SCIENCE:THE HINDU(27

TH
MAY)
4-D printing to allow for shape-changing
materials

3-D and 4-D printing can change lifestyles.
Imagine buying a dress online that takes shape in front of your eyes in your living
room.Scientists are developing 4D printing technology to pave way for smart
materials that can change shape by themselves.Researchers are combining different
types of plastics and fibres to create smart materials that change shape when they
come into contact with stimuli such as heat or water.Objects designed in this way can
expand, fold or unfurl into predesigned forms after being printed, in a process dubbed
4D printing, The Times reported.
Skylar Tibbits, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is pioneering the
research with Stratasys, a digital manufacturing company.
We asked if we could print things that change shape and change properties to behave
in precise programmed ways. We call it 4D because it adds time [considered the
fourth dimension], rather than printing static objects, Tibbits said.
Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, from Nervous System design studio in Somerville,
Massachusetts, said he hoped to use 4D printing to create a dress that could be printed
in compact form then unfolded.Using a scan of the customers body, the dress could
be designed to fit perfectly and would be created with a series of tessellating
segments.A computer model would then compress the design into the smallest
possible space to fit inside a normal 3D printer. The customer would simply download
the design, print it and unfurl it
Time-saving rail tech awaits green signal


IIT-Madras graduates develop technology to automate the
overhead electric line inspection system of Railways
Modern technology has always been slow to find its way into Indian Railways, be it
for improving commuter facilities or for its internal working system.
The overhead line inspection is one area where the Railways still depends on manual
labour, which not only involves a large workforce but is also time-consuming.
The overhead electric line powers the electrical multiple units (EMUs) through the
pantograph, an apparatus mounted on top of the motor car to convey electricity. The
Railways carries out inspection to measure the gradient between the overhead line and
the pantograph to prevent snapping of the overhead line.
A group of IIT-Madras graduates have developed an infrared-based depth sensor
technology to automate the overhead electric line inspection system with minimal
human intervention.
Kedar Kulkarni, the leader of the group, says the technology involves a camera
installed in front of the pantograph and linked to a computer in the inspection car that
would process the data of the overhead electric line. The processed data would be
stored on the cloud.
Talking about the positive features of the technology, he pointed out that the
indigenously developed system could check the overhead line without switching off
the power supply, which is normally the case in manual inspection, and during night-
time. The biggest advantage is that the technology can identify risk zones where the
overhead line needs special attention that normally escape the human eye.
The technology has been developed by HyperVerge in association with Computer
Vision Group and IIT-Madras. It has undergone ten field trials including the test
conducted by the Research, Design and Standard Organisation, a research wing of the
Indian Railways.A cat chases a pigeon, kills it and at the end of this fiasco, a portion
of the false ceiling collapses inside Chennai airport.
It certainly is not appealing for anyone using the terminals to witness or read of such
incidents.After numerous delays, the airports terminals were finally commissioned
just a year back, only for authorities to grapple with various engineering and
maintenance issues. Fliers have been yearning to use an airport that provides the best
of passenger facilities.
This, some think, may happen only if the airport is handed over to a private player.But
the proposal to privatise the Chennai airport that was mooted last year stands
grounded owing to various reasons. AAI officials had indicated that the draft of the
concessionaire document is yet to be finalised and receive clearances from the
planning commission and Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
A top official in the key infrastructure development cell set up to speed up this
privatisation process said as the elections have just got over it may take at least a week
to even decide when the Request For Qualification process would be held.
But, experts point out, people seldom realise there is a flipside to this deal: the airport
could get a lot more expensive.
D. Sudhakar Reddy of Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) said, The whole
airport is in a mess with the Metro Rail work further adding to it. Not to say how
badly it has been maintained. If a private player takes over, he will have to heavily
invest on these buildings and eventually extract that from the passengers.

Now, e-noses to test fresh food
Researchers have developed an electronic nose that can detect whether your food is
fresh and safe to eat.
The device, called Peres, is designed to detect whether a product is fresh, whether it is
hazardous to health and whether it carries a risk of food poisoning. The e-nose enables
users to determine the quality and freshness of beef, pork, poultry and fish.The device
is held by the user, over his or her food. The device has four sensors that monitor
temperature, humidity, ammonia and volatile organic compounds in the air around the
food. The information is sent to the users smartphone via Bluetooth.
Once it has the data, the app will display recommendations based on the freshness of
the food, Gizmag reported.The sensors in Peres can detect over 100 different volatile
organic compounds in food.
ECONOMY
Wind energy sector seeks scheme to attract
investment
The Indian Wind Power Association, representing wind power investors and
generators, has appealed to the Union government to reinstate the accelerated
depreciation scheme, which has not been implemented for the last two years.
Association chairman K. Karthurirangaian said in a release that the scheme was
available for wind energy from 1992 to 2012 and did not require budgetary allocation.
Even now, it was available for investments in other sources of renewable energy.
About 80 per cent of the investment in renewable energy was set off in Income Tax in
the first three years.
In 2011-2012, the wind energy sector attracted investments to the tune of Rs. 19,000
crore, and 3,200 MW was commissioned. In 2012-2013, the investments came down
to Rs. 10,200 crore for 1,700 MW. And, during the last financial year, only 2,100 MW
was added. The wind mill manufacturing capacity was capable of producing 5,000
MW of wind turbines a year, and it was not used to full capacity for lack of
investments.
Mr. Kasthurirangaian appealed to the Centre to reintroduce the scheme to attract
investments in wind energy.Further, renewable purchase obligation (RPO) should be
monitored and implemented.Distribution companies and captive consumers should
purchase a specified percentage of energy from renewable energy sources, but it was
not enforced properly. Implementation of the RPO would also make investments in
wind energy attractive, he said.
The Tender SURE (Specifications for Urban
Road Execution)

Bangalore will have a new look in about 18 months, said Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah here on Monday, as he announced various infrastructure projects in the
city.He was speaking to presspersons after inspecting the progress of works being
carried out under the Tender SURE (Specifications for Urban Road Execution) project
at Cunningham Road and Vittal Mallya Hospital Road.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Tender SURE project was being carried out in two
packages. While work was under way under the first package, orders had been issued
for the development of five roads under the second package, he said.
The Tender SURE project was being taken up at a cost of Rs. 200 crore for 12 roads
that would be developed as per international standards, with levelled footpaths and
underground utility ducts. The expenditure for a stretch of 1 km was at least Rs. 10
crore, Mr. Siddaramaiah said. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had
also proposed projects for the development of signal-free corridors on Dr. Rajkumar
Road and Old Airport Road. The Dr. Rajkumar Road stretch would cover 3.73 km at a
cost of Rs. 29.6 crore, while the Old Airport Road corridor will cover 15 km at a cost
of Rs. 109 crore.
A sum of Rs. 560 crore had been allocated for the development of 230 main roads
covering 395 km. Of this amount, Rs. 300 crore had been released, the Chief Minister
said. In the first phase, 171 roads would be developed covering a stretch of 306 km at
a cost of Rs. 400 crore. Of these, asphalting work for 93 roads was under way, he
added. Besides, Rs. 250 crore would be allocated for the development of an eight-lane
corridor from Fountain Circle (near Khodays Junction) to Okalipuram Junction.
Grade separators would be set up on Magadi Road and Basaveshwarnagar Main Road
Junction, and on Outer Ring Road, near Kittur Rani Chennamma Junction.