Lifeboat Foundation

We already recover power from the wheels of some cars when slowing. Kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) have been used in Formula One racing to store energy in a flywheel when braking, and then push it back to the wheels later for a boost in speed. Electric cars often use regenerative braking, which converts the speed of the wheels into electrical power to recharge the battery. These systems are a great way to increase efficiency, but like everything in the Universe, they are not 100 per cent efficient. Sadly, the laws of physics prohibit the existence of true perpetual motion, so it’s the best we can do.

:0000000000

Forget large arrays of sensors and radars. Forget hard-coded road rules. British startup Wayve taught a car to teach itself to drive, and using only some cameras, a sat-nav and 20 hours’ worth of experience, it’s already driving itself short distances on unfamiliar UK roads.

Continue reading “After just 20 hours of training, Wayve’s fast-learning AI car is already driving itself on unfamiliar roads” »

Almost 5 years after Elon Musk allowed other manufacturers access to Tesla patents without fear of legal action – effectively making them open source – Toyota has announced that it’s opening up its vehicle electrification patent archive to help speed up the development and adoption of electric vehicles.

Tesla has released a video showing the first delivery of a vehicle to a customer using a Tesla Semi electric truck prototype – showing a glimpse of a future with zero-emission electric vehicle deliveries.

Over the last few quarters since Model 3 production has been somewhat sustainable at high volume, Tesla has had issues delivering the high numbers of vehicles.

Continue reading “Watch Tesla use its electric semi prototype to deliver a Model X to customer” »

A resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has made record time, traveling from Earth to the space station in just three hours and 21 minutes. The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with a Progress MS-11 cargo spaceship was launched from the Russian space Agency Roscosmos’ Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:01 a.m. on Thursday, April 4.

The super speedy travel time was possible due to a change in how resupply craft approach the ISS. Before, the resupply craft would have to orbit around the Earth dozens of times in order to catch up with the speed of the space station. But now there is a “fast-track” launch which allows the craft to catch up to the station in just two rotations. The resupply craft is launched less than a minute before the space station passes overhead of the launch site, so the craft can catch up to the station more quickly.

Nick Hague, an astronaut aboard the ISS, tweeted his approval of the achievement. “The progress resupply vehicle made record timing as it launched and docked to the station in under three and a half hours,” he said. “Pretty impressive!” The people of Twitter were impressed too. “…quicker than JFK-LAX!” one person commented.

Continue reading “Record-breaking Trip to International Space Station in under 4 Hours” »

More than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. If that sounds dangerous, that’s because it it is. The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and manned spacecraft. NASA takes the threat of collisions with space debris seriously and has a long-standing set of guidelines on how to deal with each potential collision threat.

Plane wings are traditionally strong, thick and sturdy but a team of researchers led by NASA has created a flexible wing that morphs as it flies.

Measuring 14 feet or four meters wide, the new wing is constructed from thousands of units that fit together and function in a similar way to a bird’s wing, says one of the report’s authors, NASA research engineer, Nick Cramer.

Switzerland-based energy tech startup Innolith AG announces that it is developing world’s first 1000 Wh/kg rechargeable battery.

Under development in the company’s German laboratory, the new Innolith Energy Battery would be capable of powering an electric vehicle for over 1000 km (over 620 miles) on a single charge. The Innolith Energy Battery would also radically reduce costs due to the avoidance of exotic and expensive materials combined with the very high energy density of the system.

In addition to its range and cost advantages, the Innolith Energy Battery will be the first non-flammable lithium-based battery for use in EVs. The Innolith battery uses a non-flammable inorganic electrolyte, unlike conventional EV batteries that use a flammable organic electrolyte. The switch to non-flammable batteries removes the primary cause of battery fires that have beset the manufacturers of EVs.

Continue reading “Innolith Energy Battery could power an EV for 1000 km on a single charge” »

PureLiFi partner aeroLiFi who specialises in LiFi solutions for the aerospace industry, is exhibiting at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX). aeroLiFi will present a demonstration of a multimedia LiFi network for an aircraft cabin. Merging standard LiFi technology components with latest innovations made in multicast network protocols to show the first all optical multimedia IFE solution for aircraft cabins.