These smart green walls can clean urban air

German company Green City Solutions developed CityTree, an innovative solution that combines the natural abilities of mosses with intelligent IoT technology. The cost-effective, low-maintenance and flexibly implementable biofilter aims to significantly improve the quality of life in cities.

The CityTree consists of a bench, a green wall, tools to measure the performance and environmental data, solar panels and a battery to power the automatic irrigation system. The air filters have the capacity equivalent to as many as seven thousand people to breathe freely, according to Green City Solutions.

A tufting plant called biting stonecrop or wallpepper, sedum acre, is used for the protective layer on the moss; the green wall can bind more than 80% of the fine dust in certain cases, according to some of the measurements.

The manufacturers claim one CityTree is equivalent to 275 trees. The calculations revealed the air filters take out a maximum of 240 tons of carbon dioxide per annum, but that they also save citizens from nitrogen dioxide.

A curved roadside barrier that can mitigate air pollution

The health concerns arising from lower air quality are more significant amongst lower-income communities which are more likely to be situated near heavily traffic-laden thoroughfares. Similarly, children are both more vulnerable to and more readily exposed to air pollution simply due to their proximity to the ground, where heavier pollutants settle over time.

Dr Tilly Collins, from Imperial College London’s Centre for Environmental Policy, found this issue particularly worrying, especially after noticing the severe pollution in the air while watching her child playing netball in a school playground alongside a busy London A-road.

And so she — alongside Dr Huw Woodward, also from the Centre for Environmental Policy, and Agamemnon Otero of Energy Garden — started researching the effect of walls along roads.

The result of their research, published in the journal Cities & Health, is a curved structure that could more effectively disperse and reflect pollutants back towards the roads and would very rapidly improve air quality for pedestrians in an inexpensive manner. The design is said to be inspired by airfield baffles and the curved sound walls alongside motorways in Germany and the Netherlands.

Beyond air quality, these curved barriers would also mitigate noise pollution and would be able to act as scaffolds to increase green infrastructure throughout large cities.

A bicycle wheel that can filter outdoor air pollution

We already know that cycling is much better for air quality than driving a car. But imagine a bicycle that would not only be carbon neutral but could also purify the air around us!

Kristen Tapping, a design student at London South Bank University, has designed GoRolloe, a bicycle wheel with pollution filters that uses movement to purify the air.

GoRolloe does not require additional energy to operate as it uses the kinetic energy of moving vehicles. Compared to other outdoor air purification devices, it captures polluted air directly at the source, allowing for greater efficiency and impact.

The device has three parts – a tri-wheel and two circles that hold together washable and circular air filters. As the bicycle wheel rotates, GoRolloe recreates a centrifugal fan that sucks polluted air into the center of the taurus, passes it through a set of filters, and expels cleaner air into the environment.

But wait, there’s more! Instead of relying on single-use filters, those GoRolloe uses can be cleaned and reused. Heck, even the captured pollutants can be reused for third-party products such as construction materials.

This modular smog tower filters air without any outsourced power

Students at Howest University in Belgium had an idea how to tackle smog and they unveiled Airpal – a sustainable, modular smog tower that improves biodiversity and purifies the air, without any external energy source required.

Mehdi Zekri, Gregory Van der Donckt and Mohamed Hmeid, who developed the concept, were studying sustainable cities and communities. “After analyzing polluted locations in a city and the way we can solve air pollution and biodiversity, we ended up at a smog tower. Then we inspired ourselves on the air purifier in a Chinese city called Xi’an and the smog tower in Delhi,” the students said.

The design consists of simple white concrete and only three basic parts: the cubicle, the foundation part, and the filter. In that sense, Airpal is easy to assemble – with cubicles stacked on top of each other and filters installed in place. Municipalities can assemble the design in different sizes according to their wishes, thanks to the modularity of the pieces.

The tower is made out of white concrete to keep the chimney cool, but the foundation and filters are of a dark color to absorb as much heat to enhance the draft effect. Smog emerges as a thick heavy warm layer, creating a higher pressure at the bottom. The cold air higher and the wind create a lower pressure and thus create a draft that sucks the smog into the filters.

For the installation, one only has to dig a pit, fill it and tamp down once the foundation is in place. The flexibility of the design also means that it can be moved over time and does not even have to be dismantled during work.

These tiny urban forests could boost cities’ biodiversity, help fight climate change

When we think of forests, we usually imagine a bunch of trees spread across a big chunk of land. But, there is also an alternative that comes in the form of urban forests that can thrive on space as big (or that’s as small) as a tennis court.

And unsurprisingly such projects have started springing up on patches of land in urban areas around the world, often planted by local community groups using a method inspired by Japanese temples.

The main idea is to use a variety of native seedlings and plant them densely, from where nature will do it all by itself with little to no human intervention.

This method is based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki; he found that protected areas around temples, shrines and cemeteries in Japan contained a huge variety of native vegetation that co-existed to produce resilient and diverse ecosystems. This was in sharp contrast to the conifer forests, where non-indigenous trees are grown for timber. What’s more, these native forests act as oases for biodiversity, supporting up to 20 times as many species as non-native, managed forests.

Miyawaki’s work, now known as the Miyawaki method, presumes prioritizing the natural development of forests using native species. Miyawaki forests can grow into mature ecosystems in just 20 years, which is super fast considering that it takes 200 years for a forest to regenerate on its own.

These native forests also get to benefit from local pollinators such as butterflies and bees, beetles, snails and amphibians — all of which thrive with a greater diversity of food and shelter.

Beyond biodiversity, these small forests are said to improve people’s mental health, reduce the harmful effects of air pollution, and even counter the phenomenon of heat islands in cities.

