A new report published by Transparency Market Research confirms the global smart sensor market will hit $21.60 billon by 2019. “Rapidly increasing sales of various
Emerging Solutions
Robots and sensors eyed for civil construction
Writing for the New Civil Engineer, Greg Pitcher reports that civil contractors will increasingly use robots and sensors to create structures in futuristic offsite factories. “In 10 years’ time I see robots and robotic machinery being used in offsite construction facilities, rather than cranes and forklift trucks,” Duncan White, the director of science and industry at consultants Arup, explained in a recent report cited by the New Civil Engineer.
Improving machine vision under low-light conditions
A recent study conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology hypothesizes that hawkmoths manage complex sensing and control challenges by slowing their brains to improve vision under low-light conditions. As Futurity’s John Toon notes, scientists have long been aware of moths using their specialized eye structures to maximize the amount of light they can capture. However, the above-mentioned study focuses on how hawkmoths slow their nervous systems to optimize the use of limited light.
WiFi powers these sensors
A team of researchers from the University of Washington (UW) has successfully demonstrated that a WiFi router is capable of providing far field wireless power – without compromising the network’s communication performance.
Light sensors found in octopus skin
Evolutionary biologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have confirmed that octopi can “see” without using their eyes. Indeed, octopus skin apparently contains the pigment proteins found in eyes – making it responsive to light.
The IoT is all about sensors
Steve Taylor, a senior consultant at The Technology Partnership (TTP), has recommended that semiconductor companies turn their attention to the Internet of Sensors (IoS). According to Taylor, it’s actually the Internet of Sensors and resulting data that matters most. “The Internet of Things (IoT) is, to a large extent, a solution looking for a problem, rather than the other way round,” he explained. “There’s simply no point in objects talking to each other just for the sake of it and the IoT only provides the communications backbone.”