Ah, it's again that time of the year. Most parents are wondering, "What should we do with the kids for the summer"? It is no surprise then, that newspapers around the country are also picking up on this theme. Just look at here, here and here. What interests us at BeHeron is the "Camp Invention" that everyone is talking about. Apparently, it is a camp designed to promote science innovation for school age children. It is a camp owned by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, and is supported by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They have many locations all around the country, to "instills creative problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that will encourage children's future success". Wow, what a great idea! Why not use the summer months to promote intellectual development of our children. We at BeHeron thought it is a great idea. While this topic is a bit different from our usual high tech approach, it is nonetheless a necessary starting point. We hoped that this camp will bring many more inventors in the future!

It's not every day that we ask ourselves, "What can we learn from a shoe company?" But, maybe we should be asking that question more often. You see, New Balance has recognized that new developments in CAD, digital manufacturing, and new materials can enable shoe manufactures like themselves to produce custom shoes perfect for every individual. Now this may seem far fetched, but it really isn't. In a recent article written by Design News, we learn the specifics of this possibility. First, New Balance already has a wide product offering specializing in hundreds of different sizes and types. For instance, did you know, the model 993 already has 156 unique sizes. So, would it really be a surprise if New Balance decided to utilize the dies and tooling for even further customization? Second, New Balance also has found ways to reduce the cost of prototyping by realizing that if a mold isn't going to be needed for many runs, you don't need to build a costly mold. By builidng a not-so-costly mold with cheaper modern materials, the manufacturer will be able to control cost. Finally, direct digital manufacturing has enabled them to consider alternate ways to reduce their prototyping costs even further, especially for short run parts, thus controlling cost.

Now this should teach us all a valuable lesson. When dealing with old products like shoes, we should continue to search for ways to satisfy our customers. Custom shoes may have been dismissed as not economical in the past, but this doesn't mean the demand goes away. Once so often, it is always a good idea to re-evaluate. If new technology allows for this, the first company to offer the value will surely win big.

We at BeHeron often state that, as inventors, it is important to read and stay up to date on as many research reports as possible. Why? Because when a report comes out on "The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption", we should recognize the opportunity. Unfortunately, in this case, Google has beat us to the punch. They have just announced initial partners for their Google PowerMeter product. The PowerMeter takes advantage of Google's scalable, secure IT architecture, and their popular iGoogle platform to show you your detailed energy use via a secure Google gadget (and it's free to both utilities and consumers).

One partner that was announced is San Diego Gas & Electric. They were one of eight utilities in the United States, India, and Canada that will enable customers to access their daily energy use online by using the gadget. The hope is that, by year 2011, all of SDG&E's customers will be "online". However, some lucky customers will have their accounts activated in 2009.

Now there is little doubt that Google will eventually find ways to monetize this product. So the next time you turn on the internet, take a close look at the plethora of research reports published each year. There may just be a problem that only you could solve, and that you could profit from!

We will admit, the writers at BeHeron are human. When we see an article that backs-up what we stated earlier, we feel obligated to tell you. Is this bragging? Perhaps, but sometimes there is no shame in that. Also, we simply enjoy updating you on companies that we have written about, right or wrong. So, in that spirit we would like to take you back to January 2nd, 2009. In that article, we discussed our optimism about a company called Solyndra, makers of cylindrical solar panels that capture sunlight across a 360-degree surface. Yesterday, in an article by the San Francisco Business Times, we learned that they have signed a $115 million deal with German integrator EBITSCHenergietechnik in Zapfendorf. Don't ask us to pronounce that name, we are sure we would fail. They also state that Solyndra now has a contractual backlog of $1.8 billion. Now were we right or what?

Back in August of 2008, we proudly proclaimed the benefits of pond scum. In a pond scum update, we bring you an article by CNET News. CNET provides an update on two different biofuel companies, both of which use algae as the biofuel.

First, they inform us that GreenFuel Technologies have run out of cash and are looking to sell their assets. Now this should not be surprising. There are now over 50 algae based biofuel companies and many of those have been started in the past 3 years. The industry is due for some consolidation and for some of the weaker players to drop out. The key to look for is whether or not the sector as a whole is growing, stagnant, or contracting. If the sector is growing, the industry will probably be ok in the long run, even if it never becomes the alternative the optimists hope for. On the other hand if the sector is not growing, it could spell doom to the idea.

The second update tells us about PetroAlgae. While they have a market capitalization of $835 million, the real news is that they have signed a customer. GTB Power will use PetroAlgae's equipment in 10 facilities in China and Taiwan. Market capitalization is great, but it means nothing if revenues and eventually profits don't follow. This contract should help towards the latter. They hope to sign additional deals this year. We will keep our eyes on this for you. If the industry begins to take off their will most definitely be further opportunities for new products.

Lately, we have mentioned many inventions that have been spun out of new technologies. Why? Because this is one of the primary means of creating a new product. You will have one parent technology that will spur many supporting children technologies. Any time an entrepreneur sees a revolutionary new product or technology, the first thing they should think of is how can this be made better or what will be needed to spur on product growth?

In particular, the solar industry has required several new technologies to be developed to solve the problems developed from fostering the adoption of solar panels. One such problem is best described by the Technology Review published by MIT. "In a conventional PV system, solar panels are wired together in series, and their combined high-voltage DC power is fed to an inverter. Therefore, the inverter's logic circuit optimizes the total current and voltage levels. But if one panel's current drops, it limits the overall output of the system. 'Something as simple as a leaf blowing over a module, or dust or debris or shade on one module, will affect the entire array of all those modules that are connected in series,' says Leesa Lee, director of marketing at Enphase."

One solution has been the development of micro-inverters by Enphase Energy of Petaluma, CA. The Enphase Microinverter shifts DC to AC conversion from a large, centralized inverter to a compact unit attached directly to each solar module in the power system. Distributing the conversion process to each module makes the entire solar power system more productive, reliable, and smarter than traditional inverter systems. Tests show systems using Enphase Microinverters increase energy harvest by as much as 25% over systems using traditional inverters. Also, Enphase's micro-inverters can send data over the Internet to the company's servers. Users can monitor their installation online, look at how much power each makes, and control where the power from each solar panel is consumed. You could keep some of the panels for selling power and others to power your freezer.

As these products are developed, we will keep you updated. You never know, as with the solar industry, Enphase may have a problem that requires your solution!

When we first heard about Tesla Motors' new Model S Sedan, we were thrilled. First, the design is great, second it is really revolutionary from a technical perspective. However, we like many others were concerned about the all electric vehicle. It's range is good at 300 miles and its performance is excellent at 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, but would this be more than just a commuter car because of the charging times? We read more and noticed this: "Three battery pack options offer a range of 160, 230 or 300 miles per charge. With the 45 minute QuickCharge or a 5 minute battery swap, you can drive from LA to San Francisco, Washington to New York or take even longer road trips in about the same time as in a conventional car."

What intrigued us most was the "Battery Swap". We wondered how this would work and who would do this? Of course, the key for this to work is to have a standard battery package that not only Tesla would use, but all other electric car manufactures as well. Once this standard is in place, the economic base would be available for others to build the charging and "battery swap" stations. But who would do this?

Evidently, there are already entrepreneurs out there working on this very thing. Better Place Inc. has already developed a battery swap system and is currently working with governments and car manufactures worldwide. They also have set up a model for how charging/swapping stations would be spread across a state. In fact, their battery swapping system can change out your batteries faster than filling your car with gas! With these systems closer to reality, we are now even more encouraged that electric cars are really not very far off. And reminds us once again that new technologies always bring new problems to be solved, and new profits to be made!

