer and computational scientists and mathematicians in Brookhaven Lab’s Computational Science Initiative (CSI) are collaborating with physicists, biologists, and other domain scientists to understand their data analysis needs and provide solutions to accelerate the scientific discovery process." [...]

Hummingbird robot using AI to go soon where drones can't

"What can fly like a bird and hover like an insect? Your friendly neighborhood hummingbirds. If drones had this combo, they would be able to maneuver better through collapsed buildings and other cluttered spaces to find trapped victims. Purdue University researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day. This means that after learning from a simulation, the robot “knows” how to move around on its own like a hummingbird would, such as discerning when to perform an escape maneuver. Artificial intelligence, combined with flexible flapping wings, also allows the robot to teach itself new tricks." [...]

A step towards probabilistic computing

"Working group led by physicist Professor Ulrich Nowak at the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with a team of physicists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, demonstrates how skyrmions can be used for the computer concepts of the future. When it comes to performing a calculation destined to arrive at an exact result, humans are hopelessly inferior to the computer. In other areas, humans are still lengths ahead of it: An example is signal processing, which plays an important role in autonomous driving. In the search for new computer concepts that are closer to the human brain, research is concentrating, amongst others, on probability-based computing. Together with his team, physicist Professor Ulrich Nowak from the University of Konstanz is investigating how these computers of the future can be made possible by using what are known as skyrmions, i.e. magnetic vortex-like configurations, as bit units." [...]

Reversible Chemistry Clears Path for Safer Batteries

"Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) and US Army Research Lab (ARL) have taken a critical step on the path to high energy batteries by improving their water-in-salt battery with a new type of chemical transformation of the cathode that creates a reversible solid salt layer, a phenomenon yet unknown in the field of water-based batteries. Building on their previous discoveries of the water-in-salt electrolytes reported in Science in 2015, the researchers added a new cathode. This new cathode material, lacking transition metal, operates at an average potential of 4.2 volts with excellent cycling stability, and delivers an unprecedented energy density comparable, or perhaps higher than, non-aqueous Li-ion batteries. The authors report their work on May 9 in the journal Nature. “The University of Maryland and ARL research has produced the most creative new battery chemistry I have seen in at least 10 years,” said Prof. Jeffrey Dahn of Dalhousie University in Canada, an expert in the field not affiliated with the research. “However, it remains to be seen if a practical device with long lifetime can be created."" [...]

Wind turbines to venture out into the deep sea

"Floating offshore wind turbines are gaining ground. A new Danish project aims to make it cheaper and easier to produce floating foundations for deep water. There are only 11 floating offshore wind turbines in the world. The first Danish-developed floating wind turbine foundation is coming soon. It aims to pave the way for the wind turbines of the future at sea. DTU researchers are currently working with leading companies in the field to optimize the design of the floating wind turbine foundations that make it possible to place offshore wind turbines in very deep water." [...]

Move over, silicon switches: There's a new way to compute

"NYU Researchers discover new method of controlling magnetic circuits using energy efficient switch that does not require electric currents Logic and memory devices, such as the hard drives in computers, now use nanomagnetic mechanisms to store and manipulate information. Unlike silicon transistors, which have fundamental efficiency limitations, they require no energy to maintain their magnetic state: Energy is needed only for reading and writing information. One method of controlling magnetism uses electrical current that transports spin to write information, but this usually involves flowing charge. Because this generates heat and energy loss, the costs can be enormous, particularly in the case of large server farms or in applications like artificial intelligence, which require massive amounts of memory. Spin, however, can be transported without a charge with the use of a topological insulator – a material whose interior is insulating but that can support the flow of electrons on its surface. In a newly published Physical Review Applied paper, researchers from New York University introduce a voltage-controlled topological spin switch (vTOPSS) that requires only electric fields, rather than currents, to switch between two Boolean logic states, greatly reducing the heat generated and energy used." [...]

