SUNDAY AUGUST 29 2010
Bus lanes are a great idea . . . if you are in the bus. To the motorist, an empty lane - and they are usually empty - is just a waste of space.
Bus lanes speed up buses at the expense of cars, thus making bus travel more attractive while annoying millions drivers for whom the car is their only practical method of transport. Without bus lanes, cars have more of the road real estate at their disposal, but public transport becomes slower/less attractive so choking the roads with even more cars.
But imagine having it both ways, i.e. buses unhindered by cars, cars able to use the entire road? Well the Chinese Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment is developing a 3D Express coach that straddles the traffic lanes enabling cars to drive underneath it.
The 6m (20') coach will be powered by a combination of electricity and solar energy, and will be able to travel up to 60 kms/hr (35mph) carrying 1200 -1400 passengers.
A major benefit of the straddling bus is its short construction life cycle. It should only take a year to build 40 km compared with at least three years for a subway system. And the bus will not need the large parking spaces to load/unload passengers as it can stop virtually anywhere without impeeding traffic.
The first 200kms of track is set for construction in Beijing's Mentougou district in late 2010. The Chairman of the Huashi Future Parking Equipment company boasts it will take only a year and (and $73 million) to build the futuristic transportation system.
A tip of our hat to an innovative transport solution that should make (nearly) everyone happy.
SUNDAY AUGUST 08 2010
Said to represent a breakthrough in terms of weight, safety, useability and efficiency, the T.25 is a three-seater with a footprint that is considerably smaller than the likes of the Smart fortwo or Toyota IQ, a point reflected in its 575kg kerb weight.
Like the Smart car, the T.27 can be forward parked in spaces, its small dimensions - at 1.3m wide it's 26cm narrower than a Smartcar - meaning three can fit in the space it would take one conventional car to parallel park.
A unique single door design means that it is possible to get in and out of the car even when it is parked in close proximity to another, opening up the possibility of fitting two T.27s into one conventional single garage.
This tiny width also means that - in theory - two T.27s can drive side-by-side in the same direction in one traffic lane. That should be interesting.
Despite such diminutive dimensions the T.25 is said to be incredibly strong thanks to the use of materials and technology derived from Formula One racing.
Top Speed: 105kph
0-100kph: Less than 15 seconds
Range: 80 – 100 miles
"The iStream process used to produce the T.25/T.27 is a complete re-think on high volume materials, as well as the manufacturing process and offers a significant reduction in CO2 emissions over the lifecycle of the vehicles produced using it, compared with conventional ones," said CEO Gordon Murray. "The simplified assembly process means that an assembly plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This could reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by approximately 80%."
The T.25 is scheduled to go on sale in 2012, with the T.27 to follow.
For more information, please visit www.gordonmurraydesign.com
SUNDAY JULY 11 2010
Engineers at the Human Communications Technology Lab at the University of British Columbia have developed pCubee, a three dimensional cube - from two dimensional flat LCD screens - that adjusts the 3D images based on your position. And motion sensors allow you to interact with the subject.
“Most people think 3-D is all about stereo and having alternating frames to help the brain perceive depth,” says Sidney Fels, who leads the Human Communication Technologies Lab at the University of British Columbia, where the project was designed. “What we wanted to offer is a fish-tank-like experience in a handheld device.”
“Our brains are wired to perceive motion parallax and interpret it as 3-D. “It’s one of the reasons why even if you have just one eye, you can do reasonably well with depth in the real world.”
pCubee is only a research project at the moment, so you can't buy one just yet, but looking at the demonstration it appears to work well. The box has five flat display panels, each of which shows a different perspective of a 3D image. By rotating the box, you can see above, behind, or to the side of whatever's being shown, and even interact with the image using a stylus. The effect is achieved through a combination of motion detection and perspective-corrected images.
The pCubee has three graphics feeds that drive the screens on the sides of the box. A motion tracker monitors both the pCubee and the user’s head. The software that powers the device ensures that the user’s view of the box and the rendered perspective on each screen are in sync.
Cutting edge 3D technology and somebody thought that shaking cows around was the best way to demonstate it?
For more information, please visit http://www.cubee.ca/
SUNDAY JUNE 27 2010
To provide any motion cues, the platform has to move. To accomplish this, multiple linear actuators are driven by a networked 3-axis digital servo drive. The actuator motors provide 3hp peak and 500lbs of peak thrust each; each actuator has 18" of travel. The trapezoidal strut shape, provides bracing, bridge-style, against the large lateral loads experienced during fast moves, allowing the machine to move faster and more reliably over time than comparable machines with standard tubular struts.
In the 401, the transfer of information is direct, and much closer to what you'd feel in a real car. And the large range of rotation, something you won't find even in extremely expensive 6DOF platforms, lets that rotation get closer to the amount you'd feel if you were actually driving, and by extension lets you feel problems even sooner.