The post A Few Things That Could Improve the Quality of Air in Cities appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

Artificial Intelligence is one of those buzzwords that gets associated with pretty much everything these days. Typically, however, it’s seldom used in the context of making municipalities smarter. And that’s what we want to address — in today’s article, we’re highlighting three unique ways how this modern technology can help make cities or even wider counties safe. Here’s what we’ve got:

Detecting water leaks

An AI-enabled system, coupled with sensors, could help cities detect costly water losses in municipal water systems.

While major problems such as burst pipes are revealed by pressure changes, volume fluctuations or water simply bubbling to the surface — small leaks often go undetected for years.

The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo in collaboration with industry partners, has the potential to detect even small leaks in pipes. By combining sophisticated signal processing techniques and AI software, it can distinguish between a fully sealed pipe and one that is leaking even a small amount of water.

The acoustic signatures are recorded by hydrophone sensors that can be easily and inexpensively installed in existing fire hydrants without excavation or taking them out of service.

It is estimated that municipal water systems in Canada lose an average of over 13% of their clean water between treatment and delivery due to leaks, bursts and other issues. Countries with older infrastructure have even higher loss rates, so yes – this sort of technology has real-world use cases both in the developed and developing world.

Helping limit coronavirus spread

The coronavirus pandemic has caused many problems for people all around the world, prompting governments and companies to find new ways to work. One of the things authorities have been doing involves frequent temperature checks for people congregating at certain places. That is a tedious task that often leaves many people unchecked; luckily, there is a novel solution that can automate this process.

In April 2020, Kogniz launched an AI-enabled camera and software system that can scan groups and crowds entering a facility and identify anyone with an elevated temperature, which is one of the leading coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms. Once someone with an elevated temperature is detected, Kogniz’s system alerts personnel so that the individual with a fever can be isolated as needed.

The company’s Health Cam features an integrated thermal camera, optical camera, and a high-resolution screen. It can be placed on a desk or counter, mounted on a wall, or placed on a tripod. As people walk by individually or in groups, their temperatures are checked in real-time using what Kogniz says is highly accurate infrared technology, and the image of any person showing an elevated temperature is displayed. The Kogniz Health Cam can detect skin temperature up to 16 feet away.

The Health Cam uses advanced AI to detect a person’s temperature near the eyes to get the most accurate reading. The system does not require any additional equipment and adjusts automatically to changes in ambient temperatures.

Kogniz Health Cams set up in minutes and can be added to an unlimited number of locations.

Detecting wildfires

Korea’s visual recognition AI firm Alchera is specialized in the early detection of fires, which helped it score a contract from California’s Sonoma County.

Under the deal announced in March 2021, Alchera will offer consulting services to develop and deliver products utilizing state-of-the-art fire detection technologies based on machine learning with AI. The firm’s visual anomaly detection solution can detect the start of a wildfire from a simple video in order to survey areas unreachable by humans.

Specifically, the software called AIIR looks for smoke and fire when and where human operators cannot, and acts as a tireless assistant. Once smoke or fire is detected from the connected camera, it is shown to the monitoring system dashboard. From there, a human operator can confirm the fire and take the necessary steps. If needed, this will also trigger automated alerts by email or SMS as desired — drastically reducing the response time for emergency center operators. This further allows for human verification and relearning for low false positives and a continually advancing system.

Alchera’s AI allows for 1 human operator to effectively monitor 200+ cameras at a time.

The firm has started with the implementation of real-time early wildfire detection on Sonoma County cameras in March 2021.

The post Three Examples of How AI Can Improve Cities, Make Them Safer appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

When you think about it, most people don’t get too excited about green projects. Sure enough, many of us like to read about these sorts of initiatives as they are good for the planet. But soon enough, they became “standard” with more and more projects having a “green” angle. Nothing wrong with that, but today – we’re gonna present you with 3 amazing green initiatives you’re gonna love.

Waste-to-energy plant in Denmark doubles as a ski slope

Opened in March 2017, CopenHill partially replaced the nearby old incineration plant in Amager (an industrial waterfront in Copenhagen) which is in the process of being converted from coal to biomass. The two plants play a major role in Copenhagen’s ambitions of being zero carbon by 2025.

Estimated to cost $670 million, the plant is expected to burn 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste annually, enough to provide heating for 150,000 homes.

It was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) with an 85 m (279 ft) tall sloped roof that doubles as a year-round artificial ski slope, tree-lined hiking slope and climbing wall – which opened to the public in October 2019.

This engineering marvel was made possible by arraying machinery in order of height, creating the sloped rooftop which forms the ski terrain and also a mountain-like structure in the otherwise flat city. And in case you wonder, skiers ascend using a platter or carpet lifts, or a glass elevator.

The all-wood stadium being built by a vegan football club

Based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England – Forest Green Rovers is a unique football club. Competing in League Two, it is a carbon-neutral and the world’s first all-vegan football club.

The move to “go vegan” came after environmentalist entrepreneur Dale Vince took over the club in 2010. But the food was just a starting point…

Now, Forest Green Rovers is preparing to build what will be the world’s first wooden football stadium. Called Eco Park, the wooden structure — designed by Zaha Hadid Architects — will look like the “ribs of a prehistoric animal,” and get all of its power from sustainable energy sources, provided by the green energy company Ecotricity — also owned by Dale Vince — and the stadium’s own solar panels.

Two football pitches will be organic and cut by a solar-powered mow-bot that texts updates to the club’s groundskeeper. Collected rainwater irrigates the pitch, and all food served by the Club is vegan – for players, staff and fans.

Singapore offering cash for skyrise greenery

Due to limited land resources, Singapore can hardly build new parks, but it can develop so-called skyrise greenery with the idea to make it an integral component of sustainable urban development.