New Argonne coating could have big implications for lithium batteries

"Coating provides extra layer of protection for battery cathodes. Building a better lithium-ion battery involves addressing a myriad of factors simultaneously, from keeping the battery’s cathode electrically and ionically conductive to making sure that the battery stays safe after many cycles. In a new discovery, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new cathode coating by using an oxidative chemical vapor deposition technique that can help solve these and several other potential issues with lithium-ion batteries all in one stroke. “The coating we’ve discovered really hits five or six birds with one stone.” Khalil Amine, Argonne distinguished fellow and battery scientist. In the research, Amine and his fellow researchers took particles of Argonne’s pioneering nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode material and encapsulated them with a sulfur-containing polymer called PEDOT. This polymer provides the cathode a layer of protection from the battery’s electrolyte as the battery charges and discharges." [...]

Breakthrough In New Material To Harness Solar Power Could Transform Energy

"The most affordable, efficient way to harness the cleanest, most abundant renewable energy source in the world is one step closer to reality. The University of Toledo physicist pushing the performance of solar cells to levels never before reached made a significant breakthrough in the chemical formula and process to make the new material. Working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab, Dr. Yanfa Yan, UToledo professor of physics, envisions the ultra-high efficiency material called a tandem perovskite solar cell will be ready to debut in full-sized solar panels in the consumer market in the near future. Perovskites, compound materials with a special crystal structure formed through chemistry, would replace silicon, which — for now — remains the solar-cell material of choice for converting the sun’s light into electrical energy. “We are producing higher-efficiency, lower-cost solar cells that show great promise to help solve the world energy crisis,” Yan said. “The meaningful work will help protect our planet for our children and future generations." [...]

Hearing in 3D

"In order to recognize spatial structures, bat echolocation uses similar cues as our sense of sight The sonar system of bats exploits spatial information in a way similar to our sense of sight, despite the different anatomy of eyes and ears. In a new study, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen and the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich have now shown that echoes contain information that allows bats to distinguish differently structured surfaces. On a turbulent water surface for example, a fidgety prey item acoustically stands out even against the clutter of the background waves. Echolocating bats have turned night into day. They ensonify their environment with loud ultrasonic calls and listen for reflected echoes. Over a thousand species of bats occupy all imaginable food niches, from mosquito-hunters to nectar-lickers to so-called trawling bats." [...]

A new sensor for light, heat and touch

"Inspired by the behaviour of natural skin, researchers at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics have developed a sensor that will be suitable for use with electronic skin. It can measure changes in body temperature, and react to both sunlight and warm touch. Robotics, prostheses that react to touch, and health monitoring are three fields in which scientists globally are working to develop electronic skin. They want such skin to be flexible and to possess some form of sensitivity. Researchers at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University have now taken steps towards such a system by combining several physical phenomena and materials. The result is a sensor that, similar to human skin, can sense temperature variation that originates from the touch of a warm object, as well as the heat from solar radiation." [...]

Electrode's 'hot edges' convert CO2 gas into fuels and chemicals

"The bowl-shaped design can efficiently convert CO₂ from gas into carbon based fuels and chemicals, helping combat the threat of atmospheric carbon dioxide. A team of scientists has created a bowl-shaped electrode with ‘hot edges’ which can efficiently convert CO₂ from gas into carbon based fuels and chemicals, helping combat the climate change threat posed by atmospheric carbon dioxide. The research team, from the University of Bath, Fudan University, Shanghai, and the Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, hopes the catalyst design will eventually allow the use of renewable electricity to convert CO₂ into fuels without creating additional atmospheric carbon – essentially acting like an electrochemical ‘leaf’ to convert carbon dioxide into sugars. Using this reaction, known as the reduction of carbon dioxide, has exciting potential but two major obstacles are poor conversion efficiency of the reaction and a lack of detailed knowledge about the exact reaction pathway. This new electrode addresses these challenges with higher conversion efficiency and sensitive detection of molecules created along the reaction’s progress – thanks to its innovative shape and construction. The bowl shaped electrode works six times faster than standard planar – or flat – designs." [...]

