БЛОГ

Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 249

Jan 5, 2021

Immortus solar sports car to offer unlimited range on sunny days

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Circa 2015


If you’ve ever scanned the comments section on an electric car or bike article, you’ll be familiar with this complaint: “that’s not green, it’s just a coal-powered vehicle.” Well, not this one. The Immortus is an electric car built to generate its own power through some 7 sq m (75 sq ft) of solar photovoltaic paneling. You can charge its battery off the mains if you have to, but if conditions are sunny, the inbuilt solar panels alone will let you drive at more than 60 km/h (37 mph) for an unlimited distance.

The Immortus is based on solar race car technology with the project originally founded by Australia’s Aurora Solar Car Team, which has competed in a bunch of solar race events across the world. Hence the light weight and the shape of the Immortus, which combines maximal sun exposure with extreme aerodynamics, including covered wheels.

Continue reading “Immortus solar sports car to offer unlimited range on sunny days” »

Jan 5, 2021

Electric cars rise to record 54% market share in Norway in 2020

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

OSLO (Reuters) — The sale of electric cars in Norway overtook those powered by petrol, diesel and hybrid engines last year, with German auto-maker Volkswagen replacing Tesla as the top battery-vehicle producer, new data showed on Tuesday.

Jan 4, 2021

Manta prepares to flight test a neat hybrid eVTOL/eSTOL prototype

Posted by in category: transportation

Switzerland’s Manta Aircraft is working on a flexible hybrid-electric canard aircraft design that will be capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or efficient short take-off and landing (STOL) operations. A one-third scale model has been built, and the team is preparing for its first flight tests.

The ANN1 and ANN2 aircraft are single-and tandem double-seat versions of the same airframe – a carbon composite-bodied plane shape with a small V tail, a large reverse wing at the rear and a smaller canard wing at the front. Forward propulsion is provided by four ducted electric fans hanging under the front edge of the rear wing, and for VTOL operations these can tilt to face upwards.

Balancing the pitch of the aircraft in a VTOL lift or hover are four more ducted fans in the nose and tail sections, bringing the total to eight props – a decent number for redundancy. On the prototype, these are exposed; if the ANN platform makes it to production, little covers can close over these props to reduce drag in forward flight.

Jan 4, 2021

Good News For Sailors: High Tech Lasers Could Replace Needle Guns

Posted by in categories: computing, transportation

The U.S. Navy is testing out a new solution to the age-old problem of prepping for painting. Instead of chipping, sandblasting or hydroblasting, it is adopting technology from the aerospace sector: laser ablation.

Teams at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard are already using a laser paint stripping system that was originally developed by Missouri-based tech company Adapt Laser for use on aircraft components. The device peels off rust, paint, oil and other contaminants without leaving any residue or damaging the substrate. Instead of a dust of chips, rust and blasting grit on the surface, it leaves clean and ready-to-paint bare steel, according to the Navy.

7th Fleet’s shipyard at Yokosuka (Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center, or SRF-JRMC) is looking at bringing laser ablation into its yard in order to improve conditions for its workforce and accelerate its workflow. When considering prep time, the stripping process and post-stripping cleanup, laser ablation may be faster than some traditional surface preparation processes, according to Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

Jan 3, 2021

Lilium partners with Lufthansa training arm to meet crew needs

Posted by in category: transportation

Lilium has selected Lufthansa’s training arm to develop a programme that will deliver a pipeline of qualified pilots for its developmental electric air taxi, as the Bavarian start-up solves another part of its pre-launch puzzle.

Jan 3, 2021

NASA backs development of cryogenic hydrogen system to power all-electric aircraft

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Circa 2019


The University of Illinois has announced that NASA is underwriting a project to develop a cryogenic hydrogen fuel cell system for powering all-electric aircraft. Funded by a three-year, US$6 million contract, the Center for Cryogenic High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft (CHEETA) will investigate the technology needed to produce a practical all-electric design to replace conventional fossil fuel propulsion systems.

The jet engine in all its variations has revolutionized air travel, but with airline profit margins running wafer thin in these ecologically conscious times, there’s a lot of interest in moving away from aircraft powered by fossil fuels and toward emission-free electric propulsion systems that aren’t dependent on petroleum and its volatile prices.

Continue reading “NASA backs development of cryogenic hydrogen system to power all-electric aircraft” »

Jan 3, 2021

The scramjet is a super-fast, experimental engine with no moving parts

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

To test its experimental X-43A — an unmanned, single-use, scramjet-powered, hypersonic aircraft of which three were built — NASA piggybacked it on two other aircraft.

First was the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, which carried under its wing the other two vehicles to an altitude at which they could be ‘drop-launched’.

Then there was the booster rocket, a modified version of a Pegasus rocket, which would accelerate the X-43A after the drop launch to a speed at which its scramjet engine could operate.

Jan 3, 2021

India’s first driverless metro train: 10 things to know

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

The operationalisation of these trains is a major technologcal milestone for the DMRC and the country. The 57-km Pink Line (Majlis Park–Shiv Vihar) will also have driverless operations by mid-2021, the DMRC said on Sunday.

Jan 2, 2021

BMW’s New MINI Concept Is An Autonomous Living Room On Wheels

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

This could make traffic less stressful! 😃


The MINI Vision Urbanaut concept vehicle is an all-new interpretation of a space focused on enhancing social experiences.

Jan 2, 2021

Hermeus hypersonic jet aims to fly New York to London in 90 minutes

Posted by in category: transportation

US aviation start-up Hermeus reveals plans for a hypersonic jet that would travel at five times the speed of sound. That could whisk passengers from New York to London in 90 minutes or less.