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Self-propelled smart chairs

17.08.2017

"Smart" self-propelled chairs for people with disabilities will be tested by the Japanese corporation Panasonic in one of the largest transport hubs in Tokyo - Haneda International Airport. It is expected that this and other developments will be widely used already in 2020 during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

As the name implies, Panasonic's robotic chair will move by itself - with the help of a built-in motor and batteries. Users will be able to control the device through an app on their smartphone. Built-in sensors and an image recognition system will allow the chairs to literally "see" obstacles in their path and freely navigate the airport even in the crowd - by analogy with how Panasonic HOSPI robots navigate the terrain. By constantly monitoring its position, the robotic seat will be able to choose the best routes for movement.

"Smart" chairs will even be able to communicate with each other and, if necessary, "stray" into groups - for example, when a family, several disabled people or elderly people who have problems with the motor apparatus move around the airport. If a passenger arrives with luggage, the seat will “see” a sensor-equipped trolley, onto which hotel employees will load the suitcases, and go after it.

One battery charge is enough for the chair for about 25 km, the speed reaches 8,9 km / h.

Smart self-propelled seats were developed by Panasonic Corporation in collaboration with Whill as part of a program to equip airports in Japan with robotic assistants for tasks ranging from cleaning and transporting cargo to informing passengers. Panasonic, which has been an IOC Global Partner for almost 30 years and provides the Winter and Summer Olympic Games with audio and video equipment, expects new developments such as smart seats to help improve the transport accessibility of Japan's major infrastructure facilities ahead of Tokyo 2020.

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An international group of scientists has calculated the value of the upper (maximum) limit of the speed of propagation of sound waves. This value turned out to be 36 kilometers per second, twice the speed of sound in diamond, the hardest known material today.

Waves, such as sound and electromagnetic waves, are vibrations that move the energy contained in them from one place to another. Sound waves can propagate in various media, in air, in water and in solids, and in each of these media the speed of sound propagation has its own value. For example, the denser the medium, the faster sound travels through it, which explains why you can learn about the approach of a train much earlier by putting your ear to the rail of the railway track.

Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity sets an absolute maximum limit on any speed limit, which is equal to the speed of light in a vacuum and is about 300 kilometers per second. However, until recently, no one knew whether there was any upper limit for the speed of propagation of sound waves.

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