Brown undergraduate researcher teaches robots handwriting and drawing

"Working with a Brown University faculty member, an undergraduate student developed an algorithm that enables robots to reproduce human-like pen strokes just by looking at images of handwriting or sketches. An algorithm developed by Brown University computer scientists enables robots to put pen to paper, writing words using stroke patterns similar to human handwriting. It’s a step, the researchers say, toward robots that are able to communicate more fluently with human co-workers and collaborators. “Just by looking at a target image of a word or sketch, the robot can reproduce each stroke as one continuous action,” said Atsunobu Kotani, an undergraduate student at Brown who led the algorithm’s development. “That makes it hard for people to distinguish if it was written by the robot or actually written by a human.” The algorithm makes use of deep learning networks that analyze images of handwritten words or sketches and can deduce the likely series of pen strokes that created them. The robot can then reproduce the words or sketches using the pen strokes it learned." [...]

Self-repairing batteries

"UTokyo engineers develop a way to create high-capacity long-life batteries Engineers at the University of Tokyo continually pioneer new ways to improve battery technology. Professor Atsuo Yamada and his team recently developed a material which could significantly extend the life of batteries and afford them higher capacities as well. From smartphones to pacemakers and now even cars, batteries power much of our world and their importance only continues to grow. There are two particular aspects of batteries that many believe need to improve to meet our future needs. These are the longevity of the battery and also its capacity — how much charge it can store. The chances are your devices use a type of battery called a lithium-ion battery." [...]

A new era in 3-D printing

"Mechanical engineering researchers are inventing game-changing technologies and developing a Renaissance in 3-D printing. In the mid-15th century, a new technology that would change the course of history was invented. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, with its movable type, promoted the dissemination of information and ideas that is widely recognized as a major contributing factor for the Renaissance. Over 500 years later, a new type of printing was invented in the labs of MIT. Emanuel Sachs, professor of mechanical engineering, invented a process known as binder jet printing. In binder jet printing, an inkjet printhead selectively drops a liquid binder material into a powder bed — creating a three-dimensional object layer by layer." [...]

Quantum world-first: researchers can now tell how accurate two-qubit calculations in silicon really are

"After being the first team to create a two-qubit gate in silicon in 2015, UNSW Sydney engineers are breaking new ground again: they have measured the accuracy of silicon two-qubit operations for the first time – and their results confirm the promise of silicon for quantum computing. For the first time ever, researchers have measured the fidelity – that is, the accuracy – of two-qubit logic operations in silicon, with highly promising results that will enable scaling up to a full-scale quantum processor. The research, carried out by Professor Andrew Dzurak’s team in UNSW Engineering, was published today in the world-renowned journal Nature. The experiments were performed by Wister Huang, a final-year PhD student in Electrical Engineering, and Dr Henry Yang, a senior research fellow at UNSW. “All quantum computations can be made up of one-qubit operations and two-qubit operations – they’re the central building blocks of quantum computing,” says Professor Dzurak. “Once you've got those, you can perform any computation you want – but the accuracy of both operations needs to be very high.” In 2015 Dzurak’s team was the first to build a quantum logic gate in silicon, making calculations between two qubits of information possible – and thereby clearing a crucial hurdle to making silicon quantum computers a reality." [...]

Secrets of fluorescent microalgae could lead to super-efficient solar cells

"Tiny light-emitting microalgae, found in the ocean, could hold the secret to the next generation of organic solar cells, according to new research carried out at the Universities of Birmingham and Utrecht. Microalgae are probably the oldest surviving living organisms on the planet. They have evolved over billions of years to possess light harvesting systems that are up to 95 per cent efficient. This enables them to survive in the most extreme environments, and adapt to changes our world has seen over this time-span. Unravelling how this system works could yield important clues about how it could be used or recreated for use in new, super-efficient organic solar panels. Because of the complexity of the organisms and the huge variety of different species, however, progress in this area has been limited." [...]

Fully Customizable L Bracket

"Fully customizable versatile L bracket for attaching things to other things. Good for use with aluminum extrusion. Click "Open in Customizer" to edit. Features: Customizable screw hole diameter and counterbores Customizable number of holes, hole spacing, and hole margin in two axes Customizable corner and edge fillets Customizable gussets for extra strength Customizable wall thickness" [...]

newelectronics 14 Maio 2019

"New Electronics is a fortnightly magazine focusing on technological innovation, news and the latest developments in the electronics sector. Downloadable as a digital page turner or pdf file, or offered as a hard copy, the New Electronics magazine is available in a format to suit you. " [...]