On January 31st, we showed you the promise of nano materials. We predicted that, since nano materials can now be purchased over-the-counter, it can't be long before we see them in products everywhere. Today, we find an article from R&D magazine that discusses a new carbon nanotube (CNT) enhanced prepreg called Arovex®, developed by Zyvex Performance Materials.

As described by Zyvex, Arovex® is a high performance prepreg using CNT enhanced resin. The resin, optimized for use in a prepreg, offers dramatically superior mechanical properties over conventional prepregs without CNTs. Arovex® is available in standard, intermediate, and high modulus carbon fibers, glass, and as a unidirectional, woven, or knitted material. Large custom material orders for Arovex® are also available. Arovex® processes and handles just like conventional prepregs.

The first application of this material is a boat built by Strategic Composites. Using this material, they claim that by building the boat with Arovex®, the 54-foot boat will weigh 75% less than a similar sized fiberglass boat, and 33% less than conventional carbon fiber boats. This leads to very efficient and longer range boats.

Again, we must drive the point home that this is only one possible application of this material. Any design that requires a high strength, light weight structure could use this material. The great thing is that these materials are now available for your use and your ideas. So, the question is, what will you use it for?

Sometimes, having an invention does not really mean coming up with something new. It can mean you take a few off-the-shelf components and package it into a useful product. Many times you will have no proprietary advantage, and you will depend on getting your product out first and making as much money as quickly as possible. Venture Capitalists call this a "cash-company" because its life is often finite, but you can make high profits until the product becomes commoditized. One such example of this is solar powered backup power systems. These are often used for camping but are now available for a wide range of applications.

Take the next three products for example. First, we have Xantrex Technology's XPower Powerpack Solar. It is advertised as the first portable power pack that incorporates solar power in a compact, portable power source. It’s completely self-renewing, which means the detachable 5-watt solar panel has the ability to recharge the power pack’s 10 amp-hour battery. It costs between $100-150 and can be used for everything from charging your blackberry to powering a small TV.

Second, we have the Coleman® CL3900 60W Solar Back up Power Kit. This provides the same capabilities as the Powerpack, but it includes larger solar panels and more power. However, as in the toy store, batteries are not included. You have to buy those separately. Costco sells this for a little over $300.

Finally, we have a full sized solar generator from MySolarBackup.com. They provide a complete solar backup solution. It provides 1800 watt solar backup generator battery pack, a high efficiency quick charge 75 watt Solar Panel, a sunsaver charge controller, and a 50 foot Solar Panel cable. This is a bit more pricey at $1600 plus shipping. But if you are out of power for a long time and you don't want your food to defrost, this is your solution!

Now, these products are not hard to build, and aren't really new "inventions". But that doesn't mean that the people that developed these products are not going to make a good amount of money.

Sometimes after writing a particularly bad post, the writers at BeHeron would like to hide away and disappear into our surroundings. Well, thanks to a company called Military Wraps Inc., this may be possible in more ways than you would imagine.

As reported by Design News, Photo Veil^TM is a patent-pending PVC-type mesh material that combines high-resolution megapixel digital images and state-of-the-art inking systems to duplicate any environment. It allows anyone to see through it without being seen. "It would be used for surveillance, counter-surveillance, anyone who would want to camouflage themselves using a lightweight system that would fold up in a backpack or in your pocket." says Trevor Kracker, Military Wraps^TM's president and founder. "It's really, really lightweight."

The really interesting fact is that Military Wraps have been able to take a very basic technology and patent it for various product lines. For example, they have a high resolution laminated product used to quickly apply camouflage military equipment and vehicles. When the equipment is moved to a different location, you simply peel away the laminate and apply a one that fits the new environment. This saves huge amounts of time and allows the military to customize its camouflage without costly paint jobs.

This shows us once again that new technologies will always produce products for unintended purposes. Who would have guessed that high resolution digital photography, ink-jet printers, ultra thin laminates and PVC mesh would enable the military to camouflage their vehicles and personnel? So the next time you hear about a new product, think about the ways that it can be used for something else!