But just deciding to add plants to buildings won’t do it alone. Rather, Singapore is taking a proactive approach with the National Parks Board introducing the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme (SGIS) to fund up to 50% of installation costs of rooftop greenery and vertical greenery.

Rooftop greenery refers to the greening efforts and landscaping on rooftop surfaces. In general, there are three types of rooftop greenery: green roofs, hybrid gardens, and roof gardens.

Vertical greenery, on the other hand, entails the incorporation of plants within vertical surfaces. Earlier it involved climbing plants with adventitious, self-clinging roots growing directly on coarse building surfaces, twining plants growing on trellis and pergolas, or plants growing within the crevices of stacked rocks. In recent years, however, contemporary systems have been developed to grow a variety of plants on vertical surfaces.

The SGIS is helping retrofit existing buildings with both rooftop greenery and vertical greenery — supporting extensive green roofs, edible gardens, recreational rooftop gardens, and lush verdant green walls. Both residential and non-residential buildings qualify for the subsidy, with the idea to reap benefits such as mitigating the urban island heat effect and improving the air quality through the plants’ transpiration and filtration of dust particles.

The post These Three Sustainable Initiatives Are Nothing Short Of Amazing appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

It took humankind a lot of time to figure out that there are better places for waste than landfills. Today, a few companies and governments around the world are giving their best to put all that waste to good use. And in this article, we highlight a few initiatives that we like…

Stockholm power plant burning clothes H&M can’t sell

You may don’t know it, but the fashion industry is one of the major polluting industries in the world. The production and distribution of the crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to different forms of environmental pollution — including water, air, and soil pollution.

One of the biggest retailers of “Fast Fashion” items is H&M, and the good thing is that the company is aware of that. So it — as well as some other major chains — is trying to reduce their environmental footprint.

In its home turf of Sweden, H&M is helping a Swedish power plant Malarenergi replace coal for good.

The combined heat and power station in Vasteras, northwest of Stockholm, is converting from oil- and coal-fired generation to become a fossil fuel-free facility by 2020. That means burning recycled wood and waste, including clothes H&M can’t sell.

H&M highlights that it doesn’t burn any clothes that are safe to use, but those that contain mold or do not comply with their strict restriction on chemicals.

Between January and November 2017, the Vasteras plant burned about 15 tons of discarded clothes from H&M, compared with about 400,000 tons of rubbish.

A grocery retail chain paved the parking lot with post-consumer plastic

At the end of 2019, Canadian grocery retail chain Sobeys has opened a store with a parking lot paved using post-consumer plastics.

The amount of recycled plastics used in the mixture to pave the lot at the company’s store in Timberlea, Nova Scotia is equivalent to more than six million plastic checkout bags. This way, all that plastic has been diverted from local landfills.

However, just because there is plastic in the parking that doesn’t mean the pavement isn’t up for the task — quite the contrary, it has been tested through intense thawing and refreezing to be able to “cope” with Canadian (harsh) winters.

The innovative approach to plastics reduction and reuse is part of Sobeys’ larger commitment to remove plastic grocery bags from all of its grocery stores by the end of January 2020.

An engaging ashtray that helps keep streets clean from cigarette butts

Cigarette butts are a problem in many cities around the world with many smokers throwing them left and right. And so a novel solution was invented to help tackle this, essentially waste problem, while also engaging the smoker population.

Called Ballot Bin, it was originally built as a one-off installation to incentivize people to correctly dispose of their cigarette butts. Commissioned by Hubbub and Westminster council as part of their wider Neat Streets campaign, the bin invites users to cast their vote on a changeable topic by inserting their cigarette butt into one of two chambers.

The idea came from noticing a trend towards polling or asking questions across social media to drive high engagement with a brand or topic. And so the team behind what will become the Ballot Bot set to implement this trend into a physical installation that was customizable, engaging and playful, but without any technology or moving parts, and with minimal upkeep.

Not only did the installation contribute to a reduction of litter, it also helped highlight the wider issue of cigarette butts — which is estimated to cost the city of London approximately £3.8M a year to clean. Cigarette butts make up for one-third of all litter in the UK and can be found in almost all town center streets. Retail areas have four times as much cigarette litter as main roads.

Anti-rust and weatherproof, the Ballot Bin has proven to reduce cigarette litter on busy streets by 46%.

A giant “mechanical stomach” that turns food waste into energy

The City of Cockburn in Perth, Australia, is using an anaerobic digester to turn the city’s food waste into green energy. Located at a nearby fertilizer plant, the digester is fed food scraps collected from restaurants and supermarkets. As of the end of March 2021, it was producing enough methane to power around 3,000 homes.

After the food waste is collected, it is put through machinery that removes any packaging and other non-food contamination. The waste is then mixed with water and pulped to form a slurry, before being pumped into the digesters. Inside the digesters, bacteria breaks down the organic molecules in the waste and produces methane gas.

From there, the methane gas is siphoned off and used to run two large generators that together produce up to 2.4 megawatts of electricity — which is enough to power the company’s entire operation, along with mentioned 3,000 homes.

A machine that crushes beer bottles into sand for construction

Expleco is a New Zealand-based company specializing in the design and manufacturing of compact glass bottle crushers that turn bottles into a fine grade sand (with no sharp edges) that could be used by the construction industry. As such, these crushers help reduce pressure on global landfill and waterway catchments.

Perhaps the most interesting part is that the sand from crushed bottles is better than the ordinary sand because of its high silica content, which holds better with bricks and concrete.

Aside from offering its bottle-crushing machine to companies and municipalities, Expleco is also helping the Glass2Sand project in India, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of non-recycled glass bottles. Said initiative aims to reduce glass waste by collecting discarded glass bottles and crushing them into the sand.

The post These Are Among The Coolest Waste Management Practices appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

Not everyone can relate the term “biodiversity” to cities. That, however, doesn’t have to be the case as you are about to see from a few examples in this article.