Kotlin Notes for Professionals book

"The Kotlin® Notes for Professionals book is compiled from Stack Overflow Documentation, the content is written by the beautiful people at Stack Overflow. Text content is released under Creative Commons BY-SA. See credits at the end of this book whom contributed to the various chapters. Images may be copyright of their respective owners unless otherwise specified Book created for educational purposes and is not affiliated with Kotlin® group(s), company(s) nor Stack Overflow. All trademarks belong to their respective company owners" [...]

Python for Everybody - Exploring Data Using Python 3

"New Edition! The goal of this book is to provide an Informatics-oriented introduction to programming. The primary difference between a computer science approach and the Informatics approach taken in this book is a greater focus on using Python to solve data analysis problems common in the world of Informatics. " [...]

Menu on Nokia 5110 LCD display with Arduino

"We have published quite a number of tutorials using different displays with the Arduino, with the most recent being the tutorial on displaying graphics on all kind of displays with Arduino. For today’s tutorial, we will look into achieving more with displays by implementing a menu based system with the Nokia 5110 LCD display and the Arduino. The menu is one of the easiest and most intuitive ways through which users interact with products that require navigation. From mobile phone to PCs, its applications are endless. Today we will explore how to add this cool feature to your Arduino project. At the heart of today’s project is the Nokia 5110 LCD Display." [...]

Tilt Compensated Compass

"This instructable explains how to make a tilt compensated compass using an Arduino UNO R3, an LCD display, and an IvenSense MPU-9250 multi-chip-module that contains an MPU-6050 accelerometer / gyro and an AK8963 magnetometer within the same package. The LCD simultaneously displays the Heading, (P)itch, and (R)oll. The heading accuracy is within 2 degrees depending on how well the compass has been calibrated. Without tilt compensation the compass headings vary significantly ... sometimes by as much as 100 degrees. When stabilised, the tilted compass headings only vary by one or two degrees ... the improvement is amazing. The tilt stabilization may be disabled by placing a jumper wire between Arduino pins A0 and GND." [...]

PiCrawler

"PiCrawler is a robot designed for moving in all directions on the ground and supporting every component of itself. Here are the major pieces of tech used in this project: Snips: an offline speech-recognition package Raspberry Pi / Python: for a Snips API handler and communicate with the Arduino Arduino: managing servos and receive commands from the Pi Laser cutting (acrylic) / 3D Printing (PLA): for mechanical parts of the robot InkSpace: for laser cutting design TinkerCAD: for 3D printing parts design and modification AUTOCAD Fusion: for testing the moving mechanism Electronic hand tools: for drill, polishing, and modifications of laser cut and 3D printed parts Reference: The body design is based on this project The moving mechanism is called Klann's Linkage, which is a patented design and is used by the reference project" [...]

Modular DIY CNC V2

"I build my first CNC about a year ago and learned a lot from the process. As an engineer I'm always looking at ways to improve things, and my first machine was no exception. The process began with some small changes which quickly turned into the opportunity to overhaul the design even more to better suit my needs (an overview of these changes is detailed in the next step). For the previous iteration and documentation of my design, refer to my original Instructable: Modular DIY CNC Machine which has all the files included for easy access. For this Instructable, however, I've decided to include technical drawings of the plates rather than actual part files. The parts themselves are fairly easy to create so this shouldn't be a large inconvenience for most, especially if you plan on actually using a CNC since CAD is a big step in the whole CNC proces." [...]

Build an RFID Scanner for Blockchain

"Send RFID tag data to the EOS blockchain for novel supply chain, manufacturing, tracking and access control applications. Introduction Take your RFID tracking applications and ideas to a new level by sending the scanned tag data to a global, decentralized and distributed cloud platform. This project uses a Raspberry Pi as an IoT device and the EOS blockchain as the global distributed platform. The IoT device scans RFID chips in keycards, fobs, patches, tags, etc. The tags can be used to uniquely identify the items they are attached to in order to provide proof of location and time in supply chain, manufacturing, asset tracking and access control applications. Everything you need to build this open source scanner and to access your scanned tag data on the blockchain is provided, including the node.js software, pre-deployed smart contract/dApp, blockchain account and private key." [...]

