Technology Spotlight

by Richard Mandel

Based on research and development that spans several decades, the first commercial power generation plant to harvest the energy of ocean waves is being set up on the island of Islay in Scotland. Designed and built by Wavegen, Inverness, with researchers from Queens University in Belfast, the Limpet 500 (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer) will feed 500 kW of electricity into the island's power grid. The station has an energy collector comprised of a sloping reinforced shell built into the rock face on the shoreline, with an inlet big enough to allow seawater to enter freely and leave a central chamber. As waves enter the shell chamber, the level of water rises, compressing the air in the top of the chamber. This air is then forced through a "blowhole" and into the "Wells Turbine," named for designer Alan Wells, a professor at Queen's University. As the waves outside draw back and the water inside the chamber recedes, the air is vacuumed back into the chamber; however, since the turbine is engineered to turn in the same direction irrespective of the direction of airflow, power generation continues uninterrupted. The constant stream of air in both directions produces enough movement in the turbine to drive an electrical generator.
Circle 400 - Wavegen, or connect directly to their website at http://www.OneRS.net/101df-400

The character on the left of the photo is not a holdover prop from the "Buck Rogers" TV series. ASIMO is the latest development from 14 years of robotic design at Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. This version moves using Honda's i-WALK technology that not only permits a more human gait, but gives the robot the ability to have instant response to sudden movements. In the course of the program, engineers have come very close to directly modeling the human structure. ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility), therefore, goes beyond merely having feet and knee joints: Joints and centers of gravity are aligned as in human architecture; the movable ranges of joints are defined specifically for a walking gait; g-force and axial sensors constantly provide information to optimize the gait; and an inclinometer and joint-angle sensors detect the unit's posture. Another challenge was developing a management software that would automatically determine the best landing point for the leg and foot, in accordance with the moment's circumstance. The 95-lb unit is just under 4 ft in height, a size chosen to allow the robot to operate freely in a human living space and to make it people-friendly. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. Circle 401 - Honda Motor Co., or connect directly to their website at http://www.OneRS.net/101df-401