Future of Engineering
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Monday, June 16, 2008
Honda's Clarity - A Car That Runs on Hydrogen and Emits Only Water
A car which runs on hydrogen and electricity and emits only water from its exhaust pipe has started to come off a production line.
The first recipients of this technological marvel are Hollywood celebs Jamie Lee Curtis, husband Christopher Guest, '24' actress Laura Harris and film producer Ron Yerxa.
Hybrids require conventional gasoline, but the Honda Clarity is powered entirely by hydrogen.The fuel cell combines hydrogen with oxygen to make electricity. The electricity then powers the electric motor, which in turn propels the vehicle. Water is the only byproduct the FCX Clarity leaves behind.
Currently Honda aims to roll out just 200 cars a year. You don't have to be a celebrity to afford them, you can lease them out for $600 per month, including insurance.
Honda's creation FCX Clarity cars ushers in a new era of eco-friendly cars.The day isn't far when fuel cell cars will be a part of the mainstream and not just limited to celebrities.
Source - Honda
The first recipients of this technological marvel are Hollywood celebs Jamie Lee Curtis, husband Christopher Guest, '24' actress Laura Harris and film producer Ron Yerxa.
Hybrids require conventional gasoline, but the Honda Clarity is powered entirely by hydrogen.The fuel cell combines hydrogen with oxygen to make electricity. The electricity then powers the electric motor, which in turn propels the vehicle. Water is the only byproduct the FCX Clarity leaves behind.
Currently Honda aims to roll out just 200 cars a year. You don't have to be a celebrity to afford them, you can lease them out for $600 per month, including insurance.
Honda's creation FCX Clarity cars ushers in a new era of eco-friendly cars.The day isn't far when fuel cell cars will be a part of the mainstream and not just limited to celebrities.
Source - Honda
Labels: Energy-Environment-Engineering, Logistics-Transportation-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Honda's Clarity - A Car That Runs on Hydrogen and Emits Only Water posted by Vanessa : 11:25 PM
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Mechanical Engineering Becoming the Choice for Students
Mechanical engineering is all about designing, building, and maintaining machines of all types and sizes. It's an engineering classic, dating to the early days of the industrial revolution, when engineering know-how was needed to harness the potential of the steam engine. But despite its 19th-century pedigree, M.E. is today at the heart of many cutting-edge technologies.
That makes it a hot choice for students. It's by far the most popular undergraduate degree in engineering; according to the American Society for Engineering Education, 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in 2006. At the graduate level, it's the third-most-popular discipline among engineering master's and is back in first place among doctorates.
More from
That makes it a hot choice for students. It's by far the most popular undergraduate degree in engineering; according to the American Society for Engineering Education, 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in 2006. At the graduate level, it's the third-most-popular discipline among engineering master's and is back in first place among doctorates.
More from
here
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., Margaret Anderson, space-travel bug, NASA, Rochester Institute of Technology,
co-op program, hybrid rockets, experimental power plants, liquid fuel technologies, counterintuitive, fledgling rocket, RIT
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., Margaret Anderson, space-travel bug, NASA, Rochester Institute of Technology,
co-op program, hybrid rockets, experimental power plants, liquid fuel technologies, counterintuitive, fledgling rocket, RIT
Labels: Education, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Mechanical Engineering Becoming the Choice for Students posted by Ecacofonix : 5:12 AM
1 Comments
Monday, April 14, 2008
Lunar Rover-Like Vehicle for People with Reduced Mobility
Tokyo's Waseda University is developing some really weird-looking vehicles and mechanical aids for people with reduced mobility. There is one that looks like a cross betwen a Segway and a lunar rover, but unlike Dean Kamen's invention, it requires the user to actually walk on top of it, although with limited motion. This achieves three effects: first, it keeps people doing a little bit of exercise; second, the movement gets translated into a faster motion; and third, thanks to its structure, the user will be able to terrorize people out of walkways with complete safety.