The additional range also means a slower 'wash out' - the gradual return to center that keeps the machine from winding up like a tether ball - and so you're far less likely than in machines with 30 degrees or less of yaw to feel like you're spinning while heading down the straight.
So far so go, but what Force Dynamics found when they started testing the 401 was this: Not only is it important to feel the rotation of the car when you've broken the rear end loose, or in a four-wheel drift, but it makes an incredible difference even when the car's glued down to the road. The ability to feel the rotation of the car through the corner means that you know where you are in space; that sense of turning tells you even more than your eyes how close you are to the apex.
And what's it like to drive? See for yourself below.
You know you want one, I know I do!
For more information, please visit www.force-dynamics.com
SUNDAY JUNE 13 2010
Visitors enter the weird and wonderful world of life a depths down to 11,000 metres, which is less explored than the surface of the moon.
Many of the bizarre creatures, astonishing images and real specimens are on display for the first time
If you lived down here, you would look wierd too!
Microscopic animals rule the deep ocean in terms of numbers. Tiny and soft bodied, they are hard to see and to preserve and also to display in a realistic way. In the late 1800s Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka began making glass models of sea creatures. Some of these exquisitely delicate and acclaimed Blaschka models are on display.
One of the exhibition highlights is a life-size model of a walk-in submersible for visitors to investigate.
The largest of the deep sea giants is the giant squid, the biggest ever recorded is nearly 17 metres/56 feet long! The biggest Japanese spider crabs can have a leg span of up to 4 metres/13 feet.
In a fight between a giant squid and a sperm whale, who would win? Suspended up high in the gallery ceiling are models of both in simulated battle. No one has ever seen a battle between a giant squid and a sperm whale, but scientists have found evidence for these clashes.
The Deep exhibition runs from the 28th May to the 5th of September 2010. For more information, please visit www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/thedeep
Giant traffic-straddling bus
Good public transport benefits everybody in big cities with dense populations. However, reconciling the trade-off between fast efficient mass-transit and ensuring car traffic moves smoothly isn't easy.Bus lanes are a great idea . . . if you are in the bus. To the motorist, an empty lane - and they are usually empty - is just a waste of space.
Bus lanes speed up buses at the expense of cars, thus making bus travel more attractive while annoying millions drivers for whom the car is their only practical method of transport. Without bus lanes, cars have more of the road real estate at their disposal, but public transport becomes slower/less attractive so choking the roads with even more cars.
But imagine having it both ways, i.e. buses unhindered by cars, cars able to use the entire road? Well the Chinese Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment is developing a 3D Express coach that straddles the traffic lanes enabling cars to drive underneath it.
The 6m (20') coach will be powered by a combination of electricity and solar energy, and will be able to travel up to 60 kms/hr (35mph) carrying 1200 -1400 passengers.
A major benefit of the straddling bus is its short construction life cycle. It should only take a year to build 40 km compared with at least three years for a subway system. And the bus will not need the large parking spaces to load/unload passengers as it can stop virtually anywhere without impeeding traffic.
The first 200kms of track is set for construction in Beijing's Mentougou district in late 2010. The Chairman of the Huashi Future Parking Equipment company boasts it will take only a year and (and $73 million) to build the futuristic transportation system.
A tip of our hat to an innovative transport solution that should make (nearly) everyone happy.
SUNDAY AUGUST 08 2010
New T.27 city car by McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray
Gordon Murray, world renowned car designer and the man behind the McLaren F1, has launched his latest creation, the T.27. In line with the times, the T.27 is no 1000bhp supercar, but an all-electric city runabout. There will also be a T.25 petrol version.Said to represent a breakthrough in terms of weight, safety, useability and efficiency, the T.25 is a three-seater with a footprint that is considerably smaller than the likes of the Smart fortwo or Toyota IQ, a point reflected in its 575kg kerb weight.
Like the Smart car, the T.27 can be forward parked in spaces, its small dimensions - at 1.3m wide it's 26cm narrower than a Smartcar - meaning three can fit in the space it would take one conventional car to parallel park.
A unique single door design means that it is possible to get in and out of the car even when it is parked in close proximity to another, opening up the possibility of fitting two T.27s into one conventional single garage.
This tiny width also means that - in theory - two T.27s can drive side-by-side in the same direction in one traffic lane. That should be interesting.
Despite such diminutive dimensions the T.25 is said to be incredibly strong thanks to the use of materials and technology derived from Formula One racing.
Top Speed: 105kph
0-100kph: Less than 15 seconds
Range: 80 – 100 miles
"The iStream process used to produce the T.25/T.27 is a complete re-think on high volume materials, as well as the manufacturing process and offers a significant reduction in CO2 emissions over the lifecycle of the vehicles produced using it, compared with conventional ones," said CEO Gordon Murray. "The simplified assembly process means that an assembly plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This could reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by approximately 80%."
The T.25 is scheduled to go on sale in 2012, with the T.27 to follow.
For more information, please visit www.gordonmurraydesign.com
SUNDAY JULY 11 2010
pCubee: showing you 3D . . . in 3D
When we nomally watch something in 3D, we are generally viewing a flat 2D display like a screen or TV and seeing the image in 3D.Engineers at the Human Communications Technology Lab at the University of British Columbia have developed pCubee, a three dimensional cube - from two dimensional flat LCD screens - that adjusts the 3D images based on your position. And motion sensors allow you to interact with the subject.
“Most people think 3-D is all about stereo and having alternating frames to help the brain perceive depth,” says Sidney Fels, who leads the Human Communication Technologies Lab at the University of British Columbia, where the project was designed. “What we wanted to offer is a fish-tank-like experience in a handheld device.”
“Our brains are wired to perceive motion parallax and interpret it as 3-D. “It’s one of the reasons why even if you have just one eye, you can do reasonably well with depth in the real world.”
pCubee is only a research project at the moment, so you can't buy one just yet, but looking at the demonstration it appears to work well. The box has five flat display panels, each of which shows a different perspective of a 3D image. By rotating the box, you can see above, behind, or to the side of whatever's being shown, and even interact with the image using a stylus. The effect is achieved through a combination of motion detection and perspective-corrected images.
The pCubee has three graphics feeds that drive the screens on the sides of the box. A motion tracker monitors both the pCubee and the user’s head. The software that powers the device ensures that the user’s view of the box and the rendered perspective on each screen are in sync.
Cutting edge 3D technology and somebody thought that shaking cows around was the best way to demonstate it?
For more information, please visit http://www.cubee.ca/
SUNDAY JUNE 27 2010
Force Dynamics 401 - the ultimate car simulator!
Force Dynamics 401 uses motion simulation techniques that have been well-known for many years, but delivers forces with incredible performance and realism.To provide any motion cues, the platform has to move. To accomplish this, multiple linear actuators are driven by a networked 3-axis digital servo drive. The actuator motors provide 3hp peak and 500lbs of peak thrust each; each actuator has 18" of travel. The trapezoidal strut shape, provides bracing, bridge-style, against the large lateral loads experienced during fast moves, allowing the machine to move faster and more reliably over time than comparable machines with standard tubular struts.
In the 401, the transfer of information is direct, and much closer to what you'd feel in a real car. And the large range of rotation, something you won't find even in extremely expensive 6DOF platforms, lets that rotation get closer to the amount you'd feel if you were actually driving, and by extension lets you feel problems even sooner.
The additional range also means a slower 'wash out' - the gradual return to center that keeps the machine from winding up like a tether ball - and so you're far less likely than in machines with 30 degrees or less of yaw to feel like you're spinning while heading down the straight.
So far so go, but what Force Dynamics found when they started testing the 401 was this: Not only is it important to feel the rotation of the car when you've broken the rear end loose, or in a four-wheel drift, but it makes an incredible difference even when the car's glued down to the road. The ability to feel the rotation of the car through the corner means that you know where you are in space; that sense of turning tells you even more than your eyes how close you are to the apex.
And what's it like to drive? See for yourself below.
You know you want one, I know I do!
For more information, please visit www.force-dynamics.com
SUNDAY JUNE 13 2010
The Deep Exhibition at the British Natural History Museum
The British Natural History Museum is running an exhibition called The Deep about life in the very deep oceans.Visitors enter the weird and wonderful world of life a depths down to 11,000 metres, which is less explored than the surface of the moon.
Many of the bizarre creatures, astonishing images and real specimens are on display for the first time
If you lived down here, you would look wierd too!
Microscopic animals rule the deep ocean in terms of numbers. Tiny and soft bodied, they are hard to see and to preserve and also to display in a realistic way. In the late 1800s Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka began making glass models of sea creatures. Some of these exquisitely delicate and acclaimed Blaschka models are on display.
One of the exhibition highlights is a life-size model of a walk-in submersible for visitors to investigate.
The largest of the deep sea giants is the giant squid, the biggest ever recorded is nearly 17 metres/56 feet long! The biggest Japanese spider crabs can have a leg span of up to 4 metres/13 feet.
In a fight between a giant squid and a sperm whale, who would win? Suspended up high in the gallery ceiling are models of both in simulated battle. No one has ever seen a battle between a giant squid and a sperm whale, but scientists have found evidence for these clashes.
The Deep exhibition runs from the 28th May to the 5th of September 2010. For more information, please visit www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/thedeep
