Author: Connected World

AI: Your Guide for Fuel Risk Management?

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Emerging technologies, such as gen AI (artificial intelligence) can help us in many walks of life—including in business. Consider the example of using AI to help with fleet operations, more specifically to reduce fraud and manage fuel. Let’s take a closer look at how this might work. Carter Geotechnical works with construction materials, testing, and inspections and it has recently partnered with RoadFlex, which is a fleet fuel management and purchasing program. Here is how this can help: Leverage fuel cards to control purchases for fuel, DEF fluid, accommodations, and other operational essentials. Manage transactions, while also tracking activity. Take…

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Success Stories: Machine Learning Our Infrastructure

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AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) can help with a great many things. One such example is making strength predictions in steel columns to ensure strong and resilient infrastructure—which is much needed in today’s age of growing natural disasters. Concrete-filled steel tube columns are often ideal for building stronger buildings and infrastructure, and now researchers are doing experiments to predict their properties. The challenge is the data is limited. Enter a research team led by Associate Professor Jin-Kook Kim of Seoul National University of Science and Technology, which presented and verified a hybrid machine learning model capable of accurately…

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Success Stories: Cat Eyes Come to Robotics

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Robotics are on the rise—and so too are the technological innovations that enable them. A research project aims to create a vision system with a unique shape and reflective surface. Think, cat eyes on your robots. The researchers at GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) recognized a challenge: autonomous systems often struggle to see well in different environments. Bright sunlight, low light, and objects that blend into backgrounds are difficult for drones, self-driving cars, and robots. Enter nature’s solution to the problem: cat eyes. Cats can often see well in both bright light and darkness. In the day, vertical…

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Success Stories: Green Campuses

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The numbers are staggering. College campuses produce between 6-8 tons of CO₂ per student annually. Energy experts claim AI (artificial intelligence) can reduce consumption by up to 29%, ultimately helping to create smarter, greener campuses. Consider the example of Yale University, which consumes 40,000 kWh of energy per student, which is seven times more than Oxford University, according to Exergio. While many universities have implemented carbon reduction strategies, there are still often challenges such as aging infrastructure and inconsistent policy adoption, as just a few examples. Enter technology. Energy experts from Exergio, a company that develops AI-based tools for energy performance,…

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Success Stories: Self-Powered Tactile Sensors

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Sensors offer unique opportunities—and some come with inherent challenges. For instance, self-powered functionality and high sensitivity also come with challenges such as material brittleness and environmental limitations. A team of researchers led by Professor Hanjun Ryu from Chung-Ang University, South Korea, has introduced new manufacturing strategies to overcome these limitations. Here, researchers took a closer look at manufacturing strategies for piezoelectric and triboelectric tactile sensors. The objective was to improve self-powering capabilities, sensitivity, and flexibility. The research examined material properties, fabrication processes, and device designs to overcome challenges. Here is how this can help: Overcome brittleness in piezoelectric materials. Address…

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