Brain Computer Interface

A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a neural-control interface (NCI), mind-machine interface (MMI), direct neural interface (DNI), or brain–machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication pathway between an enhanced or wired brain and an external device. BCI differs from neuromodulation in that it allows for bidirectional information flow. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.

Research on BCIs began in the 1970s at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation, followed by a contract from DARPA. The papers published after this research also mark the first appearance of the expression brain–computer interface in scientific literature.

The field of BCI research and development has since focused primarily on neuroprosthetics applications that aim at restoring damaged hearing, sight and movement. Thanks to the remarkable cortical plasticity of the brain, signals from implanted prostheses can, after adaptation, be handled by the brain like natural sensor or effector channels. Following years of animal experimentation, the first neuroprosthetic devices implanted in humans appeared in the mid-1990s.

Hydroelectric Dams

Hydroelectric dams with large reservoirs can also be operated to provide peak generation at times of peak demand. Water is stored in the reservoir during periods of low demand and released through the plant when demand is higher. The net effect is the same as pumped storage, but without the pumping loss. Depending on the reservoir capacity the plant can provide daily, weekly, or seasonal load following. Many existing hydroelectric dams are fairly old (for example, the Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s), and their original design predated the newer intermittent power sources such as wind and solar by decades. A hydroelectric dam originally built to provide baseload power will have its generators sized according to the average flow of water into the reservoir. Uprating such a dam with additional generators increases its peak power output capacity, thereby increasing its capacity to operate as a virtual grid energy storage unit.

 The United States Bureau of Reclamation reports an investment cost of $69 per kilowatt capacity to uprate an existing dam,  compared to more than $400 per kilowatt for oil-fired peaking generators. While an uprated hydroelectric dam does not directly store excess energy from other generating units, it behaves equivalently by accumulating its own fuel – incoming river water – during periods of high output from other generating units. Functioning as a virtual grid storage unit in this way, the uprated dam is one of the most efficient forms of energy storage, because it has no pumping losses to fill its reservoir, only increased losses to evaporation and leakage.

A dam which impounds a large reservoir can store and release a correspondingly large amount of energy, by controlling river outflow and raising or lowering its reservoir level a few meters. Limitations do apply to dam operation, their releases are commonly subject to government regulated water rights to limit downstream effect on rivers. For example, there are grid situations where baseload thermal plants, nuclear or wind turbines are already producing excess power at night, dams are still required to release enough water to maintain adequate river levels, whether electricity is generated or not. Conversely there's a limit to peak capacity, which if excessive could cause a river to flood for a few hours each day.

Small Satellite

Small satellites, miniaturized satellites, or smallsats, are satellites of low mass and size, usually under 500 kg (1,100 lb). While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction. Miniature satellites, especially in large numbers, may be more useful than fewer, larger ones for some purposes – for example, gathering of scientific data and radio relay. Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system.

The Nano satellite and microsatellite segments of the satellite launch industry have been growing rapidly in recent years, and were based on the Spanish low cost manufacturing for Commercial and Communication Satellites from the 1990s. Development activity in the 1–50 kg (2.2–110.2 lb) range has been significantly exceeding that in the 50–100 kg (110–220 lb) range. European analyst Euro consult projects more than 500 smallsats being launched in the years 2015–2019 with a market value estimated at US$7.4 billion. By mid-2015, many more launch options had become available for smallsats, and rides as secondary payloads had become both greater in quantity and with the ability to schedule on shorter notice.

               

Although smallsats have traditionally been launched as secondary payloads on larger launch vehicles, there are a number of companies currently developing launch vehicles specifically targeted at the smallsat market. In particular, the secondary payload paradigm does not provide the specificity required for many small satellites that have unique orbital and launch-timing requirements. Small satellite_examples_include Demeter, Essaim, Parasol, Picard, MICROSCOPE, TARANIS, ELISA, SSOT, SMART-1, and Spirale-A and -B.

Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

The lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO₄ battery) or LFP battery (lithium Ferro phosphate), is a type of rechargeable battery, specifically a lithium-ion battery, using LiFePO₄ as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. The specific capacity of LiFePO₄ is higher than that of the related lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂) chemistry, but its density is less due to its lower operating voltage. The main drawback of LiFePO₄ is its low electrical conductivity. Therefore, all the LiFePO₄ cathodes under consideration are actually LiFePO₄/C. Because of low cost, low toxicity, well-defined performance, long-term stability, etc. LiFePO₄ is finding a number of roles in vehicle use, utility scale stationary applications, and backup power.

Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4, each Cells 700 Ah Amp Hours 3.25 Volts. Two cells are wired in parallel to create a single 3.25V 1400Ah cell, with a capacity of 4,550 Watt hours or 4.55 kWh. Note the multi-layer copper bus bar designed to carry more electrons on the surface of multiple plates rather than using a single solid connector between cells. Higher discharge rates needed for acceleration, lower weight and longer life makes this battery type ideal for bicycles and electric cars. 12V LiFePO₄ batteries are also getting popularity as a second (house) battery for a caravan, motor-home or boat.

