Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023 - 10

Products of
Tomorrow
uSpoofing Device
Modern cars and
autonomous vehicles
use millimeter wave
(mmWave) radio frequencies
to enable
self-driving or assisted driving features. This connectivity,
however, can also expose them to potential
cyberattacks. Attackers driving ahead of an autonomous
unit can engage in " spoofing, " an activity
that involves interfering with the vehicle's return
signal to trick it into registering an obstacle in its
path. The vehicle may then brake suddenly, increasing
the risk of an accident. To address this, UCSD
researchers devised a novel algorithm designed to
mimic a spoofing attack. Previous attempts to develop
an attacking device to test cars' resistance have
had limited feasibility, either assuming the attacker
can synchronize with the victim's radar signal to
launch an assault, or assuming both cars are physically
connected by a cable. The device can also be
used for preventing dangerous tailgating.
Contact: Xochitl Rojas-Rocha
Phone: 858-534-3120
E-mail: xrojasrocha@eng.ucsd.edu
This column presents technologies that have
applications
in commercial areas, possibly
creating the products of tomorrow. To learn
more about each technology, see the contact
information provided for that innovation.
u Deployable
Electrode
EPFL scientists have
developed electrode arrays
that can be funneled
through a small hole in
the skull and deployed
over a relatively large surface
over the brain's cortex. The first prototype consists
of an electrode array that fits through a hole 2 cm
in diameter, but when deployed, extends across a surface
that's 4 cm in diameter. Somewhat like a spiraled
butterfly intricately squeezed inside its cocoon before
metamorphosis, the electrode array, complete with its
spiraled arms, is neatly folded up inside a cylindrical
tube, i.e., the loader, ready for deployment through
the small hole in the skull. Thanks to an everting actuation
mechanism inspired from soft robotics, each
spiraled arm is gently deployed one at a time over sensitive
brain tissue. The electrode pattern is produced
by evaporation of flexible gold onto very compliant
elastomer materials. The technology may be particularly
useful for providing minimally invasive solutions
for epileptic patients.
Contact: The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
Phone: +41 21-693-2222
E-mail: presse@epfl.ch
uSnake Robot
An autonomous robot that would map, traverse, and explore previously inaccessible
destinations is being put to the test at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Called
EELS (short for Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor), could pick a safe course through
a wide variety of terrain on Earth, the Moon, and far beyond, including undulating
sand and ice, cliff walls, craters too steep for rovers, underground lava tubes, and
labyrinthine spaces within glaciers. Because of the communications lag time between
Earth and deep space, EELS is designed to autonomously sense its environment,
calculate risk, travel, and gather data with yet-to-be-determined science instruments. When something goes wrong,
the goal is for the robot to recover on its own, without human assistance. It has been put to the test in sandy, snowy, and
icy environments, from the Mars Yard at JPL to a " robot playground " created at a ski resort.
Contact: Melissa Pamer
Phone: 626-314-4928
E-mail: melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov
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Tech Briefs, August 2023

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Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023

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