Issue link: https://industrialengineer.epubxp.com/i/826827
the frontline 14 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine the front line Big data for better trucking "There's no sense in sending a truck into Des Moines at 4 o'clock in the afternoon if we know the driver is just going to sit in traffic. Every truck line that I know wants to reduce accidents and increase safety, and con- gestion does nothing but enhance accidents. The industry wants to stay away from congestion and slowdowns to improve safety." — Former trucking company owner Neal "Skip" Foster, part of a research team at Iowa State University that is working on the most effective way to share data collected by state traffic centers across the country with carriers and drivers Quote, unquote Imagine drying your clothes in 20 minutes, paying 80 per- cent less in energy costs and not having to bother too much with the lint filter. Such fantasies could become reality if an ultrasonic dryer developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennes- see hits the market. Devices called green transducers con- vert electricity into vibrations, shaking the water from the clothes. Scientists say the process dries a medium load of clothes in 20 minutes, much less than the typical 50 minutes it takes heat-based machines. The technology also leaves less lint, and less heat makes it less likely that colors will fade. About 4 percent of U.S. residential electricity use, or $9 billion each year, powers clothes dryers. The two-year proj- ect has a working prototype and could hit the commercial market in a couple of years. Quick dry clothes with no heat Oak Ridge lab says ultrasonic vibrations cut drying time in half, save energy Researchers Viral Patel (left) and Ayyoub Momen show off Oak Ridge National Laboratory's ultrasonic dryer, which can be up to five times more energy efficient than a conventional dryer. Falling costs, robust applications and more mature hardware have many ex- perts predicting a golden age for iris rec- ognition. Manufacturers are already designing iris scanners into their handsets and plat- forms, according to SecureIDNews. Next will come things like locks for consumer doors, laptops and even refrigerators. "If you go back five or 10 years, iris technology required dedicated hardware that was quite expensive because it was custom made," Francis Mather, chief of computer vision and liveness detection at New York-based Hoyos Labs, told the publication. A number of patents have expired and components have been miniatur- ized. Combined with better reliability – iris recognition generates fewer false readings than fingerprints – many iris scanning devices are now hitting a bal- ance of ease of use, accuracy, price and performance. For reliable ID, the eyes have it Falling costs have iris recognition devices moving toward the mainstream