Technologies

4Ts Game was born in ITD in 2017 to indicate a board game for teacher training, which aims to develop skills in designing collaborative learning activities. The game was originally conceived as a 'tangible' game, consisting of a board and 4 decks of paper cards which contain inputs that guide the teachers/players' design process. Subsequently the game evolved and was developed in its digital version. In this version, developed in Unity and with an underlying knowledge base in Prolog, the game is able to provide feedback to teachers regarding the design/game choices made.

The Proof-of-Concept A.L.I.C.E. or "Actuators based on Light sensitive CompositE" aims at the development of innovative materials through 3D/4D printing processes and uses them as actuators in the fields of photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, thermodynamic solar, and other applications such as optical deflectors, optical microvalves, and optical switches.

The proposed technology is based on the micro-fabrication of electrodes in order to generate surface acoustic waves (SAW) with well-defined frequencies, on piezoelectric substrates. The operating principle of a surface acoustic wave sensor is linked to the variation of the characteristics of the acoustic wave that propagates on the device (e.g. wave velocity on the substrate, etc.) caused by the interaction with the environment (e.g. interaction of an analyte on the surface of the device, deformation of the substrate, etc.).

The insertion of executable programs within QR codes is a new enabling technology for many application contexts in everyday life. Every time Internet access is unavailable, QR code usage is limited to reading the data it contains without any possibility of interaction.

Mirrors for space applications, besides featuring suitable optical properties, should be light, resistant to mechanical stresses, and unsensitive to light-shadow thermal cycling. The standard optical materials easily fulfill optical and thermal requirements, but are fragile, and the mirrors must be thick (typically 1/6 of the diameter). For this reason they are heavy, and the only available solution is to lighten them, by removing material from the back side, still preserving the necessary mechanical robustness and optical quality.

This invention comprises an interrogation and readout differential method for chemical sensors based on Surface Plasmon Resonances (SPR). The integration of the SPR sensing unit (chip or other), as intermediate reflecting element of a Fabry-Perot (FP) optical resonator, is the starting point for the application of this method.

The instrumentation is based on the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) which is a non-invasive geophysical technology used to obtain information on anomalous bodies possibly present in the subsoil. The theoretical basis lies in the different electrical properties of the lithotypes present in the subsoil.

The proposed technology deals with the development of active SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering) substrates ad hoc designed for diagnostics of cultural heritage. The substrates are prepared starting from common commercial 'polishing film' sheets (lapping optical fibers) showing an intrinsic roughness (48- 1000 nm) that favors the SERS effect. A pattern of silver or gold nanoparticles are deposited on these films through Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD).

The invention is a synthetic method to prepare colloidal nanomaterials of V-VI-VII semiconductors that do not contain toxic elements. This is the first method for the synthesis of mixed anion nanomaterials without toxic elements at large, which permitted to obtain, among others, bismuth chalcohalide nanocrystals that are arguably considered as one of main candidates to be the next big thing for light energy conversion.

The proposing team that works at CNR ISTEC has recently patented a technology for the production of the Smart Polycrystals (SP), i.e. transparent YAG-based ceramic polycrystals (Y₃Al₅O₁₂) variably doped with rare earths ions and transition metals ions. The SPs solve the problem of the reduction of the efficiency in the solid state laser systems caused by the inhomogeneous heating of the single crystals during the emission process.

Electrochromism is an optoelectronic characteristic of particular interest because it can be exploited in the creation of technologies such as smart windows (Smart Windows) to promote energy efficiency, automotive, sensor or visualization devices. Electrochromic materials change their optoelectronic characteristics, showing different colors depending on the applied electric field.

Environmental monitoring is a rapidly growing field, both in academia and industry. The use of wearables for environmental monitoring is a promising technique, as it allows data to be collected continuously and comprehensively. The main problem with using wearables for environmental monitoring is the size and weight of the system, as well as the high degree of specialization required to develop a fully functional device.