Photo: Peter Tuffy/The University of EdinburghLight Fantastic: A CMOS digital-to-analog converter developed at the University of Edinburgh helps LEDs act as communications devices.
As LEDs become a more common source for room lighting, they’re opening a new pathway for linking mobile devices to the Internet, with the potential for wider bandwidth and quicker response time than Wi-Fi. At least that’s what researchers such as Harald Haas, chair of mobile communications at the University of Edinburgh, are hoping.
“All the components, all the mechanisms exist already,” Haas says. “You just have to put them together and make them work.”
Haas’s group, along with researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, St. Andrews, and Strathclyde, are halfway through a four-year, £5.8 million project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, in the United Kingdom. They are pursuing ultraparallel visible light communication, which would use multiple colors of light to provide high-bandwidth linkages over distances of a few meters. Such a Li-Fi system, as it’s been dubbed, could supplement or in some instances replace traditional radio-based Wi-Fi, they say. But taking on such a broadly used radio technology is an uphill battle.
At the IEEE Photonics Conference in October, members of the consortium showed off the progress they’re making. For instance, the team has used commercially available red, green, and blue LEDs as both emitters and as photodiodes to detect light. By doing that, they created a system that could both send and receive data at aggregate rates of 110 megabits per second. When transmitting in one direction only, they reached a rate of 155 Mb/s.
But Haas says that this version is limited by existing LEDs, and by the use of LEDs as transmitters and detectors at the same time. Members of the consortium, however, have created a better LED, which provides a data rate close to 4 gigabits per second operating on just 5 milliwatts of optical output power and using high-bandwidth photodiodes at the receiver. With a simple lens to enhance the distance, they can send data 10 meters at up to 1.1 Gb/s, and soon they will increase that to 15 Gb/s, Haas says. The 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard for the 60-gigahertz radio band reaches just under 7 Gb/s, so Li-Fi would more than double that rate.
They’re also using avalanche photodiodes to make better receivers. In an avalanche photodiode, a single photon striking the receiver produces a cascade of electrons, amplifying the signal. Haas’s team at the Li-Fi R&D Centre has created the first receiver chip for Li-Fi with integrated avalanche photodiodes on CMOS. The 7.8-square-millimeter IC houses 49 photodiodes.
Separately, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems, in Dresden, Germany, had announced plans to demonstrate a Li-Fi hot spot in November (after press time) at the Electronica 2014 trade show in Munich. Frank Deicke, who leads the team developing Li-Fi at Fraunhofer, says that the system would most likely use infrared light and is aimed at industrial users rather than consumers. The hot spot was set to be a point-to-point link with a data rate of up to 1 Gb/s.
“You can have more or less the same data rate as over a USB cable,” Deicke says. “That’s very challenging for most wireless technologies, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.” Another advantage, says Deicke, is that the latency of Wi-Fi—the time between when a signal is sent and when it’s received—is measured in milliseconds, whereas Li-Fi’s latency is on the order of microseconds. In industrial applications, where data has to flow between sensors, actuators, and a control unit, low latency and high data rates would make Li-Fi useful in places where Wi-Fi is not. “We don’t want to replace Wi-Fi,” he says. “That’s not our goal.”
But Deicke says Li-Fi could complement existing communications technologies, including Wi-Fi and gigabit Ethernet. For now, his group is not focusing on combining it with general lighting, as Haas proposes.
A group of European academic researchers and networking companies is aiming for the consumer market, though. The group is working on a project called Advanced Convergent and Easily Manageable Innovative Network Design (ACEMIND) to develop ways to manage local networks in homes and small businesses. ACEMIND includes a number of demonstrator projects to test different technologies, including Li-Fi. Dmitris Katsianis at the University of Athens, who is a participant in ACEMIND, thinks Li-Fi might be in practical use within the next five years. “Li-Fi has the advantage of being useful in electromagnetically sensitive areas such as in hospitals, aircraft cabins, and power plants,” he says.
Haas is counting on a much bigger market. He expects LEDs to evolve past just being light sources, much the same way the cellphone evolved from a communications device to a mobile computer. “In 25 years, every lightbulb in your house will have the processing power of you
A solar-powered
aircraft today successfully completed its third test flight in the UAE
ahead of its planned round-the-world voyage, including India to promote
alternative energy.
