The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : Airing Out Contaminated Soil

A breath or two of fresh air seems to do wonders for contaminated soil. So say researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark and at Battelle, an independent research center in Columbus, Ohio.

The New Jersey researchers have developed a new technique, called pneumatic fracturing, that uses a controlled burst of air to drive contaminants out of soil and rock formations. The controlled burst of air acts something like a drill, widening naturally occurring cracks, which in turn increases the soil’s permeability. Contaminants, including volatile organic chemicals such as gasoline and industrial solvents, can then be extracted more easily and cheaply than with current methods. The pneumatic fracturing technology has been licensed to Accutech Remedial Services of Keyport, N.J., a unit of Accutech Environmental Services.

Battelle has used bioventing--pumping oxygen into contaminated soil--to clean up several U.S. Air Force bases in Europe. Bioventing works because it supplies oxygen to enhance the natural activity of microorganisms in biodegradation.

Improving Robotic Dexterity: If you want to imagine what it’s like to be an assembly-line robot, try this: Pick up a matchbook with just your forefinger and thumb, then try to put it back on the desk with the reverse side facing up--without using another finger to help turn it over. While robots are tireless and don’t take coffee breaks, they have a similar problem with manual dexterity. That means that unless the parts coming down the assembly line are aligned just so, the robot has a hard time grasping them correctly. Creating a parts feeder to get a properly positioned part into a robot’s grasp can take weeks, even months.

Now computer scientist Kenneth Goldberg and his students at the USC School of Engineering’s Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems--along with Silicon Valley robotics firms Adept Technology and Silma Inc.--think they have found a way to let the robot use reasoning ability instead of a dedicated mechanical feeder. First the robot has to be programmed to recognize from a video image all the possible positions a part can assume on the conveyor belt. Motion sequences are worked out so the robot can reorient the part. A video camera eye looks at each part as it moves along the conveyor belt and that image is rapidly analyzed by the robot so its gripper can pick up the part and orient it properly. So far, the prototype can feed a part every five seconds.

Home Video Worth Watching: A new communications tool, similar to a next-generation system tested by the Army for soldiers in the field, is available for vacationers who worry “Did I turn off the coffee pot?” The Video Teleport system, developed by Norcross, Ga.-based Iterated Systems, connects a closed-circuit television camera to a telephone line. Using a personal computer equipped with a modem and software developed by Iterated, remote viewers can dial up and see what the television camera sees.

Because of Iterated’s patented digital compression scheme, the moving images can be squeezed enough to fit through a regular telephone line while retaining fairly realistic motion in a quarter of the computer screen. Iterated says the system--which carries a suggested list price of $2,995 for the transmitter unit and another $495 for the receiver software--will be particularly attractive to remotely monitor convenience stores, bank teller stations and teller machine sites that already have closed-circuit TV systems.

Now You Hear It: Video games may be anathema to the older generation, but the same technology that produces those bleeps and blasts is being used to help people with impaired hearing. QSound Labs based in Calgary, Canada, has formed a joint venture with the House Ear Institute of Los Angeles to develop a better hearing aid.

QSound technology uses digital signal processors and proprietary mathematical algorithms to make it seem as if sound coming from a speaker or headphone is actually coming from a number of places. This technology has been used primarily in video games, records and some films.

But QSound can also be adapted to let the hearing-impaired “localize” sound and listen selectively in noisy situations. The joint venture has licensed the hearing aid technology to Starkey Laboratories Inc., which expects to market such products next year.