From robotic arms that give people super-human strength to a plastic made of wool: The competition shortlist of 20 new inventions that could change our world
- 20 ideas created by engineers and designers across the globe have been shortlisted for the James Dyson Award
- The winner will be announced on November 7 and will receive £30,000. 650 projects were entered by creative scientists from 18 countries
- The ideas include healthcare solutions, gadgets to make everyday life easier and devices to tackle huge challenges like the provision of clean energy
From incredible devices designed to make humans stronger to clever gadgets that can cut noise pollution and waste from manufacturing processes, engineers have created amazing products designed to make our lives easier.
They are fighting it out to win the James Dyson Award, which recognises ideas large and small that have the potential to solve significant problems.
A total of 20 ideas have been shortlisted and they range from tackling large problems like renewable energy by generating power from waves, to ripening fruit and vegetables at the best time.
A group of U.S. engineers have invented the 'Titan arm' to protect warehouse workers who frequenly lift heavy loads from the risk of arm and back injuries. Their robitic arm is an upper-body exoskeleton that augments human strength and braces the back to prevent poor lifting technique
The winner will be announced on November 7 and will win £30,000.
The engineer will follow in the footsteps of Dan Watson, who won the award last year for his SafetyNet device, which encourages sustainable fishing.
A total of 650 projects were entered by creative scientists from 18 countries.
'Bold ideas big and small can solve significant problems. The entries into this year's award, from young engineers and scientists around the world all show promise, but are only at the start of the long process towards commercialisation,' Sir James Dyson said.
A handful of the engineers set out to solve health-related problems. Karl Price and his team from the University of Waterloo, Canada, have invented a robotic surgery tool to replace manual suturing, saving valuable time in the operating room.
AWARING is a device that indicates a speaker's location using a light and volume. It could help people with hearing impairments who find it difficult to lip read and follow conversation in group situations
A group of U.S. engineers have invented the 'Titan arm' to protect warehouse workers who frequently lift heavy loads from the risk of arm and back injuries.
Their robotic arm is an upper-body exoskeleton that augments human strength and braces the back to prevent poor lifting technique.
The team said the arm could also be used to help stroke and injury victims rebuild muscle and re-learn fine motor control.
Fruit and veg is best stored and ripened in specific conditions so OLTU uses excess heat produced behind the fridge to power a separate unit that has sections designed to keep different fruit in different conditions to it ripens properly
Another British engineer, Sam Etherington, designed a device called renewable wave power that absorbs forces from the troughs and peaks of waves from any direction in a bid to make cleaner energy.
While Britain has 11,073km of coastline and the potential to produce 40-70KWh per metre, the country currently harnesses just 1 per cent of the free resource. But Mr Etherington hopes his invention could change that.
Diabetics use a device that breaks the skin to measure their blood sugar levels but Gluco could change that. It uses a person's smartphone linked to a watch to measure the levels, eliminating the need to break the skin. An insulin pen takes the results from the watch and prepares the appropriate dosage
With an ever increasing population, living spaces are becoming smaller and noisier as sounds from the street encroach on everyday life.
This problem inspired Rudolf Stefanich to create Sono - a device that can be fitted to a window that stops certain annoying noises from passing through the glass into a home.
Source: Sarah Griffiths
MailOnline