One of the great things about technology is that every new invention begets many more. A great example of this has been and will continue to be clean energy. One of the biggest problems that wind and solar energy has is storage. How do you store the energy for times when the sun doesn't shine or the wind fails to blow? This simple question has led to the development of many energy storage technologies. Some of these products have discovered that they are better suited to compete with existing backup power generators. A prime example of this is a solution developed by Deeya Energy.

Deeya Energy are developers of Energy Storage Platform(ESP) 24K. This technology is a "redox flow battery" which can be used to replace diesel generators or store wind and solar energy. As reported by CNET News, they have just raised $30 million in venture capital to support their growth. The money will allow the company to build a few thousand of its 2-kilowatt cell phone tower back-up batteries it is marketing to the Indian telecommunications market. In the future they hope to have generators that can be used for electricity grid storage for renewable energy.

Now we admit that we are no experts in redox flow batteries, but we can say this: the basic technology has been around for awhile, it was originally developed by NASA in the 1970s. It has the advantage of quick charges and controlled discharges. And fitting with the "green" business model, it uses clean, green, & non-toxic materials.

So what does this show us? It reminds us that even new technologies, like solar, will have problems that create opportunities for others. It also shows us that "old-tech" can be used efficiently with new technology. Finally, it tells us that you don't need to solve the problem that spurred the founding of your company right away. Sometimes, your solution can be used to compete with existing products while you perfect it. This will enable you to get revenue earlier than you may expect!

It's not often that we open with a comment about our blog photo, but today will be the exception to the rule. We chose this picture because it accurately describes the treacherous environment many small businesses have recently faced when looking for financing. Many are looking for cash and when they do find it, a trap may be in store for them. The good news is that this may be going away. In an article by the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that loans backed by the small business association SBA surged more than 20% since mid march with more than $1.3 billion in new loans approved. It was also reported that the increase can be attributed to a temporary cut in small-business loan fees and a larger backing by the federal government. Those small businesses that have the guts to take on a loan at this time will be able to benefit from very friendly interest rates. The bad news is that some of the lending is in anticipation of further regulatory modifications in the secondary market. If those fail to materialize, then the rally may end quickly. Our advice is to take advantage of the low rates and available cash now before it is too late, just to be safe!

Happy 100th post! The good news is that BeHeron has survived long enough for us to have 100 posts. The bad news? Well, it is time for us to do a little bit more work than usual to keep your interest. In the spirit of that effort, we have done some research and compiled data that you may find interesting. This is our first major report and we plan on posting our next major report one quarter from now.

Our goal was to analyze current funding and patent patterns so that you, the inventor, can better understand what trends are moving new products and where the money is at. If you know where to look, much of this data is readily available.

One valuable source of information in regards to venture funding is the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Report. As their website describes: The MoneyTree Report is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. As a collaboration between PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based upon data from Thomson Reuters, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind. The MoneyTree Report is the definitive source of information on emerging companies that receive financing and the venture capital firms that provide it. The study is a staple of the financial community, entrepreneurs, government policymakers and the business press worldwide. And of course, it is available to all BeHeron readers.

To help everyone out, we attempted to summarize some of the most pertinent data. First, we wanted to look at the total number of venture backed details over the past 7 years to see if there are any obvious trends. Why seven? Well, the go-go years for venture capital was 1999 through the end of 2001. It was when everyone thought that they were venture capitalists, thus the data was well skewed to the upside. The last seven years has been much more stable. In our first chart (see Figure 1), you will notice that between Q1-2002 and Q4-2008 venture funding was fairly stable between $4.5 to $8 Billion, with a gradual increase year over year. However, Q1-2009 has been a disaster. Funding and the number of deals have decreased greatly. Now, some of this can be attributed to deep-pockets losing their shirt in the financial markets, but we believe that most of the money is simply being held until the direction of the market is more clear.

