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Inspirations from the EdgeConnecting to Future with Brain Machine Interface Add a Dimension by Cutting Edge Research Displaying the EdgeWhat is your Computer's DNA? Social Impact of Leading Edge Technology - NETRA Cross Domain Ideas for Sustainable Living Bringing the Moon Down

VOL. 5, ISSUE 1JAN - MAR 2012

Colophon

TechTalk@KPITCummins is a quarterly journal of Science and Technology published byKPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited, Pune, India.

Dr. Vinay G. VaidyaCTO-Engineering, VPKPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited,Pune, [email protected]

Priti Ranadive Sudhakar SahCharudatta Sinnarkar

Minds'ye Communication, Pune, IndiaContact : 9673005089

[email protected]

The individual authors are solely responsiblefor infringement, if any.All views expressed in the articles are thoseof the individual authors and neither the companynor the editorial board either agree or disagree.The information presented here is only for giving anoverview of the topic.

For Internal Circulation OnlyTechTalk@KPIT Cummins

Guest Editorial

Chief Editor

Editorial and Review Committee

Designed and Published by

Disclaimer

Dr. Akhlesh LakhtakiaThe Charles Godfrey Binder (Endowed)Professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics,Pennsylvania State University, PA, [email protected]

Sanjyot GindiPranjali ModakAditi Athavale

Suggestions and Feedback

TechTalk@KPITCummins, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2012 1

Contents

Editorial

Profile of a Scientist

Articles

Editorial - Dr. Vinay Vaidya

2

3

28

4

18

24

30

10

Inspirations from the EdgeSudhakar Sah

Guest Editorial - Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia

Book Review29

Connecting to Future with Brain Machine Interface, Dheeraj Kumar Patel Vishal Soni

Add a Dimension by Cutting Edge ResearchSachin Bangadkar, Pranali Dhane

Displaying the EdgeSmita Nair

What is your Computer's DNA?Nikhil Jotwani, Anuja M

‘Leonardo Da Vinci’Pranjali Modak

Successful Innovation: How To Encourage and Shape Profitable IdeasMayurika Chatterjee

Cross Domain Ideas for Sustainable LivingPriti Ranadive

Social Impact of Leading Edge Technology - NETRA Dr. Ramesh Raskar

36

42

Bringing the Moon DownVarun B, Neha Savur

48

Profile of an Innovator41

‘Steve Jobs’Ruchi Tewari

TechTalk@KPITCummins, Volume 5, Issue 1, 20122

Guest Editorial

Dr.Akhlesh LakhtakiaThe Charles Godfrey Binder(Endowed)Professor ofEngineering Science &Mechanics,Pennsylvania State [email protected]

Cross Fertilization

Taxonomy aims to bring order to chaos. Initial taxonomic success often is later enhanced but never brought to completion. Just look at various lists of breeds of the common dog. Distinctions between breeds made by the American Kennel Club are not always recognized by the Australian National Kennel Council, and apparently neither organization has bothered to classify the Indian breeds Rampur Greyhound and Rajapalayam. Every year, zoological taxonomists reclassify many species and subspecies in the wild, as more information about anatomical features and molecular genetics becomes available; several distinct species are combined into one, some genera disappear while new genera are formed, and so on. Ask several particle physicists the number of particles in the Standard Model zoo, and be prepared to receive several different answers. While essential, sustained practice of taxonomy does not always lead to pure taxons.And so it is with academic disciplines. Disciplinary purity was taken for granted when I was in grade school. My teachers, all armed with university degrees, ensured that physics and chemistry were as different from each other as chalk from cheese, algebra was algebra and geometry was geometry, and there could be no confusion between history and geography. In college, I learnt that we engineers must wait at the table of physicists (and, occasionally, chemists) for crumbs that we could transmute into mass-produced objects to be sold for the highest profit that the market would bear.Imagine my surprise when, during the first year of graduate school, I had to derive closed-form expressions for several integrals involving products of associated Legendre functions for a research paper, and I found out that certain types of chemists specialized in similar activities. How delightful! Soon I had opportunities to discuss microwave-assisted tomography with geophysicists and computer scientists. I met graduate students from molecular biology, chemical physics, and algebraic geometry. Occasionally, I attended seminars in the departments of geophysics, mechanical engineering, and radiology. Most importantly, I learnt that, motivated by desires to produce revolutionary devices, researchers in engineering departments themselves undertake deep research in mathematics and physics. For me, disciplinary boundaries began to crumble––not perhaps with the intensity of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, but even so.

th thDisciplinary purity did not exist prior to the 20 century. Ibn Khaldoun, the 14 -century Tunisian historiographer, thwrote a muqaddimah on history, sociology, demography, economics, biology, and chemistry. In the 18 century,

Denis Diderot single-handedly compiled an encyclopédie after personally verifying the truth of every entry. Not only was Benjamin Franklin an author, publisher, diplomat, postmaster, political theorist, and one of the founding fathers of USA, but he was also a first-rate technoscientific researcher with contributions to electrical and thermal sciences. One of my heroes, Jagadish Chandra Bose invented both artificial chiral composite materials and artificial structurally chiral materials, devised semiconductor hetero junctions to detect radio signals, and invented the cresco graph to identify the similarities of plant and animal tissue.

thThe disciplinary purity of much of the 20 century is breaking down at the technoscientific forefront. If you can deposit tiny amounts of matter in tiny spaces, you can work on implanting electrodes in the brains of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, you can devise resorbable drug-eluting stents, you can construct an entire laboratory on a chip smaller than a 1-paisa coin, you can reduce the channel thickness in MOSFETs to a nanometer, you can visualize faint fingerprints of criminals, and so on. If you have mastered the Stürm-Liouville equation and the algebra of tensors, you can solve boundary-value problems in acoustics, electromagnetics, and elastodynamics, all of which have numerous applications in different “disciplines”. Cross-fertilization of ideas from different disciplines makes the world your oyster.While disciplinary boundaries are still needed for administration and guidance, many leading universities are hard at work to foster cross-fertilization. My own university, which pioneered in the mid-1950s an academic major called engineering science, has just finished construction of a building with two wings, one devoted to materials sciences and the other to life sciences, meeting in a common area to promote cross-fertilization. At MIT, a department of biological engineering has been set up. SPIE now organizes conferences on engineered biomimicry to draw in participants from more than a dozen different academic disciplines. Engineered biomimicry was the theme of this magazine's previous issue, which shows that leading industrial research laboratories too perceive benefits from cross-fertilization. Indeed, to design and manufacture as commonplace a device as a simple automobile, a team of mechanical engineers, chemical engineers, materials scientists, electrical engineers, civil engineers, fluid mechanicians, ergonomists, artists, stylists, and market researchers has to be assembled first. No wonder, fostering cross-disciplinarity is essential for any progressive company.

Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia is the Charles Godfrey Binder (Endowed) Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University, where he is also a professor in graduate programs in Materials and Forensic Science. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nanophotonics, published by SPIE.

3

Dr. Vinay G. VaidyaCTO - Engineering, VPKPIT Cummins InfosystemsLimited, Pune, India

Editorial

Please send your feedback to :[email protected]

The icon for versatility is none other than Leonardo da Vinci. He was a scientist, mathematician,

engineer, inventor, cartographer, anatomist, geologist, botanist, painter, sculptor, architect, musician,

and writer all in one. His knowledge of multiple fields certainly had a major impact on other fields. It is

quite likely that while painting asymmetric smile of Mona Lisa, he was motivated to study how facial

muscles work and while sketching a waterfall he was fascinated to study fluid dynamics. Such is the

power of 'Innovations on the Edge'.

As we unearth the secrets of universe, we are continuously surprised. Our knowledge of the universe has

improved due to multiple factors. Telescopes have played a major role in it. Since Galileo's first

telescope about 400 years ago, there has been a significant transformation in its design. In 1990, one of

the most sophisticated instruments, the Hubble telescope, was launched. It allowed us to get an

unobstructed view of the sky with no scattering of light previously seen due to light on the Earth.

Advancements in radio telescope are another example where multiple disciplines are required to make

things happen. To build the world's largest telescope, Square Kilometer Array (SKA), we have

astrophysicists, physicists, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers, telecommunications

engineers, software engineers, as well as geologists working as one team.

Advancements in engineering have made a major impact in the medical field. Today the methods of

diagnostics are way advanced, thanks to the advancements due to multi-disciplinary research. Medical

field is replete with cross fertilization of ideas having a major impact. If one looks at the recent Noble

laureates then one would notice that many of them do not practice medicine but they come from

various other disciplines such as engineering, biochemistry, chemistry, molecular biology, microbiology

and allied fields. Inventions coming out of cross boundary research have not only made ever lasting

impact on the medical field but also on our lives.

From innovation perspective, it is very important for researchers and innovators to look at the

advancements in other fields and try to see how those might help in their own field. Today's researchers

are confronted with multiple challenges. One of them is ensuring that there is no inadvertent patent

infringement. Given a problem, there is always a risk that two researchers around different corners of

the world think alike and come up with the same solution. This could potentially lead to a patent

infringement. This is perhaps due to the fact that people are trained in the same field, in the same

manner, and they read papers from the same conference proceedings or journals. There is no out-of-

the-box thinking. One way to overcome this issue is to read more about other disciplines and connect

seemingly unconnected fields. Attending seminars and conferences in another field may be perceived

as a waste of time and money, but who knows it might trigger a new idea. More one reads about other

fields, higher is the chance that the solution would be richer in content, thereby reducing the chance of

inadvertent patent infringement.

In this series of issues we are addressing the issue of stimulating innovators. In the last issue we

elaborated on nature inspired innovation. In this issue we are attempting to stress the importance of

interdisciplinary knowledge. Common thread for tying all disciplines is undoubtedly mathematics. Our

next issue, 'Math Matters', would cover the magic of mathematics. We hope that this trilogy would act

as a catalyst in your research.


4 TechTalk@KPITCummins, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2012

5

Sudhakar Sah

About the Author

Inspirations from the Edge


6

1. Introduction


Innovation seems to be a buzz word around all the

industries. We understand the meaning of

innovation very well but the question is do we

really understand how innovation happens.

Innovations could happen due to some necessity,

or the person working on a problem is a creative

person, or out of sheer luck, or just a combination

of all of the above. Whatever the reason,

innovations happen all around us. Innovations are

of two broad types. One category of innovations

is commonly referred as incremental innovations

since they build on top of some other innovations.

The other category of innovations, are what we

call innovations that happen at the edge. In this

article, we are going to discuss innovations

resulting from the edge. We will discuss what we

exactly mean by “edge” and why one should strive

for such kind of innovations.

Edge is the boundary or a crossover between the

organizations, domain, technology, market and

geographical areas [10]. Edge is a place where,

most disruptive innovations take place, many

path-breaking solutions to customer's problem

are found, and environmental friendly solutions

are unearthed. Therefore, the next question could

be “If there is a huge potential of innovations on

the edges, what prevents people from working on

the edge”. The reason behind this is high risk

associated in working on the solutions using cross

boundary technologies. It requires more

investments without a fixed, proven path and

there is no guarantee of success [11]. However,

the magnitude of success out of the innovations

from edge is very high and that is a motivation for

researchers to think beyond the boundaries of

company, beyond their comfort zone and most

importantly beyond the technology areas.

Let us take an interesting example of “Jaipur foot”

which is the artificial limb for disabled people. One

can visit their center for consultation in Jaipur,

India. After giving necessary inputs, a person can

walk out with an artificial limb in just few hours.

How is it possible to make the process so simple? It

II. Innovations from the Edge

Jaipur Foot

becomes possible because of the use of

technologies from different domains and

collaboration. This discipline is called as

biomechanics. The process involves chemistry to

select the right material, mechanical engineering

to design coupling and screws, and last and the

most important, human psychology to understand

the needs and emotions of disabled people.

During your high school days, when you were

studying biology and mathematics, did you think

that there is some relationship between these two.

The two look like North Pole and South Pole and

share no commonality at all. So, what is

biomathematics? Well, it is a branch that deals with

biology, mathematics and computing all in one.

Why do you need these fields to come together?

Well, biology consists of data rich information set

like genomics, which becomes easier by using

analytical tools. Mathematical tool like chaos

theory can be used to model nonlinear concepts in

biology, which was not possible earlier. Evolution of

computing technology inspired to simulate

complete biological systems for understanding it

better and in less time. Hence, research of

theoretical biology can go places by collaboration

amongst mathematicians, engineers, biologists,

physicists, geneticists, zoologists and other

branches that are on edge of above-mentioned

branches [14].

Ecosystem modeling [13] is the mathematical

representation of ecological system. This

mathematical model can further be used to

simulate real system to produce more information

about the ecosystem that otherwise is not possible

without waiting for long duration. Such simulation

can be used in other domains. Some of these

domains include agricultural management,

wildlife conservation, computer science, and

mathematics. Ecological model is one of the finest

examples of cross-domain innovations since it uses

mathematics, modeling and simulation to solve

problems in different disciplines.

Biomathematics

Ecosystem Modeling

7TechTalk@KPITCummins, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2012

Geospatial Technology

Construction Engineering

Automobile

During the days of wired fixed line phones, who had

thought of wireless mobile phones? However, mobile

communication started at the edge of wireless

technology. Today, mobile technology has become

core of communications technology.This is one of the

major technology marvels of recent times and as

usual today's wireless technology has evolved by

merger of many discrete technologies. For example,

GIS, GPS, location based services, AM/FM, navigation

system were discrete concepts earlier but

collaboration of all of these together evolved a much

polished, efficient and flexible wireless technology

that is being used by mobile technology and internet

[15].

Construction engineering is one of the oldest and

significantly one of the major contributors to

development. In 80s or even 90s less than 100 people

used to be busy at a construction site. Which domains

do you think were involved in construction? It was a

combination of civil engineering, mechanical

engineering, and metallurgy. If you visit any

construction site these days, you can easily

understand the revolutionary changes that have

happened. The transformation has been effectively

catalyzed by involvement of other technologies in

infrastructure development. For example, use of

robotics has eased most of the manual tasks.

Computer simulations give detailed information

about the impact of using different mixtures based

on chemistry and corresponding life of the building.

Computer aided design (CAD) helps in creating

design of building and making modifications in the

software by looking at the visual model until it

reaches to a satisfactory level. Additionally,

geologists are required to understand the properties

of soil and water in order to construct a durable

structure.This virtually eliminates the possibility of

error in construction.

When we talk about automobiles, what comes to our

mind? Is it mechanical engineering, metallurgy,

electrical engineering? Well, it depends on your

affinity towards one of these disciplines.

Automobiles have come a long ways since the first car

rolled out. Today's cars are equipped with many

features that would have not been possible by

continuing research only in the disciplines mentioned

as above. Today we need to know different

technologies such as electronic chips for replacing

many mechanical parts, sensor technology to detect

different scenarios and act based on the situation,

vision systems for driver and pedestrian safety,

ergonomics for better comfort, environmental

engineering for pollution reduction, computer science

for embedded systems and software simulations,

chemistry for battery life estimation and super

capacitor design. The list goes on.

Vedic mathematics [2] is an ancient Indian technique

for computation. It is fast and significantly different

compared to conventional mathematics. According to

the conventional thinking, the techniques used in

Vedic mathematics suits best for manual calculation.

However, researchers who believed that the concept

could be utilized in other fields came up with the

hardware multiplier designs for processors that are

based on Vedic Mathematics. These multipliers are

faster than conventional multipliers devised earlier.

Quantum computing is the outcome of intense

research of combining computer science, physics and

mathematics. Outcome of the research is a quantum

computer that is multi-fold faster as compared to the

conventional silicon based computer. Quantum

computing concepts such as entanglement and non-

locality come from philosophy [3]. Later,

mathematicians discovered that these concepts form

the basis of efficient algorithm development. Further,

the development of efficient quantum algorithms

could bridge the gap between classical and quantum

physics. Quantum computing also aids in

understanding that the mathematical terms like

complexity and tractability can be translated into

physics[4]. Hence, relationship of physics and

mathematics at the edge of computer science gave

birth to quantum computing. Figure 1, shows qubits as

the basic unit of quantum computing. Qubit is

analogous to bits in

Vedic Mathematics and Processor design

Quantum Computing


conventional computing with a difference that

bits are limited to only two states whereas qubits

can take multiple states. Therefore, qubits are

multi fold powerful compared to bits.

Figure 1: Qubits -The fundamental building

block of quantum computers.

Source:Wikipedia [4]

Holographic disk drive

We have seen enormous increase in storage

capacity of disks right from the time of a floppy

disk capable of storing 512KB of data to Blu-ray

disk that can store data of the order of GB. Where

will the storage technology go from here? Well,

again the answer is edge. Companies are working

on the new concept called holographic disk [11]

that can store 30 times more data compared to a

Blu-ray disk. The reason for increase in storage

capacity is that this uses holography concept for

data writing. Instead of writing data using laser

light, holography technique will make data writing

possible in three dimensions. This increases the

storage capacity.

FigureII: Concept of holographic disk drive

Source: Focus [11]

Bio-Photonics

Electrons are at the core of electronics or electrical

engineering. In order to do something

fundamentally different, researchers thought of a

new concept from the edge of biology and

photonics. The combination of biology and

photonics gave birth to bio photonics [5]. Photon is

a quantum unit of light and photonics is the science

that deals with photons. Photons for information

technology are analogous to electrons in

electronics. Bio photonics is related to the

interaction of biological items and photons. Bio

photonics finds its applications in life sciences,

agriculture, environmental science, and medicine

[13].

Dye making industry uses chemicals and

predefined processes for many decades. However,

the chemicals involved in this process are toxic and

sometimes explosive. Additionally, the process to

provide safety to workers consumes large amount

of energy. Both of these situations are not

favorable and hence researchers at Catholic

University of Louvain in Belgium use a novel

technique to take care of the above problems. They

have extracted the enzymes from fungi that

produce eco dyes.

In this article, we have seen that most of the

technology marvels came into existence because of

using multi-disciplinary approach to come up with

the solution. On one hand, it looks virtually

impossible to think of products or innovations

without knowledge or awareness of various

branches of science, technology, commerce and

arts. On the other hand, there are discussions

about abolishing certain subjects from different

curriculums. Reasoning is very simple; it is not

useful so let us not overburden students. For

example, why biology is taught in high schools

when the student is aspiring to become an

Engineer? What is the relevance of mechanics in

electronics engineering? With the examples given

in this article, it is clear that it is important to have

knowledge of different domains. This is the key of

path breaking innovations. The important point is

that the problem lies at the core of one technology

and one can often find its solution on the edge of

other technology. It is also evident that the

Colorful Eco Textiles

III. Conclusion


remained successful in the market. Core of

technology is hardly bitten but there is lot of scope

at the edges and the success lies in converting

these edge technologies to the core technology

and the process will go on.

[1]] Harun Yahya, “What we can learn from

animals”, in Biomimetics: Technology Imitates

Nature, 2006, pp- 116-120.

[2] Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krisna Tirthaji

Maharaja, “Vedic Mathematics: Sixteen Simple

Mathematical Formulae from the Veda”, Delhi

(1965).

[3] Hagar, Amit, "Quantum Computing", The

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring

2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =

<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/ent

ries/qt-quantcomp/>

[4] Quantum Computers Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_compute

r

[5] Bio photonics

http://spie.org/documents/Newsroom/audio/M

atthewsPresentation.pdf

[6] Colorful eco-textiles thanks to nano-sized

enzymes

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=2261

8.php

[7] Bio photonics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophotonics

[8] Leonard M. Adleman, “Computing with DNA”,

Scientific American, August 1998.

[9] DNA Computer: Future for All

http://www.futureforall.org/computers/dnacom

References

puters.htm

[10] John Hage, “Edge perspective”, Online

Article, May 12, 2008

http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_pers

pectives/2008/05/innovation-on-t.html

[11] John Hage and John Seely Brown, “Embrace

the Edge -- or Perish”, Online Article Bloomberg

Business week, Nov 2007.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content

/nov2007/id20071128_162890.htm?chan=search

[12] Focus Editors, “Quantum Computing vs.

Paleofuture”

http://www.focus.com/fyi/quantum-computing-

vs-paleofuture/

[13] Ecosystem Model Wiki page-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem_model

[14] Mathematical and Theoretical Biology –

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_and_

theoretical_biology

[15]Prof. Mike Jackson, David Schell and Prof. D.R.

Fraser Taylor “The Evolution of Geospatial

Technology Calls for Changes in Geospatial

This story is told about the mathematician

A r n e B e u r l i n g :

When PhD candidates he was supervising

came to him with their finished theses he

would read the last few pages of the thesis,

then pull out a paper from his desk, look at it

for a few moments and then say "Well, that

seems to be the right answer, You can submit

it".

11

About the Author


Connecting to Future withBrain Machine Interface

Member Technical Staff,Automotive and Allied Engineering,KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd., Pune, India

Areas of Interest Automobile Subsystems Development,Communication Protocol Development,Industrial and Consumer Robotics

Dheerajkumar Patel

Software Engineer,Automotive and Engineering Business Unit,KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd.,Pune, India

Areas of InterestAnalog/Digital Electronics,Automotive Design and Concepts

Vishal Soni


I. Introduction

II. What is Brain Machine Interface?

Inventions in machine interfaces have always

increased comfort level of people. We have seen

the development of push buttons, keypads,

wireless controls, and the most talked touch

screens. Some inventions are also seen in the area

of non-touch screen interfaces where the user

moves a detectable object in front of the screen to

interact with the machine. In most of these

interfaces, the user physically handles the

interface device to make use of it. However, think

of people with disabilities. Is it possible for them

to control machines around them? Let us consider

an example of the high-tech wheel chair

developed for physically challenged people. In

spite of the intelligence we put in the wheel chair,

the person has to touch the control panel to move

the wheel chair and control its other parts.

Developing just the high-tech devices for

physically challenged people is not enough.

Imagine if they could have been able to control the

devices using their brain directly or imagine

yourself controlling your mobile phones,

television sets, fans, tube lights, any electronic

device around you; just by your thoughts. Imagine

talking to the person beside you without uttering a

single word. It sounds interesting but is this

possible? The answer is yes! Research is being

carried out to even control car using thoughts.

This article provides an overview of this

technology known as Brain Machine Interface and

highlights some of its applications and recent

developments.

With the advancements in the computing

techniques and the study of human brain,

scientists have claimed a possibility of interfacing

human brain directly to machines or external

devices. The direct communication between the

human brain and machines is termed as Brain

Machine Interface (BMI) or Brain Computer

Interface (where brain controls the computer

directly). The figure 1 shows a conceptual

overview of a Brain Machine Interface system for

Figure 1: Patient with Brain Machine Interface system

Brain

Brain takes part in each activity that we perform. It

works like a processor that has input signals and

generates output commands resulting in one of the

activities we perform. Basic five senses, touch,

smell, vision, taste and hearing, are inputs to the

brain. Additionally, some other senses like

temperature, pain, balance and acceleration, also

act as inputs to the brain. The output can be any in

terms of muscle movement, thoughts, speech etc.

The transmission of information to and from the

brain is carried out by the brain cells called neurons.

There are billions of neurons present inside the

brain. The neurons are electrically charged and

transfer of the electric charge from one neuron to

another enables the information transmission to

and from the brain. There are three types of

neurons present in the brain namely Sensory

Neurons, Motor Neurons, and Inter-neurons.

Types of Neurons

l

l

information from the body parts to the brain. These

neurons provide input to the brain, thus the

information provided by our senses is carried to the

brain by the sensory neurons.

Motor Neurons are neurons that carry

information from the brain to the different body

Sensory Neurons are neurons that carry


parts. These neurons carry output information from

the brain. For example, some motor neurons carry

information to the muscles and command them to

move accordingly.

The transmission of information by the neurons

inside the brain forms a pattern of electrical signal.

This pattern is unique for each activity that we

perform. For example, the activity of moving our arm

in a particular direction from one position to another

generates a pattern of electrical signals inside the

brain. Studies have proved that the pattern

generated when a person thinks of an activity is the

same when he actually performs that activity. This

study is the basis of entire Brain Machine Interface

(BMI) development.

BMI includes reading the patterns of neural activity

generated by thoughts, processing those patterns

using external Digital Signal Processors (DSP),

decoding the command or action that is being

transferred and giving this command to the external

physical devices. The external devices can be any

electro-mechanical system that can be used to assist

the paralyzed person [1]. For example, prosthetic

hand or prosthetic leg, wheel chair, a computer, etc.

The figure 2 shows an outline of Brain Machine

Interface system.

l

communication.

Inter-neurons are neurons that enable inter neuron

Figure 2: Outline of Brain Machine Interface System

Reading Neural Patterns

Neural Coding

The Neurons constantly exchange ions with the

neighbouring neurons. These exchanges of electrically

charged ions cause a wave of electrical energy

(pattern of neural activity) which propagates in one

direction. If a metal electrode is placed closed to the

charged neurons, a potential difference is created

which can be read by the measurement devices. A

continuous measurement of this potential difference

over duration of time gives the neural pattern which is

being propagated in that part of the brain. The brain is

divided into several parts depending upon the

functions it performs. Therefore, the pattern picked

up from different parts of the brain show differences.

In addition, the neural pattern generated is a result of

thousands of neurons communicating in that part of

the brain. For this purpose, the acquisition of neural

signals is performed using multiple electrodes placed

at certain fixed locations. The placement of the

electrodes for reading the neural signals leads to

different techniques of BMI. This is explained in later

sections.

The pattern of neural activity is different for different

tasks or thoughts. The information is coded in the

generated pattern during the thought process or

physical activity. Neural coding is the study of methods

in which the information is coded into patterns [2]. It

includes the analysis of how the information

attributes like muscle movement direction, amount of

force to be applied by the hands, various tastes, odor,

etc. are coded in patterns of neural activities. The

study is being focused in two directions, neural

encoding and neural decoding. Neural encoding

focuses on the methods of coding of the sensory

information, which is transmitted to the brain by the

sensory neurons. On the other hand, neural decoding


on the methods of coding of output information,

which is transmitted out from the brain to the

body organs through the motor neurons and

inter-neurons.

