PDF version - The Warsaw Voice

No. 59
The Polish Science Voice
From the Publisher
I
must admit that for me, as a layman,
the most important thing about a scientific research project is the end result.
And before a project ends in success,
what researchers—in both Poland and elsewhere—need, in addition to expertise and
talent, is top-caliber equipment and funds.
All this is indispensable before research results can be put to a commercial use. Without these things it would be impossible to
develop science and technology in a modern
economy.
One potential success story in Polish science could be the Talking Maps project designed to make life easier for blind people
in this country. The project aims to develop
a small device—referred to as a mobile
geographic information system—to enable
blind people to move around on their own,
especially in an urban environment they are
not familiar with. The system is expected to
appear on the Polish market in 2014. It will
not be expensive: it should cost no more than
zl.2,000-2,500—or even less if the newest
version of the Android operating system becomes more widespread.
Working on the project are researchers
from the Gdańsk University of Technology
together with a privately-run company from
the northern city of Elbląg. The Talking Maps
project is headed by the university’s Prof. Andrzej Stepnowski, a recognized authority in
the field of geoinformatics, who says work on
the project will be completed by the end of
June this year.
While Talking Maps sound futuristic, graphene—a new carbon-based“supermaterial”
that holds out a promise of an exciting revolution in electronics—also appears to be the
stuff of science fiction. Researchers from the
Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Łódź have
teamed up with engineers from the Seco/
Warwick company from the western town of
Świebodzin to develop new graphene-based
materials that could used for storing hydrogen. The project, billed as ground-breaking
and innovative internationally, also covers
the construction of a production line for the
manufacture of such materials. If the project
ends in success, it will benefit the automotive
industry, the researchers say.
“The solutions we have developed will
form the basis of modern devices using graphene for energy storage,” says Prof. Piotr
Kula, director of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering and head of the team
working on the innovative graphene-based
materials, which are collectively referred to
as GrafRoll.
Wojciech Modrzyk, vice-president of Seco/
Warwick, says his company is in talks with
leading international automotive companies
interested in the project. The new Polish technology could also be applied in the aerospace
sector, Modrzyk says.
No. 59 the Polish science voice
2
Guiding the Blind
3
Using Graphene to Store Hydrogen 7
A Leading Light
10
Engine Without a Crankshaft 14
Prominent Post for Pole
16
Electricity Without Pollution
19
Reconstructing Fahrenheit
20
Published by WV Marketing Sp. z o. o.
Publisher: Andrzej Jonas
Editors in Charge: Danuta Górecka,
Witold Żygulski
Layout: Magdalena Jonas
Address: Warsaw Voice S.A.
64 Księcia Janusza Street,
01-452 Warsaw, Poland
tel. (+48 22) 33 59 700
A publication co-financed by
National Center for
Research and Development
www warsawvoice.pl
[email protected]
All Rights Reserved ®
technology
Guiding the blind
Researchers from the Gdańsk University of Technology have teamed up with engineers from the Opegieka company based in the northern city of Elbląg to develop
a mobile geographic information system designed to help
Poland’s 100,000 blind people—enabling them to move around on their
own, especially in an urban environment they are not familiar with.
T
he Gdańsk University of Technology researchers are from
the Department of Geoinformatics, part of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and
Informatics (ETI), and the system
is being developed as part of the
Talking Maps project. The project
is headed by Prof. Andrzej Stepnowski from the Gdańsk University of Technology, a recognized
authority in the field of geoinformatics.
Getting lost with GPS
While it is not completely true
that blind people are left to their
own devices when trying to move
around on their own, the tools currently available to them, though
useful, do not guarantee full independence. This is especially the
case when blind people find themselves in a place they are not familiar with or lose their way. Then they
may become completely helpless
and nervously ask for help from
the people around them.
3
technology
According to
official calculations,
there are about
100,000 blind
people in Poland.
The number of
visually impaired
people, who may
also be interested
in the project, is
difficult to estimate.
There are few devices for blind
people with maps, and the geographic data collected by them
does not include many major
facilities important to the blind.
They are most often based on car
maps.
Moreover, most existing systems
available on the market are flawed
because of imprecise positioning.
They all use conventional GPS receivers for this purpose, which can
be inaccurate, sometimes by more
than 10 meters, especially in urban
areas.
Only when in motion can the
user determine the direction in
which they are headed. When they
walk slowly, they must walk about
20 meters before the direction indications are correct. This means
that the readings (and thus also
voice messages based on them)
are incorrect, not only in a situation
when the user is standing still. They
are also incorrect for some time
after the user changes the direction of movement when walking.
Moreover, the existing devices are
expensive. Most of them require
special hardware and software,
and this means an expense of over
$1,000. Only devices that are not
very functional are cheaper.
An unprecedented
guide
The Talking Maps project aims
to develop a mobile geographic
information system (mobile GIS).
On the basis of information obtained from a database of pedes-
4
trian routes in
the city, it will
find a specific
itinerary, from the
starting point to the final destination. Working with
a GPS receiver and more advanced
position and direction sensors,
it will also oversee and assist the
blind person in moving along the
planned route. The system works
in a simple way, providing clear
and understandable voice messages. In addition, it may keep the
user informed about the objects
they pass along the way, such as
stores or retail outlets.
“The development of systems
designed to assist blind people as
they move around is an innovative discipline in itself,” says Stepnowski.
Few centers in the world conduct research in this area. The Polish project has several particularly
innovative features about it. First
of all, the system determines the
position far more accurately as a
result of the simultaneous use of
several complementary sensors.
