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A living collection from the Altringer Eagle Lab at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. Problems come from expert input and from what experts publish: research agendas, standards roadmaps, agency reports. The Problem Genome system drafts each write-up, and its sources are checked before it enters the collection. It can make mistakes. It exists to put problem definition at the center of innovation. Problem definitions here can be cited, and so can improvements to them. Teams can reach domain knowledge early and contribute what they learn.

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Genome › Breakthrough needed

Breakthrough needed · gene 7 of 15

assembling parts that exist

94 problems carry this gene · breakthrough:hardware-integration

Nothing needs to be invented from scratch. The sensors, processors, and batteries exist, but nobody has packaged them into one working device or platform that survives real conditions. Integration is a hard problem of its own, involving power budgets, interference between components, ruggedness, and calibration across subsystems. The advance is the combination.

Related genes

a way to see itsensingnobody can detect or measure the thing yet, and progress waits on a new way to observe it better form or interfacedesignthe technology exists, but its shape, interface, or interaction keeps it from working for people a new way to makeprocessthe thing can exist, but no one has a manufacturing or operating method that produces it when needed no known way to build ittechnicalthe core barrier is an engineering or scientific challenge that no known approach can solve

How to recognize it

Check each required component against what can be bought or built today. If every sensor, actuator, and computing piece is available, and the gap is making them work together as one unit ready for the field, this gene applies. If a core detection ability doesn't exist at all, that's 'a way to see it'.

Our system re-reads samples blind to test genes like this one. Genes it disagrees on are drawn dashed.

94 problems in 17 fields. Filter them, then share the link.

field: the built worldthe extra deck nobody calculatedbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldasbestos-free, says the paperworkbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energysprings nobody measuredbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: the built worldcameras that cry wolf on the trackstested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldthe pole that whips oncetested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldmeasuring how deep the stone sitstested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldcalibrated, but is it right?built without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningnobody counts the whole daymeasured the wrong thinghigh field: society & learningthe load has to go somewheretested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldthe cupful that moves the musselsbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: the built worldretrofit panels above the fifth floortested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldwhen is wet timber dry enough?tested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldbridges with no bottomtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldmeasuring concrete mid-printtested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsthe zipper problem in textile recyclingthe economics don't workhigh field: making & materialsthe fire hiding in the recycling binbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldfresh at dawn, half price by duskbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldtwo numbers for the same fieldtested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe chlorine pump accepts any commandit fell between the crackshigh field: digital & spacelaser links that clouds can killtested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldinspection dives that end too soontested in the wrong worldmedium field: making & materialsthe bond looks perfect but might be emptytested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldthe building runs on protocols with no passwordstested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacefour disciplines, no common languageit fell between the crackshigh field: the built worldconcrete below the waterline is invisibletested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldthe battery eats the cargo spacebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldthe ocean's bandwidth is almost zerotested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldsixty-two ships for six hundred cablesit fell between the cracksmedium field: the built worldmillimeter precision in the factory, gaps on sitetested in the wrong worldmedium field: society & learningthe names we cannot returntested in the wrong worldmedium field: health & medicineone in ten pills is a liebuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: health & medicinethree days to name the bugtested in the wrong worldmedium field: digital & spacehandoff at seventeen thousand miles per hourtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldmixed rubble, no way to sort ittested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldsealed for efficiency, sick from the airit fell between the crackshigh field: health & medicineblood tells everything, nothing else cantested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinetoo far from the nearest hospitalbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineevery cancer, a different screeningtested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinebreathing blindit fell between the crackshigh field: health & medicinelistening to the heartbeat, missing the breathmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: health & medicineorgans without blood vesselstested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe robot waits for every commandtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldseventy-seven biosensors, one tested on real foodtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldsensors degrade in real soiltested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialswhat every hand can do, no robot cantested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe oximeter lies about darker skinbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineno alarm before the last breaththe economics don't workhigh field: digital & spaceno instrument knows what alien life looks likemeasured the wrong thinghigh field: digital & spacebringing mars home without bringing mars lifetested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacethirteen years to uranus, no battery laststhe economics don't workhigh field: digital & spacethe bigger the mirror, the blurrier the viewtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spaceseventy thousand tonnes of liquid argon, undergroundtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacea planet lost in its star's glaretested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldseaweed farms with no open-ocean harvestertested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsthe lab robot can't read its own resultstested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldthree percent of the pipes, most of the leaksthe rules got in the wayhigh field: health & medicinethe test demands what the sickest can't producetested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicineblood cultures fail the smallest patientstested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe breathing machine wasn't built for the tropicstested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinecold war reactors, modern medicinethe economics don't workhigh field: food & the living worldsatellites blink before replacements arrivethe rules got in the wayhigh field: water & energythe pipe melts before the cycle completestested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energynothing survives the sun's edgetested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energytoo heavy to fly cleantested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energyno fuse exists for this voltagethe economics don't workhigh field: digital & spaceten times the data, same computing budgetbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: digital & spaceforty percent of the power just keeps it cooltested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacechiplets run hot and nobody can model whytested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinethe robot needs a therapist toobuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineworks on the bench, fails in the fieldtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldthe fault line keeps its schedule secretit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldcould be centuries, could be decadestested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacethe spectrum nobody can build radios forit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldcounting species faster than they vanishtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldwe ask better questions than we can measureit fell between the crackshigh field: the built worldtwenty-one years of spectrum, handed to wi-fithe rules got in the wayhigh field: digital & spacespace computers fall shortthe economics don't workhigh field: digital & spacenothing survives fourteen nights at minus two-thirtythe economics don't workhigh field: digital & spaceoxygen locked in moon dusttested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spaceeurope's satellites run on american chipsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: digital & spacehalf the oxygen vented to spacetested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spacegrabbing a tumbling satellite nobody controlsit fell between the crackshigh field: health & medicineoxygen machines that drown in humiditytested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldimmutable records of unverified factstested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spaceexplain the defense, expose the weaknesstested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe spinning stops, the frequency driftstested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energytoo slow to catch the pathogen before outbreaktested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsai needs more bandwidth than packages can delivertested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldunderwater batteries nobody can easily replacethe economics don't workhigh field: food & the living worldonce it sinks, the algorithm loses sighttested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldbrilliant in the lab, corroded in the seatested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinetwenty-five years in the lab, not in the eyetested in the wrong worldhigh field: making & materialsthe metals we throw awaytested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldprecise until it matterstested in the wrong worldhigh