An hour-long test of the The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) was held at the
Al-Bateen airport here. It was the plane's third test, but the first for
Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard, the descendant of a family of
Swiss scientist-adventurers.
The revolutionary single-seater sustainable aircraft will attempt the
solar-powered flight around the world beginning this month from Abu
Dhabi. The aircraft may head off around the world as early as Saturday
depending on the weather conditions, the organisers said.
During the test, the pilot reported no problems, mission chiefs said.
"From the operation point of view, this part of the world and the
Middle East is the best location for us to start because it gives us the
possibility to fly over India and China very early in the season," said
Borschberg, Solar Impulse Co-founder, CEO and pilot.
Si2 is scheduled to stop in 12 locations, including layovers in
India, China, Hawaii, New York and southern Europe or North Africa,
before returning to Abu Dhabi.
Travelling at speeds between 50-100 kmph, the journey will take about 25 days of flight spread over five months.
Si 2 is the successor to Solar Impulse, which notched up a 26-hour
flight in 2010. It is scheduled to arrive back in Abu Dhabi in July.
Earlier on February 26, the aircraft made it test fire across the skies of Abu Dhabi.
Shubham Banerjee works on his lego robotics braille printer at his home in Santa Clara, California. (AP photo)
SANTA CLARA: In Silicon Valley, it's never too early to become an entrepreneur. Just ask 13-year-old Shubham Banerjee.
The California eighth-grader has launched a company to develop low-cost
machines to print Braille, the tactile writing system for the visually
impaired. Tech giant Intel Corp recently invested in his startup, Braigo
Labs.
Shubham built a Braille printer with a Lego robotics kit
as a school science fair project last year after he asked his parents a
simple question: How do blind people read? "Google it," they told him.
Shubham then did some online research and was shocked to learn that
Braille printers, also called embossers, cost at least $2,000 — too
expensive for most blind readers, especially in developing countries.
"I just thought that price should not be there. I know that there is a
simpler way to do this," said Shubham, who demonstrated how his printer
works at the kitchen table where he spent many late nights building it
with a Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit.
Shubham
Banerjee (right) work on his Lego robotics braille printer as his dad
Neil watches at their home in Santa Clara, California. (AP photo)
Shubham wants to develop a desktop Braille printer that costs around
$350 and weighs just a few pounds, compared with current models that can
weigh more than 20 pounds (nine kilograms). The machine could be used
to print Braille reading materials on paper, using raised dots instead
of ink, from a personal computer or electronic device.
"My end
goal would probably be having most of the blind people ... using my
Braille printer," said Shubham, who lives in the Silicon Valley suburb
of Santa Clara, just minutes away from Intel headquarters.
After the "Braigo" — a name that combines Braille and Lego — won
numerous awards and enthusiastic support from the blind community,
Banerjee started Braigo Labs last summer with an initial $35,000
investment from his dad.
"We as parents started to get involved
more, thinking that he's on to something and this innovation process
has to continue," said his father, Niloy Banerjee, an engineer who works
for Intel.
Shubham used the money to build a more
sophisticated version of his Lego-based printer using an off-the-shelf
desktop printer and a newly released Intel computer chip. The new model,
Braigo 2.0, can translate electronic text into Braille before printing.
Intel executives were so impressed with Shubham's printer that in
November they invested an undisclosed sum in his startup. Intel
officials believe he's the youngest entrepreneur to receive venture
capital, money invested in exchange for a financial stake in the
company.
Shubham
Banerjee (center left) works on a prototype for his braille printer
joined by his family including mom Malini (left), sister Anoushka, 8,
and dad Neil at their home. (AP photo)
"He's solving a
real problem, and he wants to go off and disrupt an existing industry.
And that's really what it's all about," said Edward Ross, director of
Inventor Platforms at Intel.
Braigo Labs is using the money to
hire professional engineers and advisers to help design and build
Braille printers based on Shubham's ideas.
The company aims to
have a prototype ready for blind organizations to test this summer and
have a Braigo printer on the market later this year, Niloy Banerjee
said.
"This Braille printer is a great way for people around
the world who really don't have many resources at all to learn Braille
and to use it practically," said Henry Wedler, who is blind and working
on a doctorate in chemistry at the University of California, Davis.
Wedler has become an adviser to Braigo Labs.
Shubham
Banerjee (right) works on his lego robotics braille printer as his dad
Neil sets up a current computer version of the printer at their home in
Santa Clara, California. (AP photo)
An affordable printer
would allow the visually impaired readers to print out letters,
household labels, shopping lists and short reading materials on paper in
Braille, said Lisamaria Martinez, community services director at the
San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit center that serves
the visually impaired and prints Braille materials for public agencies.
"I love the fact that a young person is thinking about a community that
is often not thought about," said Martinez, who is visually impaired.
Shubham is too young to be CEO of his own company, so his mother has
taken the job, though she admits she wasn't too supportive when he
started the project.
"I'm really proud of Shubham. What he has
thought, I think most adults should have thought about it," Malini
Banerjee said. "And coming out of my 13-year-old, I do feel very proud."
One
of the responsibilities of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) is
the development of irrigation systems in southeastern Turkey. GAP
oversees nine provinces and approximately 10 percent of Turkey’s total
population, covering a surface area of 75,000 square kilometers (28,960
mi2). One of the GAP projects is a new concrete canal
stretching approximately 140 kilometers (87 mi) between the cities of
Batman and Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. The formal name of the
project is the Batman Irrigation Canal. Fernas
Construction and Trade Corp., based out of Ankara, Turkey, specializes
in hydroelectric power plants and irrigation projects. The company is
responsible for building this new canal and lining it with a 100
millimeter (4 in) thick layer of concrete. They chose the GOMACO
four-track GP-2600 to slipform all of the canal on the project. It would be the company’s first slipforming project. Many hours of
planning and engineering had to be accomplished before the first
concrete could be placed. The scope of the project included two phases,
the Batman Irrigation Left Coast and Right Coast Canals. Between the
two, there were 47 different canal sections with varying canal
dimensions and slopes. The overall width of the canals varied from 13.2
meters (43.3 ft) to 2.35 meters (7.7 ft). Slope lengths varied from 5.23
meters (17.2 ft) to as short as 0.81 meter (2.7 ft). The biggest
challenge for the project would be developing one machine and as few
molds as possible for the different profiles. Engineers from
Fernas Construction worked closely with GOMACO engineers to create a
solution. The four-track GP-2600 would be equipped with only two molds. A
single slope canal mold would be used for canal widths over nine meters
(29.5 ft). Canal widths nine
meters (29.5 ft) and less would be slipformed in one paving pass using a
sectional trapezoidal mold that could be adjusted for slope and depth.
The sectional mold and front hopper feature different inserts to change
the slope and the depth. A sliding adjustable berm cap on either side of
the mold allows an extra 300 millimeters (11.8 in) of slope length
adjustment. To coordinate all of these transitions while working on
site, GOMACO engineers provided a set of charts for canal widths and
depths with instructions for the paver’s framework, mold, and trimmer
conversions.
With the paver
plan in place, slipforming on the Batman Canal could begin. The profile
of the canal was dug with excavators. A chain trimmer on the front of
the GP-2600 is used to trim down the high spots in the grade. Four mobile batch plants are on site, each with the ability to produce 60 cubic meters (78.5 yd3)
of concrete per hour. The concrete is a Class C16/20 mix, 24.3 MPa
(3000 psi), with a 2.3 percent air entrainment. Slump averages 60
millimeters (2.4 in). Concrete is
transported in ready-mix trucks to the paving site. The trucks discharge
onto a conveyor which dumps into and fills the hopper of the canal
mold. Behind the paver,
finishers stand on a work bridge and apply a trowel finish to the
surface of the canal. Transverse and longitudinal joints are cut into
the new concrete every three meters (9.8 ft). Paving production for the
wider width profiles averages approximately 600 meters (1969 ft) per
day. Service personnel
from both GOMACO International Ltd. in England and GOMACO’s distributor
in Turkey, Göker, were on site at various times during the canal paving.
