Boston Dynamics is announcing this morning that Spot, its versatile quadruped robot, is now for sale. The machine’s animal-like behavior regularly electrifies crowds at tech conferences, and like other Boston Dynamics’ robots, Spot is a YouTube sensation whose videos amass millions of views.
Now anyone interested in buying a Spot—or a pack of them—can go to the company’s website and submit an order form. But don’t pull out your credit card just yet. Spot may cost as much as a luxury car, and it is not really available to consumers. The initial sale, described as an “early adopter program,” is targeting businesses. Boston Dynamics wants to find customers in select industries and help them deploy Spots in real-world scenarios.
A paint so impractical (and cool) — think matte black squared — you know some idiot will have to try it on a street car, even though it doesn’t like being left outside, or washed. This nanotube coating reflects just 0.036 percent of light.
Get your self-lacing Nikes ready, because its time to shred up the streets on your very own real hover board! After decades of waiting, the hoverboards seen in Back To The Future will now be available for your personal enjoyment. This is heavy, Doc.
The tool instrumental to the exploits of Michael J. Fox’s time-traveling Marty McFly would have ended on more than one occasion if not for the help of the futuristic skateboard.
The brand claims it’s the first luxury battery electric vehicle promising both autonomous and zero-emissions driving, with an opulent touch.
The car will be powered by two electric motors, which will be mounted on its floor, one on each axle, freeing up a considerable amount of space in the shell for the occupant to enjoy.
The concept features gesture and voice control systems, a levitating key, which will work as the driver’s own personal assistant, rotating seats and premium materials.
Solar power is on the rise. You can see the evidence on rooftops and in the desert, where utility-scale solar plants are popping up. The picture is not all rosy, but if the recent past is any indication, solar power is going to help lead the transition to a carbon-free future, and it might do it faster than we all expected.
Elon Musk and Tesla promised solar roof tiles in 2016, but the industry might not need an upgrade as its grown significantly with the solar panels currently available. You can see the evidence both on individual rooftops and in the utility-scale solar plants increasingly popping up in deserts across the country. In the United States, of all about 30% of the new power capacity added to the grid in 2018 was from solar.
But the picture is not all rosy. Solar power (and sunshine) is intermittent and the price of lithium ion batteries, one of the most popular current storage solutions, is still relatively high.
These are real problems that the industry needs to tackle if solar is going to reach its potential. However, if the recent past is any indication, solar power is going to help lead the transition to a carbon-free future, and it might do it faster than we all expected. Watch the video to learn more.
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Houston Mechatronics (HMI) unveiled Aquanaut at the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, one year after the announcement of the platform concept.
Aquanaut is a revolutionary multi-mode transforming all-electric undersea vehicle. The vehicle is capable of efficient long-distance transit and data collection in ‘AUV’ (autonomous underwater vehicle) mode.
After transforming into ‘ROV’ (remotely operated vehicle) mode the head of the vehicle pitches up, the hull separates, and two arms are activated so that Aquanaut may manipulate its environment.
The i-CoBat project, operating under the UK government’s Faraday Battery Challenge, aims to create an electric vehicle (EV) battery pack which is cooled through immersion using MIVOLT, a biodegradable cooling fluid developed by specialist manufacturer M&I Materials, the project’s leader. Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), the manufacturing research arm of the University of Warwick, along with engineering consultancy Ricardo plc, are partnering with M&I to optimise the EV battery cooling technology for a longer lasting, safer battery product.
A UK consortium is developing new EV battery cooling technology, with the aim of minimising range anxiety for electric vehicle users.
Daimler has just announced that it is halting all future development of gasoline engines. The automaker will solely focus on electric cars from here on out. This implies that Mercedes-Benz is taking the same approach.
The future is electric. We all know that and so too does Daimler now with this move to electric-drive only for future vehicles.