USB to -5V Negative Voltage DC-DC switching Converter

"Now days USB power source is very common and available in many devices and power banks. This DC-DC converter provide -5V negative voltage from +5V USB power source. This converter can be used in a wide range of industrial automation control equipment, sensors, isolated operational amplifiers and test & measurement equipment that require bipolar supply voltages.The Max735 is CMOS, inverting switch-mode regulator with internal power MOSFETs. It operates from 4V to 6.2V input supply, and provides 5V 200mA load current. The MAX735 employ a high-performance current mode pulse- width modulation scheme to provide tight output-voltage regulation and low sub harmonic noise. The fixed frequency oscillator is factory trimmed to 160Khz, allowing for easy noise filtering." [...]

Solar Power Bank

"Create your very own power bank that can be charged by the sun or via a micro-USB. I have designed 2 variations, depending on the power output you require. One that outputs up to 30V via a DC Jack and another that outputs 5V via a standard USB jack. Connect as shown in the relevant schematic diagram (If using the solar panel, solder this last as you will need to feed the cable through the lid). " [...]

LED Jewelry

"Create yourself a unique necklace or earrings that will glow in the dark! " [...]

How to Interface PS2 Wireless Controller W/ Arduino

"Controllers have a long history in our lives; from controlling remote control cars and quadcopters to game consols and , they all use wireless or wired controllers. In this tutorial, you will learn how to connect and use a PS2 game console controller with Arduino. What You Will Learn: PS2 controllers features How to connect a PS2 controller to Arduino How to use a PS2 controller with Arduino" [...]

DIY Electronic Horn for a Bicycle or Car

"The LM555 generates an electronic horn signal which is amplified by an LM386. The tone and gain of the horn can be easily varied. The horn can be used in a car, scooter, cycle, and motorbike. " [...]

DrumCube, an Arduino Robot Drummer

"Live music gigs are always a very special thing, but to produce it, you need humans, and humans are not always available. I occasionally play gigs equipped by my guitar and my voice, but music generally features many others instruments, like percussion, and these instruments tend to only sound when played by humans. This problem could be solved by just using a recording and playing over it, but that would somehow feel against the idea of the live concept. So, I decided to get rid of the human element entirely, and build a robot drummer... The idea would be to make something portable, which could move and play sounds in different rhythms with no use of samples/recordings, that could be played or stopped at will, and that its sound could be amplified in a gig/band situation. Disclaimer 1: As I said in my previous project, I have no formal electronics education, so I'm sure that many of the circuits described in this tutorial could be arranged in a better and more efficient/effective way." [...]

YATAC78 - The WWW TTL Computer

"Retro computer built from 1978-era TTL logic chips. Internet capable with built in web browser and server Can you browse the Web using pre-1980 TTL logic and memory speeds? The goal of this project is to demonstrate how. Internet connectivity is via an era-appropriate RS232 interface. The machine is upward compatible by a decade to support currently available keyboard and video interfaces (PS/2 and VGA). The video includes a native text mode capable of displaying 96-columns and two bitmapped color graphics modes for retro gaming." [...]

RGB LED Newtons Cradle

"The Newtons pendulum is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy. A typical Newton's cradle consists of a series of identically sized metal balls suspended in a metal frame so that they are just touching each other at rest. Instead of buliding such device, I thought to build an idealized 5-LED-ball Newtons cradle desk-toy using a microcontroller. The strikes between balls is simulated by two micro servo motors. I have included a potenciometer to adjust the frequency of the movement and a button to switch between the two run modes availables. " [...]

Remote Temperature and Humidity Monitoring With ESP8266 and Blynk App

"It was my first project with ESP8266 chip. I have just built a new greenhouse near my house and it was interesting for me what is going on there during a day? I mean how temperature and humidity changes? Is the greenhouse ventilated enough? So I decided that ESP8266 with DHT22 sensor is a good solution. Next question was, how to monitor the data from the sensors." [...]

