Design Engineer’s Weekly

Broaden your perspective. Expand your knowledge. Love your work.

In this Issue

• Why you should be nice to ChatGPT

• Batteryless autonomous microbot swarms!

• Can engineers save Lego?

• Autodesk Inventor update packs a punch

• Keyboards without shift keys. Seriously.

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Cover Story

102 Years After His Nobel, Einstein’s Work Continues

It’s that Nobel Prize time of year again, and last week a new crop of laureates were named in the sciences. Congratulations to them all, but we’re particularly impressed by the accomplishments of three physicists who’ve built upon the Nobel-winning work of Albert Einstein.

For reasons that remain unclear, Einstein did not win a Nobel Prize for developing his theory of general relativity – but he did take home the 1921 award in physics for explaining the photoelectric effect, whereby light above a certain frequency shone on a material results in the emission of electrons from that material.

Since then, the photoelectric effect has been used to create photomultipliers for detecting low levels of light, video camera tubes in the early days of television and even night vision goggles. It’s a useful quirk of physics but there’s much more to learn, as demonstrated by the “experimental methods that generate attosecond^* pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter” developed by this year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier. (*An attosecond is one quintillionth of a second.)

You can read the full scientific backgrounder, but here’s the TLDR: work done by Agostini, Krausz and L’Huillier has resulted in a way to produce pulses of light at intervals short enough to measure the timescale of the photoelectric effect itself. In addition to creating a promising new research avenue for light-generation technology, this discovery is being applied by Krausz and his colleagues in the form of electric-field molecular fingerprinting, which can detect minute changes in the composition of biofluids for highly accurate in vitro testing.

And that’s a big deal. “This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics opens windows that were unimaginable to Heisenberg, to explore phenomena that were previously impossible to observe,” said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which hands out the award.

The Poll

Exposure

Meet MilliMobile, a battery-free autonomous microrobot that subsists on harvested light and radio waves. When equipped with various sensors and deployed in groups, these machines could have numerous industrial and agricultural applications, such as detecting gas leaks and gauging soil moisture.

In the News

Smile! You’re Using ChatGPT

Are you looking forward to the day when artificial intelligence caters to our every whim – or are you stocking a bunker in preparation for SkynetGPT? Your answer will strongly influence your interaction with generative AI tools, according to a study conducted by MIT Media Lab researchers. They found that users who view chatbots as caring had more positive interactions with the tools, while the opposite is true for those who believe chatbots are up to no good. Keep that in mind the next time you’re writing a chatbot prompt – and share it with those AI cynics who complain that ChatGPT doesn’t work.

Lego Bricks are Killing Lego

Since buying Denmark’s first plastic-injection molding machine in 1946, Lego has cranked out billions of its iconic plastic blocks – each one of them composed of non-biodegradable ABS. But the toymaker’s attempt to produce biodegradable bricks with the same “clutch power” has been stymied by the cost of the energy required to treat rPET, an ABS alternative. An army of engineers continues to work the problem. If a solution isn’t found, says one expert, the company will not survive.

Fly Me to the Moon – and Make it Snappy

With India landing and Russia crashing probes on the Moon, pressure is on the U.S to make its triumphant return to the lunar surface. Two firms not named SpaceX have landers ready for final launch preparations but both projects are way behind schedule, thanks largely to COVID. Five years after NASA started its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, whether private enterprise can take one small step for America and one giant leap for the free market remains an open question.

Recommendations

(Way Over) Thar She Blows!

There are fewer better places than far offshore to generate wind power. However, designing floating platforms that can support giant wind turbines over deep ocean is an engineering challenge of the highest order. These buoyant wind-power projects are leading the way.

The Battle for the Shift Key

A ubiquitous device used by billions daily deserves to be historicized in a work of more than 1,200 pages and 1,300 photos. The author of Shift Happens recalls the factors that shaped the lowly keyboard, including the tooth-and-nail fight between typewriter makers over the shift key.

Will See-Through Macs Come Back?

Fashion is cyclical and, apparently, so is technology design. This compilation of recent stories about transparent tech covers smartphones, earbuds, USB cables and more – suggesting a boom in see-through gadgets and gear is upon us again.

From engineering.com

Autodesk’s Inventor Update is Packed with Goodness

Version 2024.1 delivers way more than you’d expect from a point release. One fave addition: the Use nearest model point for Orbit feature.

GenAI is Transforming Toyota’s Design Process

A new technique developed by Toyota combines text-to-image generators with design sketches and engineering constraints to reduce the design iterations required to achieve desired stylistic and physical properties.

Adding VR to Your Design Workflow? Mind your GPUs

A look at how engineers are using virtual reality and the role graphics cards play in optimizing the design experience.