Engineering R&D, August 2011

Popular Science profiled a new wrist-mounted sonar for the vision-impaired. Inventor Steve Hoefer has designed the new “haptic gauntlet with ultrasonic sensors mounted just over the knuckles.” Read more here

Previous designs has the device being worn on the head or specific for left or right hands. Now the device can be worn on either hand with “servomotors applying pressure to give the user a sense of an object’s proximity.”

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Details on the development of microbial fuel cells that rely on wastewater bacteria’s desire to munch on organic waste are discussed in a recent article from Fast Company.

The process releases electrons as a byproduct that can be collected and used to produce both electrical power and hydrogen. Read the full article about environmental engineer Bruce Logan’s efforts to use wastewater to power batteries.

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Experiments are underway to test research into creating bulletproof human skin. In brief, the project’s researchers “genetically engineered a goat to produce milk that is packed with the spider silk protein. The material was milked and weaved together to create a bulletproof substance and then researchers grew a layer of real skin around a sample of the bulletproof substance.”

Named “2.6g 329m/s” after the weight and velocity of a .22-caliber long rifle bullet, the goal is to eventually genetically modify human skin that could withstand a blast from such a long rifle. Learn more and watch the video

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