Archive : 1 May 2015 год

Looking to expand from its automotive business, Tesla has produced the Powerwall, a lithium-ion battery that can store energy for load shifting, backup power and self-consumption of solar power generation.

Tesla Energy is attempting to move consumers away from fossil fuels to a sustainable energy future enabling homes, business, and utilities to store sustainable and renewable energy to manage power demand, provide backup power and increase grid resilience.

The unit consists of Tesla's li-ion battery pack, a liquid thermal control system and software that receive dispatch commands from a solar inverter. However, no specifications on the cooling system are available from the manufacturer.

There are two models in the range, with capacities of 7 and 10kWh. Each unit produces 2kW (3.3kW peak) from a supply of 350 to 450V and has an operating temperature range between -20 and 43°C. The 7kWh option is said to be suitable for day-to-day applications, while the 10kWh option can be used for backup applications: for example, using power saved up during a power cut. Both can be connected to solar panels or directly into the grid via an AC-DC inverter.

Tesla will begin making these available in the summer of 2015.

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

While there has been significant activity in developing technology that might enable the creation of a quantum computer, there has been less activity in the development of an operating system that might control what that computer does.

While there has been significant activity in developing technology that might enable the creation of a quantum computer, there has been less activity in the development of an operating system that might control what that computer does.

But Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) says it has done just that. Called t|ket>, the OS is said to be facilitated by a proprietary custom designed high speed supercomputer, also built by CQCL, that simulates a quantum processor.

In a press release, the company said 'CQCL is at the forefront of developing an operating system that will allow users to harness the joint power of classical super computers alongside quantum computers. The development of t|ket> is a major milestone'.

Quantum computers, when they are built, will take advantage of superposition, in which a qubit – the processing element – can hold a value of 0 or 1 or both simultaneously. According to some sources, a quantum computer with just 50 qubits would outperform any current supercomputer.

"Quantum computing will be a reality much earlier than originally anticipated," said CQC. "It will have profound and far reaching effects on a vast number of aspects of our daily lives."

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Although its Nucleus real time operating system is installed in more than 3billion devices, Mentor Graphics has expanded it to address the power consumption, multicore and IoT requirements of wearable devices.

The Mentor Embedded Nucleus RTOS framework is said to include a range of features targeting next generation wearable IoT devices for the medical, fitness, and security markets.

"The Nucleus RTOS provides feature rich capabilities targeted for wearable devices which allow embedded developers to focus on generating product differentiating features," said Scot Morrison, general manager of runtime solutions with Mentor's Embedded Systems Division.

With an IPv4/v6 networking stack, M2M protocols and security for IoT applications and cloud connectivity, Nucleus RTOS also incorporates a standards compliant networking and communication protocols designed for wearable devices, with support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and 6LoWPAN over IEEE 802.15.4 on an array of supported chipsets.

For devices with limited memory resources, the Nucleus process model is said to use memory efficiently by loading and unloading software to limit the resident executing code to only the modules necessary at any given moment in time.

Also included is the Qt Framework, which supports the creation of differentiating graphics optimised for the memory footprint requirements for wearable devices.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Barclays has launched a £100million fund to help fast growing technology businesses get to the next level. The bank will lend up to £5m to some of the most innovative UK technology businesses.

Ashok Vaswani (pictured), chief executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said: "With this new drive, we will be able to support businesses from their inception to becoming major global players.

"Entrepreneurs and SMEs are the life blood of the UK economy and the technology sector is an incubator for many of these talented individuals and businesses. The rapid growth we've seen in the UK rivals Silicon Valley."

A recent report by Barclays showed that UK technology businesses are expected to grow four times faster than GDP in 2015.

Sean Duffy, managing director, Barclays' Technology, Media and Telecoms team, said: "Fast-growth technology companies in the US have long been able to access debt finance early in the life cycle. We believe it is important for fast-growth technology companies in the UK to be able to access a similar range of financing solutions."

Because fast-growing technology firms develop more rapidly than the 15 year average of traditional businesses, they stand to benefit from new access to debt finance, as an alternative to selling equity. This will also allow entrepreneurs to retain control of their company's development and concentrate on growth.

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

To mark 2015 the International Year of Light, the University of Southampton has introduced Photonics4All, a project to highlight the importance of photonics.

Photonics4All aims to raise awareness of the importance of photonics in the community as well as in business and industry through a variety of activities and events such as business innovation workshops, start-up challenges and a 'Photonics Science Slam'. For young people and students, there will be a quiz, an app, business boot camps and a Schools Photonics Day to promote the study of Physics and Optics.

Pearl John, public engagement leader for Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton, says: "It's very exciting to be working on this project. I am particularly interested in promoting women in photonics and it's great to play such an important role in getting the message out across the EU."

The University will be collaborating with the South East Photonics Network which aims to address the skills shortage in the photonics industry in the region by engaging schools, colleges and university students with hands-on photonics activities.

John adds: "We aim to increase awareness of the local photonics industries, help leverage our collective knowledge and uncover more photonics applications making it easier for organisations to develop new products and access this key enabling technology."

Author
Tom Austin-Morgan

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk