Recent Commercial Developments Research Articles

Constrained Localization: A Survey

Indoor localization techniques have been extensively studied in the last decade. The well-established technologies enable the development of Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). A good body of publications emerged, with several survey papers that provide a deep analysis of the research advances. Existing survey papers focus on either a specific technique and technology or on a general overview of indoor localization research. However, there is a need for a use case-driven survey on both recent academic research and commercial trends, as well as a hands-on evaluation of commercial solutions. This work aims at helping researchers select the appropriate technology and technique suitable for developing low-cost, low-power localization system, capable of providing centimeter level accuracy. The article is both a survey on recent academic research and a hands-on evaluation of commercial solutions. We introduce a specific use case as a guiding application throughout this article: localizing low-cost low-power miniature wireless swarm robots. We define a taxonomy and classify academic research according to five criteria: Line of Sight (LoS) requirement, accuracy, update rate, battery life, cost. We discuss localization fundamentals, the different technologies and techniques, as well as recent commercial developments and trends. Besides the traditional taxonomy and survey, this article also presents a hands-on evaluation of popular commercial localization solutions based on Bluetooth Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Ultra-Wideband (UWB). We conclude this article by discussing the five most important open research challenges: lightweight filtering algorithms, zero infrastructure dependency, low-power operation, security, and standardization.

Warehouse robot market boosted by Covid pandemic and technological innovations

PurposeThis paper aims to provide details of recent commercial and technological developments that are driving robotic warehouse automation.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a short introduction, this first provides a commercial background and identifies the factors driving the market growth. It then gives examples of robotics companies, products and applications that exploit innovations in artificial intelligence (AI). It then considers future prospects, and finally, brief conclusions are drawn.FindingsAmazon’s acquisition of Kiva led to a community of new robot manufacturers and the realisation by major e-commerce companies that robotic automation would be required to maintain competitiveness. The Covid pandemic caused a surge in e-commerce and a critical shortage of labour, which further highlighted the need for automation and boosted robotic deployments. Recent advances in AI have resulted in a rapidly growing community of companies producing AI-powered robots which offer advanced capabilities such as mixed product picking, sorting and kitting. These are being deployed by a growing number of e-commerce and logistics companies and are paving the way towards ever-higher levels of warehouse automation. Full automation will soon become a reality.Originality/valueThis paper identifies the factors driving the rapidly developing warehouse robot business by considering the companies, products, technology and applications.

Sensing, Computing, and Communications for Energy Harvesting IoTs: A Survey

With the growing number of deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure for a wide variety of applications, the battery maintenance has become a major limitation for the sustainability of such infrastructure. To overcome this problem, energy harvesting offers a viable alternative to autonomously power IoT devices, resulting in a number of battery-less energy harvesting IoTs (or EH-IoTs) appearing in the market in recent years. Standards activities are also underway, which involve wireless protocol design suitable for EH-IoTs as well as testing procedures for various energy harvesting methods. Despite the early commercial and standards activities, IoT sensing, computing and communications under unpredictable power supply still face significant research challenges. This paper systematically surveys recent advances in EH-IoTs from several perspectives. First, it reviews the recent commercial developments for EH-IoT in terms of both products and services, followed by initial standards activities in this space. Then it surveys methods that enable the use of energy harvesting hardware as a proxy for conventional sensors to detect contexts in energy efficient manner. Next it reviews the advancements in efficient checkpointing and timekeeping for intermittently powered IoT devices. We also survey recent research in novel wireless communication techniques for EH-IoTs, such as the applications of reinforcement learning to optimize power allocations on-the-fly under unpredictable energy productions, and packet-less IoT communications and backscatter communication techniques for energy impoverished environments. The paper is concluded with a discussion of future research directions.

Novel method of intraoperative ocular movement monitoring using a piezoelectric device: experimental study of ocular motor nerve activating piezoelectric potentials (OMNAPP) and clinical application for skull base surgeries.

