Sensors, Haptics & Displays

The third Future Powertrain conference was a great event with about 400 delegates and a total of 35 table exhibitors. The summary of the presentations given during the FPC2016 are discussed here.

2015 has been a year to report very disparate progress in advancing different energy harvesting technologies: advances in thermoelectrics, new and higher power output photovoltaics, capacitive harvesting as well as steady development of markets for electrodynamics along with new applications have created an array of devices serving a diverse number of industries; with applications for wireless sensors, switches and actuators all the way to high power industrial waste heat and vibration harvesting, the technology landscape is developing at a steady pace, with many interesting applications being realized.

Microsoft has tested a prototype of a self-contained data center that can operate hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, in efforts to reducing the need for expensive air-conditioning.

The automotive sector has always been a multi-faceted industry to understand; it has driven and adopted societal and technological change since its inception, and is probably a great example of a market that constantly evolves and re-defines itself, always innovating to meet consumer expectations.

As CES passed for another year we saw another wave of announcements and demonstrations without the topic reaching the limelight it will soon command.

Last year IDTechEx Research asserted that the transparent conductive film industry had entered a period of intense consolidation. We have been proved right as the consolidation period is beginning to take its first round of high profile victims.

The UHD Alliance has launched a new standard for TV. Our analyst explains why it will help new display technologies based on quantum dots.

Printed and flexible electronics are beginning to proliferate, with a variety of components and devices coming to market. Several end-user verticals are expected to benefit from the host of advantages these technologies offer and the automotive sector is no exception.

The first industrial robot, Unimate, went into operation at a General Motors plant in 1961. Over the next few decades the use of industrial robot arms in the automotive industry matured.

Whilst the majority of wearable technology products sold today still fit with the components-in-a-box design, 2015 has been a record year for investment in smart clothing and e-textile products.