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12 Researchers at MIT have developed a rechargeable battery in a fibre for an underwater vehicle (writes Nick Flaherty). The team produced the fibre battery – which is 140 m long, has an energy storage capacity of 123 mAh and is only a few hundred microns in diameter – as a proof of concept. The fibre powers an LED and receiver in a light-based underwater comms system wrapped around a UUV. The team has also embedded the multiple LEDs needed for the comms system into the fibre. The battery is manufactured using new electrolyte gels and a standard fibre- drawing system that starts with a larger cylinder containing all the components and then heats it to just below its melting point. The material is drawn through a narrow opening to compress all the parts into a fraction of their original diameter while maintaining their original arrangement. This embeds the lithium and other materials inside the fibre within a protective coating, making it stable and waterproof. “There’s no obvious upper limit to the length,” said researcher Tural Khudiyev, who worked on the project and is now an assistant professor at National University of Singapore. “We could definitely do a kilometre-scale length. “This is the first 3D printing of a fibre battery device. After printing you do not need to add anything else, because everything is already inside the fibre – all the metals, all the active materials. It’s just one-step printing, and that’s a first. “Embedding the active materials inside the fibre means sensitive battery components already have good sealing, and all the active materials are very well integrated, so they don’t change their position,” he said. The aspect ratio is up to a million, making it practical to use standard weaving equipment to create fabrics that incorporate the batteries as well as electronic systems. Rechargeable fibre battery Underwater vehicles The 140 m-long battery is wrapped around the UUV February/March 2022 | Unmanned Systems Technology An international standard has been developed for the tests that will be needed for autonomous vehicles on the road (writes Nick Flaherty). German standards body ASAM has been working with the University of Warwick on a language that defines the Operation Design Domain (ODD). This describes specific operating conditions in which an unmanned system can operate safely, including environmental parameters such as weather and infrastructure. ASAM’s OpenODD language is a freely available, machine-interpretable format to represent the ODD specification. This allows interoperable tests to be developed for the first time to show that an autonomous vehicle can operate safely. “The ODD definition is key to creating a safe automated vehicle,” said Dr Siddartha Khastgir at the University of Warwick, and project lead for the ASAM Open ODD Concept project. “However, how an ODD is defined hasn’t been officially decided, until now, as the ASAM OpenODD concept has provided the language to define an ODD. This means that, going forward, manufacturers can define and exchange ODD definitions, and authorities can have a common understanding of the ODD definition.” In addition to the format and syntax, the concept for ASAM OpenODD also takes into account attributes using the ISO 34503 standard, metrics and the representation of uncertainties. The future standard will be compatible with all other standards developed by ASAM, including OpenDrive and OpenScenario. Global standard for tests Driverless vehicles