Depending upon the placement of electrodes for

picking the neural signals, there are three types of

Brain Machine Interface that are currently under

development.

Invasive Brain Machine Interface

In this type of BMI, the electrodes are implanted

deep inside the brain during neurosurgery. This

type of placement produces the highest quality of

neural signals. However, this also has the

drawback of electrodes being damaged by the

reaction of brain tissue to foreign material

(electrode material). The figure 3 shows the

placement of electrode in Invasive BMI type.

III. Types of Brain Machine Interface

Figure 3: Invasive BMI Electrode Placement

This method of BMI is widely experimented on

animals like rats and monkeys. A number of

experiments are carried out for controlling a robot

arm by thoughts. In these experiments, the

electrodes are implanted in a monkey's brain and

the monkey is trained to move a joystick. The

signals from the monkey's brain, which are

generated during the joystick movement, are

captured, decoded and transmitted to the robot

arm controller. The final robot arm movement is

also visible to the monkey. Scientists at Duke

University are carrying out this experiment [3]. The

figure 4 shows an experimental setup of BMI for

Robot control at Duke University.

Figure 4: Experimental Setup of BMI at

Duke's University (Reference [3])

The development areas for this type of BMI include

the development of implantable electrodes and the

development of signal processing techniques for

decoding neural signals picked by the implanted

electrodes.

Partially Invasive Brain Machine Interface

In this type of BMI, the electrodes are implanted

below the skull and outside the brain. The electrode

array is spread out on the brain surface instead of

penetrating inside the brain. The advantage of this

type of BMI is that it eliminates the possibility of the

electrode damage by the brain tissues. As the

electrode stays beneath the skull, the signal damping

due to the skull is reduced. However, this creates a

permanent hole on the skull. Electrocorticography

(ECoG) methods are utilized for the partially invasive

BMI implementations [4].

Non-Invasive Brain Machine Interface

In this type of BMI, the electrodes are placed on the

s ku l l a t c e r ta i n d e f i n e d p o s i t i o n s . T h e

Electroencephalography (EEG) measurements

methods are widely used in non-invasive BMIs. There

a r e o t h e r n o n - i n v a s i v e m e t h o d s l i k e

Electromyography (EMG), Functional Magnetic

Resonance Imaging (fMRI), etc. which are also used in

the non-invasive BMIs.

In methods utilizing EEG, the signals (neural signals)


measured from different electrodes are of very low

amplitude. These signals are thus amplified before

they are transferred to the processor for decoding.

The patients using EEG based BMI requires sufficient

amount of training for generating particular patterns

of neural activities. The human brain is a parallel

processor that processes thousands of neural signals

simultaneously. However, this simultaneous

decoding of the complex neural signals using the

external available analog or digital processors is yet a

milestone to achieve. Thus, the patients are required

to be trained to concentrate on one particular activity

while using the EEG based BMI. Otherwise, the

neural signal read will have a combination of

different thoughts, which becomes difficult to

analyze.

Presently, the Brain Machine Interface is developed

and is in use for assisting physically challenged

people to restore certain lost abilities. Various

universities and commercial companies are

experimenting BMI for controlling objects like a robot

arm using thoughts. BMI is also used in military

applications that allow army persons to talk to each

other directly through their brain. An example of this

is the project called 'Silent Talk', which is under

development at the Defense Advanced Research

Project Academy (DARPA), USA. BMI is also used in

tele-operations of unmanned vehicles like

unmanned aircrafts and ground vehicles.

BMI has gained popularity in virtual world. The

gaming and entertainment industry has successfully

developed great applications for which human mind

acts as the input. The recent advancements in

communication and computer technologies have

made it possible to have hands-free virtual gaming.

To be able to use the hands-free gaming device user

needs to wear a cap or tape an electrode to their

forehead. These caps have sensors embedded into

them that use frequency modulated radio signals for

communicating with the computer. Frequency

IV. Applications

modulation is used to avoid interference of the brain

signals and those that come from the environment

or power outlets in the room.

Similar to the above application, the concept of

controlling a car via ones thought seems ground

breaking. Hopefully, this will soon be a reality. Few

major automakers are conducting research in this.

For example, if the driver thinks about turning left

ahead, the BMI system in the car will prepare itself

for the maneuver based on an appropriate correct

speed and road position.

Nissan is undertaking the pioneering work of Human

Brain Interface to a Car in collaboration with the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in

Switzerland (EPFL) [5]. EPPF scientists have already

conducted research to help physically challenged

people to maneuver their wheelchairs by their

thoughts or BMI system. The next logical step would

be to take BMI to car and drivers. Although, this

application is exciting it has few challenges. For

example, though controlling a system using

thoughts or BMI is proven, the level of concentration

needed for these experiments were high. Hence, the

scientists in the Nissan/EPFL team are also using

statistical analysis that would help to predict driver's

intentions. Apart from the brain signals, the team

also plans to use eye movements, environment

conditions around the car and car sensor data for

making decisions.

German researchers [6] were successful to use

drivers' brain signals to assist in braking a car. These

electrical signals were seen 130 milliseconds before

W h i l e m u s i n g u p o n t h e s u b j e c t o f

thermodynamics one day, Lord Kelvin suddenly

realized that his wife was discussing plans for an

afternoon excursion. "At what time," he asked,

glancing up, "does the dissipation of energy

begin?”


drivers actually hit the brakes. The research

results help to reduce the reaction times thus

leading to reduced number of car accidents

caused by human errors. In their study, they

identified parts of the brain that are most active

when braking and demonstrated their method

using a driving simulation environment, as shown

Figure 5: Simulation of Mind Control in Brake Assist

In the experiments carried out by the researchers, a

driver or subject were seated facing three monitors in

a driving simulator. Each subject had to drive 18

meters behind a computer-driven virtual car

traveling at 100 kilometers per hour (about 60 mph).

The simulation also included oncoming traffic and

winding roads. When the car ahead suddenly flashed

brake lights, the human drivers also braked. With the

resulting EEG and EMG data, the researchers were

able to identify signals that occurred consistently

during emergency brake response situations. While

false positives from the signal are possible, the

combination of EEG and EMG data makes a false

positive much less likely.

In other experiments carried out by Ferrari

engineers, in-car biometric and psychometric

sensors are being used to measure and assess various

human parameters like respiration, blood pressure,

heart rates, eye blink rate, perspiration,

temperature, and brain activities. These sensors

would be mounted in the car (on the steering wheels)

to monitor the driver's condition. The measured data

would be useful for preventing car accidents.

The application discussed above will see the light of

the day only when fully developed, robustly

tested and error free functioning are found. This

application when successful can be integrated in the

overall idea of Mind Control Car Driving.

The present BMI has some limitations and majority of

these BMIs are working under certain test

environment. Some of the challenges for successful

BMI development are given below:

Reading error free brain activity code for the desired

action

Deriving effective algorithms that represent the

interaction of neural codes by learning the brain's

neural coding process

Developing methods for accessing the neural codes

non-invasively and with optimized signal to noise ratio

Developing biocompatible electrodes and external

interfaces

Identifying and developing new devices (sensors and

actuators) which can be optimally controlled by the

brain

Creating ethical guidelines for BMI research and

development

The present research and development in the BMI

systems utilize the known clinical trials for accessing

the neural signals. This area can be targeted to invent

new methods for reading the brain signals. An

example of development in this area is using the blood

flow measurement through the brain arteries and

veins. It is scientifically proven that there is specific

blood flow variation when the person performs a

specific task. Developing methods for reading this

blood flow values will provide a better and alternate

way of accessing the brain codes non-invasively.

Secondly, the present systems use wired connection

to the measurement electrodes. Person with BMI

system has to carry the wired network on the head. To

tackle this problem, wireless transfer

V. Challenges in Brain Machine Interface

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VI. Future Developments


of the neural signals from the electrodes to the

processor should be developed. Alternatively, the

measurement electrodes and the signal processor

can reside on the person's head and the output

commands can be wirelessly transferred to the

external device under control.

Further development area is the Brain Machine

Brain Interface (BMBI) systems. BMBI is a system

where the interfaced machine gives a feedback to

the brain about its performance of the activities.

An example of this type of system is a prosthetic

hand developed as BMBI. Here the brain controls

the hand directly utilizing the earlier discussed

BMI techniques. In addition, the hand gives

feedback of the objects that it handles so that the

person can feel the object he is carrying using his

prosthetic hand. Tackling the challenges

described in earlier sections also provides an area

of future development in BMIs.

Brain Machine Interface has a wide scope for

innovation and development. The knowledge

requirements for developing BMIs include the

study of biology, neuroscience, mathematics,

control theory, biomechanics and material

science. BMI has the potential in future where a

person will be able to control his / her

neighborhood through his thoughts. As discussed

earlier, though brain signal measurement in lab

conditions are possible, it may not be easy to

measure such signals in the real world and hence

before BMI based applications and systems are

available to the public strong ethical guidelines

should be created and followed.

[1] Stephen M. Stahl, 978-0-521-8570 2-4 - Stahl's

Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific

Basis and Practical Applications, Third Edition,

VII. Summary

References

C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s .

http://assets.cambridge.org/97805218/57024/ex

cerpt/9780521857024_excerpt.pdf - last accessed

on 23rd Nov 2011.

[2] Dimitrov A.G., Miller J.P., “Neural coding and

decoding: communication channels and

quantization”, Network, 12 (4):441-72, Nov 2011.

http://cns.montana.edu/~alex/publications/codin

g.pdf - last accessed on 23rd Nov 2011.

[3]http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/doc/ARI/ARI%20S

tudy%20Report/ACT-RPT-BIO-ARI-056402-

Non_invasive_brain-machine_interfaces_-

_Pisa_E_Piaggio.pdf - last accessed on 23rd Nov

2011.

[4] Aarts, A.A.A. Bariatto, M. Fontes, A. Neves, H.P.

Kisban, S. Ruther, P. Penders, J. Bartic, C.

Verstreken, K. Van Hoof, C., 'Building the human-

chip interface', IEEE International Interconnect

Technology Conference 2009, pp 29-32, 2009

[5] http://actu.epfl.ch/news/nissan-teams-up-

with-epfl-for-futurist-car-interfa/ - last accessed on rd23 Nov 2011

[6] Stefan Haufe, Matthias S Treder, Manfred F

Gugler, Max Sagebaum, Gabriel Curio and

Benjamin Blankertz, "EEG potentials predict

upcoming emergency braking during simulated

driving", Journal of Neural Engineering, 8 056001,

2011

In the period that Einstein was active

as a professor, one of his students

came to him and said: "The

questions of this year's exam are the

same as last years!" "True," Einstein

said, "but this year all answers are

19

About the Author


Add a Dimension byCutting Edge Research

Research Associate,CREST,KPIT Cummins Info systems Ltd.,Pune, India.

Areas of interestImage Processing and Embedded Systems

Sachin Bangadkar

Research Associate,CREST,KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd., Pune, India

Areas of InterestImage Processing and Embedded Systems.

Pranali Dhane


I. Introduction

II. Technologies used in 3D Printing

Stereo Lithography

Traditional methods of creating three-

dimensional models used methods such as

woodcutting, engraving, and etching. Now a

machine attached to your computer can print in

three Dimensions. Future could be in which we

can have machines that produce physical

prototype of the real world object with some

activities integrated.

After decades of research, now a machine can

print a 3D model of the virtual object. In the same

way that 2D printers provide computer users with

a 2D picture, 3D printers provide 3D CAD users a

3D model. 3D printing is a form of additive

manufacturing technology where a three

dimensional model is built by laying down

successive layers of material. 3D printer offers to

create the model of the product made of several

materials with different properties that help the

designer to model multiple concepts. Following

will provide you the technologies used in 3D

printing, its applications in different fields,

materials used for printing, and future of the 3D

technology.

A large number of competing technologies are

available for 3D printing. Their main difference is

in the way they build layers to create parts. Some

methods use melting or softening material to

produce the layers, while others lay liquid

materials that are cured with different

technologies [6]. These different technologies are

described below.

The first 3D printer was invented by Charles Hull in

1984 and was based on the technique called

stereo lithography. Stereo Lithography (SL) is

defined as a method and apparatus for making

solid objects by successively “printing” thin layers

of the ultraviolet curable “resin” material one on

top of the other. Subsequently on the surface of

each resin layer laser beam trace the cross-section

pattern of the 3D model. Exposure of the UV rays

solidifies the traced pattern and bonds it to the

layer below. SL technology requires a support

structure to prevent elevated platform from

deflecting due to gravity. These support structures

are created automatically while preparing the 3D

CAD models used for SL and removed from finished

product manually.

3D models created by stereo lithography are strong

enough to be machined and can be used in

injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding,

and metal casting processes. Stereo lithography

has many common names such as 3D printing,

optical fabrication, photo-solidification and solid

imaging. Time taken by SL Machines to produce 3D

models varies from hours to days depending on the

complexity of the cross-section patterns of virtual

models. Most SL machines can produce parts with a

maximum size of approximately 50 cm x 50 cm x 60

cm (20" x 20" x 24") [9].

