Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022 - 46

Facility Focus
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Organic solar cells like the one pictured are
emerging as a viable solution to meet the nation's
growing energy demand. (Image: Azzaya Khasbaatar,
a graduate student in the Diao Group)
Supercomputers can crunch massive
data sets and give us insights into the wonders
of the universe. But creating a sub-penny
microprocessor that flexes to fit on a
beer bottle and tells you whether your brew
is still cold has been surprisingly more difficult
to achieve. Working with British flexible
electronics manufacturer PragmatIC
Semiconductor, a team of researchers developed
the first commercially viable flexible
plastic microprocessor chips, called
FlexiCores, that can be manufactured at
scale for less than a penny per unit. The
new processors could help even everyday
objects become smart.
Another research team aims to harness
two artificial intelligence techniques -
deep learning and machine learning - to
predict the responses of airport pavement
under different landing gear configurations
more quickly and cost-effectively.
Their approach utilizes advanced modeling
and responses from sensors in the pavement
to develop an alternative technique
to costlier methods, where researchers
build real test sections and collect data
from embedded sensors to understand
when distresses will occur and when repairs
will be needed. The team will use the AI
techniques to reduce the time needed to
simulate real-world pavement structure responses,
while building easily accessible
and accurate models.
When communication lines are open,
individual agents such as robots or drones
can work together to collaborate and complete
a task. Researchers have developed a
method to train multiple agents to work
together using multi-agent reinforcement
learning, a type of artificial intelligence.
The algorithms they developed can also
identify when an agent or robot is doing
something that doesn't contribute to the
goal. This type of algorithm is applicable to
many real-life situations, such as military
surveillance, robots working together in a
warehouse, traffic signal control, autono46
Imad
Al-Qadi, UIUC Bliss Professor of Engineering
and ICT director, measures pavement rutting after
conducting research at FAA's National Airport
Pavement and Materials Research Center. He and
his students simulated loads from various airplane
landing gear configurations and used the
data to validate their developed model. (Image:
Grainger College of Engineering)
mous vehicles coordinating deliveries, or
controlling an electric power grid.
Lightweight as a window cling and replicable
as a newspaper, organic solar cells are
emerging as a viable solution for the nation's
growing energy demand. Researchers
at Grainger College of Engineering are
the first to observe a biological property
called chirality emerging in achiral conjugated
polymers, which are used to design
flexible solar cells. Composed entirely of
organic materials, the flexible cells are
transparent and lightweight enough to
cling to a bedroom window. They are also
rapidly manufacturable with solution printing,
the process that's used to print newspapers.
The discovery could help enhance
the cells' charge capacity and increase access
to affordable renewable energy.
The remnants of a collapsed neutron
star, called a pulsar, are magnetically
charged and spinning anywhere from one
rotation per second to hundreds of rotations
per second. These celestial bodies,
each 12 to 15 miles in diameter, generate
light in the x-ray wavelength range. A research
team at the University of Illinois has
developed a new way spacecraft can use signals
from multiple pulsars to navigate in
deep space. The algorithm developed by
the team combines observations from numerous
pulsars to determine all the possible
positions of the spacecraft.
Technology Transfer
The Office of Technology Management
helps turn innovations into real
products and public impact. For more
information, contact otm@illinois.edu
or call 217.333.786.
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Tech Briefs Magazine - December 2022

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