The idea of using a touchscreen goes back to the early days of computing in the 1960s. Most systems remained very experimental until the 1990s, when a number of commercial systems became successful.

The first major technology that became successful is resistive touchscreen technology. This uses a panel that consists of several layers, including two thin, electrically charged layers separated by a thin space. By pressing on the panel, these two layers touch and the location of the connection is recorded as the input. Resistive touchscreens are relatively cheap and very resistant to liquids. The major downsides are that you need to actually press down with a certain amount of pressure and they have relatively poor contrast. As a result, resistive touchscreens did not become widely used for computer systems but instead were developed as part as other electronic systems. For example, the display screens used in restaurants to enter orders and control panels in factories are often made of resistive touchscreens.

The second major technology used in touchscreens is capacitive sensing. A capacitive touchscreen uses a layer of insulating material (such as glass) coated with a transparent conductor. The human body is also an electrical conductor, so touching the screen with your finger results in a change in the electrostatic field of the screen. A number of different approaches can be used to record the location of the touch. One of the most common ways is to use a fine grid of capacitors, which record the change in the electrostatic field. These capacitors are organized by rows and columns, and they function independently of each other. This makes it possible to record multiple touches at the same time, known as multi-touch technology.

MACT ROBO

The emphasis of the journal Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing is on disseminating the application of research to the development of new or improved industrially-relevant manufacturing technologies, equipment, and strategies. Preference is given to papers describing research whose initial feasibility has been demonstrated either in a real manufacturing enterprise or experimentally in a laboratory. Case-studies describing technology transfer and deployment from research institutions to industry or the implementation and scale-up of new technologies in industry, as well as review papers on topical issues in manufacturing, are equally encouraged.

Data recovery is the process of salvaging and handling the data through the data from damaged, failed, corrupted, or inaccessible secondary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data are being salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives, solid-state drives (SSD), USB flash drive, storage tapes,CDs, DVDs, RAID, and other electronics. Recovery may be required due to physical damage to the storage device or logical damage to the file system that prevents it from being mounted by the host operating system (OS).

The most common data recovery scenario involves an operating system failure, accidental damage etc. (typically on a single-disk, single-partition, single-OS system), in which case the goal is simply to copy all wanted files to another disk. This can be easily accomplished using a Live CD, many of which provide a means to mount the system drive and backup disks or removable media, and to move the files from the system disk to the backup media with a file manager or optical disc authoring software. Such cases can often be mitigated by disk partitioning and consistently storing valuable data files (or copies of them) on a different partition from the replaceable OS system files.

A limited edition, two-seater flying car will go on the market in the next two years, with a self-driving and self-flying model potentially not far behind, according to Slovakian company AeroMobil.

Juraj Vaculík, CEO and co-founder of the company behind the vehicles, made the announcement at a presentation during the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, yesterday.

Vaculík hinted that a fully autonomous model is also in the pipeline. "If something like a flying Uber and flying Lyft will be on the market, I think many users will find this a very efficient way to move,” he said.

The current AeroMobil 3.0 has a top flight speed of 100 mph, will have a flying range of around 430 miles, with altitude limited to 9,800 feet to avoid cabin pressurisation.

It will be equipped with a partial autopilot mode and feature an emergency parachute which deploys automatically should a pilot fall ill. It is designed to run on regular fuel, consuming around 15 litres of petrol an hour, and drivers will need to hold a valid pilot’s license in order to operate it.

The proposed mass-marketed flying car to follow AeroMobil 3.0 is dubbed to be a four-seater hybrid and will be totally autonomous. It is unconfirmed whether a driver would require flying qualifications, but the car is likely to get its own new, regulatory category of vehicle.

The cars can reportedly fit into normal parking spaces and take off and land on 200 metres long grass strips, negating the need for airports according to Vaculík. He added that travel time to and from airports as well as security checks can end up doubling air travel time, and so flying cars could be ideal for shorter trips of around 400 miles.

Vaculík argues that flying cars will reduce traffic congestion, as the vehicles would be spread in different “layers” of airspace. He envisions landing strips being built by the side of main roads or by petrol stations and advocated the vehicles for accessing remote areas, cutting the need for expensive roads in the future.

The company first introduced its working prototype for the 3.0 model at the 2013 Montreal Aerotech Congress in Montreal before unveiling an advanced design at the Pioneers Festival in Vienna last year. The model has been certified by the Slovak Federation of Ultra-Light Flying following authorisation issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Slovak Republic.

Vaculík acknowledged that regulations and certifications will likely hinder the mass adoption of flying cars but added that the project has strong support from the European Union.

"We need to match 100 years of bureaucracy in the air and 100 years of bureaucracy on the ground. It's not easy," he said.

Pricing for the limited edition AeroMobil 3.0 has yet to be confirmed, but Vaculík estimates that it will be in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars.