SUNDAY FEBRUARY 21 2010
It all started with an email from a reporter who was pursuing a story on electric aircraft propulsion for "a couple of websites associated with space.com." As the former manager of the former Vehicle System program's Personal Air Vehicle sector. Moore is a nationally recognized expert on that and other small aircraft systems.
"We're not trying to replace the car or the airplane," Moore said. "Cars are great at what they do, which is go a couple of miles at relatively slow speeds. Commercial air carriers are great at going long distances at faster speeds. But what happens when we want to go 100 or 200 or 300 miles? We have to take this very long drive."
If the Puffin gets off the ground, and it has to be admitted that is still a big IF, the theoretical technical details are very interesting.The Puffin would be small and very lightweight -- about 136kg/300 pounds empty weight, plus another 45kgs/100 pounds of battery and 91kgs/200pounds for the pilot or payload. The design would be powered by a total of 60 horsepower through electric motors, which are designed to be able to fail any two powertrain components on either side and still produce the required power to hover. It has a cruising speed of 241kms/hr or 150 mph, but cruises more efficiently at lower speeds The range with current battery technology would be about 80kms/50 miles.
"There is a huge gaping hole in our transportation system," Moore added. "We're trying to come up with another alternative."
NASA has spent about $500,000 on the Puffin, which was developed in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Aerospace and M-DOT Aerospace.
While there are no plans yet for the Puffin's first manned flight, NASA expects to finish a one-third size demonstrator by March and see how well it transitions from cruising to hovering.
"The intent is not to be a viable product. NASA doesn't develop products; we develop new technologies that can provide industry with the ability to generate new products," Moore said.
For more informatiuon, please visit www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/puffin
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14 2010
The flying boat Mirabaud LX foiler was designed by Swiss engineer Thomas Jundt. The boat start to fly on the foils with 9 knots and has sailed faster than 23 knots.
Conceived around a structure of carbon fiber tubes, this boat is a concentrate of high technology. Every single element has been optimized in order to reduce the overall weight and allow it to fly on its foils as quickly as possible. As of today, it is the only “hull less” boat on earth. While marginal floatability remains, it is only to prevent the boat from sinking until it reaches flying speeds at approximately 8 knots.
The boat has been described as having 'no hull', but more precisely, it has no need for a traditional floating hull in the right conditions: a claim given solid credibility when the boat was sailied on its hydrofoils with no buoyancy - no hull - at all.
Jundt's concept was further proven when Mirabaud LX won the classic 2009 Geneva-Rolle race on Lake Geneva in a record breaking time and in front of a very competitive fleet of high-tech sailing boats.
Mirabaud LX’s crew comprises Antoine Ravonel, helmsman and boat captain, Thomas Jundt, project manager and crew member, and Eric Gobet, no1. Other members of the project include the coach and former Olympic sailor Jean-Pierre Ziegert, sail designer Jean-Marc Monnard, boat designer Sébastien Schmidt and French engineer Hugues De Turkheim, consultant for the foils.
SUNDAY JANUARY 31 2010
They have developed a new concrete slab to be placed in areas that see heavy foot traffic and every time someone steps on the slab it generates a small amount of kinetic energy that is captured and stored. In a busy area that means regular energy generation every few minutes or seconds. Many slabs in busy locations could generate a significant amount of energy.
The high traffic areas in subway systems are an idea location for the slabs
The pavegen slab moves about 5mm (1/4") from each footstep. The kinetic energy of that movement is converted into electricity via a patented Piezo electronic systems, and that electricity is stored in the slab to power a variety of applications.
The design of the slab makes it quite versatile and pleasant to step on. The upper layer is a 5mm soft, flexible material, and inside the slab a battery can be used to store the energy. Alternatively they can be connected to devices to directly use the energy, for example, street lights.
The slabs can be located anywhere there is space to lay one; so locations where you can guarantee regular foot falls, such as entrance stalls at a subway station or the entrance of a shopping mall, could guarantee a reliable source of power. In terms of how much energy is generated Pavegen rate a single slab at 2.1 watts per hour in a busy area.
For more information, please visit www.pavegen.com
SUNDAY JANUARY 10 2010
The three founders set up offices in Mason's garage, blocks from the historic Mission Street in San Francisco. In July 2007, they bought the company’s first motorcycle, a 1994 Ducati 900 and began stripping out the engine and converting it to electric drive.
Two months later, the three founders had turned that classic Ducati into one of the highest performing street legal electric motorcycles in the world.
