Important Innovations Collection

Revolutionary New Electric, Self-Heating Battery Source:  Penn State Recharges in 10 Minutes with Up to 300 Mile Range The future of driving green and emissions free is electric.  Now a team of engineers at Penn State University has invented a new battery to make that future a lot closer and more doable.  Their new lithium-ion battery can be charged in ten minutes, self-heats and provides a driving range up to 300 miles.  They envision this being done at local service stations with electric charges for EV's. Revolutionary New Tech This new battery is revolutionary.  It can be recharged over and over again for up to 500,000 miles of travel.  That's a big deal.  Some lithium-ion batteries rapidly degrade based on ambient temperatures.  This battery overcomes current limitations.  The Penn State team has installed nickel foil on the batteries, eliminating lithium plating. The nickel warms quickly through resistance to 140F. Tha...

Smart Camera for Exercise at Home & Gym:  GymCam Source:  Carnegie Mellon University New Smart Camera, New Algorithm, New Exercise Tracking Carnegie Mellon University engineers have developed a smart fitness tracker for the gym and for your home exercise area.  The GymCam system scans the crowds in a gym to automatically identify exercises and count the number of repetitions. All that's needed is a stationary camera with the new algorithm in a gym to detect exercise, the type of exercise and reliably count the number of repetitions. In your home for personal use, it can do the same functions.  It works with a smartphone for a person to record and track their workouts at home.  CMU says a number of companies are expressing interest in the system for in-home exercise. Vision Based System with New Algorithm This is a vision based system that employs a new algorithm to detect repetitive motion.  The CMU inventors say it goes beyond wear...