This pent up demand will ultimately lead to a boom in the venture market as soon as the market stabilizes. The key for us all will be to determine not only “when” will be a good time to seek venture backed funds, but in “what” sector. To determine the solution to our second question please take a look at figure two for a hint. Figure two shows the venture backed funding for the same time period, only this time, it is focused on Clean Technology funding. You will notice that by the end of 2008, Clean Technology captured almost 20% of all venture capital raised and the share was on an upward slope in the number of deals and amount invested. Ok, we admit that Q1-2009 has been dismal in this sector, but again we attribute that to the market being as out-of-whack as the go-go days of 1999-2001. The point that we would like to drive home is that the overall market has not changed in the last six months. Emerging technologies of 2008 will continue to be the emerging technologies of 2009 and onward as soon as this market settles. If you are looking for a sector to focus your inspiration on, this would be it!

The second place we looked for data was the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Patent Technology Monitoring Team (PTMT) periodically issues general statistics and miscellaneous reports that profile patenting activity at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Several PTMT reports are free while some other products and services are available at reasonable cost. Being thrifty as we are, we focused on the “free” data. We tabulated some of this data to see if we can find any other trends or insight into where markets are going. Unfortunately, the US Government is not as efficient as the National Venture Capital Association. Thus, much of their data is only current through 2008 or 2006. This makes it difficult to draw accurate conclusions but we made the attempt anyway.

We found that while venture capital has fluctuated over the past decade, especially true if we take into account 1999-2001, total patent grants has not (see figure 3). This may be attributed to the fact that many companies are reluctant to cut R&D spending because most competent CEOs recognize that R&D drives future growth. We did see a small but noticeable dip in 2005. We believe that this was fallout resulting from the weak economy in 2002 (See GDP Growth on Figure 4). We believe that this tells us that any recession will not impact patent filings for a few years. This is probably attributed to companies taking time to ramp up operations and loosen the purse strings. What we should take away from this is the fact that major corporations may be trying to save money now and this will leave them at a intellectual property disadvantage in the near future. For those of you waiting to file a patent, this may be a good time to do invent and file. The major companies may not challenge your patent as readily as they would during good times. However, the downside is that many companies will not be looking to license any patents during the near term.

Last but not the least, the final area we focused on was what was being patented and how those rates were changing over the years. To help us with this analysis, we focused on the top 10 patent classes for 2006 (See Figure 5). Many of these should not be a surprise. The most patents were filled in the semiconductor industry, followed by biotechnology, material science, and radiant energy. However, what we found most interesting was what had the largest growth rate overall during this period. That was information security with an outstanding 1579% growth. This should not be surprising with the amount of effort being placed on national security and corporate software security measures. Overall this data really only tells us one thing, high-tech is still king when it comes to patents, and it should not be ignored. When it comes to new products and new inventions, nothing spurs on the public like a new high tech gadget! We hope you find this information as useful as we found it interesting.

A couple of days ago, we told you about controlling a machine using one's brain. Today, we are going to talk to you about controlling a machine using gestures. Introducing GestureTek, a company that focuses on gesture control of interactive platforms.

Why is this interesting? Well, for one, what is in the market today requires a medium. Motions are sensed via touching or moving something concrete. Think a mouse, joystick, or device that holds accelerometers like the Wii controller. GestureTek, however, is a completely different concept. You don't touch the system, the system watches you. Users can now adjust volume, channels, and even surf the web using just one's hand gestures.

What is super cool is how broadly this technology can be used. We can imagine using this technology in any setting that requires remote operation of computer equipment. We can think of applications in surgical settings as well as the entertainment industry. It will be interesting to see how this technology grows over the years. Depending on how GestureTek controls its intellectual property, we can see them or others branch out in many different directions. It will also be interesting to see how this will compete with voice activated systems because they will have similar customers. The key lesson is that there is always more than one way to solve a problem, whether it is mind control, voice control, and now gesture control, many times there is a market large enough for all solutions!