Liquid Fuel Cells, your own Robot Dog and how AI and the world of Architecture

July 2

The week we will look at a new Liquid Fuel Cell that operates at double the voltage of a traditional Hydrogen Fuel Cell. Yet another entrant into the race to power the electric engines of the future. We also look at the Boston Dynamics Robot Dog, a computer game designed to treat ADHD and we examine the impact that AI is having on Architecture.

Liquid Fuel Cells

Engineers from Washington University have created a new fuel cell which provides double the voltage compared to Hydrogen Fuel Cells. These new fuel cells remove the need to transport and store hydrogen and they are cheaper. The cell has the potential to propel battery reliant electric vehicles, underwater vehicles, drones and potentially electric aircraft.

By operating at twice the voltage of traditional hydrogen fuel cells, the borohydride fuel cell allows a smaller, lighter and more efficient design. The cells can also act as range extenders for current battery powered electric vehicles. The full paper can be found here.

Anyone that is interested in Hydrogen Fuel Cells, one of the leaders in this space is Plug Power. They are developing Industrial, Backup Generation and Transportation applications of Fuel Cells.

The Most Expensive and Bestest Dog

Most of you will have seen the Boston Dynamics Robot Dog completing a wide range of tasks in videos that have gone viral on Social Media over the past few years. To date, this has been purely for curiosity value but now, for the low price of US$74,000 you can buy your very own Boston Dynamics Robot Dog. A fully optioned up Dog will cost well over US$100,000 (options include, LiDAR, panoramic color cameras, noise anomaly detection and pan-tilt-zoom cameras).

Tesla was one of the first customers for Spot (yep Boston Dynamics are creative when it comes to building robots but they couldn’t think of a more unique name for their dog). Tesla renamed Spot, “Zeus”. Zeus was recently spotted running around the SpaceX Starship test site. On June 23 SpaceX conducted a cryogenic pressure test on the Starship SN7 dome tank prototype. This is part of the development process for building a spaceship that can travel to Mars.

The test on the SN7 required the tank to be filled with sub-cooled liquid nitrogen and deliberately pressurized to the max. This made it pop and fall on its’ side. Zeus was then sent onto the potentially dangerous site, no doubt carrying various test equipment, to walk through the clouds of nitrogen and gather data relating to the explosion. Zeus can go into harsh environments not considered safe for people and conduct experiments and collect vital data.

SpaceX are caring dog owners so they built Zeus a dog house on the SpaceX development site. Photo from Cooper Hime.

If you don’t want to spend US$74,000 on a dog; can you truly call yourself a dog lover. If you don’t want to spend US$74,000 on a robot dog; can you truly call yourself a nerd.

ADHD and Computer Games

The FDA in the US has just approved the first computer game designed to assist children with ADHD. The game can now be legally marketed and prescribed as medicine in the US.

The game, EndeavorRx, was developed by Akili Interactive and is targeted at 8 to 12 year olds. The gameplay has been specifically designed to challenge a child’s brain during treatment by requiring the child’s attention and focus on multiple tasks at the same time. The game has been clinically proven to improve objective attention in children with ADHD aged from 8 to 12.

The game also provides feedback to the caregiver by monitoring changes and improvements in attention. This allows the caregiver to take a more active role in progress. Akili Assist is a companion to the game which guides the caregiver through the treatment experience. The game can be played on iPads and iPhones.

The game is an addition to more traditional treatments not a substitute. The game is soon to be launched. You can join the waitlist here.

How is AI changing Architecture?

Currently computers are not good at open-ended creative solutions however they can automate many tasks. This automation allows more time to be invested in design. Design is true passion of the Architect.

Data

Architects already use past construction data, design and building data to build new projects. This however is still very manual and old school. AI will be developed to make decisions and recommendations that are critical to the design process. AI will also research and test ideas, consult all the relevant laws and codes related to building thus eliminating hours of early stage research.

Parametric Architecture

Parametric Design is a design system that allows Architects to play with certain parameters to create different types of forms and structures that would otherwise have not been possible.

These types of systems allows the Architect to pick the design output, set the constraints, plug in data and create countless iterations of a building within minutes. Grasshopper3D is an example of this type of system.

Construction will become easier and faster

AI will make the planning process significantly easier. Cost estimates can be automated and significantly sped up. One Australian Startup working in this space is Takeoffs.io. Their system can provide a fully marked up plan and bill of quantities in less than 72 hours for as little as $200. This will speed up as they further enhance their computer vision capabilities and automate more of their process.

Smart Cities

Our cities will change in the coming years. AI will help by being able to understand how a city will flow and how new developments will coexist in the city ecosystem. Smart cities will be driven by real time data and feedback. AI will be used to improve living conditions, limit waste, increase safety and manage traffic.

AI will improve the user experience of the Home

The future will bring a range of AI driven improvements to our homes. Health, comfort and livability will all be improved though the intelligent application of AI driven enhancements. We are seeing the beginning of this development with Alexa and Google Home.

Paying it Forward

If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.

If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com or comment below. 

I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.