Texas Instruments Stellaris MCUs - ARM TechCon 2011

CMU Researchers Turn Any Surface Into A Touchscreen

Soon you, too, will be able to talk to the hand. A new interface created jointly by Microsoft and the Carnegie Mellon Human Computer Interaction Institute allows for interfaces to be displayed on any surface, including notebooks, body parts, and tables. The UI is completely multitouch and the “shoulder-worn” system will locate the surface you’re working on in 3D space, ensuring the UI is always accessible. It uses a picoprojector and a 3D scanner similar to the Kinect.

 

The product is called OmniTouch and it supports “clicking” with a finger on any surface as well as controls that sense finger position while hovering a hand over a surface. Unlike the Microsoft Surface, the project needs no special, bulky hardware – unless you a consider a little parrot-like Kinect sensor on your shoulder bulky. While obviously obtrusive, the project is a proof-of-concept right now and could be made smaller in the future.

So far the researchers have tested drawing and “crosshair” interaction with the system and it has worked well on arms, hands, notebooks, and tables. We’re obviously looking at a research project here so don’t expect shoulder mounted Xboxes any time soon, but by gum if this isn’t the coolest thing I’ve seen today.

Tiny infrared LEDs could find a home in ultra-thin multitouch screens

A company called Osram Opto Semiconductors has created a new infrared LED that can be used in conjunction with detectors to create ultra-thin touchscreens.

We've seen infrared used in touchscreens before, most notably in Microsoft's Surface and recent e-readers from Barnes & Noble and Kobo. But, Osram's solution is complex enough to work in a multitouch tablet, while being as space-saving zForce.

At only 0.45mm tall the diodes and sensors can easily be crammed into a bezel around a screen and sip just 35mW during regular use. Now the company just has to convince someone to put the tiny IREDs in their products.

Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues

Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a qubit-based existence. The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip. To do this, Matteo Mariantoni and his team of scientists connected two qubits with a quantum bus and linked each of them to a memory element, capable of storing their current values in the same way that RAM stores data on conventional computers. These qubit-memory links also contained arrays of resonators -- jagged, yet easily controlled circuits that can store values for shorter periods of time. The qubits, meanwhile, were constructed using superconducting circuits, allowing the UCSB team to nestle their qubits even closer together, in accordance with the von Neumann architecture that governs most commercial computers. Once everything was in place, the researchers used their system to run complex algorithms and operations that could be eventually used to decode data encryption. The next step, of course, is to scale up the design, though Mariantoni says that shouldn't be too much of a problem, thanks to his system's resonators -- which, according to him, "represent the future of quantum computing with integrated circuits."

Supertex Introduces AT9919, New Automotive LED Lamp Driver IC

Supertex introduced AT9919, an LED lamp driver integrated circuit (IC), designed specifically for solid-state lighting applications in automobiles, such as head lights, tail lights, brake indicator lights, dome lights, and panel backlights. AT9919 is AEC-Q100 compliant, and drives LEDs using a buck topology. It is available in a compact, eight-lead, DFN package.
Because of the hysteretic control function of the IC, a constant output current to the LED string is maintained at all times, thereby improving the reliability and lifetime of the LEDs. LED brightness is achieved through a PWM control signal. The IC drives loads of up to 1.0A at over 90% efficiency from input voltages ranging from 4.5 to 40V.
The AT9919 is available in an eight-lead DFN package (AT9919K7-G). The part is RoHS compliant. Samples are available from stock. Pricing is US$0.98 each for the AT9919K7-G in 1K quantities.

More information about Automotive LED Lamp Driver IC can be found at Supertex Website