You have a valid concern, Greg, and I imagine the founders of Ambri saw it that way, too. They're now using a different chemistry for the battery that has a similar result. Perhaps they ran into the antimony problem as well! I am not sure they are disclosing the battery chemistry (probably for IP reasons). I think the new chemistry is more cost effective and higher voltage (I mention it in the story). Thanks!
Great article and innovative use of new materials. One concern I have would be the current lack of Antimony availability outside of China. Some of the information I'm reading states that no significant new antimony deposits in China have been developed recently and other economic reserves are being depleted.
I can see it leading to direct to consumer products for urban dwellers who rent. It's a growing market in the US. Many people would love to put solar panels in or near a window and use that energy to power both small and large appliances.
I know that versions of that already exist for cell phones, ipods, etc. Many green consumers would jump at the chance to power up a refrigerator off the grid.
This is the kind of thinking that really has exciting possibilities if its potential can be fully realized. No longer will alternative energies be excluded from large-scale power grids if energy can be stored in this way and meet the low-cost needs of the industry. It really could revolutionize the use and generation of the energy not just in the United States, but worldwide. I applaud inventors like Sadoway and his team who are really trying to solve the energy crisis not with rhetoric but true scientific invention.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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