Specifically, we’ll share 3 projects that aim to add biodiversity to the city, thus making for that much better environment for the residents. Here’s what we’ve got…

The green villa that brings “forest therapy” in the middle of the city

A Japanese study carried out by Chiba University has found that spending time in forests — the so-called “forest therapy” — decreases cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. But how can one bring these benefits to the urban setting?

Rotterdam, Netherlands-based MVRDV studio has an answer; its four-story Green Villa — located on the southern edge of the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel — is covered with a variety of plants that help it blend into the landscape of the nearby river, fields, and trees. At the same time, the Villa offers benefits of “forest therapy” to all city residents.

Green Villa houses new office space for a real estate developer, Stein, on the ground floor; five apartments on three floors above; and underground parking. The project was initiated and is being developed by MVRDV’s co-architect, Van Boven Architecten, who wanted to create a landmark project for the village while also being socially conscious and environmentally progressive.

The plant species used for the project are selected and placed with the consideration of the façade orientation and the living functions behind, providing either privacy, shade, or views as required. A sensor-controlled irrigation system that uses stored rainwater has been incorporated into the planters, guaranteeing a year-round green facade.

Tiny urban forests that could boost cities’ biodiversity

When we think of forests, we usually imagine a bunch of trees spread across a big chunk of land. But, there is also an alternative that comes in the form of urban forests that can thrive on spaces as big (or that’s as small) as a tennis court.

And unsurprisingly such projects have started springing up on patches of land in urban areas around the world, often planted by local community groups using a method inspired by Japanese temples.

The best part is that the execution of such a project doesn’t require a lot of resources except for a free site and a few years for the trees to grow.

The main idea is to use a variety of native seedlings and plant them densely, from where nature will do it all by itself with little to no human intervention.

According to the method’s proponents, the end result is a complex ecosystem perfectly suited to local conditions that improve biodiversity, grow quickly and absorb more CO2.

These native forests also get to benefit from local pollinators such as butterflies and bees, beetles, snails and amphibians — all of which thrive with a greater diversity of food and shelter.

As we’re writing this, there are numerous Miyawaki forest projects around the world, including Urban Forests in Belgium and France, Tiny Forest in the Netherlands, as well as a few initiatives in India and the Amazon.

Bee-friendly bus stops

The Netherlands is home to 358 different bee species but more than half of them are already endangered and have been placed on the country’s list of threatened species. In response to this problem, officials in Utrecht — in collaboration with outdoor media company RBL Outdoor and advertising agency Clear Channel — have invested in urban beekeeping in a rather ingenious way.

The fourth-largest city in the country has transformed up to 316 bus stops into little bee sanctuaries. These so-called “bee stops” are essentially standard bus stops with grass and wildflowers planted on the roofs to encourage pollination.

Aside from supporting the city’s biodiversity by attracting honey bees and bumblebees, these bee stops also help capture fine dust and store rainwater. And to make for an even more eco-friendlier project, bee stops are tended to by workers who drive around the city in electric vehicles.

Then again, these roofs require little maintenance because they are mainly composed of sedum plants, which are a favorite among pollinators and require very little water to survive.

The post 3 Projects that Boost Biodiversity in a City appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

When we say “drones,” most people think of expensive, high-end toys kids and even adults use to take photos from up and above. And we kinda understand that as most drones are still used for entertainment purposes. There are, however, some exceptions with modern quadcopters also showing their usefulness in real-life situations, helping make the world a slightly better (and/or safer) place.

In this article, we explore a few ways how drones can help us make the world a better place…

A tool for first responders

Drones have already been used by the police, border guards and firefighters to allow for a quick response to threats and avoid the biggest problems with getting to the site. However, the problem with most drones is their rather limited range that prevents first responders from executing longer missions and carrying additional equipment that can extend their capabilities.

Atlanta-based Sonin Hybrid has built a drone exclusively for first responders. Called Recruit, this quadcopter is designed to keep first responders safe in a world of emerging challenges. In that sense, it offers extended flight time and greater capabilities than typical commercial drones.

Using the company’s patent-pending gasoline and battery-powered system, the Recruit can recharge batteries while in flight. The gasoline engine is hooked up to a generator, which in turn continuously charges the batteries for the four electric motors. This combo then enables the drone to stay in the air for over three hours.

Furthermore, the Recruit can reach speeds of over 140mph (225 km/h), which is three times faster than most of the fastest commercial drones available today, according to the company.

And that’s not all, coupled with a lightweight airframe and carbon fiber body – it also offers enhanced payload capabilities.

Detecting virus symptoms in crowds

In March 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) worked with Canadian drone technology company Draganfly to develop a drone that could remotely detect people in crowds with infectious respiratory conditions such as COVID-19.

Dubbed the “pandemic drone,” it can be fitted with a specialized sensor and computer vision system that can monitor temperature, heart and respiratory rates to detect people sneezing and coughing in crowds, offices, airports, cruise ships, aged care homes and other places where groups congregate.

The researchers behind the development of this drone have previously looked at using drones to monitor and react to elderly falls, look for signs of life in war zones or following a natural disaster and monitoring the heart rate of babies in neonatal incubators.

Fighting skyscraper fires

High-rise fires are a growing problem around the world. The height of fire rescue ladders and the reach of fire nozzles are usually less than 50 meters, and their operations are often limited to one side of a building. Furthermore, because high-rise buildings are often located in urban centers, traffic can significantly lengthen response times.

And so in July 2020, China-based maker of autonomous aerial vehicles (AAV) EHang launched a better alternative for dealing with high-rise building fires in the form of a large-payload intelligent firefighting drone. Based on its flagship product, this new firefighting version of EHang 216, “EHang 216F” is specially designed for high-rise firefighting.