Intraoperative monitoring systems that utilize various evoked potentials for the detection and/or preservation of cranial nerves have become increasingly common due to recent technical and commercial developments, particularly during skull base surgeries. We established a novel system for the intraoperative monitoring of the extraocular motor nerves (eOMNs) using a piezoelectric device capable of detecting imperceptible vibrations induced by ocular movement, with sensors placed on the eyelids alone. We first evaluated the efficacy and reliability of this device for the intraoperative monitoring of eOMNs in two Beagle dogs. Based on the results, we then determined the appropriate stimulation parameters for use in human surgical cases involving removal of various skull base tumors. Animal experiments revealed that a 0.4mA monopolar electrical stimulation was required to elicit significant responses and that these responses were not inferior to those obtained via the electrooculogram/electromyogram. Significant responses were also detected in preliminary clinical investigations in human patients, following both direct and indirect monopolar electrical stimulation of the oculomotor and abducens nerves, although obtaining responses from the trochlear nerve was difficult. Intraoperative monitoring using a piezoelectric device provides a simple and reliable method for detecting eOMNs, especially the oculomotor and abducens nerves. This monitoring system can be adapted to various surgeries for skull base tumor.

Flexible and soft robotic grippers: the key to new markets?

Purpose This paper aims to provide details of recent commercial and academic developments in flexible and soft grippers and considers their impact on emerging robotic markets. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this paper first considers commercially available anthropomorphic robotic hands and soft grippers. It then discusses a selection of recent research activities and concludes with a brief discussion of the potential of these developments. Findings Anthropomorphic robotic hands, which seek to mimic the structure and capabilities of the human hand, together with a technologically diverse family of soft grippers have recently have been commercialised. Most are produced by companies which spun-out from academic establishments. A strong body of innovative research continues and involves a wide range of principles and technologies. These gripping technologies are expected to catalyse several new and emerging applications; the most important being in agile manufacturing, particularly when used with collaborative robots (cobots). Originality/value This paper provides details of recent developments and research into anthropomorphic hands and soft grippers and an insight into their applications.

Cloud-based Decision Support and Automation for Precision Agriculture in Orchards

Abstract: Recent technological and commercial developments make cloud computing an affordable, scalable, and highly-available platform technology. Meanwhile, precision agriculture is showing its potentials by improving agricultural operations through better data-driven decision making. Nevertheless, further development of precision agriculture requires better technology and tools to process data efficiently at a reasonable cost, and to translate the data to better decisions and actions in a field. We developed a framework for cloud-based Decision Support and Automation systems that can acquire data from various sources, synthesize application-specific decisions, and control field devices from the Cloud. A distinctive feature of our framework is its extensible software architecture: decision modules can be added and/or configured for a specific operation. The platform features a device-agnostic frontend that can process incoming data in different formats and semantics. Finally, the platform incorporates software-defined control, a new software design paradigm we proposed to enable versatile and safe control of field devices from a cloud computing platform. An early version of the system has been developed and tested with support from the USDA.

Recent innovations in adhesive technology

Purpose – This paper aims to provide an insight into recent innovations in adhesive technology by considering a selection of commercial developments and academic research activities. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction, this paper first discusses a selection of commercially developed adhesives used in the healthcare, photovoltaics and aerospace industries. It then considers biomimetic adhesive research, specifically dry adhesives which mimic the principles of gecko adhesion and wet adhesives based on the chemistry which underpins mussel adhesion. Finally, brief concluding comments are drawn. Findings – This shows that new adhesives continue to be developed to meet a growing range of industrial requirements, and a major research effort into biologically inspired adhesion mechanisms is poised to yield new families of high-performance adhesives. Originality/value – This provides details of recent commercial and academic developments in adhesive technology.

Technology Roadmapping for Power Supply in Package (PSiP) and Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC)

This paper presents a review and summary of the PSMA “PSiP2PwrSoC” special project that investigated the technology and performance underpinning recent commercial developments in Power Supply in Package and Power Supply on Chip. The results of this study are based on the identification of more than 28 commercial products, six of which were analyzed in detail, both physically and electrically. The methodology of the project is described and some of the salient results of this benchmarking effort are presented. In this study, a representative subset of the available commercial products was selected and a comprehensive physical, electrical and thermal performance analysis was carried out. The objectives were to identify the components, materials and assembly technologies used, and to determine if the drive toward greater integration and higher power density affected the performance of newer devices. The results of the analysis were then used to determine the current state of the technology in this application space, to show how it has developed to date and to predict how it might progress in the future. These results are presented in a generic format that does not identify individual products. This project was co-sponsored by the PSMA and member companies. The final report of the project, which includes more detailed information on the reviews described here as well as considerable trending analysis, is now available.

