It is commonly believed that Russia does not have its own developments – they are either degraded versions of foreign breakthrough technologies or technologies that are never implemented. This is not true – in our country, you can find dozens of products whose implementation is interesting to follow.
1. the Hi-Fly Taxi aerial taxi drone
In less than a year, EFCO created a prototype of an aerotaxi, which made its first unmanned flight in October 2021. In this version, the apparatus performs autonomous flights of 15 km and carries goods weighing up to 120 kg. It will be possible to use the services of an unmanned aerial taxi, according to the company’s plans, in 2028, when the first commercial route from Alekseevka to Belgorod will appear. The company also plans to develop several modifications: cargo, police and medical.
Hi-Fly Taxi prototype is made according to the multicopter scheme with 16 electric motors located in two planes. The two-tier aircraft allows achieving an optimum ratio by ensuring stability of the upper tier propellers and maneuverability by the lower tier propellers. Flight can be continued in case of failure of up to four engines.
Lithium-ion batteries are used at the first stage, but in the future the developers intend to bet on membrane technology. Alternative energy sources will allow better adaptation of the technology to the climatic peculiarities of Russia, including the conditions of the Far North. The company is working on this together with the Institute of Solid State Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences and leading Russian scientists.
2. High-tech prostheses
There are two interesting projects in this area: Rostec has launched production of bionic prostheses that are unique to Russia. The artificial hand made of metal and polyurethane reproduces the basic movements of the hand, is not afraid of dust and moisture, and works for up to three days without recharging. The state corporation noted that the prosthetic arms will cost much less than their foreign counterparts. In 2021, the developers improved the prosthesis, testing it together with the G. A. Albrecht Federal Scientific Center for Rehabilitation of the Disabled.
Also in Russia, an operation was performed to implant electrodes in the peripheral nerve area of patients – the first step towards “feeling” bionic prosthetic hands. For a person with an amputated limb, the electrodes caused sensations close to what he would experience with tactile contact with surfaces. The joint project of Motorika, the FEFU Medical Center and the Zelman Center for Neurobiology and Neurorehabilitation is four years old. V. Zelman Center for Neurobiology and Neurorehabilitation is four years old, but this particular operation in 2021 was a breakthrough.
At the same time, FEFU developed a technology for using neural networks in a prosthetic lower limb, which allows to read landscape irregularities, change the foot angle when descending and ascending, and push off the surface in time with each step. Necessary actions are 98% correctly calculated by neural networks, which are trained on the example of people’s movements during normal walking and can take into account the peculiarities of gait.
3. Stem cells to cure dangerous diseases
Scientists from Moscow State University have found a new way to fight hemorrhagic stroke, which causes brain hemorrhage. They injected into the affected tissues a secret secretion secreted by mesenchymal stem cells, which play a crucial role in repairing most body tissues. The experiment on rats was successful – the animals recovered.
About half a million Russians suffer from stroke annually, and the hemorrhagic form usually leads to irreversible consequences or death. Scientists hope that the positive results of the study will spur the emergence of new methods in the treatment of this dangerous disease.
In parallel, scientists at MIPT’s Genomic Engineering Laboratory have made a discovery promising in the treatment of glaucoma. They were the first in the world to successfully implant retinas grown from stem cells into mice. Previously it was believed that damage to the ganglion cells which are responsible for the formation of visual information, and the associated loss of vision in glaucoma is an irreversible process.
Cells grown in laboratory conditions could be transplanted into the retina and also to create common biomaterial banks for the treatment of patients, since they are practically not rejected by the eye tissue. The transplanted cells will take root and grow axons that establish a connection to the brain, but finding out whether and how accurately information is transmitted from the optic nerves to the brain is a matter of the near future.
4. Ultra-small antenna for 6G networks
Tomsk University researchers and colleagues in Japan, experimenting with materials and shapes, have developed a super-small antenna for next-generation 5G networks. The microscopic device was tested in the frequency range of 300 GHz. Russian scientists proposed using Teflon for their production, which allowed them to significantly reduce the size (from 5 mm to 1 mm), while maintaining performance.
This development provides superior speed and capacity to today’s wireless communications. It may well be a candidate for use in next-generation 6G networks, which are expected to operate in a wider frequency range than the millimeter-wave range used in 5G.
