Engineering, manufacturing and construction

MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence lab has come up with the first-ever system to allow any user to build and customise their own drone depending on their needs. The potential of this smart design tool – which was partly enabled by the EU-funded SOMA project – has been demonstrated using a variety of examples, including a five-rotor ‘pentacopter’ and a rabbit-shaped ‘bunnycopter’.

Whilst there is no denying the potential of graphene, its mass production has so far been hindered by laborious fabrication methods and the high costs they entail. A new technique developed by partners of the CARERAMM project promises to overcome these problems.

In the last Trending Science of 2016 (your writer will be ho ho home for the holidays by the time you read this), we’re reporting on three science-related Christmas stories that have hit the headlines this festive season.

Many contemporary artworks are endangered due to their extremely fast degradation processes. NANORESTART – a project developing nanomaterials to protect and restore this cultural heritage – has created a 3D printed artwork with a view to testing restoration methods.

Partners of the PI-SCALE project recently showcased their first pilot lines demonstrators of flexible OLEDS — providing a great opportunity for EU companies to bring their ideas and concepts to market. The presented OLED stripes will serve as a raw material for special lighting applications in healthcare, architecture and transportation.

New perovskite material developed by EU researchers is set to define the next generation of hard drives.

A new study released by the EU-funded FUTURE SKY SAFETY project has reported that half of airline pilots believe that fatigue is not taken seriously by airlines, raising questions about safety within the European aviation industry.

EU-funded researchers have developed a new ultrafast X-ray technique which could revolutionise our understanding of structure and function at the atomic and molecular level.

Three EU-funded projects – NEUWALK, WALK AGAIN and E-WALK – have contributed to the development of a wireless ‘brain-spinal interface’ that bypasses spinal cord injuries and restores intentional walking movement to a temporarily paralysed leg.

During its second dissemination event held in Brussels on Thursday 3 November 2016, the members of the CAPACITY4RAIL project came together to discuss their promising results on how their work is helping to build a strong, modern and reliable European railway network.

Companies willing to stand out in today’s video game industry need three core assets: an original concept and scenario, an intuitive gameplay, and photo-realistic game environments. As vibrant as it may be, the European video game industry is caught up in this race, and small companies can hardly win without tremendous budgets being invested into their 3D environments. Technology developed under the CR-PLAY project — which enables the creation of realistic gaming environments based on photos and videos — may increase their chances.

During its final conference held in Brussels on 18 October 2016, the EU-funded USE-IT-WISELY project outlined its innovative frameworks and tools that will equip European manufacturers to effectively compete in an increasingly globalised world economy.

Through a unique training programme that brought industry and academia together, the EU–funded MARE-WINT project has helped to fill a significant skills gap in the burgeoning offshore wind energy sector.

EU-funded researchers have successfully filmed light and electrons coupled together as they travel undercover through nano-sized processors

Researchers have developed an offshore wind turbine system that can be completely pre-assembled and pre-commissioned in controlled harbour conditions.

Wearable robots that can anticipate and react to users’ movement in real time could dramatically improve mobility assistance and rehabilitation tools.

Innovative 3D simulation software enables plant managers to streamline factory operations and take into account the experience of workers themselves.

The EU-funded ROVINA project has developed an autonomous robot which can navigate, explore and digitally map hard-to-access areas

EU-funded researchers have created a tool to assess the impact of natural disasters on transport infrastructure in order to save both lives and money.

EU researchers have developed a new system to monitor industrial food processing in real time, an innovation that could have real commercial potential.

In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the Italian town of Amatrice and its surrounding region on 24 August 2016, Italian authorities requested the help of the EU-funded TRADR project. The project stepped up to the plate and quickly deployed two Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to the devastated region.

In a new paper, researchers from the University of Southampton, UK, and members of the EU-funded RAMP project, have demonstrated how memristors could help aid the development of more precise and affordable neuroprosthetics and bioelectric medicines.

EU-funded researchers are combining high-performance computational power with hardware and servers in order to build a more efficient, heterogeneous cloud.

New methods for achieving efficient paper recycling have been developed, creating new business opportunities in sustainably managing waste.

Understanding how our brains sustain ‘internal evolution’ – and help us to adapt and learn complex skills such as language – could one day lead to smarter robots.