The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has announced that it won three 2013 R&D 100 Award. ITRI has earned 16 awards for consecutive six years.
The 2013 R&D 100-winning technologies from ITRI go as followed:
iAT technology
iAT is a technology to do air-touch. Explained in plain language, iAT provides a virtual input device for computers such as the emerging wearable computer. The virtual input device can be a virtual keyboard or a virtual touch screen. To a user using it, the virtual input device appears to be floating in the air for pressing, or touching so as to interact with the computer.
iAT is developed to provide a new input method for computers. Functionally iAT is the same as any physical input devices for computers such as keypad, keyboard, mouse, and touch panel, etc.
iAT provides a new type of input device to computers. Its versatility allows it to be incorporated into applications such as wearable computer. It has the potential to help boost this new segment of market due to its convenience and added usefulness.
ButyFix
ButyFix is a biochemical technology developed to produce bio-butanol mainly for use as transportation fuel using nature’s most abundant biomass, cellulose, as feedstock.
The total energy content in the lignin-rich biomass covers not only the energy for the production, but also that for the entire life cycle (well-to-wheel). So the GHG emission by using ButyFix bio-butanol is slightly negative.
ButyFix is primarily developed as transportation fuel. Obviously, chemical industry can also use bio-butanol as intermediates or final chemical product to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). Currently, producing fuel for transportation is ButyFix’s principal application.
FluxMerge
The basic function of FluxMerge is extremely simple and straightforward: to reduce magnetic flux leakage within the magnetic circuit path of machines.
The FluxMerge technique achieves this via adjustment in the magnetic reluctance distribution across the pole faces opposite the airgap. As a result, the magnetic flux crossing over the airgap merges toward the central axis along the magnetic circuit path to reduce leakage into the surrounding space.
Flux leakage in the circuit reduces efficacy of whatever electromagnetic machinery that works the principle of electromagnetism. For electromagnetic machineries in which airgap is a section of the circuit, leakage is inevitable.
With motors, leakage disadvantageously leads to reduced motive power, therefore increased size and weight, therefore increased electrical power consumption, etc. In generators, leakage means less mechanical power is converted into electricity.