SL process is expensive as the photo-curable resin

costs anywhere from $80 to $210 per liter. SL

machine costs ranges from about $100000 to more

Disadvantage

Figure 1: stereo lithography Process

Fused Deposition Modeling

Another well know technology used in 3D printing is

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), invented by

Stratasys. In this technology, the digital model (CAD

model) is oriented horizontally and sliced in layers of

different thickness. Disposable support structure is

created based on position and geometry of object.

Then the thermoplastics are liquefied and deposited

by temperature controlled extrusion head, which

follows a tool-path defined by the CAD file. During the

build process, extra material called "support" may be

added to part in order to allow

Source: http://www.photochembgsu.com/

applications/stereolithography.html


overhangs or undercuts to be produced. The FDM

machine builds support for any structure that has

an overhang angle of less than 45° from

horizontal. If the angle is less than 45°, more than

one half of one bead is overhanging the slice

below it, and therefore is likely to fall. This

"support material" is a weaker plastic made up of

a wax composition. A range of materials is

available including ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene

s t y r e n e ) , p o l y a m i d e , p o l y c a r b o n a t e ,

polyethylene, polypropylene, and investment

casting wax [3].

The deposited material solidifies and creates a

plastic 3D model. After creation of prototype

support structures are removed and surface is

finished. The FDM technology is faster than SL

Figure 2: FDM ProcessSource: www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/students.

03/rarevalo/project2/Process.html

Multi-jet modeling (MJM)

Multi-jet modeling is a quick prototyping process

used for concept modeling. In this technology, a

plastic model is created using a print head with

several linear nozzles. The wax-like thermoplastics

are sprayed on as fine drops through a heated

print head at a resolution of 300 dpi and higher

and afterwards polymerized by means of UV light.

For overhangs, a support structure of lower-

melting wax is constructed that is removed later

by being heated [7]. This system uses wide area TMinkjet technology based on the ThermoJet to

deposit layers of photopolymer. Each layer is fully

cured by a wide area lamp after deposition. The

process is commonly used for creating casting

patterns for jewelry industry and for other

precision casting applications [8].

Figure 3: MJM ProcessSource:http://www.warwick.ac.uk/atc/rpt/

Techniques/3dprinting.htm

Advantages

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Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)

quantity. This means that whether a person

submits 1 part or 10, they will all print in almost the

same time.

MJM also uses phase change material; this

provides very high surface finish, accuracy, and

precision. As heated material jets onto the build

plate, it instantly freezes, and is cured with UV.

Support structures are automatically generated.

The support structure used with this technology is

wax, which has a much lower melting temperature

than the part printed and hence wax easily melts

out. This method of “hands free” support removal

allows for highly complex, and delicate

applications.

Build speed virtually independent of part size or

In this technology, pulsed laser is used to solidify

and fuse small particles of plastic, metal, ceramic,

or glass powders into a mass that has a desired 3-

dimensional shape. The laser selectively fuses

powdered material by scanning cross-sections

generated from a 3-D digital description of the part

on the surface of a powder bed. After complete

scan of cross-section, the powder bed is lowered

and a new layer is applied on top of it. The SLS

System pre heats the material below its melting

point that helps the laser to increase the

temperature of material in a short time. This way

the laser does not need to be as powerful and can

move quicker through each layer. SLS does not

require support structures due to the fact that the

part being constructed is surrounded by non-

sintered powder at all times [2].


Source:http://www.lersintering.com/images/services/sls_machine.gif

Figure 4: SLS Machine

Advantages

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Disadvantages

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3D micro fabrication technique

III. Applications Of 3D printing

thermoplastic, so the models are rigid upon

completion.

This process is not as accurate as SL. Since it is

difficult to control exactly how much powder is

sintered, models often come out grainy or with

excess plastic on them.

The models are also porous, so some sort of

varnish is necessary to seal and strengthen them.

The workable area must be cooled down when

the model is finished, which, according to some

companies that use SLS technology, can take up to

two days.

This method uses material similar to

are unnecessary. Until the model is finished, the

non-sintered powder is not removed and thus it

provides support.

3D micro fabrication is a photolithographic

technique based on 2 photon polymerisation. The

technique enables to generate ultra-small

features. In this method gel block is cured to 3D

solid object by tracing focused laser beam. Due to

the nonlinear nature of photo-excitation,

remaining gel is washed away leaving behind solid

3D model. This technique is used for generating

complex micro devices, such as MEMS, micro-

fluidics and micro-optical components. The main

advantage of this technique is it can easily

produce an object of 100 nm size [6].

3D printing applications includes healthcare,

prototyping, metal casting, Automobiles etc. 3D

printers cannot produce Final Consumer product

A major advantage is that the support structures

rather it helps to find flaws in design of product

before production that leads to save time and

revenue.

3D printing finds many applications in medical

field. Surgeons use 3-D printers to create practice

models for complex surgeries. The models are

designed based on images from CT scans and

exactly replicate the bodies of specific patients. For

the patients who may have trouble following

technical jargon without a visual aid, generic

models can be used to explain a specific procedure.

3-D printing is even beginning to make inroads into

the prosthetic industry. The University of Tokyo

Hospital recently completed a small test project

that created artificial bones using 3-D printing and

plastic surgeons are using 3-D printers to create

masks of faces requiring prosthetic noses or ears so

patients do not have to endure plaster casting over

their faces [10].

3D printing technology is used in tissue engineering

applications where organs and body parts are built

by depositing Layers of living cells onto a gel

medium and slowly built up to form three-

dimensional structures.

Rapid prototyping is used in producing trainers,

jewelry, plastic toys, coffee makers, hearing aids,

home decor and all sorts of plastic bottles,

packaging, and containers.

Industries are using 3D-printer for proof of

concept, functional testing, component

manufacturing, and product mockup. 3D printer

creates incredibly complex in design, costly objects

in very less time. It is also used by investigation

team for recreating crime scene. 3D-models are

used in education to demonstrate different design

concepts.

Figure 5: 3D models created from 3D printers


IV. 3D- Printers Market Survey

3-D printing has become more and more

prominent in the past few years as new materials

and processes have expanded the capabilities and

lowered the cost to the point where different

companies can now afford to create their own 3-

dimensional objects. Price of these commercial

printers' starts in ten-to-twenty thousand pound.

The following table gives the details of

manufacturer companies and their corresponding

3D technology [4].

V. Resolution of 3D printer

VI. Conclusions

Resolution of the 3D Printer is given in layer

thickness, X-Y in Dpi. Generally, layer thickness is

100 micrometer and 3D dots is of 0.05 to 1mm in

diameter.

3D printing Technology converts the virtual design

into reality. 3D models created from 3D printer

purely depend on one's imagination and

brilliance. Converting the idea into reality by rapid

prototyping will lead to intense competition in the

market. As cost and size of 3D printer is reducing, it

will be very helpful to create models for concept

analysis, understanding design in the field of

References

1. ROBERT A. GUTH, “How 3-D Printing Figures To

Turn Web Worlds Real”, the Wall Street Journal,

December 12, 2007; Page B1

2. A. Michael Berman, '3D Printing: Making the

Virtual Real', EDUCAUSE EVOLVING

TECHNOLOGIES COMMITTEE, October, 2007

3. Gaurav Tyagi, “3D printing technology”, NIC-

Muzaffarnagar, UP

4. http://www.ptonline.com/articles/3d-printers-

lead-growth-of-rapid-prototyping

5. “3D printing”:

http://www.explainingthefuture.com

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing

7. http://www.gwp-

ag.com/en/services/prototyping/rapid-

prototyping/multijet-modeling/index.html

8. http://metals.about.com/library/weekly/aa-rp-

mjm.htm

9. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo lithography

10.http://thefutureofthings.com/articles/11106/t

he-future-of-3d-printing.html

educat ion and eng ineer ing . Today the

manufacturing processes are not accurate due to

manual intervention but with the advancement in

the 3D printers, these processes will be automated.

Today 3D Printing technology is serving many

industrial applications such as custom parts

replacement, customized consumer product and

medical. With the rapid growth of 3D printing

technology, it is hard to imagine what the future

holds for us.

Sr. Manufacturer Technology

No.

1 Obiet Geometries Photopolymer 3D printing systems

2 Stratasys Additive fabrication machines for machines

for direct digital manufacturing

3 3D Systems Rapid proto-typing machine, notable

for STL file formats

4 EOS GmbH SLS and DMLS laser sintering systems

5 Z-corp Plastic prototypes

6 Hewlet Packard (HP) FDM-based HP Design jet 3D printer

7 Shapeways, Sculpteo, online 3D printing service

Ponoko and QuickForge


About the Author

Displaying the Edge

Smita Nair


Displaying the Edge

Introduction:

Display technology has come a long way from the

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens to the recent

advancement in Organic Light Emitting Diode

(OLED) technology that has made its presence felt

in current LED TV's.

Imagine a display technology inspired by Mother

Nature's most beautiful colors, visible in the

butterfly's sparkling wings or in the vivid colors of

a peacock's feather. Qualcomm incorporates the

same radiance in it’s flat panel displays (Mirasol)

with the iMOD technology [1], invented by Mark

W. Miles, a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical

Systems) Researcher.

Figure 1: Mother Nature's Colors

iMod Technology

iMOD or the 'Interferometric Modulator Display'

is a MEMS technology used in electronic displays,

wherein the basic display element replicates the

structure of the butterfly wings [Ref: Figure 2].

Figure 2: Replicating the structure of butterfly wings

in the IMOD display. Source: [3]

Figure 3a shows the basic iMOD building element.

Each element in the iMOD pixel display operates in

two stable states:a) open state where the element reflects a particular visible color,b) closed or collapsed state where the element does not reflect color in visible range and hence appears black. The iMOD display pixel is made up of many such elements, each switching between the two states to generate a range of colors. Each iMOD element is made up of two conducting plates placed within a glass enclosure. The glass enclosure absorbs all incident light falling on the element and prevents loss of energy.

Figure 3a and b: Building Blocks for iMOD pixel

The top conducting plate is a thin layer of partial reflective material while the lower plate is a movable reflecting mirror. The two plates are separated by an air gap. In the open state, the air gap spacing differs with elements of different color. For e.g. the air gap spacing for the red element is different from the corresponding air gap spacing for the blue element (Ref: Figure 3b). When in a closed state, every element will have a minimum fixed air gap distance thereby generating a black color. The working principle of the display element is explained in the following section.

Figure 4: Building Blocks for iMOD pixel

Working Principle:

The color generated by an iMOD element is based

on the principle of light interference, wherein two

waves combine to generate a resultant wave of

greater or lesser amplitide.

Figure 5: iMOD structure showing color generation

due to interference. Source [4]


Open State - When in open state, the voltage

applied between the two conducting plate is zero

(v=0). As shown in figure 4, the incident light wave

on the two surfaces are reflected back generating

two rays L1 and L2. Based on the air gap distance,

ray L2 will be shifted in phase with respect to ray

L1. The two rays interfere with each other

resulting in a color of particular wavelength. The

concept is explained in figure 5. Consider light

incident on the pixel element. A light source has

RGB (Red, Green and Blue) components in its

visible range (380nm-780nm). The light reflected

from the two surfaces are R1, G1, B1 and R2, G2,

B2 that interfere with each other causing

constructive (addition of waves) and destructive

(cancellation of waves) interferences. As shown in

figure 5, red wavelengths (R1, R2) are in phase

causing constructive interference, whereas the

green (G1, G2) and blue (B1, B2) wavelengths are

out of phase, cancelling each other. As a result of

the above phenomenon, the human eye perceives

Red color.

Collapsed State - When a voltage greater than

threshold value (v>v ) is applied between the th

conducting plates, the lower reflective surface

switches to move closer ('collapse') to the upper

plate. The light reflected from both these surfaces

generate wavelength in the ultraviolet range (not

visible to the human eye). This creates the

perception of Black color. Likewise, a full color

range can be obtained by arranging the elements

reflecting in Red, Green, Blue and Black

wavelengths [4].

The current input required to maintain each

element in the two states (open/collapsed) is very

low. Also, since it uses an ambient light source

under day light conditions and requires an

external light source (backlight) only in dark

environment, iMOD displays are very power

efficient (as compared to the LCD displays which

by the way are more power efficient than the

CRT's).

Conclusion

With the basic technique of light interference and

by using MEMS devices for fast switching, the iMod

technology is capable of replicating vibrant colors

of nature. The iMOD technology has been recently

introduced in the handheld display market and is

comparable to the latest OLED technology. It

supports the multimedia applications with very low

power consumption, fast switching and daylight

viewability [5].

References

1] 'iMoD TECHNOLOGY—A REVOLUTION IN

DISPLAYS - Qualcomm', White Paper

Source:

www.qualcomm.co.kr/common/documents/.../iM

oD_Display_Overview.pdf, Last accessed on 21st

Nov 2011

2] 'Qualcomm Pushes IMOD Technology',

Uberzigmo, May 21, 2008

Source:http://www.ubergizmo.com/2008/05/qual

omm-pushes-imod-technology/, Last accessed on

21st Nov 2011

3] Steven Volynets, 'Breakthrough Qualcomm

IMOD Display Imitates Butterfly Wings, Uses less

Energy than LCD', GoodCleanTech (GCT), Nov 06,

2007.