LiFePO₄-powered solar lamps are visibly brighter than ubiquitous outdoor solar lights, and performance overall is considered more reliable. Many home EV conversions use the large format versions as the car's traction pack. With the efficient power-to-weight ratios, high safety features and the chemistry's resistance to thermal runaway, there are few barriers for use by amateur home "makers". Motorhomes are often converted to lithium iron phosphate because of the high draw. Some electronic cigarettes use these types of batteries. Other applications include flashlights, radio-controlled models, portable motor-driven equipment, industrial sensor systems and emergency lighting. 

Home Fuel Cell

A home fuel cell or a residential fuel cell is a scaled down version of industrial stationary fuel cell for primary or backup power generation. These fuel cells are usually based on combined heat and power-CHP or micro combined heat and power MicroCHP technology, generating both power and heated water or air. A commercially working cell is called Ene-Farm in Japan and is supported by the regional government which uses natural gas to power up the fuel cell to produce electricity and heated water. Most home fuel cells fit either inside a mechanical room or outside a home or business, and can be discreetly sited to fit within a building's design.

            Some of the newer home fuel cells can generate anywhere between 1–5 kW—optimal for larger homes (370 square metres [4,000 sq ft] or more), especially if pools, spas, and radiant floor heating are in plans. Other uses include sourcing of back-up power for essential loads like refrigerator/freezers and electronics/computers. Deploying the system's heat energy efficiently to a home or business' hot water applications displaces the electricity or gas otherwise burned to create that heat, which further reduces overall energy bills. Retail outlets like fast food chains, coffee bars, and health clubs gain operational savings from hot water heating.

Since it is in general not possible for a fuel cell to produce at all times exactly the needed amount of both electricity and heat, home fuel cells are typically not standalone installations. Instead they may rely on the grid when the electricity production is above or below what is needed. Additionally, a home fuel cell may be combined with a traditional furnace that produces only heat. For example, the German company Viessmann produces a home fuel cell with an electric power of 0.75 kW and a thermal power of 1 kW, integrated with a traditional 19 kW heat producing furnace, using the grid for electricity need below and above the fuel cell production.

Radio-Frequency Identification

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. Passive tags collect energy from a nearby RFID reader's interrogating radio waves. Active tags have a local power source (such as a battery) and may operate hundreds of meters from the RFID reader. Unlike a barcode, the tag need not be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object. RFID is one method of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC).  RFID tags are used in many industries.

 For example, an RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line; RFID-tagged pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses; and implanting RFID microchips in livestock and pets enables positive identification of animals. Since RFID tags can be attached to cash, clothing, and possessions, or implanted in animals and people, the possibility of reading personally-linked information without consent has raised serious privacy concerns. These concerns resulted in standard specifications development addressing privacy and security issues. ISO/IEC 18000 and ISO/IEC 29167 use on chip cryptography methods for untraceability, tag and reader authentication, and over-the-air privacy. 

ISO/IEC 20248 specifies a digital signature data structure for RFID and barcodes providing data, source and read method authenticity. This work is done within ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31 Automatic identification and data capture techniques. Tags can also be used in shops to expedite checkout, and to prevent theft by customers and employees. In 2014, the world RFID market was worth US$8.89 billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013 and US$6.96 billion in 2012. This figure includes tags, readers, and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs, and all other form factors. The market value is expected to rise to US$18.68 billion by 2026.

Flywheel Storage

Mechanical inertia is the basis of this storage method. When the electric power flows into the device, an electric motor accelerates a heavy rotating disc. The motor acts as a generator when the flow of power is reversed, slowing down the disc and producing electricity. Electricity is stored as the kinetic energy of the disc. Friction must be kept to a minimum to prolong the storage time. This is often achieved by placing the flywheel in a vacuum and using magnetic bearings, tending to make the method expensive. Greater flywheel speeds allow greater storage capacity but require strong materials such as steel or composite materials to resist the centrifugal forces.

            The ranges of power and energy storage technology that make this method economic, however, tends to make flywheels unsuitable for general power system application; they are probably best suited to load-leveling applications on railway power systems and for improving power quality in renewable energysystems such as the 20MW system in Ireland.  Applications that use flywheel storage are those that require very high bursts of power for very short durations such as tokamak and lase rexperiments where a motor generator is spun up to operating speed and is partially slowed down during discharge.

 Flywheel storage is also currently used in the form of the Diesel rotary uninterruptible power supply to provide uninterruptible power supplysystems (such as those in large datacenters) for ride-through power necessary during transfer – that is, the relatively brief amount of time between a loss of power to the mains and the warm-up of an alternate source, such as a diesel generator. Powercorp in Australia have been developing applications using wind turbines, flywheels and low load diesel (LLD) technology to maximize the wind input to small grids. A system installed in Coral Bay, Western Australia, uses wind turbines coupled with a flywheel based control system and LLDs. The flywheel technology enables the wind turbines to supply up to 95 percent of Coral Bay's energy supply at times, with a total annual wind penetration of 45 percent.