5. Superconductor aircraft propulsion
In mid-2020, for the first time in Russia, an experimental Yak-40 with a hybrid propulsion system produced by the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P. I. Baranov took off. The Yak-40 is the first experimental Yak-40 aircraft powered by a hybrid powerplant produced by the Central Institute of Aviation Motors named after P. I. Baranov. It includes the world’s first 500 kW high-temperature superconductor electric propulsion unit which was created by the Russian company SuperOx under the contract with the Advanced Research Foundation.
This is the first generation of environmentally friendly aircraft engines that use electricity as fuel. The role of superconductors is to conduct current with zero resistance. This conserves the charge in batteries and ensures optimum energy efficiency. Importantly, this can reduce the weight of the batteries, and therefore the weight of the aircraft.
Over the next few years, the company will be conducting experimental flights, studying the data and refining the technology. According to the most optimistic forecasts, the first aircraft with hybrid propulsion system will not be seen before 2030.
6. Prototype quantum processor
A technology review would be incomplete without the advances in the creation of a national quantum computer. A full-fledged version will be developed not earlier than in a few years, according to experts’ forecasts. But in 2021 an important step was made – in Russia there are two independent prototypes of a quantum processor.
A lab at MIPT created the Russian Federation’s first workable integrated circuit based on five superconductor qubits. In contrast to earlier domestic prototypes, the researchers managed to achieve full control over the state of all five qubits. Even in its current form, the circuit can be used in quantum machine learning research.
In parallel, another organization – the National Quantum Laboratory – took an alternative path and created another kind of prototype quantum processor – a platform based on 20 ions. It is not yet capable of running applications, but it can be used to model and test algorithms for a future quantum computer.
7. VR helmet and a digital twin of the Earth
TERRA TECH, a subsidiary of Rostec, has developed the ATLAS VR virtual reality platform. The software product provides 3D content for Russian and foreign VR-helmets. At the end of 2021, the hardware device of the same manufacturer was also presented.
The platform, using information and images received from space, creates 3D copies of industrial, cultural, geographical and other objects, cities, regions on an unlimited scale, up to creating a digital twin of the Earth. Software can be used for conducting geography lessons, history in VR-format, for travels and excursions around the world, for scientific and defense purposes. And the developer plans to supply VR helmets for export.
8. 3D printing of houses
AMT-Spezavia has started building a settlement in the Yaroslavl region using the technology of house 3D printing with an S-300 construction 3D printer. The utility lines have already been laid, the frame of the first house is ready and in total there will be twelve houses on an area of one and a half hectare. The printer is working directly on the construction site and uses fast-drying concrete as the “ink”. This is a presentation project: the construction of the second house will demonstrate the potential speed and the third house the ability to perform complex architectural projects.
9. Highly functional robot-android
Another Skolkovo resident, Promobot, has developed a new model of humanoid robot Robo-C, which can be controlled from outside or act in accordance with a program embedded in it. The robot has 12 degrees of freedom of movement (a human has 27), which allows it to perform a wide range of actions – pick up objects of various shapes, carry bags, shake hands, send air kisses, and soon it will be taught to write and draw. The legs are not very functional yet, but the developer is going to fix it in the nearest future.
During a conversation, the Android is able to imitate up to 600 variants of micro facial expressions. Today the robot is used mainly for promotional activities in salesrooms around the world, but in Germany it has found another application – policing and video surveillance.
10. A platform for the “road problem”
In 2021 a potentially important project was launched – the development of a single IT platform based on BIM technologies that will collect, analyze and monitor information about road works. The initiators of the system worth RUB 1.5 billion are the road construction companies Autobahn and Roads and Bridges. Its implementation will make it possible to avoid discrepancies in design and operating documentation. In other words, this sphere can become much more transparent and the roads can become better. For this purpose, the system will probably be integrated with Glavgosexpertiza.
At first, the industry platform will be used only for new facilities, for example, construction of the Moscow-Kazan High-Speed Route, but then it will be possible to monitor condition of old roads. Small companies that cannot afford digitalization on their own will also be able to connect to the system. Thus, as conceived by the creators, a comprehensive transformation of the industry will be achieved, the time for which is long overdue, as roads in Russia continue to be the most important social meme. And if expectations are not met, all hope lies with air taxis.
Researchers expect breakthroughs in dozens of areas – some of these inventions could change our lives forever. But you can start watching them right now to see the whole way to the realization of the product and to be ready for those changes that these technologies will lead to.
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