Project Mudra: Personalization of Computers using Natural Interface

In recent years, the popularity for natural interfaces has experienced tremendous growth. Natural interfaces provide the computers or the so called machines with a sense of humanity. The basic knowledge required to understand and utilize a computer system is reduced to a minimal extent. There have been recent commercial developments in the area of natural interfaces, including the Microsoft XBOX Kinect and Nintendo WII. However, the capital cost of such a system remains very high. The primary intention of this paper is to design a technique to redesign every aspect of our interaction with the computer. It explores and develops an interface that helps simple computer systems to support gestural interface. We could utilize the low cost cameras available with the laptop or desktop to support detection of human gestures and multiple touch experiences, which would ultimately lead to the direct interaction of computers with humans. In such a system, the need for external input devices like mouse and keyboard could be eliminated. The paper discusses how such a system can be implemented, along with a brief description of the approach used.

After the ‘Organic Industrial Complex’: An ontological expedition through commercial organic agriculture in New Zealand

This article uses the evolving understandings of commercial organic agriculture within two research programmes in New Zealand to address three problematic claims and associated framings that have underpinned analysis of the political economy of commercial organic agriculture. These three framings are: 1) that recent commercial developments in organic agriculture have become organised around a grand binary of large-scale, corporate, industrialised organic agriculture that is inhabited by pragmatic newcomers to the industry, against a small-scale, local, authentic remnant of the original organic social movement. This grand binary is most popularly recognisable in the claim by author Michael Pollan of the existence of an ‘Organic Industrial Complex’ that is slowly subsuming authentic organic agriculture. This relates to claim 2) that commercialisation creates inevitable pressures by which organic agriculture becomes ‘conventionalised’. Finally, claim 3) positions organic agriculture alone as the only option for enabling improved environmental outcomes in agriculture. The Greening Food and ARGOS research programmes in New Zealand have studied the emergence of commercial forms of organic and other ‘sustainable’ agriculture in the period since 1995. A series of key engagements are highlighted in the unfolding history of these two programmes which demonstrate moments of transition in understandings of commercial organic, particularly in relation to situations of engagements between the research team and wider actors in the organic sector. These key engagements establish a clear sense in which the three major framings around the political economy of organic commercialisation could not explain the unfolding dynamics of the New Zealand organic sector. Rather, engagement with diverse actors enabled a whole new set of theoretical questions that opened up new areas of politics, contestation and elaboration of commercial forms of organic agriculture – particularly around shifts in power to the retail end of the agri-food chain, around new forms of agri-food governance, and around the politics of new audit systems. Within these shifts, the ontology of some of the researchers within these projects underwent parallel transformation. These transformative influences operated in two simultaneous directions. While the engaged research strategy of the two programmes clearly discomforted the researchers’ underlying assumptions for framing the major trajectories of commercial organic development, the presence of the two research programmes also had an important enactive power in the sector by both rendering ‘thinkable’ particular trajectories and economic experiments and also by reinforcing a ‘metric-centric’ tendency in the evolution of global environmental audit systems. Seen in this light, these engagements open up new questions about the research programmes themselves in terms of the emerging politics of what Philip Lowe describes as a more ‘enactive’ rural sociology and help direct attention to an emerging ‘ontological turn’ in the practice and politics of research.

Functional milks and dairy beverages

During the last decade, consumers’ approach to healthy foods has changed dramatically, and today enhancing the health span of consumers through consumption of healthy food is more important than simply enhancing their life span. Rising medical costs are the prime factor forcing people to find cheaper and effective means of protecting their health. This fact has led to an increase in consumers’ interest in functional foods. Dairy products occupy a significant space in the functional foods market and dairy‐based functional beverages are a growing segment of this sector. This article reviews recent scientific, technological and commercial developments in the functional dairy‐based beverage sector.