These include GPS and DGPS receivers and an inertial navigation
module.
The researchers have also developed their own format of geographic data for blind people and
an innovative method for obtaining, storing and sharing this data. A
user’s interface used in commonly
available mobile devices has been
adapted to the needs of the blind.
Research is also being carried out
on ways of precisely guiding the
blind user along a path.
The basic geographic data is
available for all of Poland (street
names, addresses, etc.). Stepnowski’s team is busy gathering more
accurate data (such as the course
of the sidewalks and pedestrian
technology
crossings) for selected provincial
cities. In addition, as part of preparations for the implementation of
the system, tools are being created such as a social networking site
that will make it possible to obtain
accurate data.
A blind person living in areas
covered by the collected data will
be able to use an advanced version of the system right away. Users from smaller towns will be able
to use only basic data until their
family, friends, volunteers and local authorities enter additional
data associated with this place
into the database.
And who will program all the
routes for a blind person along
which they will be moving in a
big city? “There is no such need,”
Stepnowski says. The application
is smart enough to find the
path for the blind person
from wherever they
are to a specific
destination.
For now,
it is impossible
to guarantee the
system’s integration with public transport timetables, so the situation will
look something like this:
1) A blind person enters into
the system a nearby bus stop, for
example, as a destination, and the
system leads the person to this
destination.
Technically Speaking
T
he IT system designed to assist blind people
in moving around is made up of the following
components:
- a dedicated hardware platform in the form of a
smartphone-type device and a set of sensors,
- a digital map of routes containing geographic
data
- software.
A smartphone fitted with the Android operating
system contains a set of built-in sensors and communicates with external sensors on a wireless basis.
Wiring could cause problems for a blind user.
The role of the output interface is played by a
speech synthesizer that reads messages in the form
of questions, warnings and voice messages. The device’s touchscreen is also adapted to the needs of
blind users.
Geographic data describe a network of routes for
pedestrians. These routes are rated in terms of how
safe they are for a blind person to get around and
there are also other important features such as the
width of the route, type of surface, and potential obstacles.
The data helps determine an optimal route for the
user to the destination of their choice. In addition,
it is important that the geographic data includes information about features and facilities important to
blind people, such as pharmacies, stores, post offices, churches and banks.
The main role of the software is to:
- operate the sensors,
- operate the interface in the form of a touchscreen
keyboard
- generate voice messages using a speech synthesizer
- find an optimal route to a destination chosen by
a blind person (using algorithms for searching the
shortest route)
- monitor the blind user’s movement, provide tips
to prevent the user from veering off the route or
changing direction, as well as warnings about any
dangers (for example, a warning that the blind person is walking on the roadway).
5
technology
Most existing
systems available
on the market are
flawed because
of imprecise
positioning.
2) When the blind user is riding a bus, there is no
guidance. They must ask the driver or another passenger, for example, to tell them that they are approaching the place where they want to get off.
3) They get off and enter the destination into the system, for example a metro station or a tram stop, and
continue to travel guided by the system. Inside the tram
there is no guidance again, but when the blind person
gets off, they can program the next leg of the trip.
In this way the system will guide the user to the final
destination.
Of course, the blind user needs to know the name
of the place they want to reach. It must be in the database. If it is little known, some member of the community must add it to the database. The application
will take care of the rest.
The heart of the system is a portable computer—a
smartphone with the Android operating system. The
blind person can touch any option on the screen and
gets a voice message with the name of the option.
The device responds differently to touch than an interface for users who can see—it is more difficult to
select an option by accident as many steps need to
be confirmed. The application itself uses many welltested as well as experimental assistance mechanisms.
The former include speech recognition and the latter
recognition of gestures.
The programmers say users will be able to take advantage of the device depending on their age and experience in operating modern devices. But a lot can be
achieved through training and practice. A blind person
who is skeptical about the touchscreen versions can
buy a device with a keyboard.
6
“For many years, the possibilities of using GIS and
geoinformation systems have been one of the main
areas of our scientific interest and research and development work,” says Stepnowski. The Talking Maps
project fits into this area. But the direct reason why
the project was undertaken was because blind
people working with the Department of Geoinformatic Systems signaled such a need for a long time.
These people have become experts when it comes
to systems designed to help the blind find their way
around. They pointed to the various shortcomings of
these systems.
According to official calculations, there are about
100,000 blind people in Poland. The number of visually
impaired people, who may also be interested in the
project, is difficult to estimate.
A patent application has already been submitted in
connection with the project. A model of the system
was developed in the first stage of the project, managed by Łukasz Kamiński, Ph.D.
On Jan. 1, 2012, the second stage began—preparations for implementation, including marketing activities.
The project ends on June 30, 2013, and the finished
product is expected to hit the market in 2014.
At the moment, the estimated price of the device
is around zl.2,000-2,500. This should decrease significantly after devices fitted with the latest version of the
Android operating system become more widespread.
The total budget of the project is zl.4.04 million, including zl.3.5 million in co-financing from the National
Center for Research and Development.
DG
innovation
Using Graphene
to Store Hydrogen
Polish university researchers in the central city of Łódź have teamed up
with a private company to develop new graphene-based materials that
could used for storing hydrogen. The project, billed as ground-breaking and
innovative internationally, includes the construction of a production line for the
manufacture of such materials. If the project ends in success, it will benefit
the automotive and aerospace industries, the researchers say.
G
raphene is a revolutionary
new material that could
have myriad hi-tech applications and may even replace
silicon in the electronic devices
of the future. Transparent, flexible and durable, graphene offers
a huge range of potential applications in industries including
aeronautics and the automotive
industry, in addition to electronics,
energy generation and storage,
medicine, materials engineering,
and environmental protection.
