Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 53

FACILITY FOCUS

Two industrial robots were used to construct the LightVault. The robots take
turns placing a brick and supporting the structure, working from one side
to the other. Here, one of the construction robots is seen through the double-curved LightVault structure. (Photo: SOM, Maciej Grzeskowiak)

Using ribbons many times finer than a human hair, Princeton researchers have developed a highly sensitive flow meter that is inexpensive and useful in large-scale commercial and industrial applications.
(Photo by the researchers)

cause of the robots' strength and precision. The team devised a
process in which the two robots worked together to assemble the
central arch of the vault without any scaffolding or other support. Each robot would place one brick, then hold the structure
while the other robot placed the next brick.
In a series of lab tests conducted by Princeton scientists, a
relatively common soil bacterium demonstrated its ability to
break down the difficult-to-remove class of pollutants called
PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). The bacterium removed 60% of PFAS over 100 days of observation. PFAS have
been widely used in products from non-stick pans to firefighting foam and the EPA has evidence that exposure to PFAS is
harmful to human health.

Using radar commonly deployed to track speeders and fastballs, researchers developed an automated system that will
allow cars to peer around corners and spot oncoming traffic
and pedestrians. The system, easily integrated into today's vehicles, uses Doppler radar to bounce radio waves off surfaces
such as buildings and parked automobiles. The radar signal
hits the surface at an angle, so its reflection rebounds off like
a cue ball hitting the wall of a pool table. The signal goes on to
strike objects hidden around the corner. Some of the radar signal bounces back to detectors mounted on the car, allowing
the system to see objects around the corner and tell whether
they are moving or stationary.

Computer Science

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The department focuses research on artificial intelligence
and machine learning, graphics and vision, systems and networking, computer architecture, computational biology, and
neuroscience.

Princeton's electrical engineering program, started in 1889
as one of the first in the United States, remains at the forefront
of the field, with research aimed at the physics of semiconductors, electronic and optical devices, design of computers and
networks, materials science and nanotechnologies, algorithms
and structures for information, and biological technologies.
A team of engineers demonstrated a new kind of wireless
chip architecture that would improve the quality of wireless signals in 5G applications. Future wireless systems devices would
be more efficient across their full range of power use and signal frequencies.
Computers are renowned for flexibility, running everything
from game consoles to stock exchanges. But at the level of
computation, most computers rely on arrays of identical
processors called cores. Princeton researchers built a hardware
platform that allows different kinds of computer cores to fit
together, allowing designers to customize systems in new ways.
The goal is to create new systems that parcel out tasks among
specialized cores, increasing efficiency and speed.
Spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers developed a
diagnostic tool to analyze chest x-rays for patterns in diseased

A new chip speeds artificial intelligence systems called neural nets while
slashing power use. The chips could help bring advanced applications to
remote devices such as cars and smartphones. (Photo: Hongyang Jia/
Princeton University)

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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021

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