Month: October 2014

MUMBAI (TIP): Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will observe comet Siding Spring when it flies by the Red Planet around midnight on October 19.

The space agency moved MOM to a “safer position” on Tuesday to avoid any damage to its payloads from the comet’s debris.

“The spacecraft will carry out observations of the comet and even capture it on its Mars Colour Camera,” director of Isro’s Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre, Kiran Kumar, said. He estimated that the duration between the comet’s arrival and departure on October 19 will be approximately one-and-a-half hours.

Isro scientists said that MOM’s payload Methane Sensor for Mars will check for presence of Methane on Siding Spring, which is travelling at a velocity of 56km/second relative to the planet.

At its closest approach Siding Spring will come within 1,32,000km of the Red Planet, which is about a third of the distance between Earth and moon. October 7 manoeuvre which consumed 1.9 kg of fuel will put the spacecraft at an approximate distance of 1,40,000km from the comet when it flies by. Kumar said MOM was now 400km away from the surface of the Red Planet on the opposite side of the comet.

The comet was discovered by Robert H McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia on January 3, 2013. The comet’s mass is equivalent to 1,500 Empire State Buildings in New York or 70,000 Eiffel Towers in Paris. On October 9, Nasa’s Maven was placed behind the Red Planet and an hour prior to the arrival of the comet, it will go into what is known as a “planned minimum risk mode”.

MOM and Maven teams are expected to exchange data regarding the comet.

NEW DELHI: Isro will launch the third of seven satellites of its ambitious navigation system IRNSS on October 16, the space agency said on October 16. IRNSS-1C, the third satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) will be launched with the help of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C26) on October 16, Isro said. The launch window of the mission opens at 1.32am and last till 1.47am. The lift-off is scheduled at the opening of the launch window at 1.32am. The final phase of checks is in progress to carry the 1,425kg satellite. “The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) Committee and the Launch Authorization Board (LAB) met on October 7 to review the progress of pre-launch activities and cleared the launch for October 16. “The 67 hour countdown for the mission will commence at 6.32am on October 13,” Isro said in a statement. IRNSS is an independent navigation satellite system developed by India to provide accurate position information service to users in India.

LONDON (TIP): The world’s first mind-controlled prosthetic arms that work in daily life and experiences the sense of touch has finally become a reality.

Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have made a breakthrough by anchoring bionic arms directly on to the bone to improve control and feel touch. The team mapped sensations to 19 different locations on the hand from the palm to the tip of the thumb and matched the sensors to the different electronic patterns of stimulation.

They then moved on to pressure and textures. The patient could tell while blindfolded whether he is holding something. The direct skeletal attachment is created by what is known as osseointegration, a technology in limb prostheses pioneered by associate professor Rickard Branemark and his colleagues at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

The researchers said, “For the first time, robotic prostheses controlled via implanted neuromuscular interfaces have become a clinical reality. A novel osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implant system gives patients new opportunities in their daily life and professional activities”.

In January 2013, a Swedish arm amputee was the first person in the world to receive prosthesis with a direct connection to bone, nerves and muscles.

“Going beyond the lab to allow the patient to face real-world challenges is the main contribution of this work,” said Max Ortiz Catalan, research scientist at Chalmers University of Technology and leading author of the study.

“We have used osseointegration to create a long-term stable fusion between man and machine, where we have integrated them at different levels. The artificial arm is directly attached to the skeleton, thus providing mechanical stability. Then the human’s biological control system, that is nerves and muscles, is also interfaced to the machine’s control system via neuromuscular electrodes. This creates an intimate union between the body and the machine; between biology and mechatronics,” he said.

The patient’s arm was amputated over 10 years ago. The patient is also one of the first in the world to take part in an effort to achieve long-term sensation via the prosthesis.

“Reliable communication between the prosthesis and the body has been the missing link for the clinical implementation of neural control and sensory feedback, and this is now in place,” Catalan said. “So far we have shown that the patient has a long-term stable ability to perceive touch in different locations in the missing hand. Intuitive sensory feedback and control are crucial for interacting with the environment, for example to reliably hold an object despite disturbances or uncertainty,” he added.

PAWTUCKET (TIP): Welding isn’t just for aircraft carriers anymore.

The US Navy could be turning to ultrasonic welding to make its uniforms lighter, stronger and cheaper. And if the project by a Rhode Island company and the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility is a success, it could help bring manufacturing back from overseas.

Welded seams — created when two pieces of fabric are essentially melted together by sound waves — are already used in some clothing that some Americans have in their closets. Patagonia and North Face both sell models of jackets with welded seams. But so far, most, if not all, of that manufacturing is done overseas.

Propel LLC is trying to figure out how to make one of the Navy’s more expensive and challenging garments to assemble — the Navy parka, which it buys for $190.50 each — without stitches. It has spent the past year testing welded seams, adhesive techniques and other bonds using a federal grant from the Navy.

“This was a good way for us to start to get an understanding of what the current state of the art is,” said Cleveland Heath, the technical program manager at the Navy facility in Natick, Massachusetts.

Current garment assembly methods can be cumbersome and costly, Heath said. Different kinds of stitches are used and garments have to be moved from sewing machine to sewing machine as they are formed. One welded seam could replace several stitch types and the sewing machines associated with them, he said.

The seam is a garment’s weak point, said Propel president Clare King. Using a needle and thread creates tiny holes that air and water can permeate, taping a seam to cover the holes adds weight.

The welded seams have proven to be lightweight, flexible and waterproof, King said.

“We have a lot of opportunity to improve the garments and also effect change at the factory level,” King said. “Some of these technologies have been used in factories overseas but we have no knowledge base here of how to do them or how to implement them.”

Seams are welded on some large tents, liners and other specialty industrial fabrics, but not on typical, casual clothing. For the Navy project, King consulted Patagonia, whose M10 jacket has welded seams and is made in Vietnam. Joe Vernachio, a vice president at The North Face, said he knows of only four or five factories overseas that weld seams for apparel. The military is required by law to manufacture all uniforms in the United States.