With hundreds of thousands of high-rise buildings in China, the company believes the EHang 216F can become essential equipment for thousands of fire stations across China and eventually those around the world.

The EHang 216F has a maximum flight altitude of 600 meters (0.37 miles), and can carry up to 150 liters (around 40 gallons) of firefighting foams and 6 fire extinguisher bombs in a single trip. The drone uses a visible light zoom camera to quickly identify the location of fire; it then hovers precisely in position and uses a laser aiming device to fire (in succession) a window breaker, the fire extinguishing “bombs” and then a full-range spray of firefighting foam. Multiple 216Fs can be deployed to rapidly extinguish the fire.

Aqua drone for cleaning waterways

We can’t stop or restrict economic activity, but we could catch our waste before tide, wind and currents carry it out to the open ocean. And that’s where RanMarine’s solar-powered aqua drones kick in – to perform autonomous waterway cleanup and data collection.

Called “WasteShark,” it resembles a miniature catamaran with a sieve-like basket under it. The drone measures about 3 feet by 4 feet, weighs about 150 pounds and trolls along the surface of the water scooping up litter, biomass, microplastics and other detritus – powered by a battery that lasts up to 16 hours, depending on conditions. Аll in all, it can “eat” up to 200 liters of trash in one trip – after it is brought back to recycling and waste-management partners for processing.

WasteShark could also be equipped with lidar to avoid collisions from up to 60 meters away, along with up to 15 customizable IoT sensors for measuring factors such as temperature, pH, depth, green algae, hydrocarbons in oil, and more. The drones use GPS waypoints and autonomous software to follow set pathways collecting waste and data – or can be steered manually via remote control.

WasteShark is best suited for harbors, rivers, and canals – so-called “waste chokeholds” that RanMarine has identified based on weather patterns, shipping and wind movements, and the tides. The company has already deployed its drone in the Port of Rotterdam and brought it stateside to the Baltimore Harbor.

The post Here’s How Drones Help Make the World a Better Place appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says “robot?” Is it a scene from the movie Terminator? Or perhaps a robot puppy Sony used to sell?

Like it or not robots are coming, but fear not – they are not here to destroy us, but to help us thrive. Or at least, perform many tasks with ease.

Here are some innovative ways how robots assist people in different tasks:

1. Moving vehicles to optimize parking spaces at airports

Imagine airport parking… Now think how much space it occupies, yet somehow, we always struggle to find a free spot to park the car.

Stanley Robotics has a solution for this conundrum, consisting of fully autonomous robots and intelligent storage management software. Said robots can take and move any car, lifting them by the wheels and block-parking them much closer together without risking dings and dents. As a result, Stanley Robotics’ system can arrange up to 50% more vehicles within a given area. And because they are able to operate in existing car parks, no new parking infrastructure is needed.

The company’s value proposition is simple – the ability to optimize vehicle storage management by storing cars in blocks – and unsurprisingly, it has managed to score a few airports to test its technology, including the Paris-Charles De Gaulle, Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Gatwick Airports.

2. Measuring patients’ vital signs

The robotic dog called Spot (or Dr. Spot) is capable of measuring users’ vital signs from a distance of 2 meters, making it suitable for pandemics. It can move at a speed of up to 3 mph (4.8 km/h), and comes with a rechargeable and interchangeable battery with a range of 90 minutes.

Manufactured by Boston Dynamics, it has been available for purchase since September 2019 but it was during the COVID-19 outbreak when it got into the spotlight.

Specifically, Dr. Spot was put to good use by researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital who wanted to test the robot to monitor vital signs of potentially infectious patients, allowing healthcare workers to minimize their exposure to the Coronavirus.

Using existing computer vision technologies, this robot can measure skin temperature, breathing rate, pulse rate, and blood oxygen saturation.

3. Helping firefighters

Shark Robotics’ Colossus is a robust fire-fighting robot developed with the help of Paris firemen, the Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers. This multi-purpose support robot was made for operations in high-risk areas and has already proven its worth, having helped extinguish the ferocious Notre Dame blaze that occurred on April 15, 2019. At that time, it enabled almost 3,000 liters of water to be sprayed per minute onto the inside walls of the cathedral, without endangering a single human life.

While it may seem small in size – though it looks like a tank with an enormous hose in place of a gun – Colossus manages to live up to its name. Considered to be “the most powerful electric robot in the world,” it is amazingly resistant to thermal radiation (up to 900°C), and can run up to 12 hours in an operational situation with a carrying capacity of up to 500 Kg.

Colossus’ integration is also impressive. In less than 30 seconds, its functions can be changed by a single operator without the use of any special tool. Also, the Colossus is easy to use, a low-maintenance robot that can be set up quickly for action.

4. Saving people from drowning

Portugal-based Noras Performance is the company behind U SAFE, a lifesaving buoy that can drive itself around in the water by remote control, meaning it can reach a victim quickly and transport them to safety if need be.

The U-shaped device is battery-powered and can be used in place of any lifesaving “donut.” When it’s thrown in the water, it propels itself using a pair of electric turbines (one in each leg) that take in water and fire it out the back.

U SAFE is resistant to waves and doesn’t require any specific instructions to use, according to Miguel Paulo, director of manufacturing at Noras Performance. “It starts to work immediately after it enters the water. The device lets the person being rescued rest and doesn’t put anyone else in danger,” he said.

The included remote control thumbstick gives an operator the ability to drive it as a small watercraft. This, as far as we can tell, is the quickest way to get a piece of lifesaving gear out to a distressed person in the water, particularly in difficult surf.

5. Building affordable houses

In October 2020, the Automatic Brick Laying Robot (ABLR) has started building a three-bedroom house in East Yorkshire’s Everingham. The developers described it as the UK’s first house built by a robot bricklayer rather than human laborers.