More from here
More from here
Labels: Bio-engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Lunar Rover-Like Vehicle for People with Reduced Mobility posted by Ecacofonix : 5:18 AM
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Theo Jansen's Kinetic Sculptures Could be of Help to Engineers
Kinetic sculptures that can move around a beach demonstrate a number of innovative techniques that more mainstream engineers might wish to tap into. Made of plastic tubing that is normally used as cable conduit, they walk about under wind or compressed air power. Some can even sense the presence of water or soft sand and avoid it – without recourse to any kind of electronics. The walking mechanisms are unique, and offer a much more energy-efficient way of crossing soft ground than using wheels and tracks. They represent a possible template for future planetary exploration vehicles, but it is some of the component mechanisms that many may find most interesting and potentially transferable
Theo Jansen originally studied physics at the University of Delft, but soon turned to art, while retaining his interest in science and engineering. He has given his machines names, as if they were living animals – saying “I got the plans to make new forms of life” – and which he sees as evolving into a new type of machine
* The machines are mostly made of plastic cable conduit tubing and are purely mechanical, although some use pneumatic
* They use a walking mechanism for traversing soft grounds that is much more energy efficient than any other
* They also include a number of mechanical and pneumatic innovations worthy of study and of potential usefulness in mainstream engineering
More from here
Theo Jansen originally studied physics at the University of Delft, but soon turned to art, while retaining his interest in science and engineering. He has given his machines names, as if they were living animals – saying “I got the plans to make new forms of life” – and which he sees as evolving into a new type of machine
* The machines are mostly made of plastic cable conduit tubing and are purely mechanical, although some use pneumatic
* They use a walking mechanism for traversing soft grounds that is much more energy efficient than any other
* They also include a number of mechanical and pneumatic innovations worthy of study and of potential usefulness in mainstream engineering
More from here
Labels: Design-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Theo Jansen's Kinetic Sculptures Could be of Help to Engineers posted by Ecacofonix : 4:33 AM
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Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Rubidium-Xenon Gaseous Gyroscope by Lisa Lust & Dan Younger
Micro-electromechanical gyroscopes are widely used to in devices as diverse as game controllers and weapons guidance systems. They work by vibrating a tiny mass and then measuring how it is pushed around by Coriolis forces during rotation. But they have a number of drawbacks; say Lisa Lust and Dan Youngner from the aerospace equipment company Honeywell International in Morristown, New Jersey, US.
Lust and Youngner have come up with a new type of gyroscope that avoids these problems. It is essentially a cavity containing a mixture of rubidium and xenon atoms that can be controlled using two lasers. They say the device is low powered, physically small and robust since it has no moving or vibrating parts. They suggest it could be used to help uncrewed vehicles and robots navigate. Or it could aid personal navigational when GPS is not available – for example, inside a cave or large building.
More from here
Keywords: Gaseous Gyroscope, Personal Navigation, GPS, Polarisation, Xenon Atoms, Lust and Youngner, Rubidium, Micro-electromechanical Gyroscopes.
Related Blogposts
Gaseous Gyroscope
Lust and Youngner have come up with a new type of gyroscope that avoids these problems. It is essentially a cavity containing a mixture of rubidium and xenon atoms that can be controlled using two lasers. They say the device is low powered, physically small and robust since it has no moving or vibrating parts. They suggest it could be used to help uncrewed vehicles and robots navigate. Or it could aid personal navigational when GPS is not available – for example, inside a cave or large building.
More from here
Keywords: Gaseous Gyroscope, Personal Navigation, GPS, Polarisation, Xenon Atoms, Lust and Youngner, Rubidium, Micro-electromechanical Gyroscopes.
Related Blogposts
Gaseous Gyroscope
Labels: Mechanical-Engineering, Physics
PermaLink - Rubidium-Xenon Gaseous Gyroscope by Lisa Lust & Dan Younger posted by Ecacofonix : 5:47 AM
0 Comments
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Paul Saffo - What's in Store for the Future of Technology?