The service personnel were available to aid in machine start-up,
training, technical and application support during paving. “When we were
looking to buy a machine, we were looking for a quality machine with a
quality dealer for after sale and brand,” Kadir Özkan, Project Manager
for Fernas Construction, said. “The GP-2600 has easily handled all the
dimensions in the project with its half-width and full width molds.” Once the Batman
Canal is complete, it will provide irrigation for an 18,593 hectare
(45,944 acre) area stretching from the dam and hydroelectric power plant
on the Batman River into the city of Diyarbakır.
-- Select Any Photo To Enlarge --
Fernas Construction and Trade Corp. slipforms the new Batman Canal in a single pass with their GOMACO four-track GP-2600 paver.
A chain trimmer on the front of the paver fine trims the final grade.
Ready-mix trucks
discharge onto the GP-2600’s conveyor which dumps into and fills the
hopper on the trapezoidal mold. The GP-2600 features a dual-drive chain
trimmer with 27 meters (89 ft) of chain and modified teeth to help move
the material up the slope of the canal.
The operator’s view of the canal shows the GP-2600 paver leaving a smooth finish.
The new Batman Canal will help irrigate land throughout southeastern T
మొబైల్ ఫోన్ను పూర్తిగా
చార్జి చేయాలంటే ఒకటి రెండు గంటల పాటు చార్జింగ్ పెట్టాల్సి ఉంటుందనే
విషయం తెలిసిందే! అయితే తాము అభివృద్ధి చేసిన కొత్త సాంకేతిక పరిజ్ఞానంతో
కేవలం ముప్ఫై సెకన్లలో బ్యాటరీ చార్జింగ్ పూర్తిచేయవచ్చని టెల్ అవీవ్
శాస్త్రవేత్తలు పేర్కొన్నారు. కేవలం మొబైల్ ఫోన్లు మాత్రమే కాదు విద్యుత్
కార్లకు కూడా ఈ విధానంలో చార్జింగ్ పెట్టవచ్చని వారు తెలిపారు. అయితే
దీనికి మాత్రం కొద్ది నిమిషాల సమయం తీసుకుంటుందని అన్నారు. నానో టెక్నాలజీ
సాయంతో కృత్రిమ మాలిక్యూల్స్ను తయారుచేసి ఈ సాంకేతికతను అభివృద్ధి
చేసినట్లు ఈ పరిశోధనకు నేతృత్వం వహించిన జాక్ వైస్ఫీల్డ్ తెలిపారు.
దీంతోపాటు బ్యాటరీని కూడా తయారుచేశామని అన్నారు. బ్యాటరీ చార్జింగ్ అయ్యే
పద్ధతిని వివరిస్తూ.. ఓ డస్టర్ను గట్టిగా పిండి నీటిలో ముంచితే అది నీటిని
వేగంగా పీల్చుకొని ఒడిసిపట్టుకుంటుందని, సరిగ్గా ఈ తరహాలోనే తాము
రూపొందించిన కొత్త బ్యాటరీ చార్జింగ్ అవుతుందన్నారు. దీంతో మొబైల్ను
క్షణాలలో, విద్యుత్ కార్లను నిమిషాల్లో పూర్తిగా చార్జ్ చేయవచ్చని జాక్
వివరించారు. ప్రస్తుతం నమూనా రూపకల్పన పూర్తయిందని, 2016 నాటికల్లా వీటిని
మార్కెట్లో అందుబాటులో ఉంచే ప్రయత్నంలో ఉన్నట్లు ఆయన వివరించారు.
హైదరాబాద్: పారిశ్రామిక అవసరాల మేరకు వృత్తి విద్యా కోర్సులను సమూలంగా మార్పులు చేయాలని తెలంగాణ ప్రభుత్వం నిర్ణయించింది.