Build a TTN LoRa Gateway with balenaFin and balenaCloud

"Set up a gateway for The Things Network using plug-and-play parts with the balenaFin Raspberry Pi Compute Module carrier board. Story We’ve taken a look at deploying a gateway for TTN on our blog in the past, but this time we’re going to look at setting one up using the new balenaFin with plug-and-play hardware! We’ll use the on-board mPCIe slot to interface with a RAK Wireless LoRa module, and use an Adafruit GPS HAT on top to give us location and timing information, then we’ll deploy the software using balenaCloud to allow us to remotely manage and update the gateway. Introduction The Things Network (TTN) is a connectivity alternative perfect for the IoT. It’s a community supported network of gateways based on LoRaWAN, a wireless data transmission technology combining Long Range (LoRa) with low power and bandwidth requirements. LoRaWAN is most suited to small data packets, as would be found in monitoring applications, along with triggering and alarm signals." [...]

Audio Responsive LED Lights

"This project is my attempt to build LED color organ and VU meter both combined. The color of the LED depends on the frequency of the audio signal. The number of rows(i.e, arcs) depends on the amplitude of the input audio signal. This project uses Arduino pro mini,LM358 op-amp,mosfets which are easily accessible to everyone. Watch the video to see the project in action. Use headphones for clarity." [...]

Retro LED Strip Audio Visualizer

"As a musician and electrical engineering student, I love any project that intersects these two fields. I've seen some DIY audio visualizers (here, here, here, and here), but each had missed at least one of the two goals I established for myself: a professional build quality and a relatively large display (a wimpy 8*8 LED matrix would not suffice here!). With some vintage flair, and sitting at 40" x 20", this audio visualizer accomplishes both of those goals. " [...]

Arduino Walkie Talkie

"The long wait is over, Tri-band Ham Radio Handheld Transceiver is here! - Arduino Pro Mini based 430/220/144 MHz 2 Watts, fully customizable, programmable with these features: - 2 watts output in high, midden and low; - 70 cm band, 1.25 m band and 2 m band transmitting; - 130MHz to 520MHz receiving; - CTCSS and DCS Squelch control for both simplex and repeater operation; - 40 fully programmable scannable channels with EEPROM protection; - fully Bluetooth and USB controlled; - short message SMS mode included and can be extended to data communication; - OLED 1.25-inch display screen, an additional 6 colorful LED for status displaying; - 4 push buttons and one rotary encoder as channel selection and function control - Other transceiver features in detail: - sensitivity -122dBm, vox 8 level, SQL 9 level, 8 secure sound scramble mode ... The most important is, all functions are controlled by an Arduino Sketch which included with this instructable! " [...]

The Desktop Device - a Customizable Desktop Assistant

"The Desktop Device is a small personal desktop assistant that can display various information downloaded from the internet. This device was designed and built by me for the CRT 420 - Special Topics class at Berry College which is lead by Instructor Zane Cochran. This instructable will go into detail about how to build your own device similar to this one. In the video that I linked, the more visually appealing steps as well as some grade A commentary from me show the process of the device being built. I'm relatively new to YouTube but I am trying to make some interesting DIY / automotive content so feel free to check it out and let me know what you think I could improve on! Also if you want to check out some of my other Instructables, you can do so by clicking on my profile." [...]

Remote Control and Photo Surveillance Over MQTT

"Today I would like to talk about how to make a remote control and monitoring system that can be used, for example, to control garage doors, lighting, heating, pressure control, temperature and many other parameters. But the main feature of this system is that you can remotely receive photos from a remote object. Before you begin the story, a short preface.Once I wanted to make a photo surveillance system using a compatible Arduino M0-SD board, a VC0706 camera and a 3G/GPRS/GSM/GPS shield for Arduino. The Arduino M0-SD compatible board was chosen from the conditions that it is very easy to program (just like the Arduino UNO), the operating voltage is 3.3V - this is very convenient for working with the VC0706 camera, a large amount of ROM and RAM, several ports the UART, a separate virtual port of the USB, but the main advantage is the presence of a micro SD connector directly on the board (It is very convenient to store large amounts of data, such as images). 3G/GPRS/GSM/GPS shield for Arduino is very convenient for use with a compatible Arduino M0-SD board. There are several libraries on the Internet, as well as many examples for working with this shield." [...]

