Microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor are becoming very popular in industry. The recent introduction of the Cortex-M0 processor allows even more power- and cost-effective devices as these processors are software compatible and, together with the Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS), porting of software is simplified.

Materials handling turnkey company Industrial Conveying has developed a technology for high-rise warehouses to allow each crane to communicate with every stationary object on its racks.

The embedded developer b-plus was looking to migrate its XScale-based visualisation client, which is designed to be the mobile HMI for Zigbee measured data, to an Atom-based platform to benefit from enhanced graphics and processing performance, easier long-term scalability in performance, and openness in software development.

Scientists have reported progress in using a common virus to develop improved materials for high-performance, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that could be woven into clothing to power portable electronic devices.

Non-contact torque sensors from Sensor Technology, distributed in Australia by Omni Instruments, are playing a key role in developing commercial-scale in-stream tidal turbines produced by Irish company OpenHydro.

Imec and the Holst Centre have developed stable patterned electrets with feature sizes at least down to 20 µm. The technology consists of creating a charged profile in an SiO₂/Si₃N₄ structure by exploiting the difference in energy between the charge traps in either layer and at their interface. Patterned electret layers can be used for a plurality of technical applications such as micromotors, sensors, actuators and energy scavengers.

More and more companies are using computers-on-modules to address the rigours of constant shock and vibration, airborne contaminants and temperature extremes in places such as warehouses. An industrial warehouse system case study involving an ETX module highlights the trends and computing challenges facing today’s material-handling operations.

The wireless marketplace is like our nascent universe. A veritable ‘big bang’ of new radio frequency technologies has emerged creating opportunities for solving old problems in innovative, new ways.

If battery-making is an art, then University at Buffalo scientist Esther Takeuchi is among its most prolific masters, with more than 140 US patents, all in energy storage.

Imec is a non-profit European research organisation specialising in the study of nano electronics, using the expertise of its global partners in ICT, healthcare and energy. Founded in 1984, its headquarters are in Leuven in Belgium with offices in the Netherlands, Taiwan, the US, China and Japan. Its staff of more that 1750 includes over 550 industrial residents and guest researchers. Here are some highlights from recent research projects.

Non-contact torque sensors from Sensor Technology, distributed in Australia by Omni Instruments, are playing a key role in developing commercial-scale in-stream tidal turbines produced by Irish company OpenHydro.

RS Components has launched DesignSpark, the centrepiece of its initiative to provide an authoritative online design environment for engineers.

For more than a decade now, Australia has had mandatory regulations in place for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) for the majority of electric and electronic devices.

The new electronics industry expo ‘Electronex’, which is being held at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney from 8-9 September, has been welcomed by electronics suppliers that are excited about the opportunity to have their own dedicated trade event in Australia.

At the invitation of the Taiwanese government, the assistant editor of What's New in Electronics, Elizabeth Latham, joined a party of international journalists to visit factories where some of the latest technical advances were being made by some of the companies in this highly developed industry. Here is what she found: