Most renewable power technologies are weather dependent. Wind farms can only operate when there’s a breeze, and solar power plants rely on sunlight. Researchers at EPFL are working on a method to capture an energy source that’s constantly available at river estuaries: osmotic power, also known as blue energy. Osmosis is a natural process whereby…
Virtual Time-Lapse Photos Can Capture Ultrafast Phenomena
Many phenomena occurring in nature and industry happen very quickly: a tear running through a piece of fabric, a rubber ball bouncing off a hard floor, a drop of water wetting a dry surface and a piece of scotch tape peeling off, for example. Capturing images of these phenomena would help scientists better understand them,…
The Holy Grail of Nanowire Production
Nanowires have the potential to revolutionize the technology around us. Measuring just 5-100 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter), these tiny, needle-shaped crystalline structures can alter how electricity or light passes through them. They can emit, concentrate and absorb light and could therefore be used to add optical functionalities to…
Insect-Inspired Drone Can Deform Upon Impact
In recent years, robotics experts have taken a page from the traditional Japanese practice of origami and come up with light and flexible – and highly innovative – robots and drones. Two types of origami-inspired structures have emerged: rigid structures that have a certain weight-bearing capacity but that break if that capacity is exceeded, and…
Forget Joysticks, Use Your Torso To Pilot Drones
Imagine piloting a drone using the movements of your torso only and leaving your head free to look around, much like a bird. EPFL research has just shown that using your torso to pilot flying machines is indeed more immersive – and more effective – than using the long-established joystick. The results are published in…
An Elastic Fiber Set To Revolutionize Smart Clothes
It’s a whole new way of thinking about sensors. The tiny fibers developed at EPFL are made of elastomer and can incorporate materials like electrodes and nanocomposite polymers. The fibers can detect even the slightest pressure and strain and can withstand deformation of close to 500% before recovering their initial shape. All that makes them…
Smart Walk Assist Improves Rehabilitation
Scientists from NCCR Robotics at EPFL and at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) developed an algorithm that adjusts how a mobile harness, suspended from the ceiling, assists patients suffering from spinal cord injury or stroke. In a clinical study with over 30 patients, the scientists showed that the patients wearing the smart walking assist immediately…
Pinpointing Sources Of Water Pollution With A Robotic Eel
Researchers from EPFL, together with other institutes, have developed a robotic eel that swims through contaminated water to find the source of the pollution. The sensor-equipped robot can be controlled remotely or move on its own. In tests carried out in a small section of Lake Geneva, the robot was able to generate maps of…
New Method Improves Stability of Perovskite Quantum Dots
Quantum dots are nanometer-size, semiconducting materials whose tiny size gives them unique optical properties. Much effort has been put in building quantum dots from perovskites, which already show much promise for solar panels, LEDs and laser technologies. Their fundamental optoelectronic properties are also very unique and of great interest among the scientific community. However, perovskite…
A Touchable Tablet To Guide The Visually Impaired
Researchers at EPFL have developed a tablet to help people with a visual impairment find their way around unfamiliar places. The device very quickly forms shapes and relief maps that users can then explore with their fingers, using their sense of touch. The tablet could also be used to help visually impaired schoolchildren learn subjects…
Control Of Molecular Motion By Metal-Plated 3-D Printed Plastic Pieces
Many measurement techniques, such as spectroscopy, benefit from the ability to split a single beam of light into two in order to measure changes in one of them. The crucial device that separates the beam is the beam-splitter. These have been mostly limited to light beams, where one uses simply a partially reflective glass. EPFL…
New Discovery: Nanometric Imprinting on Fiber
Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices, which is run by Fabien Sorin, have come up with a simple and innovative technique for drawing or imprinting complex, nanometric patterns on hollow polymer fibers. Their work has been published in Advanced Functional Materials. The potential applications of this breakthrough are numerous. The imprinted…
Student Researchers Build Table-Football Robot
Do you think you could win a game of table football against a robot developed by EPFL students? Some people have tried, and it was harder than they thought. Even with a very simple strategy, the robot is able to beat players with an average skill level. What’s its secret? Speed and shooting power. The robot, which…
Internet of Things for Smarter Living
EPFL scientists are developing a new concept of a smart building that adjusts to your lifestyle, by allowing you to control your preferences. An important component, called the Internet of Things, involves monitoring your overall energy consumption by networking together all of your devices. Do you forget to turn off the lights when you leave…
An Agricultural Drone With a Piercing Gaze
EPFL spin-off Gamaya has just raised 3.2 million francs for its agricultural drone system. The system combines a miniature hyperspectral camera and artificial intelligence to give farmers very precise information on the health of their crops. It can also be used to ensure fertilizer, pesticides and other treatments are used sparingly. Gamaya, an EPFL spin-off,…
Graphene Ensures Data Fidelity for Future Wireless Devices
EPFL and UNIGE scientists have developed a microchip using graphene that could help wireless telecommunications share data at a rate that is ten times faster than currently possible. The results are published today in Nature Communications. “Our graphene based microchip is an essential building block for faster wireless telecommunications in frequency bands that current mobile devices…
Reaching New Heights with Connected Skis
Thanks to a small screen on their skis, backcountry skiers can see various data recorded by sensors as they ski. The length and number of turns going up, their cadence and even the symmetry of their steps appear on the device. It was developed by an EPFL spin-off that teamed up with a local equipment…
Upside-Down Lightning Strikes
Upward lightning strikes initiate on the ground and head skyward. These discharges, which usually begin at the top of tall and slender structures, pose a real risk for wind turbines. An EPFL study analyzes the mechanisms underlying this poorly understood phenomenon. Is lightning born of an angry sky? Not always. In some circumstances, it can…
Detecting Extraterrestrial Life Through Motion
Looking for life on other planets is not straightforward. It usually relies on chemical detection, which might be limited or even completely irrelevant to alien biology. On the other hand, motion is a trait of all life, and can be used to identify microorganisms without any need of chemical foreknowledge. EPFL scientists have now developed…