The project is being carried out
by the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Łódź together
with the Seco/Warwick company
from Świebodzin, a town in western Poland.
Experts describe graphene as an
allotropic form of carbon. It was
isolated and tested for the first
time in 2004. For their research
into graphene, Andre Geim and
Konstantin Novoselov, two Russian-born professors from the Uni-
7
innovation
versity of Manchester in Britain, won the 2010 Nobel
Prize in Physics.
Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms that form a flat, practically two-dimensional grid
(length and width) with hexagonal meshes and a honeycomb structure. A membrane made of graphene is
impermeable for water and gases, but not for water vapor, which offers hope for using it as a filter, researchers
say.
Graphene is flexible and transparent and absorbs
only 2.3 percent of light. It can be stretched by around
20 percent without undergoing any damage.
The potential number of its uses is almost unlimited,
for example in the production and storage of energy,
medicine, materials science, and environmental protection, in addition to electronics, aeronautics and
the automotive industry. Potential applications also
include the production of composite materials, touchscreens, flexible displays, transparent electrodes for use
in photovoltaics, super-capacitors in electric vehicles,
packaging and protective layers, photodetectors and
transistors, conductive plastics and paints, hydrogen
storage technology, membranes, sensors, nanoelectric
power generators, medical supplies, pharmacology
and bacteriology.
However, for the researchers at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Łódź, the most important thing is that the
8
The team behind the project
ultra-light and sturdy graphene could be successfully
used as a material for hydrogen storage.
There are already several patented methods in the
world for storing hydrogen using carbon materials.
None of these methods, however, involves or even
suggests the use of graphene.
“The solutions we have developed will form the basis of modern devices using graphene for energy stor-
innovation
Factfile
In another project focusing on
graphene, called Graf-Tech,
Poland’s National Center for
Research and Development has
promised to allocate zl.60 million for the development and
application of innovations based
on graphene.
The funds available under the
Graf-Tech program are expected to enhance the competitiveness of Polish science and the
economy and strengthen cooperation between research institutions and businesses interested in
applying research results.
The Graf-Tech program supports research and development
as well as preparations for implementation. The program aims
to encourage the development
and implementation of products
using the unique properties of
graphene. Under the program,
research consortiums and scientific centers teaming up with industrial partners will be able to
apply for co-financing for projects involving industrial research
and development and preparations for implementation.
The Graf-Tech program will be
financed from both public and
private funds. Co-financing will
be granted to anywhere from
12 to 20 projects, with a maxi-
age for all types of powertrains,” says Prof. Piotr Kula,
director of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Łódź and head of
the team working on the innovative graphene-based
materials, which are collectively referred to as GrafRoll.
“Sooner or later the existing oil reserves will run out.
An alternative fuel of the future is hydrogen, which can
be obtained from water, and when burned water vapor is the only byproduct,” says Kula. “Today we already
have hydrogen-powered vehicles, such as buses. The
main problem, however, is safety. If the gas is stored
in a cylinder under pressure, it may explode during a
crash. Safe cylinders are very heavy and contain too
little fuel. For example, in buses, the cylinder weighs
a ton, and the bus can only travel a distance of 120
km with it. Our technology can guarantee a capacity
seven times higher than the current level. It will enable
buses to travel up to 800 km with one cylinder, which
means the distance traveled by vehicles powered by
classic fuel.”
The project is expected to lead to the development
of a technology demonstrator, or a prototype line for
the production of graphene-based materials capable
of storing and releasing hydrogen.
“We do not need perfect graphene,” says Kula. “On
the surface of the graphene nanocomposite, we will
place pillars from other substances, then roll up everything like a carpet. As a result, a free space will be
mum subsidy of zl.5 million for a
single project. Research centers
can count on 100-percent reimbursement of their research and
development costs.
According to experts working with
the National Center for Research
and Development, Poland plays
a significant role in research on
graphene, yet this role needs to
be strengthened further.
created between the layers in which hydrogen will be
stored. Our idea makes it possible to produce this material at a relatively low cost.”
To create these unique materials, it is necessary to
create a spatial structure in individual graphene flakes
into which hydrogen will be able to “enter” (as well as
“exit”). Graphene has the ability to absorb and release
hydrogen (reversion) under the influence of changes
in temperature.
The GrafRoll project has a budget of zl.6.2 million.
The National Center for Research Development has
co-financed it to the tune of zl.4.8 million. The rest has
been provided by the industrial partner, the Seco/Warwick company, which intends to manufacture equipment for the production of graphene and functional
materials based on it.
Officially, the project started in January 2013, but the
scientists had for some time been conducting extensive research in this area. Each day counts in gaining an
edge in the global market among potential producers
of alternative fuels, the Polish researchers say.
“Our company is in talks with leading automotive
companies around the world interested in the project,”
says Wojciech Modrzyk, vice-president of Seco/Warwick. “Our technology could also reach the aerospace
industry.”
Danuta K. Gruszczyńska
9
award
A Leadin
Prof. Maciej Wojtkowski from
Experimental Biophysics and Optical
award from the Foundation for
10
award
ng Light
the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, head of the
Biomedical Imaging Teams, and winner of a major
Polish Science in 2012, talks to Karolina Olszewska.
11
award
The
award you received from the
Foundation for Polish Science
is dubbed the “Polish Nobel
Prize. ” Specifically, what is it for in your case?