What's in store for the future of technology? For paul saffo, a noted silicon valley forecaster and a consulting associate professor of mechanical engineering at stanford university, that's the wrong question. "what is the future of homeownership?" saffo asked me rhetorically during a recent interview. His answer is as interesting as the question. Saffo says a robot is any computer-powered device or software program that directly interacts with the physical world. A "softbot," for example, is what you get from nuance communications when it creates a voice recognition system that gives you directions or assists you with a travel booking.
More from this article
Keywords: Softbot, saffo, nuance communications, bionics, multicore chips, advanced micro devices(amd),
More from this article
Keywords: Softbot, saffo, nuance communications, bionics, multicore chips, advanced micro devices(amd),
Labels: Automation, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Paul Saffo - What's in Store for the Future of Technology? posted by Ecacofonix : 5:16 AM
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Sunday, April 6, 2008
Mechanical Engineering Future - Bright & Getting Brighter
Mechanical engineering is all about designing, building, and maintaining machines of all types and sizes. It's an engineering classic, dating to the early days of the industrial revolution, when engineering know-how was needed to harness the potential of the steam engine. But despite its 19th-century pedigree, M.E. is today at the heart of many cutting-edge technologies.
That makes it a hot choice for students. It's by far the most popular undergraduate degree in engineering; according to the American Society for Engineering Education, 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in 2006. At the graduate level, it's the third-most-popular discipline among engineering master's and is back in first place among doctorates.
Why the demand? M.E. students have to master key elements of chemical, civil, and electrical engineering, as well as physics and advanced mathematics, particularly calculus. "The breadth of mechanical engineering is unique," explains Larry Silverberg, the associate head of the mechanical and aerospace engineering program at North Carolina State University. "And, no question, that's a selling point."
"The coming decade is going to be the decade of energy, and when you think energy, you think mechanical engineering," says another professional. That's because, as Iowa State University M.E. Prof. Robert C. Brown explains, mechanical engineers are not only experts in thermodynamics—the study and uses of energy—they know how to apply its laws to bring machines to life.
More from hereThat makes it a hot choice for students. It's by far the most popular undergraduate degree in engineering; according to the American Society for Engineering Education, 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in 2006. At the graduate level, it's the third-most-popular discipline among engineering master's and is back in first place among doctorates.
Why the demand? M.E. students have to master key elements of chemical, civil, and electrical engineering, as well as physics and advanced mathematics, particularly calculus. "The breadth of mechanical engineering is unique," explains Larry Silverberg, the associate head of the mechanical and aerospace engineering program at North Carolina State University. "And, no question, that's a selling point."
"The coming decade is going to be the decade of energy, and when you think energy, you think mechanical engineering," says another professional. That's because, as Iowa State University M.E. Prof. Robert C. Brown explains, mechanical engineers are not only experts in thermodynamics—the study and uses of energy—they know how to apply its laws to bring machines to life.
Labels: Education, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Mechanical Engineering Future - Bright & Getting Brighter posted by Ecacofonix : 9:59 PM
0 Comments
Friday, April 4, 2008
Bionic Wrench from LoggerHead Tools Receives Design Award
LoggerHead Tools has received an IF (International Forum Design GmbH) Universal Design Award for its Bionic Wrench™ product line, a new class of adjustable ergonomic wrenches, with a patented mechanically efficient mechanism, that distribute force equally around a nut or bolt. This is the only product manufactured in America to receive a 2008 IF Universal Design Award. Since its launch in May of 2005, LoggerHead has received a total of 12 other international new product design awards for the Bionic Wrench™ and its other inventive product lines.
Full info on bionic wrenches from the Loggerhead Tools web site
Full info on bionic wrenches from the Loggerhead Tools web site
Labels: Design-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Bionic Wrench from LoggerHead Tools Receives Design Award posted by Ecacofonix : 11:36 PM
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) - The Future of Motoring?
Automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin is convinced that his New York-based company, Visionary Vehicles, will introduce a globally sourced, Chinese-built plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to the US market in 2009. According to Bricklin, the car will achieve fuel efficiency of at least 100 mpg, boast a level of detail to rival Mercedes, and roll into consumer’s driveways for $35,000. Bricklin sees it as a no-compromise automobile that will embarrass the Prius in the areas of mileage, luxury, and desirability. “This 35-mpg garbage is going to be history,” says Bricklin. “If I have the opportunity to change this industry, I’m going to. And I do have the opportunity to change this industry. So I will.”
The claim brings Bricklin head-to-head with the world’s biggest automakers as they race to develop a technology many are heralding as the future of motoring.
Full story here
The claim brings Bricklin head-to-head with the world’s biggest automakers as they race to develop a technology many are heralding as the future of motoring.
Full story here
Labels: Energy-Environment-Engineering, Logistics-Transportation-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) - The Future of Motoring? posted by Ecacofonix : 1:42 AM
0 Comments
Friday, March 21, 2008
Pininfarina Sintesi Sports Car - Liquid Packaging, Starting with the Passengers!
The Sintesi is a sports car with four doors and four seats, developed by an innovative approach: it does not consider the car as a shape that covers the mechanicals, but one that gives a shape to the mechanicals around the passengers, starting from the latter. This approach, which is known as "Liquid" Packaging, tends to improve weight distribution and lower the centre of gravity, important elements for driving dynamics.
Pininfarina made this possible by close collaboration with Nuvera, which developed the Quadrivium Fuel Cells system, the various components of which were distributed around the car, with four fuel cells positioned near to the wheels. The result is that the space for passengers is much more generous - in proportion to the total volume of the car - without detracting from the sporty line with its relaxed, elegant profile which is sleek, tapered and aerodynamic
Full story here (and nice pics too)
Pininfarina made this possible by close collaboration with Nuvera, which developed the Quadrivium Fuel Cells system, the various components of which were distributed around the car, with four fuel cells positioned near to the wheels. The result is that the space for passengers is much more generous - in proportion to the total volume of the car - without detracting from the sporty line with its relaxed, elegant profile which is sleek, tapered and aerodynamic
Full story here (and nice pics too)
Labels: Design-Engineering, Logistics-Transportation-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Pininfarina Sintesi Sports Car - Liquid Packaging, Starting with the Passengers! posted by Ecacofonix : 12:09 AM
0 Comments
Thursday, March 20, 2008
US Schools Relying More on Robots for Teaching
Several Tucson(Arizona)-area schools are relying on robots to help teach students math and science principles, computer skills, engineering, teamwork and leadership.
Schools with robotics teams have transformed the after-school activity into a part of the school's curriculum by creating science and computer elective classes that teach robotics, while other schools have integrated robotics into regular science classes.
Full story here
Schools with robotics teams have transformed the after-school activity into a part of the school's curriculum by creating science and computer elective classes that teach robotics, while other schools have integrated robotics into regular science classes.
Full story here
Labels: Electronics-Communications-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - US Schools Relying More on Robots for Teaching posted by Ecacofonix : 11:56 PM
0 Comments
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Univ of Arizona shooting for the moon in $30M contest
University of Arizona scientists and students are reaching for the moon in a quest for a $30 million payoff.
The UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department have teamed with Raytheon Missile Systems and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to design, build, fly and operate a robotic lunar lander mission.
The team, called Astrobotic Technology Inc., is competing with nine other groups for the the Google Lunar X Prize, which offers a $30 million purse for the first private robotic mission to the moon that meets operational specifications.
Full story here
The UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department have teamed with Raytheon Missile Systems and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to design, build, fly and operate a robotic lunar lander mission.
The team, called Astrobotic Technology Inc., is competing with nine other groups for the the Google Lunar X Prize, which offers a $30 million purse for the first private robotic mission to the moon that meets operational specifications.