A Review of Recent Commercial and Technological Developments for High Q Microwave Dielectrics

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Not boring at all

The element boron is not renowned among biologists, short of a few specialists who know that it is an essential nutrient for plants and an element in boromycin—an antibiotic compound produced by Streptomyces . Yet, on the whole, molecular biologists and, in particular, those in drug development seem to have little use for carbon's left‐hand neighbour in the periodic table. This is about to change. Currently, boron is largely produced in Turkey and the USA, and is used in a wide range of products, including glass, detergents, fire retardants, fibres to reinforce plane fuselages and body armour, and in superhard materials. Now, both researchers and the pharmaceutical industry are showing an increasing interest in boron as an alternative to carbon in drug design. > …both researchers and the pharmaceutical industry are showing an increasing interest in boron as an alternative to carbon in drug design A series of recent scientific and commercial developments indicate that boron‐based compounds are interesting drug candidates against all disease categories and might even speed up drug development. Pharmaceutical companies have already increased their boron research, particularly GlaxoSmithKline (GSK; Brentford, UK), which announced a US$2.5 billion investment in the US company Anacor (Palo Alto, CA, USA) in November 2008. Anacor was founded in 2002 to develop boron‐based antibacterial drugs, but has since expanded into antivirals and other targets with its boron‐based platform. Co‐founders Lucy Shapiro and Stephen Benkovic began collaborating in 2001 to look for novel inhibitors of several newly identified bacterial target sites that, they thought, could lead to more effective antibiotics. “They randomly inserted boron and got good activity,” said David Perry, CEO of Anacor. This serendipitous discovery led to the formation of Anacor a year later. “We were lucky,” Perry conceded. “At that stage we had no idea what the broader potential of boron …

The Shifting Balance of Power between Shareholders and the Board: News Corp's Exodus to Delaware and Other Antipodean Tales

NOTE: research in this Working Paper was subsequently published in the form of the following articles: (i) Jennifer G. Hill, Subverting Shareholder Rights: Lessons from News Corp's Migration to Delaware, 63 Vand. L. Rev. 1-51 (2010) (available at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1541644) (examining News Corp's shift in domicile from Australia to the United States as a case study, or natural experiment, to assess fundamental differences in traditional shareholder rights in the US, compared to other common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. article also explores the lessons of News Corp's reincorporation for current US reforms increasing shareholder rights, and for the anti-reform claim that if shareholder empowerment were efficient, it would already have existed in the marketplace). (ii) Jennifer G. Hill, The Rising Tension Between Shareholder and Director Power in the Common Law World, 2010, 18 Corporate Governance: An International Review, pp. 344-359 (2010) special issue on Shareholder Activism (available at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1582258) (examining key arguments in the US shareholder empowerment debate, and the increasing tension between shareholder and director power in common law jurisdications). balance of power between shareholders and the board of directors is a contentious issue in current corporate law debate. It also lay at the heart of a controversy concerning the re-incorporation of News Corporation (News Corp) in Delaware. News Corp has recently been the subject of intense media attention due its successful bid to acquire Dow Jones & Company. Nonetheless, News Corp's move to the US, which paved the way for this victory, was neither smooth nor a fait accompli. Rather, the original 2004 re-incorporation proposal prompted a revolt by a number of institutional investors, on the basis that a move to Delaware would strengthen managerial power vis-a-vis shareholder power. institutional investors were particularly concerned about the effect of the re-incorporation on shareholder participatory rights, and the ability of the board of directors to adopt anti-takeover mechanisms, such as poison pills, which are not permissible under Australian law. It was this latter concern, which ultimately led a group of institutional investors to commence legal proceedings in the Delaware Chancery Court in UniSuper Ltd v News Corporation (2005 WL 3529317 (Del Ch)). News Corp re-incorporation saga highlights a number of important differences between US and Australian corporate law rules relating to shareholder rights, and provides a valuable comparative law counterpoint to the recent US shareholder empowerment debate. Other recent Australian commercial developments discussed in the article show a tension between legal rules designed to enhance shareholder power, and commercial practices designed to readjust power in favor of the board of directors. These developments are interesting because they demonstrate how some Australian companies have tried to create a de facto corporate governance regime, which mimics certain aspects of Delaware law.