The judges granted the award for “the development
and introduction to ophthalmic practice of an optical
tomography method using a Fourier detection technique.” In simple terms, I designed and built a tomography device scanner for an innovative method of examining the retina. I think anyone who has problems
with their eyesight has or will come across such an
examination method sooner or later. In this method,
we shine low-power laser light into the eye and from
the very weak light which reflects from the eye, we
are able—with the help of a computer—to reconstruct the structure of the retina. In the computer, an
ophthalmologist will find a three-dimensional virtual
reconstruction of the retina and will be able to freely
analyze it and watch all the details under large magnification. The layers of the retina, which are 10 times
thinner than a hair, are clearly visible and any lesions
that influence the eyesight can be mapped out and
identified by a physician.
The award from the Foundation for Polish Science
sums up our work so far in a way. At the moment, we
are dealing with completely new imaging methods
that may come in handy in microscopy, biology and
medicine.
■ When was the first optical tomography device
built?
Three prototypes were tested between 2003 and
2006 in ophthalmic clinics in Boston, Pittsburgh, and
in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Since 2005, I have been working with Polish company Optopol from Zawiercie—in
2009, the company was acquired by the Canon corporation—on the industrial production of the scanner.
For several years, the device has been used by eye clinics worldwide.
■ As the inventor of this pioneering device, you
have provided doctors with a painless tool for
examining the eye. How did doctors cope before?
12
Previously, the standard diagnostic procedure was microscopy. It magnifies biological elements sufficiently to
see single cells. However, it has many limitations, because
it does not make it possible to distinguish layers of the
retina and accurately locate trouble spots. In addition, the
instruments were not accurate enough to enable quantitative analysis, which means determine some values that
characterize diseases and their progress. Examinations
were therefore more subjective and the progress of the
disease could be assessed differently by two different
ophthalmologists. Sometimes differences in diagnostic
assessment may result in delayed therapy and deterioration in the patient’s condition. This is especially important
when the health service is governed by the rules of economics and access to diagnostic equipment is difficult.
Optical engineering offers far more opportunities;
this is because it looks for ways to enable non-invasive
observation of living cells. In particular, this applies to
cells that can undergo easy degeneration. Biomedical
imaging methods in the case of the eye allow for noninvasive and rapid observations of trouble spots in the
retina caused by diseases such as glaucoma, macular
degeneration, macular holes, and retina detachment.
■ You are pressing ahead with research into the
nature of light, looking for new opportunities
when it comes to the application of optical tomography in other fields of medicine. In which
other diseases is optical tomography useful?
Light is a physical phenomenon of primary importance to the existence of the universe. It is the best carrier of information known to humanity. The fact that it
is very complex in nature allows for the use of its properties in a variety of ways. We are still trying to discover
and understand these properties and control them.
And that’s a big challenge for us.
And when it comes to other uses of optical tomography, it can be used to examine the cell structure of
many organs and tissue systems in humans or animals.
We are currently working to use such a method to
study the blood flow in the brain, for example.
While examining the complex nature of light, we are
striving to ensure the best possible use of its properties
in the imaging of biological structures. And we want to
do that in the least invasive way, which means with as
little harm to the patient as possible.
award
Together with our team we are building— from the
ground up—the appropriate instruments that enable
us to prove that the new methods of using light are
working. Our efforts, within a short time, have been
applied in practice and led to the production of new
diagnostic devices.
■ What are the prospects for putting the methods
you are working on into use in medicine?
Our work is multi-pronged. Our methods make it
possible to scan relatively large stretches of tissue—a
piece of intestine, esophagus, coronary vessels. This is
mainly about early detection of neoplastic changes
[cancer] in the digestive system, which is relatively
long and it is hard to exactly pinpoint the location of
the trouble spots there with other methods. But the
digestive system is accessible to light when you place
an appropriate viewing device into the body’s interior. Our unique method provides information about
relatively large sections of tissue, which are usually the
most difficult to examine.
In cardiology, it is possible to use these methods for
observing the interior of the blood vessels after stent
implantation.
Research into carcinogenic processes is not only important for medical diagnostics, but also makes it possible to better understand these disease processes in
order to look for ways to prevent them in the future.
One example is the study of the dynamics with which
new blood vessels are created around the tumor. Biomedical imaging methods are also useful for studies
on animal disease models thanks to which it is possible
to better understand the origin of the disease and its
effects.
■ What about work on putting this technology to
commercial use in cardiology and endoscopic
diagnostics of cancer?
The methods for using the technology in cardiology
are being dynamically developed around the world; in
Poland, however, difficulties have cropped up, mostly
financial in nature. Such research is mainly being developed by big and rich American companies, and the
first instruments have already hit the world market.
❒
Factfile
The
method
developed
by
Maciej
Wojtkowski for ophthalmology has contributed to a dynamic development of clinical
procedures worldwide. It has significantly
improved the comfort of patients and the
accuracy of diagnostic results. It has dramatically increased the speed of diagnostic procedures and brought them to a level
previously unachievable in clinical conditions. Within a few years, this method has
practically replaced previously used technology for the diagnosis of retina disorders.
It has become the basis for the production
of $1 billion worth of medical equipment
in the United States and another $1 billion
in other countries. Optical scanners based
on this technology are also produced in the
Polish town of Zawiercie; they are used in
clinics throughout Poland and sold throughout the world.
13
motoring
Engine Without
a Crankshaft
A new type of internal combustion engine without a crankshaft invented by a Polish
engineer may soon make waves in the international automotive industry.
T
he inventor, Kazimierz Rzadkosz, says his engine is far
more effective than any previous designs. Rzadkosz now plans
to produce a prototype.
Rzadkosz, who lives in the village of Gliczarów Górny in the
Biały Dunajec district in the southern Podhale region, spent 30 years
working on his design. After years
of observation and calculations, he
decided that, in a piston engine,
power is transferred to the crankshaft at the worst possible moment, as a result of which much
of the power is simply wasted. In
Rzadkosz’s design, the power is delivered to the connecting rod. This,
according to Rzadkosz, makes his
engine two to three times more
powerful than a conventional engine of the same capacity. Better
performance is possible at lower
revolutions, thanks to which engine wear is reduced substantially.
For example, at 10,000 rpm, the
engine will deliver up to 450 hp,
Rzadkosz says.
The new type of engine can be
adapted to burn gasoline, diesel
fuel and other fuels. The inventor
says he is also thinking of using
propane-butane or hydrogen. He
is working with the Lublin University of Technology to make that
happen.
14
Rzadkosz’s calculations related
to his new engine have been
confirmed by researchers from
institutions including the Cracow
University of Technology. The Pat-
ent Office patented the engine a
year ago. Currently, a search is in
progress for a company to finance
the construction of a prototype.
Work on a 3D computer design is
under way.
Improving
Crash Safety
Łągiewka has
designed a system
in which part of a
vehicle’s kinetic
energy during
a collision is
channeled to a
special rotor.
Another Polish inventor, Lucjan
Łągiewka, a self-taught designer
from the southwestern town of
Kowary, has developed a special
bumper to reduce the impact
on the human body during a car
crash.
Łągiewka has designed a system
in which part of a vehicle’s kinetic
energy during a collision is channeled to a special roto.
The invention has won many
awards at more than a dozen international exhibitions, but has
never been applied in the motor
industry. Now the technology,
called EPAR, has attracted the interest of manufacturers of impactabsorbing barriers, which are used
in high-risk areas. Production is
due to begin soon.
EPAR, an abbreviation from its
Polish name, stands for Energy
Accumulating and Dissipating
Converter. The device was first
presented to the public in the late
motoring
1990s, in the form of a specially
constructed bumper installed on
a small Fiat car.
Over the last decade, Łągiewka
has received many international
prizes for his inventions and
won recognition among inventors. Today he runs the EPAR
project development company
together with his son. A major
focus of the company is to implement the EPAR idea in road
safety equipment such as road
barriers.
Child Seat
with a Difference
In 2006, Janusz Liberkowski, a
Polish engineer living in America,
won a U.S. competition for amateur inventors for his “spherical
safety seat” for children that automatically closes during an accident.
Liberkowski won the ABC television station’s American Inventor competition, which attracted
more than 10,000 contestants. He
won an audience vote and pocketed prize money of $1 million.
The invention is a spherically
shaped child car seat that closes
during an accident to shield the
child from the force of the impact.
The invention won recognition
because children are killed in car
accidents every day despite being
properly fastened in regular child
seats.
Liberkowski, born in the town of
Nowa Sól, Poland, graduated from
an engineering school in Gdańsk.
He left for the United States with
his wife in 1984 and took up
residence in San Jose in the very
heart of Silicon Valley. Liberkowski
started working on his invention
after he lost his daughter in a car
accident.
Liberkowski
won the ABC
television station’s
American Inventor
competition, which
attracted more than
10,000 contestants.
The genius of Liberkowski’s invention is its simplicity. Instead of
trying to limit the forces unleashed
during a crash, he produced a design that uses such momentum to
better protect the child. The child
lies in a “survival capsule” composed
of two nested hemispheres. The
outer one plays a protective function and the inner—in which the
child is fastened—”floats” freely in
all directions. The impact does not
cause belts to tighten on the child’s
delicate body, but causes the inner
hemisphere to rock and spin.
Tests by experts show that the
capsule protects children much
more effectively than traditional
safety seats, even at high speeds.
Liberkowski’s work serves as
a reminder that transporting a
child without a proper car seat is
not only unlawful, but first and
foremost dangerous. In collisions,
an adult is unable to hold onto a
child. Seatbelts do not adequately
protect children, either. Their sudden pressure on the neck can simply strangle children, as they are
manufactured with the height of
an average adult in mind.
Transporting a child seated on
an adult’s lap with the belt fastened
over both offers no protection
against accidents or even against
sudden hard braking. Two forces
are acting on the child in this case:
the child is pressed by the belt
from one side, and crushed by the
adult from the other.
Pole Credited for
Inventing Windshield
Wipers
Yet another Polish inventor—as
well composer and pianist—Józef
Hofmann is credited with inventing automobile windshield wipers.
Born in 1876 in Cracow, Hofmann
left for the United States in 1924
and fell in love with all things automotive. Reportedly he invented
the windshield wiper while watching a metronome, a mechanical
device that produces a regular
beat to help musicians keep a
steady tempo as they play.
His invention met with great interest and soon Ford acquired the
rights to produce it.
Hofmann has a total of about
100 inventions and over 70 patents to his name, ranging from
pneumatic shock absorbers for
cars and airplanes to an adjustable
piano stool.
T.B.
15
Agricultural Engineering
Prominent
Post for Pole
Prof. Tadeusz Juliszewski, director
of the Institute of Machinery Management,
Ergonomics and Production Processes
at the Faculty of Production and Power
Engineering at the Cracow University of
Agriculture, talks to Karolina Olszewska.
16
Agricultural Engineering
J
uliszewski has taken over as president of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), an agricultural organization that
aims to stimulate the development of science and technology in the field of
agricultural engineering. Juliszewski will be heading the commission between
2013 and 2018. This marks the first time a Pole will be president of the organization in its 80-year history.
