Industrial design

Lenovo probably isn't the first brand that springs to mind if you're on the lookout for a robodog to patrol your warehouse. Yet its Shanghai innovations lab has a versatile six-legged pooch coming this year, which has already nabbed an iF Design Award.

Small Modular Reactor (SMR) construction shifts into high gear, as UK company Sheffield Forgemasters welds a full-size nuclear reactor vessel in under 24 hours instead of the usual 12 months. The rollout of this game-changing tech could be massive.

It’s taken more than three decades, but scientists have cracked the code and created a material that’s near-impossible to break and rivals diamond as the hardest substance on the planet. The applications for this long-sought-after substance are vast.

German engineer Gaurav Singh has designed and built an industrial USB box camera in a custom 3D-printed case that not only accepts interchangeable lenses, but the image sensor can also be swapped out as needed.

We've seen a number of fanless mini computers from Israel's Compulab over the years, aimed at the Internet of Things, AI edge computing or industrial automation applications, and now the company has updated its modular fitlet model with Intel's latest Atom processor.

For more than five years, a team has been developing and testing control software under Alphabet's X moonshot factory, aimed at making industrial robots smarter and easier to use. Now the project has branched out into a new company called Intrinsic.

Canon has announced the ML-100 and ML-105 multi-purpose, full-frame industrial cameras with ultra-low light sensitivity equivalent to an ISO of 4.5 million, meaning that they will be able to record Full HD color video under a moonless night sky.

​Israel's CompuLab has launched the third generation of its fanless, rugged Airtop mini-PC, with more memory capacity, more connectivity options and Intel's 9th gen Core CPU running the show.​

A new video from AIST shows a prototype robot designed to work on construction sites in situations where there is a shortage of human workers. The robot in undeniably slow but also strikingly accurate, suggesting a future where humanoid robots could replace even more human jobs.

Desktop Metal - remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes.

​​Proof that innovation does not have to be expensive, this year’s Dyson Prize goes to American designer Isis Shiffer for her invention of the EcoHelmet, a foldable paper helmet that makes it easier for cyclists to protect their heads for just $5.​

A kettle that stores steam to help kids learn about cooking and energy in a hands-on fashion won the 2015 Electrolux Design Lab in Finland. The competition attracted applications from industrial students located around the world.