Full story here
Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Univ of Arizona shooting for the moon in $30M contest posted by Ecacofonix : 3:09 AM
0 Comments
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Social Robots Being Developed by Japanese
Social Robots Being Developed by Japanese
At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust. Hooked up to a database of words clustered by association, the robot — dubbed Kansei, or "sensibility" — responds to the word "war" by quivering in what looks like disgust and fear. It hears "love," and its pink lips smile.
While robots are a long way from matching human emotional complexity, the country is perhaps the closest to a future — once the stuff of science fiction — where humans and intelligent robots routinely live side by side and interact socially.
Full story here
At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust. Hooked up to a database of words clustered by association, the robot — dubbed Kansei, or "sensibility" — responds to the word "war" by quivering in what looks like disgust and fear. It hears "love," and its pink lips smile.
While robots are a long way from matching human emotional complexity, the country is perhaps the closest to a future — once the stuff of science fiction — where humans and intelligent robots routinely live side by side and interact socially.
Full story here
Labels: Industrial-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering, Society
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Robotic Vehicle that Won the Darpa Urban Challenge Race
Robotic Vehicle that Won the Race
Whittaker, the Fredkin professor of robotics, director of the Field Robotics Center and founder of the National Robotics Engineering Consortium, all at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, is a big name in the robotics field. He's credited with liberating robots from repetitive assembly line work and setting them loose in the field.
Most recently, Whittaker led a Carnegie Mellon team that won a robotic vehicle race called the Darpa Urban Challenge. The race was overseen by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The goal of the race was to show that self-driving vehicles could conduct military missions without human assistance. The U.S. wants to use robotic supply trucks soon to keep soldiers out of harm's way. Whittaker's vehicle zipped through the 60-mile course in a mock urban setting in Victorville, Calif. The robot car had to merge into traffic, deal with busy intersections, avoid obstacles and follow California driving rules.
Full story here
Related blogposts
Robots Take to the Streets: Junior and the DARPA Urban Challenge
Whittaker, the Fredkin professor of robotics, director of the Field Robotics Center and founder of the National Robotics Engineering Consortium, all at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, is a big name in the robotics field. He's credited with liberating robots from repetitive assembly line work and setting them loose in the field.
Most recently, Whittaker led a Carnegie Mellon team that won a robotic vehicle race called the Darpa Urban Challenge. The race was overseen by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The goal of the race was to show that self-driving vehicles could conduct military missions without human assistance. The U.S. wants to use robotic supply trucks soon to keep soldiers out of harm's way. Whittaker's vehicle zipped through the 60-mile course in a mock urban setting in Victorville, Calif. The robot car had to merge into traffic, deal with busy intersections, avoid obstacles and follow California driving rules.
Full story here
Related blogposts
Robots Take to the Streets: Junior and the DARPA Urban Challenge
Labels: Industrial-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Robotic Vehicle that Won the Darpa Urban Challenge Race posted by Ecacofonix : 3:43 AM
0 Comments
Friday, February 15, 2008
Robotics will Help EOD Soldiers - Future Robotics @ War College Preview
War College Previews Future Robotics
Looking into the future of transformational technology means moving away from human capabilities and letting the robots do the dirty work.
"Robotics like this will help give EOD Soldiers a safe standing distance. We want to take the man out any mission that's dull, dirty or dangerous".
Full story here
Looking into the future of transformational technology means moving away from human capabilities and letting the robots do the dirty work.
"Robotics like this will help give EOD Soldiers a safe standing distance. We want to take the man out any mission that's dull, dirty or dangerous".
Full story here
Labels: Industrial-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Robotics will Help EOD Soldiers - Future Robotics @ War College Preview posted by Ecacofonix : 7:06 AM
0 Comments
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Birds, Bats, Insects Outperform Aircraft in Aerobics, Can Teach Aerospace Engineers
Birds, bats and insects hold secrets for aerospace engineers
Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. You get the idea...
More from here
Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. You get the idea...
More from here
Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Birds, Bats, Insects Outperform Aircraft in Aerobics, Can Teach Aerospace Engineers posted by Ecacofonix : 10:36 PM
0 Comments