Robotics

A robot made of sticks

In late summer, just as the leaves were starting to crisp and curl in the heat, Devin Carroll walked out of his apartment, looked on the ground, and picked up a couple of sticks that he thought might work for his robot. About ...

Engineering

Decarbonizing the grid with flexible buildings

Elvin Vindel, a Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, has led the creation of a model that can help cut emissions from buildings and improve the overall efficiency of the grid. ...

Energy & Green Tech

The curtailment paradox in a high solar future

Rising penetrations of variable renewable energy (VRE) in power systems are expected to increase curtailment—the reduction of renewable energy delivered due to oversupply or lack of system flexibility. But while curtailment ...