4] 'iMoD TECHNOLOGY—A REVOLUTION IN

DISPLAYS - Qualcomm', White Paper, May 2008

5] Ana, Londergan, Evgeni Gousev and Clarence

Chui, 'Advanced Processes for MEMS-based

Displays', Proceedings of the Asia Display 2007,

SID, Volume 1, pp 107 – 112, 2007

Profile of a Scientist

Can you imagine a world without innovations? From times

unknown, innovations across various domains have served

mankind to evolve, develop and grow, to where it is today. Today,

the need for innovations from the edge has been universally

accepted. While we talk about innovations from the edge, can one

envision ideas centuries before the technology to build them could

actually exist? Such innovations have happened by a prolific

scientist, Leonardo da Vinci, who seamlessly integrated arts with

science to innovate from the edge. He was an Italian polymath: a

painter, a sculptor, an architect, a musician, a scientist, a

mathematician, an engineer, an inventor, an anatomist, a geologist,

a cartographer, a botanist and a writer!

Leonardo di serPiero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), known

as 'The Renaissance Man',was born in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci,

Italy. Leonardo received an informal education in Latin, geometry

and mathematics. In 1466, Leonardo was sent to a workshop of the

artist Verrocchio, in order to learn the skills of an artist. At the

workshop, along with painting and drawing, he was also exposed to

a wide range of technical skills such as drafting, set construction,

plaster working, paint, chemistry, metallurgy, mechanics and

carpentry. Leonardo spent seventeen years in Milan working for the

Duke, as a painter and engineer, conceiving an endless stream of

innovative and daring ideas. During his lifetime, he was employed

for his engineering and skill of invention. Leonardo was a master of

mechanical principles. He conceptually invented a helicopter, a

tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a

rudimentary theory of plate tectonics and the double hull. In

practice, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of

anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics.

In natural sciences, Leonardo exhibited unique approaches and

observations in the fields of light, anatomy, botany, geology,

cartography, astronomy and alchemy.

A non-exhaustive list of his proposed inventions and projects

include - leverage and cantilevering, water lifts, catapult, ball

bearings, parallel linkage, lubrication systems, bridges and

hydraulics, war machines (machine guns, giant crossbow, triple

barrel cannon), parabolic compass, aerial screws, flying machines

(parachute and Ornithopter -a device that would theoretically have

allowed humans to soar through the air like birds), landing gears,

diving suits, scuba gear, self propelled carts, a robotic knight, a clock

which could track minutes, hours and also phases of moon, mold-

making techniques, shoes for walking on water, an ideal city (a

planned city) and musical instruments (viola organista- a first

bowed keyboard instrument). Some of the models based on his

drawings include that of a parachute, a single span bridge (Golden

Horn, Instanbul) and a flywheel.

As an inventor, Leonardo was not prepared to tell all he knew, “How

by means of a certain machine many people may stay

Leonardo da Vinci

sometime under water. How and why I do not describe my method of

remaining under water; and I do not publish nor divulge these by reason

of the evil nature of men who would use them as means of destruction at

the bottom of the sea”.

Leonardo's training was primarily as an artist. However, he exhibited great

curiosity and interest in scientific knowledge. He was profoundly

observant of nature. As he did not have any formal education as a

scientist, his scientific studies were largely ignored by other scholars.

Leonardo's approach to science was that of intense observation and

detailed recording. Leonardo drew sketches and diagrams of his

inventions, which he preserved in his notebooks. His journals provide an

insight into his investigative processes. It has been quite difficult to say

how many or even which of his inventions passed into the general public

use making a profound impact over people's life.

Unfortunately, Leonardo's inventions never became as famous as his

artistic works- like the 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper', during the early

time frame. Leonardo conceived ideas that were spectacularly ahead of

his own time. The technology available during his time frame was not

advanced enough to bring his ideas into practice. Due to this, almost none

of his inventions could be built during his lifetime. Working models were thbuilt based on the diagrams in his journals and papers, during the late 19

century. Looking at the great ideas conceived by Leonardo despite the

lack of technology during his time, one can only wonder what amazing

inventions Leonardo would have contributed to the world, had he been

present in our modern world with unlimited technology at his service.


About the AuthorPranjali ModakJr. ScientistCREST,KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd,Pune, IndiaAreas of Interest Intellectual Property Rights,Patents


SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION: HOW TO ENCOURAGE AND SHAPE

PROFITABLE IDEAS

A Book by Michel Syrett and Jean Lammiman

Of late innovation is considered as the latest core capability without

which business cannot prosper and even may not survive. Hence,

new ideas and adaptability to new ideas are crucial to success. This

book pinpoints and describes the processes and capabilities

required by organizations to foster creative thinking and equally

important to capture and shape the resulting output.

This book is the result of an extensive research conducted by the

authors on a long term basis. The book is divided into three major

parts described later. As we go through each chapter it becomes

evident that creating an environment of free flowing ideas and

shaping those into a profitable venture is a long process and reading

this book takes us through a captivating journey.

Part1, Chapter 1 highlights the research carried out by the authors

into innovation, in which they asked hundreds of managers and

professional staff some basic questions, as in what exactly inspires

and informs basic idea. Further, in this chapter different

management gurus share their experiences and talk about various

sources of inspiration such as professional activities outside work,

networking etc. They further add that 'creativity' and adaptation are

born out of tension, passion, and conflict.

As we read the chapter 2 of Part1, the role of champions and teams

in getting ideas off the ground is substantiated. The main five roles in

idea development are put forth to the reader viz., the spark-

someone who comes up with the idea, the sponsor-who promotes

the idea, the shaper-who makes the idea real, the sounding board-

an outsider whose objectivity and broader knowledge can be drawn

on to inform and validate the premise and lastly the specialist-

someone who shapes the idea and uses the opportunity to break

new ground in the field.

Part 2, chapter 3 specifies the need of the recruiters to hire a more

diverse workforce and providing a workspace that encourages staff

to share information, consulting with each other. As we read on,

various company policies are discussed to achieve various aspects

like information sharing, helping staff find creative space etc. Next

chapter takes us to the next level by emphasizing on the need to

create a variety of means to capture the thoughts so that they can be

worked on and shaped collectively. Basically, the authors' research

highlights the methods by which staff can be encouraged to focus on

specific creative challenges, both financial and public by educating

them about the importance of intellectual property and so on.

However, the above covers only start of the process, chapter 5 effectively

describes the importance of team based brainstorms, from selection

of the team, budget, choosing the right consultant to opting of

academics as an independent shaper or involving non-executive

candidate to provide an external perspective has been discussed.

Chapter 6 brings out the debate on the likely impact of new technology

on developing new ideas, i.e. whether or not electronic media provide

a creative medium for new ideas as powerful as face-to-face

exchanges. Additionally, different opinions of executives belonging to

varied age groups are taken, and a mixed conclusion is drawn. It is

argued that even though internet and emails have released creativity

from constraints of time and place, it is invading the individual privacy

by linking the employees 24 by 7 to the company and it limits creative

space that makes inspiration possible.

Part 3 discusses the crucial role of finding creativity as an individual.

Trusting one's instinct, creating conditions that would trigger original

thoughts, making the connections between work and

leisure, family's insights and work and so on, thus highlighting the

importance of perspective are some of the points noted. This section

further explains that an individual needs to have a detailed

understanding of specific market needs and an insight into how to

deliver a product. In totality, making an idea happen is a long process of

which every individual plays a very crucial role.

Strategy today is nothing without the passion of the people

implementing and building it. How people see the future of

organization, individually and collectively, will determine whether it

achieves its goal.

This book not only highlights the purpose of innovation but also

articulately explains the involvement of whole body of executives

starting from individual level to the highest level. Thus, this book is a

must for a beginner whose creativity is all about trusting ones instincts

and also for someone at a managerial level who has to tap the best idea

from the whole lot and convert it into a profitable venture.

Mayurika Chatterjee Research Trainee,CREST,KPIT Cummins Info systems Ltd.,Pune, India

Areas of InterestMechatronics and Control Systems

Book Review


About the Author

What is your Computer's DNA?

Nikhil Jotwani

Anuja M


Introduction

History

Have you ever thought of using DNA, which is

present inside your body to perform calculations?

Out of question, isn't it? Can you imagine that

probably DNA can be used to perform a square

root operation or can be used to compute roots of

a polynomial? We all know DNA defines the

characteristic of a person and contains the genetic

instructions to perform the development and

functioning of the person. So maybe we can relate

this operation similar to a system, which has

predefined instructions on how to operate. The

term computer brings to our mind an image of a

monitor with a keyboard, RAM, ROM and so on.

The present computers perform computations

digitally on silicon-based microprocessors. What if

there is a computer that does not have any

particular shape nor does it have any hardware

but still performs computations more efficiently

than the present day computers? Yes, such kinds

of computers are in development. They are called

DNA machines and the phenomenon is called DNA

computing.

In early 1950s, the physicist Richard Feynman first

proposed the idea of using living cells and

molecular complexes to construct sub-

microscopic computers. Adleman was the first to

demonstrate the ability of DNA to perform

computations and form a bio-molecular machine.

DNA shows the ability to perform parallel

computing and DNA machines could be used for

solving hard computational problems, which

could be solved in minimum amount of time. DNA

machines can be logically made because the DNA

has a double helical structure and can be

connected on the desired sequence. Adleman first

computed the Hamiltonian path problem with this

bio-molecular machine and followed it by

computing similar problems. He also put

tremendous efforts in finding ways in efficiently

implementing these algorithms on these bio-

molecular machines. The practical feasibility of

these DNA computers looks tough as of now,

however we cannot deny the computational

ability shown by these DNA molecules and there is

definitely a huge potential of research in this area.

In 2002, researchers in Weizmann Institute of

Science in Rehovot, Israel developed a molecular

computer composed of enzymes and DNA

molecules instead of silicon chips. In April

2008,Yaakov Benenson and team announced in the

journal NATURE that they developed a DNA

computer coupled with input and output module

which is capable of diagnosing cancerous activity

within a cell.

The proposed DNA model computer shows its

advantage over the conventional silicon based

computers due to the following reasons.

However, these machines have disadvantage also

such as:

It takes many hours or even days for these

machines to complete the computation, and

Generating solution set for simple problems may

require large amount of memory

These days DNA computers are being developed to

solve real life problems e.g. data encryption

standards (DES). These algorithms have already

been solved using the conventional computers in a

shorter time; however, the DNA based machines

are much flexible and cost effective.

Baum has proposed a method to make a large

addressable memory using DNA. The structure of

this proposed model is quite simple. DNA,

Deoxyribonucleic Acid of which genes in human

body is made up of, is where information is stored.

DNA molecules are composed of nucleotides. The

nucleotides are purines –adenine (A) and guanine

(G) and thymine (T) and cytosine(C) are

pyrimidines. According to Watson - Crick Model of

D N A , e a c h o f t h e co m p o n e nt s h a d a

complementary component- T is the complement

of A and vice versa. Similarly, C is the complement

of G and vice versa. Under appropriate conditions,

a single strand of DNA can become double

stranded

l

l

l

l

l

Storage and Memory

(parallel programming ability),

Generate a complete solution set for the given

problem statement, and

Efficient handling of large memory.

Perform millions of operations simultaneously


if each component finds its appropriate

complement components in the vicinity using

DNA polymerase. Storing a word could be done by

assigning a specific DNA subsequence. Now, to

retrieve this information closest to the input we

would need to introduce a complimentary

subsequence in the storage medium and choose

the molecule that has the closest match to the

input. This technique could further be used to

improve the associate capabilities of the human

brain. Baum also proposed that memory could be

made such that a part of it is content addressable

and the other can be addressed associative to the

portion of entry.

Adleman demonstrated DNA computing by

solving a special case of Hamiltonian Path Problem

called Travelling Sales Man Problem. The problem

is as follows:

Consider a map of cities connected by certain

flights. The goal is to determine whether a path

exists that will commence from the start city and

end at the final city, passing through all the other

cities exactly once.

The First DNA Computation-hamiltonian Path

Problem

Fig 1: Hamiltonian problem [5]

The directed edges represent non-stop flights

between cities in the map. For illustration, in DNA

computing the problem is being reduced to four

cities-Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit. In

DNA computation, each city is assigned a DNA

sequence. For example, Atlanta is assigned the

sequence ACTTGCAG that can be thought of as

first name-ACTT and last name-GCAG. DNA flight

numbers are then defined by concatenating the

last name of origin and the first name of

destination city.

city

Fig 2: Reduced Hamiltonian problem [5]

Building a DNA computer requires some essential

tools. The tools required:

In molecular biology, the linking between the two

nitrogenous bases on opposite DNA strands, which

are connected by hydrogen bonds, is called base

pair. Every strand of DNA has its Watson-Crick

complement. In Watson-Crick pairing Adenine (A)

forms a pair with Thymine (T) and Guanine (G)

forms a pair with Cytosine(C).In a solution if a

molecule of DNA meets its Watson-Crick

complementary then the two strands anneal to

form a double helix.

following are

1. Watson-Crick Pairing

Fig 3: Watson-Crick annealing [5]

2. Polymerases and ligases

DNA polymerase is an enzyme that catalyzes the

polymerization of the DNA deoxyribonucleotides

into a DNA strand.


Fig 4: 3D structure of the DNA binding in human polymerase [6]

Ligases bind molecules together. They are used to

bind two strands of DNA in proximity into one

single strand.

Electrophoresis is the movement of charged

molecules in an electr ic f ie ld. In gel

electrophoresis, a solution of heterogeneous DNA

molecules is placed at one end of slab of gel and

current is passed. The DNA molecules are

negatively charged and hence when they are

placed in an electric field they tend to migrate

towards positive charge. This process separates

the DNA molecules by length.

Now it is possible to synthesize new DNA

molecules for required DNA sequence.The DNA

molecules are delivered dry in a small tube and

appear as a small, white and amorphous lump.

For his experiment, L. Adleman had chosen a

problem with seven cities shown in Fig 1. For

simplifying the discussion, it was reduced to four

cities connected by six flights shown in Fig 2. He

assigned a random DNA sequence to each city.

Then he assigned DNA flight number by

concatenating the last name of the start city and

the first name of the destination city. Adleman

3. Gel electrophoresis

4. DNA Synthesis

took a pinch of each of different sequences in a test

tube and then he added water, salt, ligase and

some other ingredients to approximate the

conditions inside a cell. Any of the flight number

would meet the complementary of any of the four

cities, for example, Atlanta-Boston flight number

(GCAGTCGG) would meet the complementary of

the city Boston (AGCCTGAC). Here the former ends

with TCGG and the latter starts with AGCC. Since

these were complementary, they stuck together.

The resulting complex would have met Boston-

Chicago flight number and formed longer complex

in a similar manner. The solution for the map shown

i n t h e F i g 2 h a d o n l y o n e s o l u t i o n

GCAGTCGGACTGGGCTATGTCCGA.

DNA computer finds its main applications in

applied sciences. One such field is combinatorial

chemistry. Combinatorial chemistry involves

construction of enzymes, other molecules and

generating sequences of RNA (Ribonucleic acid),

particularly used in bio-molecular engineering and

medicines. Adleman stated that combinatorial

chemistry is similar to DNA computation as it

involves generating sequence of RNA and

searching for molecules with desired properties.

Another area where these bio-molecular machines

find application is nanotechnology and majorly in

nano-fabrication where both the computational

ability of DNA is used along with the manufacturing

ability of RNA.

We can look at DNA models to play potential role in

the field of computers. With the natural storing ability

along with the computational ability, they definitely

stand a chance to prove a point in this field. A group in

California has done significant research in the field of

DNA computing and has made up a structure of 74

DNA molecules to perform square root computation.

This is one of the

Research and Applications


biggest bio-chemical circuits made. According to

Eric Winfree, this could be a huge step forward

and could lead to tiny biosensors. Winfree used

strands of DNA to make a “see-saw” type gates

w h i c h p ro d u c e d o n - o f f s i g n a l s w h i l e

communicating with other DNA molecules. These

gates are analogous to the electronic gates.

Forming this molecular calculator took a lot of

time and effort to realize. The computation by

each molecule took a lot of time i.e. around 30 to

60 min and the entire operation of finding the

square root took almost 10 hrs. However, the goal

of Winfree was not the amount of time taken, but

he was concentration on building the correct

structure so that in the future other such circuits

could follow. In a research going on in Nanyang

technical university, Prof. Shu and his team

manipulated strands of DNA in a test tube and

found out that they could fuse them together and

mould them in such a manner that DNA could be

used to store information. They also stated that

these computing molecules could perform better

than silicon based computing machines for some

special classes of problems. DNA computing can

be used to perform operations on fuzzy data and

not just on digital data.

The concept of DNA computing and DNA

machines is distinct in the field of science. We

have already seen the computing ability of bio-

molecular machines and with the developments

in this field we may be able to see these machines

in potential applications replacing the

conventional computers. There is a lot of research

going on in the field of DNA computing and with

further developments; we may also see hybrid

structures involving conventional and DNA

machines. There are many difficulties in

translating DNA computing model into real life

Conclusion and Future Scope

References

[1] Discoverynews.com – DNA computers get

scaled up, Future computers may be DNA based.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/dna-transistor-

computer-technology-110602.html - ;ast accessed

on 5 Dec 11

[2] Wikipedia - DNA machines

[3] “On the application of DNA based

computation” – Joel C. Adam - University of

Western Ontario

[4] Wikipedia

–DNAhttp://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Compu

ting_with_DNA.pdf - Last accessed on 5 Dec 11

[5] Wikipedia – DNA polymerase

situations. Therefore, application specific DNA

machines may be first developed and then later on

generic machines may come into existence.

Looking at the inherent properties of DNA

machines like flexibility, parallel programming etc.,

we may be able to develop true fuzzy logic systems.

The possibilities are endless. It is only we who can

explore and develop them.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) [German

physicist] Albert Einstein, who

fancied himself as a violinist, was

rehearsing a Haydn string quartet.

When he failed for the fourth time to

get his entry in the second

movement, the cellist looked up and

said, "The problem with you, Albert,


About the Author

Associate ProfessorMIT Media LabLeader, Camera Culture GroupBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Social Impact ofLeading Edge Technology - NETRA

Dr. Ramesh Raskar


Computational Light Transport: Ramesh Raskar,

Camera Culture, MIT

Can we photograph objects that are not in the

direct line of sight? Can we build portable

machines that can see inside our body? Can we

provide diagnostic care in remote parts of the

world by converting mobile phones into scientific

instruments? Our research goal is to create an

entirely new class of imaging platforms that have

an understanding of the world that far exceeds

human abi l i ty, to produce meaningful

abstractions that are well within human

comprehensibility. To achieve this super-human

vision, our contributions are in new theories and

instrumentations for solving challenging inverse

problems in computational light transport. To

tackle these inverse problems, we create a

carefully orchestrated movement of photons,

measure the resulting optical response and then

computationally invert the process to learn about

the scene, so that the new imaging platforms can

achieve seemingly impossible goals.

Figure 1: Our work explores creative new waysto play with light by co-designing optical

and digital processing.

1. Towards Computational Light TransportWe have been fascinated with the idea of super-

human abilities to visually interact with the world

via cameras that can see the unseen and displays

that can alter the sense of reality. At MIT, we have invented two novel forms of

imaging that show immense potential for research

and practical applications: (a) time resolved

transient imaging that exploits multi-path analysis

and (b) angle resolved imaging for displays,

medical devices and phase analysis.

1.1 Computational Photography

Computational photography is an emerging and

multi-disciplinary field that is at the intersection of

optics, signal processing, computer graphics and

vision, electronic hardware, visual arts, and online

sharing in social networks. At MERL and in the last

few years, we created new trends as well as original

rigorous theories by inventing unusual optics,

programmable illumination, modern sensors and

image analysis algorithms (Figure 2). With our

collaborators, we made a generalizing and

unanticipated observation that, by blocking light

over time, space, angle, wavelength or sensors, we

can reversibly encode scene information in a photo

for efficient post-capture recovery. We published

an important paper, flutter shutter camera

(Siggraph 2006), that used a binary sequence to

code exposure to deal with motion blur. This paper

(along with Fergus et al [2006]) opened a new trend

at Siggraph in papers that deal with information

loss due to blur, optical techniques and deblurring.

Our further work generalized this concept for

powerful algorithmic decomposition of a photo

into light fields (Siggraph 2007), deblurred images,

global/direct illumination components (Siggraph

2006), or geometric versus material discontinuities

(Siggraph 2004). Along the way, we also created a

new range of intelligent self-ID technologies: RFIG

(Siggraph 2004), Prakash (Siggraph 2007) and

Bokode (Siggraph 2009).

1.2 Computational Light Transport

At MIT, we have undertaken ambitious efforts in

creating super-human visual abilities – often

combining previously disparate fields to do things

that people thought were unattainable. New

directions include a camera that can look around

corners, portable machines that can see inside the

body and low cost sensors that can transform

healthcare around the world. We describe these in

the next section.


1.2.1 Time-Resolved TransientImaging: “Looking Around aCorner”

Transient imaging allows the seemingly

impossible task of photographing objects beyond

the line of sight. Due to multi-path reflections,

light from occluded objects can indirectly reach

the camera. How can we record and analyze these

indirect reflections? Pioneering work in computer

vision has analyzed inter-reflections. But transient

imaging exploits the fine-scale time-dimension

(Figure 3) by using ultra-fast illumination and

ultra-fast sensing to record a 5-D light transport.

We analyze the light scattered after multiple

bounces using strong scene priors and model the

dynamics of transient properties of light transport

as a linear time state space system. We developed

a system identification algorithm for inferring the

scene structure as well as the reflectance.

However, scenes with sufficient complexity in

geometry (volumetric scattering, large distances)

or reflectance (dark surfaces, mirrors) can pose

problems. Transient imaging has tremendous

future potential in many areas: avoiding car

collisions at blind spots, robot path planning with

extended observable structure, detecting

survivors for fire and rescue personnel and

performing endoscopy and scatter-free

reconstruction in medical imaging.

Figure 3: Can we see around a corner? (Left)Transient imaging camera exploits multi-path analysis. (Right)

Ultra-fast illumination (femtosecond lasers) and ultra-fastsensing (picosecond-accurate streak cameras)

capture 5D light transport. For illustration, the occluder is shownas a transparent overlay. We analyze a sequence of the

raw streak camera photos to reconstruct hidden shape and BRDF.

3. Future of What Humans can Seeand Envision: Our approach toresearch

We are interested in the future of what people are capable of seeing: with modern imaging technology and with sophisticated visualization. Why should the physical constraints of human vision limit what the human mind can think,

conceive and envision? To create super-human

visual abilities and make the invisible visible, we

must explore varied directions, bring disparate

ideas together and see what bears out. With a deep

theoretical understanding and mental modeling,

our work often starts with a goal that – to others –

appears impossible, then becomes merely

improbable and then finally, inevitable. We feel this

distinctive approach fuels our research: 'to create

advanced technology that is indistinguishable from

magic’ [Arthur C. Clarke]. Our approach achieves

fusion of the dissimilar: computational techniques

that have rarely been combined with physical

devices. Our work aims to make the invisible

visible. The empirical nature of this research is

important. Rather than focusing on one narrow

field, we deliberately cast feelers in many

directions as it is usually unclear which direction

will bear fruit. Frequently, our inventions are a

result of dabbling in new things that are slightly

beyond our expertise. Among seemingly scattered

efforts, we are actually focused on our deep-seated

passion of creating tools for super-human vision.

We are highly motivated to pursue a research

agenda that will spawn new research themes,

entirely new application domains and new

commercial opportunities. For this, we must create

entirely new fields with new questions (e.g.,

transient imaging), redesign and make current

approaches obsolete with new insight (e.g., CAT-

scans) and find new purpose for disruptive mass-

use technologies to create broad social impact

(e.g., NETRA). We plan to be at the forefront of the

future of what humans are capable of seeing to

improve health, productivity, entertainment and

education.

The basic design of a rotating CAT scan machine has

not changed for decades. How can we build one

that fits in a portable, always-on head or chest

band? Motion-free CAT scan (based on spatial

heterodyning) is a very challenging endeavor that

will require methodical joint exploration of

computational and physical designs. Scattering is a

big problem for wavelengths less harmful than X-

rays. Our initial work in inverse scattering (CVPR'10,

ECCV'10) shows promise. We plan to model

forward and backward diffractive scatter with an

augmented light field (ALF) to support inversion in

volumes.

New Directions and Goals


We are creating unusual scientific and medical

instruments out of mass-use devices that are now

crammed with microscopic resolution cameras,

displays and other sensors. These widespread

devices will provide a wonderful platform for

broad social impact in remote parts of the world.

But providing any new functionality requires

serious research in underlying optics,

mathematics, hardware and processing. Eye

health is a mirror of general health and ocular

manifestation of a systemic disease is very

common. Preventable visual impairment is a

major cause of poverty worldwide. So, Project

NETRA has inspired us to rethink the design of

devices that diagnose the health of human eyes.

Our newer prototypes show that we can analyze

cataract, cone-color and retinal diseases. We will

strive to research new purposes for low-cost

devices for health and education, and with our

NGO partners, work towards worldwide

deployment.

We have deliberately chosen research projects

that are not just academic curiosities but also have

the potential for large scale impact in the real

world. We are motivated to do that in part

because we are a world citizen. I come from India

and understand the tremendous role absence or

presence of technology can play. Two recent

projects in this space are NETRA and VisionOnTap.

Advanced imaging can revolutionize health,

especially in poor areas where existing solutions

are far too expensive or impractical. It dawned on

us that the current pixel pitch of mobile phone

displays (26 micrometers) is approaching the

limits of scientific instruments. NETRA, the

mobile-phone based eye refraction test device is

already being spun out in a non-profit effort in

several developing countries via our NGO

collaborators. NETRA is being considered as a tool

on international space station by NASA. In India, L

V Prasad Eye Institute has already run IRB

approved trials on patients with good validation of

NETRA accuracy. Eyeglasses cost as little as $3 to

manufacture, but there are no easy diagnostic

tests. As a result, half a billion people worldwide

Outreach

have uncorrected refractive error, leading to

illiteracy (and poverty). Education is the key to

living a decent and humane life. The fact that

modern solutions may provide corrective vision

and provide students a fighting chance for better

education is a new dimension and is incredibly

rewarding for us.The project VisionOnTap is a real time computer

vision service, for the masses and produced by the

masses. Inspired by the Scratch platform at Media

Lab, we have created a new form of a visual social

computing ecosystem to empower amateurs and

the underprivileged to perform programmable and

automated tasks on video streams.

The devices, algorithms and visualizations for creating

super-human vision will exhibit strikingly different

forms and abilities in the future. The challenge is in

converting elegant optical and mathematical insights

into revolutionary cameras, displays, medical tools

and future devices. The research and development in

coming years requires a rigorous exploration of new

algorithms, development of hardware prototypes and

applications with broad research, commercial,

educational and social impact.

5. Conclusion

George Danzig, while studying in

college, was bored by his math

classes. He walked up to the

professor and said, "My classes are

too easy!" The professor looked at

him, and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll

find this interesting." Then the

professor copied 9 problems from a

book to a paper and gave the paper

to Danzig. A month later, the

professor ran into Danzig, "So how

are you doing with the problems I

gave you?" "Oh, they are very hard. I

only managed to solve 6 of them."

The professor was visibly shocked,

"What!? But those are unsolved

problems!”


Profile of an Innovator: STEVE JOBS

On October 5, 2011, the world grieved the demise of Steve Jobs,

the co-founder of Apple Computers. He was a true innovator and

an inspirational icon. He has revolutionized the computer

industry and has changed the way we work on the internet and

listen to music.

Steve Jobs or the word 'Apple' reminds us of the first personal

computer. With his vision, he changed the hardware industry by

reducing the size of the computers and making them available to

the masses. He understood the customer better than any other

contemporary competitor did. It would not be an exaggeration to

say that even the customers themselves did not know what they

needed. Products designed and developed by him, became the

need for customers. His success and people's adoration for his

products can be attributed to his delivering more than the

promise, being a perfectionist, and his being a marketing genius.

With such attributes, it left no room for competitors.

Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955 and moved to the Santa

Clara Valley at the age of five. Talking about his childhood days

Jobs once said with a hint of pride, "You should have seen us in

third grade. We basically destroyed the teacher." One

interesting story that goes about Jobs is that he had once called

the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (HP) to discuss about a part

missing from an electronic component he was assembling. This thincident happened when Jobs was in his 8 grade. The discussion

eventually won him a summer internship at HP. Steve Jobs very

much appreciated another electronic genius Steve Wozniak. The

duo raised a $6000 capital by building a blue-box that could allow

users to make free calls to any part of the world using their

phones.

In 1972, he attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, for a

year but dropped out. While studying in college he

attended the calligraphy classes, which later influenced

the typography of Macs. In 1974, he returned to California

and worked at Atari. In 1976, Wozniak and Jobs started

Apple with a vision to make computers approachable. The

name 'Apple' depicts Jobs' favorite fruit and the

incorporation of 'byte'. Jobs left Apple in 1985 and

rejoined in 2000 as permanent CEO. In the meanwhile,

Steve Jobs co-founded Pixar, the Academy-Award-

winning computer animation studios. Pixar's first feature

film 'Toy Story' released in 1995 is one of the most

successful animated films of all time.

Since Apple's focal point was personalized customer

delight, every product was named with the added 'i' to

signify inspiration, individuality and internet connectivity.

The mouse based user interface in Mac was essentially a

resurrection of Xerox's concept that later became an

universal standard for UI. Today every operating systems

manufacturer has practically copied the Macintosh

interface.

Though his most celebrated work remains as iPad, iMac and

iPhone, he is also the inventor of Apple series. In July 1976,

Apple sold its first PC for $700 that had no casing, power

supply, keyboard or monitor. In 1977, Apple introduced

Apple II, the first mass-marketed personal computer with

color graphics.

Steve Jobs was a strong believer in intersection of multiple

disciplines. He talks about the intersection of humanities

and science in his biography. He says, “There's something

magical about that place (intersection).” He further adds, “In

fact some of the best people working on the original Mac

were poets and musicians on the side. In the seventies,

computers became a way for people to express their

creativity. Great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and

Michelangelo were also great at science.”

Be it innovation or customer service he was in true terms a

master of all; the iPhones and Apple Stores says it all. According

to Jobs, “People don't want to just buy personal computers

anymore. They want to know what they can do with them, and

we're going to show people exactly that.” No wonder this

philosophy has made Apple stores one of the best retailers. Steve

Jobs believed to figure out the needs of the customer before they

do .According to him, “Innovator's task is to read things that are

not yet on the page.” He never relied on market research.

A long list of inventions and patents adds up to his credentials.

Steve Jobs has 43 US patents issued to his credit and another 342

odd US patent applications filed related to computer and

peripherals technology. His groundbreaking work in technology

has won him the National Technology Medal by President

Reagan and the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 1987.

Ruchi Tewari InternCREST,KPIT Cummins Info systems Ltd.,Pune, India

Areas of InterestImage Processing and Databases


About the Author

Priti Ranadive

Cross Domain Ideasfor Sustainable Living


Introduction

We all feel the need to have better cities and

better planning to make our lives easy to work and

socialize. Each one of us would have different

opinions about how to make our cities better. This

is primarily because we have different

understanding of the social, political, and

economical problems. Every city is unique and

facing unique challenges based on its historic,

political, social and cultural background. The

economic growth of every city is driven by how

sustainable and innovative it's planning is.

Sustainability means consume less and produce

more, Innovative and sustainable urban planning

expedites the technological innovations and

increases the chances of further development.

Urban planning is in itself a vast area of study and

includes other studies like geography, statistics,

economics, sociology, and politics to name a few.

In this article we will not learn about urban

planning but we will see case studies that are

considered innovative since they address the

challenges in urban design and planning to make

cities sustainable and better places to live in.

These examples address different scales of

geographies, different resources and capitals of

economic wealth and of coursedifferent people

and places in those cities.

Background – The challenges faced in the field of sturban planning in the 21 century are different.

After the recent recession wave in 2007-8 cities

are being planned so that they are not dependent

on the economic bubbles. Urban planning is

revised to make sure that planned cities consume

less and produce more. Today's urban planning is

focused on people and the place. One such people

and place centric concept is of clusters. Clusters

are “geographic concentrations of interconnected

firms and supporting and coordinating

organizations”[7]. Clusters are one such attempt

to get around the bubble economy of financial

engineering, real estate spikes and consumption.

Clusters are being developed to encourage new

partnerships and improve their efficiency. Every

region or city has specific needs and circumstances.

Urban planning should address these for economic

success. Studies have shown that clusters have a

positive effect on new firms. This implies that a

cluster of similar industries or competitors had

better survivals, higher job creation rates, high tax

payments and highly salary payments thus

accelerating the economic growth of not only the

new firms but also the cities in which such clusters

are created [1]. Similarly, other studies [2] show

unique differences in local productive economies,

the different dynamics, and driving forces for the

exchanges and interactions that lead to new jobs.

Thus, the cluster paradigm embarks upon the facts

that each neighborhood, city, region or place has

unique circumstances and unique actors that drive

economic growth. Sustainable growth of cities

creates new markets for sustainable products and

creating new job opportunities and on the other

side educates consumers of green practices. This

means that today's urban planning should create

opportunities such that both economy and climate

protection are simultaneously addressed. The

following two case studies help us to understand

how this can be made possible.

22@ Barcelona District Cluster, Spain – The

22@District was founded to improve and increase

the local and international interactions in

Barcelona, Spain. It was observed that before the

22@district project the international community in

Barcelona was not engaged with the city or the

locals. Thus the district had unique challenges to

address. The challenge was to change Barcelona

from merely being a stopping point on their path

for business persons and international firms.

The unique project has transformed the down-

broken cotton district of Sant Martí into a booming

knowledge center. In 2010, this innovative district

Case Study


had 114,000 square meters of new and green

space, 7,000 companies, businesses, and shops

[3]. The district has experienced a 23% increase in

residents and now has 90,000 employees working

there [3].

The design is such that it brings together the local

and international communities thus increasing

the knowledge sharing process among the two

communities. It has been found that international

and local interfaces in the same city are not

sufficient for economic growth. Hence it is

required to capture the overflow of the

knowledge shared and generated. Leon [4] shows

that for cities to benefit from the highly educated

people in the city, it must engage in both local and

new international communities.

The 22@District has five clusters: Information and

Computer Technology (ICT), Media, Bio-Medical,

Energy, and Design and has created new jobs,

housing and live-work spaces. The five clusters are

strategically placed near each other right in the

center of the city. This ensures good interactions

among them. The district is also designed to be

attractive to live in with new public facilities, green

spaces and social housing. The project included

4600 dwellings in the area and 4000 new state-

subsidized housing units [3].

The district connects various hi-tech companies,

universities, research centers and training centers

to improve interactions and collaborations among

them [3]. It has unique programs like 22@Staying

in company program to employ students from

u n i ve rs i t i e s f ro m t h e d i s t r i c t at t h e

22@companies, thus retaining talent and

knowledge. The cluster model ensures that

different companies work together thus fostering

sustainability in their business and the district.

This helps to increase economic growth of the city.

Since the 22@District's creation 1000 new

companies were incubated, about 31,000 new

employments created [5]. This is a perfect

example of how innovative ideas implemented in

the field of urban planning have made an impact in

the fields of economics and politics.

The 22@District improves social interactions

through the professional spaces with companies

that have innovation and knowledge as driving

forces of their business. This social network has

approximately 66 members. They host a monthly

22@Update Breakfast to give a chance for

professionals to exchange ideas and their

innovative experiences [3] in the form of a formal

networking session. Another event called the

22@Urban Cluster Day symposium also brings

together different company executives that work

for the cluster.

To create and foster a sense of community, the

22@Volunteer program allows members of the

22@Network to help each other through volunteer

work. These are informal interactions for example

to teach Spanish to newcomers. This ensures larger

interconnected communities. Other informal

interactions at the 22@District include Virtual

Memory in Elderly, Net Multimedia classrooms,

Computer recycl ing , Education Project,

22@CreaTalent and Family Network. These

programs have been designed to reuse the

available resources within the district and to

maximize the productivity and sustainability. Most

all of these programs in some way reuse the

resources available within the district to maximize

productivity.

Sustainability or climate concerns are addressed by

centralized heating, centralized air-conditioning,

electr ic ity distr ibution, waste disposal ,

telecommunications infrastructure, and smart

traffic management systems [4]. Interconnect

among areas is strengthened by the proximity of

public places and transportation to connect the

district with the city. The centralized heating and

cooling system use alternative energy sources, gas

or electricity that is supplied to other parts of the


city using hot and cold water conduits. This system

is 40% more energy efficient than traditional

systems and saves 10% cost.

Innovation Center in Curibita, Brazil–The Center of

Innovation, Education, Technology and

Entrepreneurship (CIETEP) was formed to control

human, social and environmental capital so as to

address the issues of climate change, economical

instability, gap between the rich class and the poor

etc. The innovation center in Curibita is set to

change the mentality of “take-make-waste”

towards sustainability with a perspective of

people, planet and profit (3-P paradigm).

The CIETEP business model is based on five

axioms. All these axioms are focused on

sustainability through social interactions. The

axioms are as follows [6] –

1. Changes emerge from the social domain to gain

the technological domain, not the contrary.

2. Technology means more than hard techniques,

it also mean soft social engineering.

3. Sustainable innovations are those which can

effectively integrate themselves in the current

social transition.

4. New sustainable soft social technologies

emerge from new networked knowledge creation

among society.

5. To grow is not an imperative anymore.

The first axiom highlights that social changes lead

to and enable new technologies. The second

axiom stresses on the fact that technology is not

only in the form of gadgets but it is the social

arrangements of stakeholders. The importance

fostering a new complex social equilibrium that is

different from the hierarchical linear network is

put forth by the third axiom. The fourth axiom

Case Study

reiterates that knowledge cannot be generated in

isolation and extended social networks are a must

for new technologies to emerge. The last axiom is

somewhat contradictory to the classical vision that

business owners have. It says that business can

now live without efforts for growing it.

The concept of sustainable knowledge stems from

these axioms. It proposed shared visions rather

than self sufficient competitiveness and profits

based on the 3-P paradigm. CIETEP believes that

knowledge and innovation are spread through

collaborations and networking of people. The

portal of Sustainable Knowledge and Innovation

facilitates such networking to encourage

innovation. The portal includes different actors like

government, public organizations, private

co m p a n ies , u n ivers i t ies , res ea rc h a n d

development centers and non-government

organizations. It is a forum where people can freely

debate and access e-library. The portal is an

attempt to spread best practices and innovative

ideas.