World renown Swiss designer Yves Behar and his team were responsible for the iconic design in which they tried to convey in esthetics the feeling of 'riding the wind'. Designed to express speed and efficiency in its overall sharp lines, the Mission One also is highly detailed with special attention to a rider's needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
The Mission One represents a revolution in motorcycle and electric vehicle performance. Mission Motors’ advanced electric powertrain makes the Mission One the first electric sportbike to power wheelie at 110 km/hr and powers the Mission One to a top speed of 240 kms/hr.
The Mission One integrates a custom-built chassis with suspension elements selected for race level handling and performance. The 2010 model Mission One comes equipped with: Ohlins inverted front forks, Ohlins fully adjustable shock, Brembo 4 piston monobloc calipers, Marchesini wheels, and race compound tires.
On September 1, 2009, the Mission One claimed the national AMA top speed record for an electric motorcycle, with an unprecedented 240 km/hr (150.059 mph) two-pass average run sustained for one mile at the Bonneville Speedway. Lead up runs saw one-way speeds across the mile stretch at 260 kms/hr (161mph).
For more information, please visit www.ridemission.com
SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 2009
The eniCycle is one-wheel self-stabilizing unicycle, created by Slovenian inventor Aleksander Polutnik.
This unlikely looking form of personal transloprt is powered by a electric motor and features a self-balancing gyroscope system. The speed of eniCycle is controlled by leaning forwards/backwards like the Segway.
To ride the eniCycle, you sit on the seat and place your feet on foot rests on the both sides of the wheel.
Electronic gyroscope measures vertical angle of eniCycle. If you lean forwards, this is detected by gyroscope and the electronic accelerates the speed of the motor to put the eniCycle back in balance. In case you lean back, the speed is decelerated.
To turn left, you simply press the left foot rest. The wheel leans to the left and eniCycle turns left. To turn right you press the right foot rest.
Enicycle tested on The Gadget Slow. Think you can get the hang of it in 10 minutes?
For more information, please visit www.enicycle.com
The NASA Puffin - Will rotors replace our dreams of jet packs?
The NASA Puffin is a one-man (or woman) tilt-rotor electric aircraft imagined by aerospace engineer Mark Moore. Moore came up with the design for the electric powered, 3.7m/12' long, 4.4m/14' wingspan personal air vehicle as part of the coursework for his doctoral degree.It all started with an email from a reporter who was pursuing a story on electric aircraft propulsion for "a couple of websites associated with space.com." As the former manager of the former Vehicle System program's Personal Air Vehicle sector. Moore is a nationally recognized expert on that and other small aircraft systems.
"We're not trying to replace the car or the airplane," Moore said. "Cars are great at what they do, which is go a couple of miles at relatively slow speeds. Commercial air carriers are great at going long distances at faster speeds. But what happens when we want to go 100 or 200 or 300 miles? We have to take this very long drive."
If the Puffin gets off the ground, and it has to be admitted that is still a big IF, the theoretical technical details are very interesting.The Puffin would be small and very lightweight -- about 136kg/300 pounds empty weight, plus another 45kgs/100 pounds of battery and 91kgs/200pounds for the pilot or payload. The design would be powered by a total of 60 horsepower through electric motors, which are designed to be able to fail any two powertrain components on either side and still produce the required power to hover. It has a cruising speed of 241kms/hr or 150 mph, but cruises more efficiently at lower speeds The range with current battery technology would be about 80kms/50 miles.
"There is a huge gaping hole in our transportation system," Moore added. "We're trying to come up with another alternative."
NASA has spent about $500,000 on the Puffin, which was developed in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Aerospace and M-DOT Aerospace.
While there are no plans yet for the Puffin's first manned flight, NASA expects to finish a one-third size demonstrator by March and see how well it transitions from cruising to hovering.
"The intent is not to be a viable product. NASA doesn't develop products; we develop new technologies that can provide industry with the ability to generate new products," Moore said.
For more informatiuon, please visit www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/puffin
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14 2010
Flying Boat Mirabaud LX designed by Thomas Jundt
As the 33rd America's Cup is currently underway in Valencia between the giant multihulls of the Swiss defender Alinghi and their American challenger, BMW Oracle Racing, we thought it may be a good time to introduce another revolutionary high-speed boat from Switzerland, the Mirabaud LX.The flying boat Mirabaud LX foiler was designed by Swiss engineer Thomas Jundt. The boat start to fly on the foils with 9 knots and has sailed faster than 23 knots.
Conceived around a structure of carbon fiber tubes, this boat is a concentrate of high technology. Every single element has been optimized in order to reduce the overall weight and allow it to fly on its foils as quickly as possible. As of today, it is the only “hull less” boat on earth. While marginal floatability remains, it is only to prevent the boat from sinking until it reaches flying speeds at approximately 8 knots.
