Installation of Solar Parking Lot in Tokyo by SANYO
Sanyo Electric as part of company’s effort in promoting smart energy systems by combining solar panels, rechargeable batteries and electric hybrid bicycles made an announcement that it will install “Solar Parking Lot” in Setagaya Tokyo in Spring of 2010. The solar parking lot will incorporate solar panels and a lithium-ion battery system plus provides electric hybrid bicycles, “eneloop bike“. The solar panels being installed on the roof of the parking shall provide the energy needed for recharging the electric hybrid bicycle batteries plus it will provide power to illuminate the parking lot lights. Read more
YAMAHA showcased its latest Electric Powered Commuter Vehicle
Yamaha Motor Corporation is putting its latest developed electric powered commuter vehicles on display during the 41st Tokyo Motor Show. Yamaha latest development was based on promoting the concept of Light, Smart, Clean and Silent. Yamaha has achieved this through a slick design which featuring simplicity plus a futuristic styling to accommodate people of all ages regard less of their riding experience. The first in line-up is the EC-03 with a permanent magnet type synchronous motor with a rated output being equivalent to 50cc license category at less than 0.6 kW. It comes with a slim electric power unit and lithium-ion battery on a lightweight aluminum frame. The new EC-03 inherits Yamaha’s exclusive motor control technology contributing to a smooth start-up and acceleration. Built-in charger system on EC-03 provides a easy recharging from a home electric outlet. Read more
Release of Lightweight Rooftop Gardening system by Kuraray
Rooftop gardening has become a way of reducing and alleviating the heat island phenomena surrounding Tokyo metropolitan area and at same time participation of the employees of the companies in those buildings in its maintenance is boosting its popularity in other major cities across Japan. The practice is considered to be beneficial in preventing the reflection of sunlight, lessening rainwater drainage, achieving heat insulation that effectively reduces air conditioning costs and at the same time proving an area suitable for rest and relaxation. But one major issue with conventional rooftop gardening systems has been the limitation on the amount of soil used in order to reduce the load on buildings which has resulted in increased soil temperature and in turn a greater tendency towards drying requiring a regular watering and cleaning. Read more
Development of Tandem PV Module by SANYO ENEOS Solar
SANYO ENEOS Solar a newly established joint venture company between Sanyo and Eneos is developing a thin-film microcrystalline silicon tandem PV module. The new PV module is made of two layers one is amorphous silicon and the other being microcrystalline silicon. According to the company higher conversion rate can be achieved through lamination of an amorphous layer in absorbing visible ray and a microcrystalline silicon layer which is responsible of absorbing infrared ray. Read more
The world’s first 3D bending machine
This is world’s first 3D bending machine that has been jointly developed by KIKUCHI SEISAKUSHO CO., LTD and Tokyo University of Technology. Being first of its kind the machine can bend a pipe in several axis simultaneously and continually in a very short period of time.
The machine was developed based on Parallel Mechanism capable of bending pipe in a complex shapes and forms which has not been seen before such as spiral or helical at an irregular sectional area plus twisting and bending even the square structure pipe which had been impossible to bend before. The machine has 6 axis mechanisms which are top, bottom, left, right, front and back are controlled by 6 arms. The bending power is controlled and adjusted by help of a computer.
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Nature technology the grandest of all
Is nature in rescue of technology or technology in rescue of nature? With a drastic shift in a way the technologist and scientist envision the future technological advancement, it is becoming more prevalent that more and more technology is mimicking the wonders of nature in finding the next generation innovations to untangle the environmental global issues and in improving the quality of life as well as other aspect of it that can substantially change our living standard as we got so much accustomed to it. Invention of Velcro by “de Mestral” in 1948 is a perfect example of such biomimetrics where we can see the technologists’ inspiration for nature. Read more
Super heat technology for warming up your lunch box without the flame
Serving a warm hearty meal at anytime and any place has never been easier. Super heating technology is nothing new in fact there are several products out there in the market but they all come with different specifications. Super heating technology is basically mixture of several chemical compounds plus a binding agent that reacts to water in producing heat for up to 98 degrees Celsius. Some of these products during the process of heating produce a foul odor and some are just outright dangerous to use. Read more
Roof garden design package a cool way to save Energy
Summer is just around the corner especially for those in a congested Tokyo metropolitan area where the temperature during the heat wave can reach over 40 degrees Celsius. Most of us who leave in Tokyo area are familiar with the “HEAT ISLAND” effect which is the result of high concentration of concrete and asphalt and few areas of vegetation and open water. But this is not the only contributing factors to heat island effect, heat from the vehicle exhausts and air conditioning are also contributing factor to this problem. Further to this the disappearance of green belts and lakes and open waters between 1991 and 1996 and replacing them by the concrete jungle nurturing the heat island effect. Read more
Stylish brand new pocket video camera
REALFLEET Corporation a rather young company out of Tokyo released a stylish pocket video camera which company calls it “SAL” from their original household appliance brand name “Amadana”. The ““SALVC-142” which looks like a mobile phone has a colorful, stylish and compact body with the size of 54(W) ×95(H) ×12(D) mm and it weighs only 85g. “SAL” is equipped with 300000 pixels CMOS sensor and the video taken by “SAL” can be viewed with 2 inch QVGA display (320×240). Further, “SAL” comes with a built-in USB terminal allowing users of SAL to share video files. Read more
3D Touch Panel by Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Electric demonstrated a prototype of a touch panel during “Interaction 2009” event in Tokyo which the company calls it “3D Touch Panel”. The name follows the capability of the prototype in determining not only the X and Y-axis plane coordinates but also the normal direction, the Z-axis coordinates capable of detecting the distance between a finger and the panel. The prototype which is based on capacitive touch panel technology is of a projection type that is already available in the market. The company has introduced in the prototype only few changes in addition to the base technology such as addition of switch elements in connecting multiple sensors as well as improvement in detection circuitry in reducing its parasitic capacity. Read more