Manufactured by Pocklington, UK-based Construction Automation Company, the Brick Laying Robot is being put into operation at a construction site to replace people, ensure safety and health.

The machine is mounted on a track a rides atop a 30 foot (9 meters) high frame, eliminating the need for scaffolding and for people to work at height. It needs two workers to control it, load bricks and mortar into its feeds, and also to complete damp-proofing and the pointing that finishes the mortar joints.

The system is controlled by a tablet-based user interface and employs a “sophisticated software control system” that allows it to read digital copies of architectural plans.

6. Helping first responders in accident investigation

Company Six (also known as CO6), is a spinoff of Colorado-based programmable robot maker Sphero, created to commercialize robots and AI-based apps for military, EMT, fire personnel and others who work in challenging situations. In November 2020, it announced its very first product – a throwable robot, called ReadySight, built for “dangerous and difficult” jobs.

According to CO6, ReadySight streams video over dedicated first responder and commercial LTE networks. Controlled by a smartphone, it allows for “day and zero light usage,” while also enabling autonomous and semi-autonomous driving and patrolling modes, two-way audio communication, and unlimited range and usage over cellular networks.

The robot has a built-in speaker and microphone, a foldable “tail,” and a time-of-flight distance sensor. Said camera relies on Sony’s sensor with a 120-degree wide-angle lens, a lens shield and a motion sensor paired with a front indicator LED. It also has high-torque motors that are powerful enough to tackle multiple terrain types and obstacles.

ReadySight can stream to viewers on the web, with streaming plans starting at $99 per month and first responder plans starting at $149 per month.

7. Enabling telepresence meetings

In July 2020, Blue Ocean Robotics’ subsidiary GoBe Robots announced a new generation of its climate-friendly telepresence robots with significant demand driven by COVID-19 pandemic.

Designed to provide users with the experience of being in a meeting without actually going there, GoBe Robots are remotely controlled enabling a “distinct feeling” of being where the robot is as they receive live video streams of the location as the robot moves around it. This further enables active collaboration and interaction between people, no matter how far they are from each other.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, GoBe Robots have also emerged as an effective tool in breaking down chains of infection, preventing the spread of coronavirus and other diseases and overcoming closed borders – while reducing travel budgets, working hours and transport time.

The GoBe Robots telepresence robot allows communication through a 21.5-inch screen that reproduces the user’s face in natural size. A zoomable 4K camera and a wide-angle front camera give the “robot pilot” a clear overview of the location the GoBe robot discovers. This robot also stands out with an open system that creates even more applications and allows users to maximize the potential of the technology. For example, trade show organizers can give remote attendees the ability to book themselves directly into the telepresence robot and experience booths and events while engaging with exhibitors.

As of mid-2020, GoBe Robots had more than 150,000 existing users of its telepresence robots, which contribute to colossal CO2 reductions.

8. Sewage inspection

Autonomous roving robots may be coming to a sewer near you. Or at least, that’s what RedZone Robotics is hoping will happen and that municipalities will turn to its robots to inspect sewage pipes for corrosion, deformation, and debris in order to prevent leaks that could pose health hazards.

The company offers a few robots made to fit different pipe sizes, designed to be dropped into one manhole and find their way to the next one for collection. They carry cameras, laser, lidar, sonar, and hydrogen sulfide gas sensors which can corrode pipes. A combination of data from all these sensors is used to build a model of the pipe’s interior and identify, for example, which pipes have the most corrosion.

From that point on, Redzone’s analytics platform kicks in to provide insights into which pipes have to be replaced and which could be refurbished.

The company says that its inspection robots are cost-effective and even in cases when the cost of the inspection is similar to existing methods — when inspecting larger pipes — the data acquired is much richer. Also, their method is faster than conventional inspections.

The post 8 Examples of Robots Helping Make Modern Life Better appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

Most of us know that some of our trash can be recycled, but sometimes it’s a pain. And even when it’s possible and we do the work on our behalf, it’s not as enticing and/or seamless as it could be.

A few smart folks realized there’s an untapped market here and so they launched novel products that make recycling easy, efficient and — in some cases — even fun. Read on about a few different machines that make this a reality.

A kiosk machine that pays out for old batteries

Swedish company Refind Technologies has an elegant solution called the Battery Refund machine – which is a reverse vending machine for waste consumer batteries.

The machine enables customers to return all kinds of household batteries – including AA, AAA, C, D and 9V. It can identify the size of the battery, counts them and returns a receipt that can include for example a discount coupon or any other kind of refund in written format. The logic behind the refund is programmable and possible to change if needed.

The machine is targeted for battery collection points such as retail stores and battery manufacturers, enabling them to introduce incentives while collecting statistics on returned batteries.

The first Battery Refund machine was launched on Earth Day, 22nd April 2017, at Coop Norway and initiated and funded by Energizer.

Smart bin that raises awareness on trash separation

Waste is a major problem in Cairo, with the city’s 20 roughly million inhabitants producing more than 15,000 tons of waste, and according to the World Bank – only 60% of this garbage is collected, while the rest is left to clog up the city’s streets and sidewalks.

Cairo, Egypt-based ZeroPrime Technologies came up with an innovative way to incentivize people to recycle their trash. The product, called CanBank, is a smart reverse vending machine that rewards people for recycling their rubbish.

As such, it allows people to recycle plastic bottles and cans in exchange for rewards, such as phone credit and Careem promo codes (an Uber-like service). What’s more, the machine can even play the user’s favorite song and read them a funny message.

Once you insert a bottle or can, CanBank detects what you have deposited and automatically sorts it, so it’s ready to be given to garbage collectors – who can then sell it to factories. There are also those who just want to help the environment, which is actually the goal of ZeroPrime Technologies.

