Digital Economy

In a successful field trial, engineers test the capabilities of three self-driving rovers on Mars-like terrain in the Sahara Desert.

A sophisticated robot is tested for the first time in Zurich’s sewers to see if it can one day do the job nobody wants – inspecting sewer pipes.

An EU initiative will help companies create new platforms for connected smart objects with minimal investment.

Pollution is a serious issue in many parts of the world, especially in urban areas. Using novel graphene-based materials, researchers from the Graphene Flagship Functional Foams and Coatings Work Package have provided solutions to tackle environmental contamination, among other applications.

Integrating graphene sheets into silicon photonics could form the basis for next-generation data communications. Researchers from the Graphene Flagship initiative have pushed the technology closer to application by demonstrating the world’s first high-speed graphene-based data communication at a data rate of 50 Gb/s.

Graphene Flagship researchers produced graphene-based spintronics devices that utilise both electron charge and spin at room temperature. Demonstrating the spin’s feasibility for bridging distances of up to several micrometres, results open up new possibilities for integrating information-processing and storage in a single chip.

The world''s first two-dimensional material, graphene, possesses unique and outstanding properties. A major EU-funded initiative has developed the material and its application in a myriad of new technologies.

Graphene’s unique combination of properties paves the way for a wide variety of applications, from energy and electronics to biomedical devices and aircraft. To meet these increasing demands, researchers have to scale up graphene production to industrial scale.

In an ingenious set of experiments, European teams have tested graphene under microgravity conditions for the first time. The exciting results provide a valuable foundation for developing graphene devices for use in space.

State-of-the-art technologies are soon to be tested at four EU land border crossings. The aim is to speed up border clearance processes for law-abiding travellers and catch potential criminals with lie detection tests.

In February 2018, we covered the VALCRI project in our special section on ‘New technologies for fighting crime’. We talked to project coordinator, Prof. William Wong, on how VALCRI was developing a highly promising criminal intelligence analysis system based on visual analytics and cognitive engineering. VALCRI ended in June 2018. Prof. Wong has been telling us how the development of their system has progressed.

Research without borders: a recently unveiled virtual portal may help scientists to store, share and use data irrespective of scientific discipline or geographical location.