Patently innovative

Wind energy has now become a major scientific discipline with significant potential for research and education. And as legislation drives the uptake of wind, ways to improve efficiency and yield are top of many company's R&D action plans. George Marsh looks at some recent commercial developments in wind turbine technology.

Patently innovative: Imagination in wind turbine technology continues to flourish

Wind energy has now become a major scientific discipline with significant potential for research and education. And as legislation drives the uptake of wind, ways to improve efficiency and yield are top of many company's R&D action plans. reFOCUS looks at some recent commercial developments in wind turbine technology.

Current Developments Using Emerging Transdermal Technologies In Physical Enhancement Methods.

Transdermal drug delivery using patches offers many advantages, but is limited primarily by the stratum corneum barrier. Amongst the various methods to overcome this barrier, physical methods are gaining in popularity and commercial devices development. Macroflux, MTS and Silex are based on microporation, involving use of microneedles that pierce thereby bypassing the stratum corneum. Intraject , Powderject and Helios are based on needleless jet injectors wherein very fine, solid particulate drug, is fired directly into the skin, using high-pressure gas. Med- Tats incorporate use of modified drug-containing tattoos, which bind to the skin, wherein the drug is absorbed. CHADD is based on use of heat, which increases skin - permeation of drugs. High-power, pulsed lasers transmit positive mechanical forces to the skin and create intercellular channels into the skin transiently. Sonophoresis involves use of ultrasound, which transiently disrupts the stratum corneum barrier. This technique offers a non-invasive transdermal extraction of interstitial fluids of sampling body fluids. Modified Liposomes include Ethosomes (containing alcohol) and Transferosomes (containing surfactants), which have enhanced skin permeability. Pulsed magnetic fields may create transient pores in cell membranes, including skin, resulting in increased permeation. Iontophoresis is based on application of electric potential for enhancing the movement of substances to and from the body. Dupel, Ionzyme, Liposite, ETrans, Phoresor and Drionic are based on iontophoresis. GlucoWatch offers non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, based on reverse iontophoresis. This review outlines recent commercial developments in physical transdermal drug delivery technology and the specific devices and applications being targeted by the pharmaceutical industry.

Current Practice and Recent Commercial Developments in Flame Retardancy of Polyamides

This review presents the currently used or promising flame retardant systems for the aliphatic polyamides. The largest applications are in electrical parts, with smaller usage in automotive and textiles. A polycyclic chlorohydrocarbon, DECHLORANE PLUS, is employed in low smoke formulations. Decabromodiphenyl ether has major use in polyamide 6. Alternative brominated additives include decabromodiphenylethane, polybrominated phenylindane, polymeric dibromophenylene oxide, polybrominated polystyrene and oligomeric glycidyl ethers of tetrabromobisphenol A, and polypentabromobenzyl acrylate. In non-reinforced polyamide 6, melamine cyanurate is effective. With glass reinforcements, some melamine pyro-or polyphosphates are useful. Polyamide 6 can be flame retarded with high loadings of magnesium hydroxide. Stabilized and coated red phosphorus is used in Europe and the Far East. A recent development is the use of aluminum dialkylphosphinate. In textile fiber, there has been some development of a built-in phosphinate. Polyamide fabric can be flame retarded with a thioureaformaldehyde resin finish.

Using three-dimensional imaging to assess treatment outcomes in orthodontics: a progress report from the University of the Pacific.

Past research in integrated three-dimensional (3D) craniofacial mapping at the Craniofacial Research Instrumentation Laboratory (CRIL) of the University of the Pacific is summarized in narrative form. The advantages and limitations of recent commercial developments in the application of cone beam geometry volumetric X-ray scanners in dentistry and surface digital mapping of study casts are discussed. The rationale for methods currently in development at CRIL for merging longitudinal information from existing 3D study casts and two-dimensional lateral X-ray cephalograms in studies of orthodontic treatment outcome is presented.

Hanoi: biography of a city

As Vietnam opened up to the West since the late 1980s, awareness of the architectural richness of the national capital, Hanoi, has grown. Its striking combination of Chinese-influenced shop-houses, French boulevards, Soviet housing and recent Western-style commercial developments in unique. Hanoi: Biography of a City is the first book to trace the history of the fabric of the city since its origins a thousand years ago.