BluBerriSix - a TFT TouchScreen / Arduino Tutorial

"2019 is the 20th anniversary of the RIM Blackberry 850! This little Canadian invention changed the way the world communicates. It's long gone, but its legacy continues! In this instructable, you'll learn how to use the MCUfriend.com 2.4" TFT display shield for the Uno/Mega. You'll learn how to display graphic objects and text and how to receive touches and act on the touch events. This screen is very similar to Adafruit and other TFT shields/screens." [...]

Make an Infinity Play Button / Subscriber Counter

"Sometimes when people reach different milestones on YouTube, they will create their own play button. I decided that I would love to do that too, and I also wanted to have a subscriber counter. So to accomplish both goals, I came up with this: an Infinity Play Button! The infinity has a double meaning here because it has the subscriber counter AND the play button mirror is also an infinity mirror. For the infinity mirror I just used a regular LED strip controller. For the subscriber counter display, that's being controlled by an Arduino." [...]

Building an Automatic Solar Tracker With Arduino Nano V2

"Hi! This Instructable is meant to be a part two to my Solar Tracker project. For an explanation of how solar trackers work and how I designed my first tracker, use the link below. This will offer context for this project. https://www.instructables.com/id/Building-an-Autom... The goal of this project was to improve on my old solar tracker, as well as add a couple of bells and whistles to make it more interactive." [...]

Autonomous Driving Car

"Curious about autonomous driving, AI and neural networks? Build your own autonomous driving car and get your hands on these topics! This RC car is equipped with a camera, a Raspberry Pi, an XMC1100 Boot Kit and the DC Motor Control Shield with BTN8982TA. Based on the Donkey Car project, the Raspberry Pi is able to safe image-, throttle- and steering data which will be processed to train a neuronal network. The trained network will be placed on the Raspberry to drive the car autonomously. The DC motor and steering-servo are controlled via the XMC1100 Boot Kit." [...]

NB-IoT Explorer: Explore Narrowband IoT Radio Networks

"Explore Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) radio networks in a comfortable, user-friendly way utilizing the Espruino Pixl.js and Quectel BG96. In this project, two extremely powerful components come together: The Espruino Pixl.js with its built-in JavaScript interpreter is easy to program. The (native) Espruino Web IDE lets you transfer the code to the device using Bluetooth LE, so there isn't even a USB cable needed to connect the computer with the device. The Espruino Pixl.js device has a large LCD display with 128x64 pixels, and four buttons on each corner of the display allow highly interactive applications. The Quectel BG96 module module on the NB-IoT Shield provides multi-band support, so it can be used in many different radio networks all around the world. The NB-IoT Shield provides direct access to the serial interface of the BG96 module, so you also can try things out using a FTDI cable, which can be useful if you want to do firmware updates." [...]

Edgerton, A High-speed Led Flash Diy

"Some time ago I designed and built a ballistic chronograph and used it to take some high-speed photos of bullets striking glass. The results were great, but the photos were somewhat limited by the standard ‘speedlight’ flashes that I used – there was always some motion blur. Edgerton is a ‘High-Speed Flash’ which uses LED’s to make one-microsecond flashes to freeze motion. High-speed photography is no recent invention. Doc Edgerton was already experimenting with high-speed photography in the 1940’s, and has taken some incredible photos. He was known to use an Air-Gap Flash, which is similar to the Xenon flash tubes found in modern camera equipment." [...]

My open source ESC

"I've been trying to make a good ESC for years. My first prototype 3 years ago was working "good". It was very big and the BEMF was not that good. It could reach decent speeds and you ahve that tutorial here on this page. Now, with my final version I have all taht I wanted. High speed, good BEMF detection and that means good torque, PWM control of the speed and small size." [...]

GamerGorl

"A MicroPython gaming system featuring a Wemos D1 mini, OLED display, joystick, buttons, fancy LEDs and a buzzer. This project was inspired my my advanced computer programming class at Kentucky Country Day School. This class consist of all high school seniors that took AP computer science last year. It began when we were learning python and I told the kids about micro python. Then we designed our original prototype. The GamerGorl was named by Katie E and is a reference to Gru in Despicable Me." [...]