electrical

MIT aeroengineers are creating a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying commercial airliners. Pictured are some industrial concepts for hybrid-electric aircraft. Credit: Airbus SAS 2023 Aviation's huge carbon footprint could shrink significantly with electrification. To date, however, only small all-electric planes have gotten off the ground. Their electric motors generate hundreds of…

Philadelphia-based ConnectDER, which sells plug-and-play meter collar adapters for EV chargers, solar, and battery storage, just closed a $27 million Series C funding round. ConnectDER makes meter collars (pictured above) that are installed between the home’s meter and the meter socket to create a single access point for distributed energy resources (DER) installation. Expensive electrical panel upgrades are frequently needed in homes in order to support the additional energy demand of DER…

A forest often echoes with the sounds of its inhabitants, especially after rainfall. Birds coo and caw, insects chirp and buzz, frogs blip and bellow.But not all forest conversations are audible – nor do they all include animals.In a new study, scientists in Japan found intriguing hints that rain may prompt some fungi to communicate using underground electrical signals.The researchers focused on small, tan mushrooms known as bicoloured deceivers (Laccaria bicolor), which they found growing on the floor of a secondary…

Wood is good for a lot of things. Building boxes, boats, and bookcases, for instance. Making tools, or campfires. Feeding termites. And beavers.You'll note powering functional electrical appliances isn't among them.Researchers at Linköping University and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden clearly never paid much attention to lists of things wood is bad at, so they went ahead and made the world's first wooden transistor.To be upfront, the team behind the innovation added a special ingredient to get around the…

Representative Image.By Dr. Ing Praveen KumarIn the third article, we started our discussion on field weakening, using a simple motor illustrated in Figure 1 to explain the concept. We delved into the relative angle between the two sets of poles (or magnets), which warrants further examination. As mentioned in the second article, a motor generates two types of torque: interaction torque and reluctance torque. Interaction torque necessitates two magnetic fields interacting…

In diabetics, wounds tend to progress quickly and heal slowly. Researchers have developed a method that uses electricity to heal diabetic wounds three times faster and offers great potential for treating those with diseases that lead to reduced wound healing.Diabetics are 15 times more likely to have amputations because of foot wounds and ulcers. So, it’s important to keep an eye on even small cuts, grazes, and scratches that have the potential to develop into larger wounds.When diabetes is poorly controlled, blood…

By Dr. Ing Praveen KumarIn the second article, we discussed the underlying principles of electric motors. Today we shall discuss one of the most important characteristics of the motors, field weakening. Field weakening is a very important concept enabling a motor to achieve a wide operating range, an essential requirement for an EV motor. A typical torque versus speed and power versus speed for an EV motor is shown in Figure 1. This figure shows three regions of…

All motors and generators are electromechanical energy conversion devices.By- Dr. -Ing Praveen KumarIn the previous article, we had a look at the history of motors and their application in early EVs, both on land and water. From the late 19th century onwards, motor technology improved, especially AC motors. Today we have various types of AC motors such as induction motors, synchronous motors, brushless DC motors (BLDC), permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), switched…

Through a vast network of nerve fibers, electrical signals are constantly traveling across the brain. This complicated activity is what ultimately gives rise to our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors – but also possibly to mental health and neurological problems when things go wrong.Brain stimulation is an emerging treatment for such disorders. Stimulating a region of your brain with electrical or magnetic pulses will trigger a cascade of signals through your network of nerve connections.However, at the moment, scientists…

Renewable energy provided 74.1% of new utility-scale generating capacity in the US last year, according to new data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign. US electrical generating capacity and renewables in 2022 New utility-scale solar capacity – that is, not including rooftop solar – was 9,924 megawatts (MW), or 39.6% of the total. New wind capacity provided 8,512 MW, or 33.9% of the total. Solar and wind each comfortably…