● Poland is widely seen as an agricultural country. Just how strong are we in agricultural engineering?
Internationally, agricultural engineering is understood in a slightly different way than in Poland. We
usually equate this term with mechanization in agriculture. Meanwhile, abroad, this term also covers farm
produce and food processing, hydraulic engineering,
infrastructure, storage and IT systems. In other words,
the term applies to all equipment and facilities that in
rural areas are used not only for agricultural production, but also for road building, water supply, sewage
disposal and so on. The definition also covers transportation, logistics, agriculture and agricultural construction projects, such as warehouses, farm buildings, and
storage facilities.
In reality, Poland is not a strictly agricultural country;
it is a country with a modern agriculture sector based
on industrial production systems developed by engineers. The problems, or even backwardness, of some
regions should not obscure the picture of the huge
changes that have taken place in Polish agriculture in
recent years.
● How does Polish research in the field of agriculture look from the international perspective?
What kind of technology do we need?
Universities are not the only institutions that deal
with agricultural engineering. We have two sectorspecific institutes: the Industrial Institute of Agricultural
Engineering in Poznań and the Institute of Technology
and Life Sciences in Falenty near Warsaw.
The Industrial Institute of Agricultural Engineering in
Poznań, with which I work closely, deals with agricultural machinery design. It is the leading institution in
Poland in this field. It has quite a few innovative projects to its name, not only theoretical, but also practical
applications in production.
In turn, the Institute of Technology and Life Sciences
in Falenty deals with organizational and economic issues, including standardization and bringing Polish
regulations into line with EU standards.
We take an active part in various conventions and
conferences. The most important thing, however, is
that modern, innovative agricultural engineering is
changing production and produce processing technology in many regions in Poland. This is not just about
produce for the food industry, but also about raw materials for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, textile, fuel
and construction industries.
● How did it happen that you were elected president of CIGR?
I have been working with CIGR for a long time. From
2002 to 2006, I served as chairman of one of the five
technical sections at this organization called Management Ergonomics and System Engineering. I also presided over the International Committee of Work Study
and Labor Management in Agriculture (CIOSTA) for
two years. I must’ve put in quite a good performance
there if 90 or so representatives from the agricultural
and biosystems engineering community from different countries voted for me.
● The main aims of CIGR are to stimulate the development of science and technology in the field
of agricultural engineering; encourage education,
training and mobility of young professionals;
encourage interregional mobility; and facilitate
the exchange of research results and technology.
What kind of technology is most needed today?
I would like to emphasize the huge diversity of agricultural engineering in the world. Oftentimes what we
see in Europe as modern has already been in use for a
long time in the United States and Japan. Some countries in Asia and Africa, on the other hand, are still in the
Middle Ages in terms of their primitive plowing tools
and mules carrying loads. Water supplies, not only for
17
Agricultural Engineering
consumption, but also for production, are one of the
priorities for CIGR. Water is essential in food processing.
For example, producing a liter of beer requires tens if
not hundreds of liters of water.
Another issue is the use of information technology
in what is known as precision agriculture. CIGR aims
to disseminate engineering expertise to enable a rational use of local natural resources for the production of
bio-based raw materials and
their further processing.
Another aim of CIGR is
to coordinate engineering
education programs so that
graduates can be competent professionals in their
field regardless of where
they studied.
Poland is not a
strictly agricultural
country; it is a
country with a
modern agriculture
sector based on
industrial production
systems developed
by engineers.
● Does CIGR also aim to
help bring new technology to underdeveloped
countries?
In addition to technical
sections, working groups
are organized to conduct
research, provide expert
studies and carry out projects commissioned by clients. One of these working
groups is dealing with animal husbandry in hot climates. Arabs from Saudi Arabia want to breed dairy
cattle at home, despite the fact that the people of this
country could easily afford to import milk from Europe
or other regions. Breeding livestock in a temperature
close to 40 degrees Celsius involves completely different problems than in Europe. For example, air conditioning is one such problem. Special emphasis needs
to be placed on animal welfare. What is needed is a
system of recommendations to make sure that production takes place in stress-free conditions. We provide assistance with that. In Italy, in turn, in the southern regions, in Sicily, or Sardinia, we are dealing with
water management. Concerns include not only water
supply, but also landslides caused by rainfall—these
have occurred in Poland as well.
● What are your plans as the new president of
CIGR?
I would like to include our community in projects carried out in the EU and elsewhere. This involves analyses
of globalization in production and trade. I would also
18
like to bring about a situation in which the exchange
of views will take place not only via the internet, but
also through the exchange of agricultural engineering
experts. I would also like to change the stereotypical
image of agricultural engineering in Poland as a field
limited to the use of machinery in agriculture.
● Do agricultural universities in Poland have a
similar platform for cooperation as CIGR?
The main forum is the AgEngPol research network,
which brings together all agricultural engineering centers with common tasks. The network is chaired by Prof.
Ryszard Hołownicki from the Institute of Horticulture in
Skierniewice. As part of this network we prepare expert
studies that we later submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and institutions linked with production and processing of farm produce. In each of the agricultural universities, we develop various projects. Recently these
have involved biofuels, cost-effective energy management, agrophysics and information technology.
● And what do you do at the Cracow University of
Agriculture?