పారిశ్రామిక అవసరాల మేరకు వృత్తి విద్యా కోర్సుల సిలబస్ పారిశ్రామిక వర్గాల నిపుణులతో కాలేజీల్లో బోధన కోర్సు ప్రథమ సంవ త్సరం నుంచే పరిశ్రమలతో కాలేజీల అనుసంధానం మంత్రులు, పారిశ్రామిక వర్గాల సమావేశంలో నిర్ణయం
చదువులు పూర్తి చేసుకొని బయటకు రాగానే విద్యార్థులకు ఉపాధి అవకాశాలు దొరికేలా కోర్సుల్లో మార్పులు తీసుకురానుంది. కోర్సు మొదటి సంవత్సరం నుంచే పరిశ్రమలతో కాలేజీలను అనుసంధానం చేయనుంది. పారిశ్రామిక వర్గాలకు చెందిన నిపుణులతో కాలేజీల్లో విద్యార్థులకు పాఠాలు చెప్పించనుంది. సాధారణ, గ్రామీణ ప్రాంతాల్లోని కాలేజీల విద్యార్థులకు పారిశ్రామిక అవసరాలపై ప్రతి ఏటా వేసవి సెలవుల్లో ప్రత్యేక తరగతులను నిర్వహించాలని ప్రభుత్వం నిర్ణయించింది. వీటితోపాటు విద్యార్థులు కాలేజీకి వెళ్లలేని పరిస్థితిలో ఉంటే ఇంటర్నెట్ ఆధారిత వర్చువల్ క్లాసెస్ నిర్వహించేందుకు చర్యలు చేపట్టనుంది. కోర్సుల్లో మార్పుచేర్పులపై గురువారం సచివాలయంలో విద్యామంత్రి జగదీశ్రెడ్డి, ఐటీ శాఖ మంత్రి కె.తారకరామారావు ఆధ్వర్యంలో సమావేశం జరిగింది. ఈ భేటీలో స్పెషల్ చీఫ్ సెక్రటరీ ప్రదీప్ చంద్రా, విద్యాశాఖ, ఐటీ శాఖ కార్యదర్శులు వికాస్రాజ్, హర్ప్రీత్సింగ్, సాంకేతిక విద్యా కమిషనర్ శైలజా రామయ్యార్, జేఎన్టీయూ రిజిస్ట్రార్ ఎన్వీ రమణరావులతోపాటు ఫిక్కీ, సీఐఐ, నాస్కామ్, మైక్రోసాఫ్ట్, టీసీఎస్ సంస్థల ప్రతినిధులు పాల్గొన్నారు. ఇటు పారిశ్రామికరంగానికి, అటు విద్యార్థుల భవిష్యత్తుకు ఉపయోగపడేలా ఇంజనీరింగ్, ఫార్మసీ తదితర కోర్సుల సిలబస్లో మార్పులు తీసుకురావాలని సమావేశంలో నిర్ణయించారు.
ఇదీ ప్రస్తుత పరిస్థితి.. రాష్ట్రంలో గతేడాది 271 ఇంజనీరింగ్ కాలేజీల నుంచి 74,617 మంది బీటెక్ గ్రాడ్యుయేట్లు, 5,406 మంది ఎంటెక్ గ్రాడ్యుయేట్లు, 96 ఫార్మసీ కాలేజీల నుంచి బీఫార్మసీ నుంచి 4,575 మంది, ఎంఫార్మసీ పూర్తి చేసుకొని 767 మంది, 41 ఎంబీఏ, ఎంసీఏ కాలేజీలనుంచి మరో 10 వేల మంది కోర్సులు పూర్తి చేసుకొని బయటకు వచ్చారు. కానీ అందులో అత్యధిక మంది నెలకు కేవలం రూ.5 వేలలోపు వేతనంతోనే పనిచేస్తున్నారు. పారిశ్రామిక అవసరాలకు అనుగుణంగా విద్యా విధానం లేకపోవడం, నైపుణ్యాల కొరతే ఇందుకు ప్రధాన కారణం. అలాగే ఎక్కువ శాతం విద్యార్థులు పరిశ్రమ అధారిత ప్రాజెక్టులను చేయడం లేదు. రాష్ట్రంలో మొత్తంగా 431 వృత్తి విద్యా కాలేజీలు అఖిల భారత సాంకేతిక విద్యామండలి నుంచి అనుమతి పొందినవి ఉంటే అందులో 100 కాలేజీల్లో మాత్రమే క్యాం పస్ రిక్రూట్మెంట్లు జరుగుతున్నాయి. ఈ నేపథ్యంలో పరిశ్రమల అవసరాల మేరకు విద్యార్థులను తయారు చేయడంతోపాటు చదువు పూర్తి చేసుకున్న వెంటనే మంచి ఉపాధి అవకాశాలు లభించేలా చూడాలని ప్రభుత్వం భావిస్తోంది.