Through a program called Technopark, CIETEP also

leverages national and state laws to incentivize

innovat ion, research and technological

enterprises. The program is funded but also

generates revenue through educational services

and product sales. From the year 2006 to

2010,US$17 million were invested in this the

CIETEP. From the above two facts it can be deduced

that funding and regulations were not the primary

issues faced but there were cultural challenges

faced by the CIETEP. The cultural challenge was that

people still believe that innovations are expensive

and only MNCs can afford such huge investments to

create R&D labs. To change this mentality

incentives are provided to companies of any scale.

So any idea that is converted to sustainable

business value is incentivized by getting access to

partners and innovation networks. These help

innovators to start quickly and convert their ideas

to reality.


CIETEP has identified that education plays an

important role in innovation and business

development. Hence, specialized institutes like

Industrial Design Center, Mathematical Industrial

Institute and Creativity and Innovative

Environment Laboratory and University of

Industries were formed. A diverse range of

specialized degrees are provided. It ensures that

the interaction between the academic and private

sectors which helps in knowledge transfer,

collaboration and innovation.

Thus, the CIETEP brings together all kinds of

businesses, in all kinds of contexts that live

together on the edge of new clients, new needs,

new technologies, new crises and new risks [6].

From the presented examples we can see that

modern day urban planning involves sustainability

and innovation. Modern urban designs are

influenced by social sustainability and help find

the “work-life” balance by not only attracting

innovators but by creating innovators in the very

city they live in. These designs also help to

accelerate economic growth of the city with an

export-oriented drive. The 21st century

challenges demand not only technical innovations

but also innovations in business models and social

relationships.

Conclusion

References

[1] Karl Wennberg and GöranLindqvist, “How do

entrepreneurs in clusters contribute to economic

growth”, SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in

Business Administration No 2008:3, 2008

[2] Mark Muro and Bruce Katz, “The new Cluster

Moment: How Regional Innovation Clusters Can

Foster the Next Economy”, Metropolitan Policy

Programs, Brookings, 2010.

[3] http://www.22barcelona.com/index.php?lang=en

, Last accessed on 22 nov 2011.

[4] Leon, Nick. “Attract and connect: The

Barcelona innovation district and the

internationalization of Barcelona business.”

Innovation: management, policy, and practice

(2008) 10: 235 – 246, 2008

[5] Sabata, MartíParellada and

ElisabetViladecansMarsal. “Study of Economic

Activity in the 22@ Barcelona District.” January

23, 2008.

<http://www.22barcelona.com/documentacio/o

bservatori_eng.pdf>, Last Accessed 22 Nov 2011.

[6] Dauscha, Ronald, Ramiro Wahrhaftig, and Filipe

Cassapo. “The CIETEP- Paraná's Center of

Innovation, Education, Technology and

Entrepreneurship- Development and

Implementation.” August 17, 2009.

http://www.rededeinovacao.com.br/LeiturasRec

omendadas/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=15 – last thaccessed 29 Nov 2011.

[7] Kevin Hollenbeck andNancy Hewat,

“Evaluation of Regional Collaborationfor

Economic Development”, Report, W.E. UpJohn

Institute for Employment Research, 2010

On one occasion, Erdös met a mathematician

and asked him where he was from.

"Vancouver," the mathematician replied.

"Oh, then you must know my good friend

Elliot Mendelson," Erdös said.

The reply was "I AM your good friend Elliot

Mendelson.”


About the Author

Bringing the Moon Down

Neha Savur

Varun B


I. Introduction

II. CMOS Image Sensors

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for Mankind"-Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969

Directly or indirectly, space technology has been beneficial to all of us since its inception. One can certainly say that our lives would not have been the same if it were not for the advancements we have made in space exploration. Organizations like ISRO, NASA, etc, carry out extensive research to come out with innovative technology to assist their space programs. These innovations have found several secondary applications, commonly termed as Spin-offs. This article highlights a few interesting spin-offs that have resulted from space technology.

Although the first digital camera was built by the Eastman Kodak in 1975, the concept of digital camera was first proposed by Eugene Lally, of Jet

[1]Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1960s . Images and Space missions have a very strong connection. Images of Eagle Nebula, the rocky Martian landscape or even the panoramic view of the Earth from outer space have always made an impact on our imagination and scientific thought in addition to expanding our view of the Solar System.

With a view to miniaturize cameras for spacecrafts, NASA came up with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors having an array of photo detectors that make up the individual pixels. Each pixel is responsible for converting the incident photons into electrical signals. A processor then creates the complete picture using the combination of all pixels. Compared to the Charge Coupled Device (CCD), which were customary to digital cameras, CMOS image sensors have lower manufacturing costs, reduce power consumption by a factor of 100 and can be fabricated on a single chip. But one of the drawbacks of CMOS image sensors is that they are more susceptible to noise.

Figure 1: Eagle Nebula and Martian LandscapeSource: NASA Spinoff 2010 [1]

Pixel Sensor (CMOS-APS) in which an active

amplifier accompanies each pixel, find their

application in most of the imaging solutions, with

over 1 million sensors shipped daily. Our cell phone

cameras, webcams, and many other embedded

imaging applications are based on this technology.

CMOS-APS are also used in the endoscopes for

minimally invasive medical procedures due to their

miniature size.

Figure 2: CMOS Image sensor Source: Wikipedia [9]

III. Wireless Fluid-LevelMeasurement System

Measuring some of the vital parameters of an aircraft such as the amount of fuel becomes a challenging task owing to the risk involved in handling combustible materials. Most fuel measuring systems are intended to measure only certain liquids, and are vulnerable to electrical arcing and sensor corrosion. Also, Bulky wiring for powering and connecting parts of the circuit hinders portability.

NASA's Langley Research Center was developing a

measurement system to monitor the health of

aging aircrafts. This technology later turned into a

spinoff when Dr. Stanley E. Woodard and Bryant D.

Taylor developed a novel wireless fluid-level

measurement system to overcome most of the

above stated drawbacks.

Figure 3:Wireless Fluid-Level Measurement System. Source: NASA [4]


The working principle of the sensor is that, two

parallel-energized conducting materials in a liquid

respond with a harmonic magnetic field through

an inductor. The handheld magnetic field

response recorder first transmits a signal that

energizes the sensor and then changes to

receiving mode to record magnetic responses of

the sensor. Since the frequency of the received

signal varies with the liquid level, the system can

be calibrated to measure amount of fluid in the

tank. The system is not fluid specific and is

powered wirelessly eliminating electric arcing and

bulky wiring. The highly accurate sensors are

completely encapsulated and are insensitive to

the liquid movement inside the tank.

Tidewater Sensors LLC, have licensed the novel

fluid-level measurement system from NASA for

marine applications. The TS1500, a Tidewater

product, not only gives accurate fuel levels but

also detects water in the fuel tank and alerts the

operator.

Figure 4: Tidewater's Fluid levelSensor

Source: Tidewater Sensors

IV. Liquid Metal

® Liquidmetal alloy is a result of California Institute

of Technology (CalTech) and NASA'sJet Propulsion

Laboratory's search for new materials that have

industrial strength, were fictile(moldable) and did

not need any cooling. Like plastic, this alloy has

revolutionized the way we perceive vitrified

metals.® Liquidmetal alloy or Vitreloy is a new kind of

vitrified metals and was designed for NASA's

numerous space missions. It is used aboard the

Genesis spacecraft and others as well as for

building a drill that will search the Maritain terrain [10]for water .

Figure 5: Liquidmetal in everyday life.Source: NASA Spinoff 2001 [10], [11]

The technology combines metal-like properties

and the non-crystalline composition of glass,

producing a mixture unheard of in nature. This gave

the alloy elasticity of a polymer, high resistance to

deformation and virtually no weak spots.

Liquidmetal demonstrated such mammoth strength that an inch-wide bar could lift 300,000lbs

[11], which is nearly twice the weight that a similar

sized titanium bar could carry.

Liquidmetal now finds its way into a huge array of

sporting equipment like tennis racquets, golf clubs,

baseballs bats, bicycle frames etc. and consumer

goods, from cell phone cases to USB sticks. If not

already, this alloy will find many opportunities in

medical instrumentation, aerospace, defense,

automotive industries.

V. Artificial DentureMaterial 'ACRAMID'

Would you believe that rocket science is what helps

the less dentally endowed among us? 'Polyaramid

reinforced plastic', a composite material that

I n d i a n

Space Research Organization (ISRO) uses to build

its launch vehicle applications like rocket motors

has literally managed to put a smile back on faces.

Liquidmetal® is a registered trademark of

Liquidmetal® Technologies and Liquidmetal® Golf.

Vitreloy® is a registered trademark of Liquidmetal®

Technologies.


[1] “Image Sensors Enhance Camera

Technologies”- NASA Spinoff 2010, Consumer

Goods, page 90, 2010

[2] “Wireless Fluid-Level Measurement System

Equips Boat Owners” – NASA Spinoff 2008,

Consumer Goods, page 90, 2008

[3]Tidewater Sensors- How it works:

http://tidewatersensors.com: Last accessed on

16/11/2011

ACRAMID is a composite made of Polyaramid fibers

and Poly Methyl Methacrylate Resin and is used as

a prosthetic fixture when the patient loses his

natural teeth. Pre-ACRAMID denture fixtures were

largely gold, silver and ceramics that cost patients

nearly Rs. 3000. The ACRAMID prosthesis not only

cost 5% that of gold but also look deceptively real,

are light weight, easy to produce and repair,

needing minimum lab equipment. The fiber

reinforcement structure is such that it avoids

hairline cracks that help to withstand the daily wear

and tear. Clinical trials have also proved the

longevity and safety of ACRAMID dentures.

VI. Conclusion

We use space technology in our daily lives, from

edible toothpastes, bar codes to pace makers,

without realizing the driving force behind these

innovations. These technology transfers have not

only made life easier in zero gravity but have more

than proved their worth back on earth, reiterating

the impact of space research. Next time you are

shopping online or wearing disposable contact

lenses, consider yourself to be a part of

innovations and solutions that truly came from

the 'edge' and the one that brought the moon

back on earth.

References

[4] NASA Langley's Fluid Measurement Sensor

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/business/tg-

detail-wirelessfluidsensor.html: Last accessed on

16/11/2011

[5] “NASA helps keep Boat owners from running

out of gas”, NASA Technologies News Feature, Apr,

2010.

[6]Active Pixel Sensor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_pixel_sensor:

Last accessed on 16/11/2011

[7]”Teeing off with a New Material”, NASA Spinoff

2001, Consumer, Home and Recreation, page 76,

2001

[8]Liquidmetal: Redefining Metals for the 21st

Century, NASA Technologies News Feature, Oct,

2005

[9] ISRO Technology Transfer Group, Space Spin

Offs

http://www.isro.gov.in/ttg/spinoffs.html: Last

accessed on 16/11/2011

Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937),

New Zealand physicist.

One student in Rutherford's lab was

very hard-working. Rutherford had

noticed it and asked one evening:

“ Do you work in the mornings

too?”

“ Yes”, proudly answered the

student hoping that he would be

commended.

initiativeYou can make a difference

KPIT CumminsInfosystems Limited

SM

Innovation for customers

About KPIT Cummins Infosystems Limited

About CREST

Invitation to Write Articles

Format of the Articles

[email protected] .

KPIT Cummins partners with global automotive and semiconductor

corporations in bringing products faster to their target markets. We help

customers globalize their process and systems efficiently through a unique

blend of domain-intensive technology and process expertise. As leaders in our

space, we are singularly focused on co-creating technology products and

solutions to help our customers become efficient, integrated, and innovative

manufacturing enterprises. We have filed for 38 patents in the areas of

Automotive Technology, Hybrid Vehicles, High Performance Computing, Driver

Safety Systems, Battery Management System, and Semiconductors.

Center for Research in Engineering Sciences and Technology (CREST) is focused

on innovation, technology, research and development in emerging

technologies. Our vision is to build KPIT Cummins as the global leader in selected

technologies of interest, to enable free exchange of ideas, and to create an

atmosphere of innovation throughout the company. CREST is now recognized

a n d a p p r o v e d

R & D Center by the Dept. of Scientific and Industrial Research, India.. This

journal is an endeavor to bring you the latest in scientific research and

technology.

To send in your contributions, please write to

Our forthcoming issue to be released in will be based on

We invite you to share your knowledge by

contributing to this journal.

July 2012 “Sensors,

Signal Processing, and Applications.”

“

Processing, and Applications”

March 15,

2012.

Your original articles should be based on the central theme of

The length of the articles should be between 1200

to 1500 words. Appropriate references should be included at the end of the

articles. All the pictures should be from public domain and of high resolution.

Please include a brief write-up and a photograph of yourself along with the

article. The last date for submission of articles for the next issue is

Sensors, Signal

y

TechTalk@KPITCummins January - March 2012

35 & 36, Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park,Phase - 1, MIDC, Hinjawadi, Pune - 411 057, India.

Steve Jobs

" People don't know what they want until you show it to them....Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”

(1955 - 2011)

“….humanities and science. I like that intersection.There's something magical about that place...

Great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelowere also great at science.”

innovations from the edge

Documents