I deal with ergonomics in terms of agricultural engineering. This is the study of the relationship between
man and machine, which means production technology. The functioning of a device or machine depends
not only on its design, but also on the human being
who operates it. Efficiency, effectiveness, and the
safety of the direct user and other people, for example
passengers on board an airplane, depends on the human factor. The issue is therefore to adapt the machine
and the working environment in which the machine
is used to the physical and mental predispositions of
the human operator. This is sometimes called anthropocentrism and there is talk of the human factor in
engineering. I also deal with this in the organizational
sense, because I am chairman of the Polish Academy
of Sciences’ Committee for Ergonomics.
In addition, I work on liquid, gaseous and solid biofuels.
In the field of agricultural engineering, we deal with
the production of raw materials to be processed into
biofuel. These include biogas, fatty acid ethyl esters
(vegetable oils), and methanol and ethanol as motor
fuel additives. Solid biofuels such as briquettes or pellets, are made from wood, straw or other waste. We
are capable of processing organic matter in a way so
that it can replace conventional energy sources such
as natural gas, diesel fuel or coal.
In my research work, I also deal with machinery
maintenance.
inventions
Electricity
Without Pollution
Bio-Hydrogen, a Polish-designed device for the production of pollution-free electricity
from fossil fuel and biofuel, won a gold medal at the Brussels Innova international
exhibition for innovations, research and new technology last year.
T
he device, which is based on zero-emission technology, was also named the best invention and
won the Grand Prix award from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The invention is the work of Grzegorz Wcisło from
the BioEnergia Center for Renewable Energy Sources
in Cracow.
The device makes it possible to produce electricity
without carbon dioxide emissions. Instead of exhaust
fumes, water is the byproduct.
“In a few years, such refrigerator-size devices will be
available to anyone who wants to become independent of the power network,” says Wcisło.
Estimates show that electricity generated in this
way will cost no more than 30 percent of its current
price, because there will be no transmission fees. Additionally, green energy will be subsidized by the European Union, and users will receive subsidies for every
kilowatt-hour of electricity generated in this way.
“Anyone who has a gas installation in their home will
be able to produce electricity on their own from fossil
fuel, biofuel, or natural gas,” says Wcisło. “The device is
quiet; it can be placed anywhere: near the refrigerator, in the basement or in the hallway. In addition, it
increases the security of power supply regardless of
strong winds, storms or power system failures. Users
will become self-sufficient.”
The device has no competition on the market, according to Wcisło. At the moment, electricity can only
be produced with diesel-powered generators, and
these are expensive. Wcisło puts the price of his invention at around zl.20,000 “at the pre-commercial stage.”
The final price will depend on the capacity of the unit,
the inventor says. The patent procedure is in progress.
The BioEnergia center in Cracow focuses on biofuel
technology, with a particular emphasis on the design
and production of devices that have no equivalents
internationally. “Our reactors are capable of producing
biodiesel fuel that is a substitute of regular diesel fuel
and can be used in diesel engines. The cost of producing one liter of such fuel is about zl.3,” says Wcisło.
Under regulations on biofuels and liquid bio-components, anyone can legally produce fuel for their own
needs in Poland. This includes farmers and owners of
vehicle fleets, provided they are entered on the official
list of fuel producers and meet certain technological
and tax requirements. This fuel can power diesel engines, but it can also be used for heating homes and
greenhouses, for example.
Karolina Olszewska
19
it
Reconstructing
Fahrenheit
Scientists at the Gdańsk University of Technology have created
a computer-generated portrait of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit,
the 17th-century Polish-born Dutch physicist best known
for developing a temperature scale now named after him.
The
project was made possible by a “genetic algorithm” and a specially
designed computer application.
No portrait of the world-famous scientist, who invented the mercury thermometer, has survived to
the present day. All the images of Fahrenheit available
on the internet are pure guesswork. It is only known
for sure that Fahrenheit, who was born in the city of
Gdańsk 326 years ago, wore a wig, coat and a vest.
The project was not merely designed to satisfy scientific curiosity, the scientists say. “Someone of Fahrenheit’s stature is a role model worthy of emulation,” says
Prof. Henryk Krawczyk, rector of the Gdańsk University
of Technology, who supervised the project.
He added that the Gdańsk University of Technology
decided to commemorate the great scientist also because he was linked with Gdańsk.
Previously, the university’s computer scientists honored eminent astronomer Johannes Hevelius in a similar way. The astronomer (1611-1687) gained a reputation as the founder of lunar topography and described
10 new constellations, seven of which are still recognized by contemporary astronomers.
20
it
Hevelius was a councilor and mayor of Gdańsk. His appearance did not pose a problem to the scientists—unlike in the
case of Fahrenheit.
No source contained an authentic image of the man who
invented the Fahrenheit scale. So a contest was announced for
an artist’s impression of what Fahrenheit looked like. Contest
participants were expected to show him against the backdrop
of the university’s northern courtyard, which is named after the
prominent physicist.
The concepts varied. Historians suggested that the main
source of information should be the skull of Fahrenheit’s father and grandfather, both of whom are buried in the Holy
Virgin Mary’s Basilica, the largest church in Gdańsk. Finally,
however, Krawczyk’s concept prevailed under which representatives of various disciplines of science and modern technology joined forces to create the most probable image of
Fahrenheit. Working under Krawczyk’s guidance, Jerzy Proficz
and Tomasz Ziółkowski, young programmers at the TASK Academic Computer Center of the Gdańsk University of Technology, used genetic algorithm tools to create a portrait of
Fahrenheit.
No portrait of the
world-famous scientist,
who invented the
mercury thermometer,
has survived to the
present day.
All the images of
Fahrenheit available
on the internet are
pure guesswork.