ఇకపై ఇలా.. పరిశ్రమలకు, కాలేజీల మధ్య నిరంతర పర్యవేక్షణకు ఉన్నత స్థాయిలో రెండు సమన్వయ కమిటీలను త్వరలో ఏర్పాటు చేస్తారు. తెలంగాణ అకాడమీ ఆధ్వర్యంలో స్కిల్స్ అండ్ నాలెడ్జ్ టాస్క్ పేరుతో కార్యక్రమం చేపడతారు. కాలేజీల్లో పనిచేసే ఫ్యాకల్టీకి పారిశ్రామికవర్గాలతో శిక్షణ ఇప్పిస్తారు. విద్యార్థులకు ఉద్యోగ అవకాశాలు పెంచడంతోపాటు ఎంటర్పెన్యూర్ స్కిల్స్ అలవర్చుకునేందుకు వీలుగా స్టార్ట్ అఫ్ కంపెనీలతో విద్యార్థులకు ప్రత్యేక నెట్వర్క్ను ఏర్పాటు చేస్తారు. అంతర్జాతీయ స్థాయిలో ఉపాధి అవకాశాలు లభించేలా సిలబస్లో మార్పులు ఉంటాయి. విద్యా సంస్థలతో పరిశ్రమలు కలిసి పనిచేసేలా కేంద్రం చేసిన చట్టం అమలుకు నోచుకోవడం లేదన్న అభిప్రాయం ప్రభుత్వంలో ఉంది. అందుకు విద్యార్థులకు అప్రెంటిస్షిప్ని లేదా ప్రాక్టిస్ స్కూల్ చట్టాన్ని తీసుకురావాలని భావిస్తోంది. ఐటీఐ వంటి శిక్షణ సంస్థలను పటిష్టం చేయనుంది. పరిశ్రమలకు సంబంధించిన అవసరాలపై ఏటా 60 నుంచి 90 రోజులు శిక్షణ ఉంటుంది. ఇండస్ట్రీ అవసరాలపై షార్ట్ టర్మ్ కోర్సులను ప్రవేశపెడతారు. 5, 7వ సెమిస్టర్లో ప్రత్యేకంగా పూర్తి స్థాయిలో పారిశ్రామిక శిక్షణ ఉండేలా మార్పులు తెస్తారు. మూడు, నాలుగో సంవత్సరం విద్యార్థులు జాతీయ స్థాయిలో పరిశ్రమలను సందర్శించేలా చర్యలు చేపడతారు.
As if the 'last seen' was not enough to crush your hopes, WhatsApp introduced ‘blue ticks’ to inform you when your message has been read. Which means, you now cannot give lame excuses like, “Sorry, I didn't get your message, my WhatsApp is kind of screwed up!”. Thanks, but no thanks WhatsApp!
The 'last seen' feature of the app has instigated too many arguments that have resulted in nasty breakups, to count. It’s funny how we appease our insecurities by giving the ‘last seen’ so much importance. “If the ‘last seen’ shows 3:30 and I spoke to him at 1:30 last, what was he up to after that?” has become the universal pain all over!
If 'last seen' was a problem, WhatsApp came up with a solution to it. Except that it’s not a solution. Try hiding your 'last seen' and you will be blamed for ‘hiding’ your whereabouts. Because there's so much you can do in life when you're not seen on WhatsApp.
The word ‘peace’ vanished from our vocabulary after WhatsApp groups came along. Constant phone beeping, senseless forwards, and an unnecessary usage of the abbreviation ‘lol’ for not appearing rude has driven us to distraction. You're ‘rude’ if you don’t reply on a group. You become a ‘brash’ cousin for not laughing at a joke that made a round in your ‘cousins’ group. Watch out, since you're being judged every minute.
Unfiltered posts with grammar errors that do the rounds as ‘forwards’ are making us snooty grammar Nazis. Nothing wrong with that, but somewhere it belittles the sender of the message.
Changing Facebook profile pictures frequently has taken a backseat. The new trend is to change DPs on WhatsApp where people check you out more. How to make your ex jealous? Keep changing your DP with happy pictures. Then when he does the same, get mad and delete your WhatsApp.