A smart trashcan that can recognize and automatically categorize recycling litter

Bin-e is a Polish company behind a smart trashcan with sensors, image recognition technology and artificial intelligence. As a result, it can recognize and categorize recycling litter into one of its smaller bins faster than a human being. The litter is then compressed, so it occupies less space.

This further means spending less time sifting through and sorting various products into categories for recycling.

At Bin-e, executives believe the simplicity of recycling in this manner may mean that more of us “do our bit” for the environment, without really thinking about it.

The smart bin comes with a touchscreen with an easy-to-grasp interface that leads users through the process and informs them about the fill level. It can connect to the internet via WiFi or LAN connection.

Right now, Bin-e is offered only in the “office version” with a subscription service that enables users to arrange specific collection services. Going forward, the company plans to create an outdoor version and later the home version.

Fancy juice bar makes bioplastic cups from orange peel

International design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati, in partnership with Eni, has developed an experimental Circular Juice Bar that uses oranges to make bioplastic, turns it into filament, and 3D prints disposable cups to drink the freshly-squeezed juice. Called “Feel the Peel,” the prototype has been on a tour of public places around Italy to demonstrate a new approach to environmental circularity in daily life.

The product is a 3.10-meter tall orange squeezer machine that is topped by a dome filled with up to 1,500 oranges. When someone orders a juice, oranges slide down into the squeezer and as each orange is cut in half — its peel falls into the lower part where they accumulate. Through a process of drying, milling, and mixing with Polylactic Acid (PLA) – peels become a bioplastic. This bioplastic is then heated and melted into a filament that is used by a 3D printer incorporated into the machine. The resulting cups can be used to drink the freshly-squeezed juice and then recycled.

Visitors to the “Feel the Peel” installments can first-hand experience the 3D printing process, with the concentric layering of the filament building their cup right in front of them.

A machine that crushes beer bottles into sand for construction

Expleco is a New Zealand-based company specializing in the design and manufacturing of compact glass bottle crushers that turn bottles into a fine grade sand (with no sharp edges) that could be used by the construction industry. As such, these crushers help reduce pressure on global landfill and waterway catchments.

Perhaps the most interesting part is that the sand from crushed bottles is better than the ordinary sand because of its high silica content, which holds better with bricks and concrete.

The company had a relatively modest success in New Zealand, where it managed to sell about 300 machines to local businesses — though part of that has something to do with the muted economic conditions of the past few years

The real growth has been overseas, with export markets including island resorts in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Maldives.

Expleco is also working to supply its glass-crushing machines to hotels in New York City, bars in a Texas football stadium, as well as to help the Glass2Sand project in India — which aims to reduce the environmental impact of non-recycled glass bottles.

The post These Smart Machines Make Recycling Easy & Efficient appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

These days, we keep hearing that something is going “smart.” It all started with our phones, then we had smart speakers, and then smart cities. But those smart cities need multiple technologies to actually be smart(er). In today’s article, we’ll explore how smart road technologies improve the lives of people living in the city. We’re sure you’ll find some tech you’ll like…

A road that captures energy to melt snow

A company called Eurovia, which is a subsidiary of VINCI, has devised a new function for roads, namely, the production of heat energy. Called Power Road, it is able to capture the sun’s heat energy, which can be stored and distributed to nearby buildings and infrastructure through a heat-pump system. The magic happens in the upper layers of the road that stores a heat exchanger, consisting of tubes in which circulate a coolant.

The energy produced in this way can heat residential and office buildings, shopping complexes, eco-neighborhoods, and public structures such as swimming pools while enhancing their energy mix. In winter, this energy may also be used to remove snow and ice from parking lots, roads and airport runways — thereby reducing the need for salting operations. Specifically, 100% of the heating needs of a 70 m2 housing unit could be met with a 25 m2 road segment.

On the other hand, during summer – above-ground heat capture can cool roads and, as a result, lessen the effects of urban heat islands.

The main idea, according to Eurovia is for roads to play a new role in our transition to a carbon-free economy. And by storing heat energy, we can now shift the phasing of the production and consumption of a renewable energy source. In that sense, Power Road is a multiple-purpose solution that provides huge development potential that is proportionate to busy urban transport networks.

Smart road that can charge electric vehicles as they travel

Israeli company ElectReon has developed a “Dynamic Wireless Electrification System” for electric transportation which reduces the need for a large battery in the vehicle and powers it wirelessly via minimal infrastructure located under the driving lane. This, in turn, eliminates the need to stop for recharging or refueling the vehicle during the day.

ElectReon’s Wireless Electric Roads (ERS) technology combines dynamic, semi-dynamic and static charging, providing the optimal solution to any use case. It involves wireless energy strips made from electromagnets and copper plates being integrated into special road lanes, while similar plates are installed on the underside of vehicles. A roadside power converter links to the charging beds carved into the road. Vehicles integrated with sustainable technology can also drive in normal road lanes for up to 5km.

Once the system has been deployed on the main roads for public transportation then it can serve as a platform for all kind of vehicles eliminating the initial costs. In addition, ElectReon can harvest energy due to vehicle braking and transfer it back to the electricity grid, and as a result – reducing the total amount of energy consumed by the transportation sector.

ElectReon’s first major installation was in Sweden, between Visby airport and Visby city center on the island of Gotland. Another installation was in Tel Aviv, where a 1km electric road is being built between Tel Aviv University and the train station.

Road-embedded LED lights warn cars of approaching cyclists

More cyclists on the roads places added strain on motorists, especially in busy urban areas. Dutch company Heijmans has developed an elegant solution to make cycling safer.

The system, called Bikescout, relies on tracking radar technology which is already being used by the automobile industry to provide signals to other road users. The radar measures the changing position of individual road users and continuously analyses this data, up to 50 meters in advance. By taking into account the speed of an approaching object (cyclist or pedestrian), the Bikescout warns the motorist appropriately.

Especially in places with poor visibility of approaching cyclists, the Bikescout system increases traffic safety by giving timely warnings of cyclists crossing the road. Highly robust, dimmable LEDs, which can be fitted flush with the road surface, can provide signals in various configurations and are more effective and visually attractive than other safety measures.

In April 2016, BikeScout has been piloted near the Meerenakkerweg-Kasteellaan roundabout in the Dutch city of Eindhoven.

Smart speed bumps flatten for vehicles driving within speed limits

In most cases, drivers hate speed bumps – they are considered necessary evil drivers have to deal with. Speed bumps can badly damage a car’s suspension, especially if the driver is in a hurry.

But yes, they serve their purpose, slowing down the traffic near schools and other areas where kids may play.

TOPE Inteligente is a smart system that makes speed bumps more bearable; it involves sensor-powered bumps that automatically adjust themselves for cars within speed limits, staying flat for a smooth drive.

If the car is above the limit, the driver is in for a bumpy ride. Therefore, the system encourages drivers to retain a slow speed and reduce the number of stops and starts for a trip.

Aside from saving lives from accidents caused by fast driving, Tope Inteligente also aims to decrease the amount of exhaust waste; several studies have found that passing over conventional speed bumps leads to an increase in levels of pollution in neighboring areas — more than 60% increase in NO2; almost 50% in PM pollution; almost 60% increase in CO.

Aside from cars, the smart speed bumps also serve pedestrians, who can control (rise) them by pressing a button to cross the road safely.

The post These Smart Road Technologies Make Cities Better appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.

Solving homelessness is not easy, but the good news is that there are many different parties trying to tackle this hard and complex problem.

In this article, we look at a few ideas that aim to provide at least a temporary shelter for homeless people — if not a permanent one.

Prefabricated micro-units

Patrick Kennedy, the owner of the development company Panoramic Interests, has designed these — thus affordable — MicroPADs offering a place to live for one person, or possibly a couple.

The fully furnished, 20″ by 8″ foot steel box is reminiscent of a shipping container and designed in a way to allow stacking many of them on top of each other when they become a building of small housing units.

The MicroPAD — PAD stands for Prefab Affordable Dwelling — is prefabricated in China to lower the cost. Nevertheless, each unit has its own front door and large window with those positioned on the side of a building having two. There’s a mud-room area to hang clothes that include a bench on which to sit when taking off shoes. Every unit has a fridge-freezer, a sink and a combination oven-microwave.

A day bed has storage underneath, as well as a “black light” which is said to destroy bed bugs. A micro closet can hold clothes, and a separate closet is for a broom and cleaning products.

Micro-homes that can pop up in just one day

An interesting initiative was launched in the UK’s capital during summer 2017 to address the housing shortage. Called the SHED Project, it is a collaborative work of architecture office Studio Bark and property management company Lowe Guardians that saw affordable micro-homes being placed inside vacant buildings like warehouses across the city. Built from affordable, low-impact materials – these compact SHEDS take only one day to construct and can be easily styled into attractive tiny dwellings. Nevertheless, they are equipped with WiFi so that residents could stay “connected.”

Each SHED is built primarily of CNC-milled Smartply (formaldehyde-free Oriented Strand Board), lamb’s wool insulation that also helps with soundproofing, and recycled polycarbonate – all materials made in or around the United Kingdom.

To increase ease and speed of construction, Studio Bark designed a modular architectural system, where each panel is fitted together to create “U-Build” modules that can then be easily bolted together into the SHED frame. This model also has the added benefit of reducing construction waste, both financially and environmentally. In that sense, these pods could also be easily reused and re-appropriated.

Double-decker buses transformed into homeless shelters

Founded in 2018, the UK-based NGO is providing a low-cost solution to temporary housing, using decommissioned London double-deckers that have been transformed into shelters. The project started with a few buses donated by Stagecoach – featuring 16 beds, a 32-seat restaurant, online desk space and a “holistic wellbeing space”, along with 24-hour expert support.

With all this, Buses4Homeless aims to provide a cost-effective, safety net and stepping stone between the night shelters and longer-term permanent housing solutions.

To that end, it is also partnering with other parties – such as King’s College London, Laura Ashley as well as local restaurants, chefs, architects, and construction companies – to offer more than a shelter and meals, to equip guests with the skills and confidence to move to a life beyond the street.

Buses4Homeless also works with the Metropolitan Police to keep residents safe.

Places on the bus are offered on a three-month basis, forming an intensive support program to allow people to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, and learn the skills they need to get back on their feet.

Solar-powered sleeping pods

A German-based team has designed and installed heated windproof and waterproof futuristic sleeping pods across the German city of Ulm to provide the homeless with emergency shelter at night.

Known as Ulmer Nest, these sleeping pods are intended to provide shelter, especially in winter, when temperatures are below zero. They are made out of wood and steel to effectively protect against rain or strong wind. A single pod can keep up to two people protected from rain, frost, and humidity – while ensuring air circulation.

What makes Ulmer Nest special though, are built-in solar panels and a set of sensors that can monitor temperature, humidity, smoke, and carbon dioxide levels. Also, these pods are connected to a radio network to allow their users to get in touch with the team overseeing the cabins.

Instead of cameras, each pod has a motion sensor for alerting social workers and Ulmer Nest members that someone spent the night in the capsule. This way, the privacy of those using a pod is protected while at the same time, the system is informed that someone has been sleeping and that the pod has to be cleaned for the next use.

The first Ulmer Nest pods were installed in Ulm in the winter of 2020, and if the scheme proves successful, they could end up being used throughout Germany.

The post Tackling Homelessness with New Ideas appeared first on Sustainable Avenue.