21
it
To create the digital portrait
of Fahrenheit, the scientists used
images of relatives and contemporary
residents of Gdańsk of a similar
background and social status.
“This can even be described in terms of scientists
having fun,” says Krawczyk.
In the project, the researchers used a supercomputer
called Galera with a theoretical computing capacity of
100 TeraFLOPS, one of the highest levels in Poland, and
equipped with a KASKADA platform.
KASKADA is a supercomputing platform for the contextual analysis of multimedia data streams to identify
specific objects or hazardous events. On the basis of
the platform, the Mayday structural project is being
carried out as part of the European Union’s Innovative
Economy 2007-2013 Operational Program. It concerns
the development of advanced IT services and applications under an agreement with Poland’s Ministry of
Science and Higher Education. The project is worth
over zl.16 million and funds for it have come from the
EU and Polish government coffers.
In order to comprehensively test the capabilities of
the platform, when carrying out the project, the programmers chose a variety of applications and functionalities.
22
According to Krawczyk, the application used by the
computer scientists in the Fahrenheit project makes it
possible to create digital portraits of people whose real
appearance is unknown. “Using existing historical data,
such as portraits of relatives or descriptions, our genetic algorithm shows computer images that are likely to
resemble the person in question,” Krawczyk said.
To create the digital portrait of Fahrenheit, the scientists used images of relatives and contemporary
residents of Gdańsk of a similar background and social
status: patricians, scholars and clergy. Materials were
made available by the Library of the Polish Academy of
Sciences and the National Museum in Gdańsk.
An important practical advantage of the KASKADA
platform is its versatility, which makes it possible to
considerably simplify the process of producing applications. The solutions developed by the scientists have
attracted the interest of the Ministry of Science and
Higher Education and the National Center for Research
and Development. The institutions found KASKADA to
be one of the most innovative projects in Poland and
undertook to promote it. Preliminary talks are also in
progress with IT companies.
Ziółkowski has been working at the TASK Academic
Computer Center for three years, helping build and
develop the KASKADA platform. As part of the team,
he has been writing software to enable the use of the
supercomputer, in the Mayday program, for example.
His greatest passion is artificial intelligence.
“The Fahrenheit algorithm was a new experience
for me, a task all the more difficult since from the beginning my colleagues and I knew that 100-percent
faithful reconstruction would be impossible,” says
Ziółkowski. “It was therefore necessary to make a selection of a variety of data.”
The starting point was the documentation gathered:
portraits of 28 inhabitants of Gdańsk from the late 17th
and early 18th centuries, and photographs of several
members of Fahrenheit’s family. All the people were
portrayed in a similar way, making it easier for the computer to process the faces into a uniform format.
This pioneering project also required many practical
preparations. The first trials were made using the likenesses of movie stars rather than Fahrenheit’s relatives
or friends. “The first impression I had when thinking
it
about a family of famous people similar to one another
was associated with the American actor Martin Sheen
and his son Charlie Sheen,” says Ziółkowski. “We found
a lot of reference material on the internet. So we could
design a genetic algorithm that—through a process
inspired by the theory of evolution—makes it possible
to look for an optimal solution.”
“Our algorithm is still imperfect so it is too early to talk
about putting it to a commercial use,” says Ziółkowski.
“We want to establish collaboration with geneticists,
for example, to jointly identify additional factors that
may have an impact on our algorithm. We plan to get
a deeper insight into how we can get a better result
from our limited input data—a more accurate picture
closer to reality. We also hope that the publicity surrounding the Fahrenheit project will help generate interest in not only the work of our center, but the intellectual capabilities of Gdańsk University of Technology
employees in general.”
On the basis of the image generated by the programmers, Prof. Piotr Józefowicz from the Gdańsk Academy
of Fine Arts will create a painting of Fahrenheit. The
painting will be displayed in the interiors of the Gdańsk
University of Technology—either in the Senate Hall or
the Rector’s Office.
Robert Kaja, an artist who created a relief of Johannes
Hevelius, which is displayed in the southern courtyard
of the Gdańsk University of Technology, will now create
an allegorical work dedicated to Fahrenheit. The work
will be displayed in the window niches in the northern
courtyard.
The first niche, divided into two spaces, will be covered by a thick piece of glass on which a chemically
etched “drawing” resembling a system of blood vessels
will appear. At the bottom, the structure of the crystals
that precipitate from water vapor on the glass during
cold weather, will be shown. The lines of the blood
vessels will be tinted red, and the drawing of the ice
crystals will be tinted blue. In the central point of the
window, a Fahrenheit thermometer will be featured.
In the second niche, a portrait of Fahrenheit will be
mounted—made using a relief technique—through
the chemical etching and subsequently painting of
the steel.
Adam Grzybowski
Factfile
D
aniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was
born in Gdańsk in 1686, into a
family of merchants. At the age of 15,
after the death of his parents, he left
the city and went to the Netherlands
and subsequently England, where he
focused on his work as a scientist and
became a member of the British Royal
Society. While living abroad, Fahrenheit visited Gdańsk several times, including in 1710 and 1712. He died
in The Hague in 1736.
Fahrenheit is known mainly for being
the first to use mercury in a temperature measurement instrument (previously, alcohol was used), and creating
a scale from zero to 212 degrees. On
Fahrenheit’s original scale, the freezing point of brine was zero degrees,
and 212 degrees F signified the temperature of boiling water.
Fahrenheit is used in a number of
English-speaking countries. Other
parts of the world use Celsius, developed in 1742 by Swedish physicist
and astronomer Andreas Celsius.
23