The boat has been described as having 'no hull', but more precisely, it has no need for a traditional floating hull in the right conditions: a claim given solid credibility when the boat was sailied on its hydrofoils with no buoyancy - no hull - at all.
Jundt's concept was further proven when Mirabaud LX won the classic 2009 Geneva-Rolle race on Lake Geneva in a record breaking time and in front of a very competitive fleet of high-tech sailing boats.
Mirabaud LX’s crew comprises Antoine Ravonel, helmsman and boat captain, Thomas Jundt, project manager and crew member, and Eric Gobet, no1. Other members of the project include the coach and former Olympic sailor Jean-Pierre Ziegert, sail designer Jean-Marc Monnard, boat designer Sébastien Schmidt and French engineer Hugues De Turkheim, consultant for the foils.
SUNDAY JANUARY 31 2010
Pavegen: Energy Generating Pavement
A UK company called Pavegen has developed a system to generate renewable energy by harnessing the footsteps of people in busy pedestrian areas.They have developed a new concrete slab to be placed in areas that see heavy foot traffic and every time someone steps on the slab it generates a small amount of kinetic energy that is captured and stored. In a busy area that means regular energy generation every few minutes or seconds. Many slabs in busy locations could generate a significant amount of energy.
The high traffic areas in subway systems are an idea location for the slabs
The pavegen slab moves about 5mm (1/4") from each footstep. The kinetic energy of that movement is converted into electricity via a patented Piezo electronic systems, and that electricity is stored in the slab to power a variety of applications.
The design of the slab makes it quite versatile and pleasant to step on. The upper layer is a 5mm soft, flexible material, and inside the slab a battery can be used to store the energy. Alternatively they can be connected to devices to directly use the energy, for example, street lights.
The slabs can be located anywhere there is space to lay one; so locations where you can guarantee regular foot falls, such as entrance stalls at a subway station or the entrance of a shopping mall, could guarantee a reliable source of power. In terms of how much energy is generated Pavegen rate a single slab at 2.1 watts per hour in a busy area.
For more information, please visit www.pavegen.com
SUNDAY JANUARY 10 2010
The Mission One 240 km/hr Superbike
The three men behind the Mission One superbike are Forrest North, Edward West and Mason Cabot
Forrest North first dreamed of building an electric motorcycle when leading the Stanford University Solar Car Team in 1998. Seven years later, he joined Tesla Motors working with many of his old Solar Car teammates to build the world's first performance electric sports car.
Edward West first met Forrest while working on the Yale University Solar Car. Later, the pair worked together building laboratory robotics for a small bay area startup, before Edward left to earn his MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco.
Mason Cabot was an electronics guru with 10 years of experience at Intel. Forrest introduced Mason to motorcycling, and within a few months, Mason was hooked. It wasn’t long before he gave up owning a car completely.
The three founders set up offices in Mason's garage, blocks from the historic Mission Street in San Francisco. In July 2007, they bought the company’s first motorcycle, a 1994 Ducati 900 and began stripping out the engine and converting it to electric drive.
Two months later, the three founders had turned that classic Ducati into one of the highest performing street legal electric motorcycles in the world.
The prototype proved the team's claims. Every rider who got on the bike was enthusiastic, saying it was unlike anything they had ever ridden before. Armed with their first business plan and the prototype, the team placed 2nd in the Cleantech Open.
The Mission One creates a whole new level of rider control. With a fully equipped data acquisition system and wireless communication capability, riders can capture and analyze real time ride data. Riders have the power to adjust throttle maps, tune regenerative braking, and create multiple ride settings, all from their laptop computer.World renown Swiss designer Yves Behar and his team were responsible for the iconic design in which they tried to convey in esthetics the feeling of 'riding the wind'. Designed to express speed and efficiency in its overall sharp lines, the Mission One also is highly detailed with special attention to a rider's needs, bringing a high level of product design and ergonomics to a new generation of performance transportation.
The Mission One represents a revolution in motorcycle and electric vehicle performance. Mission Motors’ advanced electric powertrain makes the Mission One the first electric sportbike to power wheelie at 110 km/hr and powers the Mission One to a top speed of 240 kms/hr.
The Mission One integrates a custom-built chassis with suspension elements selected for race level handling and performance. The 2010 model Mission One comes equipped with: Ohlins inverted front forks, Ohlins fully adjustable shock, Brembo 4 piston monobloc calipers, Marchesini wheels, and race compound tires.
On September 1, 2009, the Mission One claimed the national AMA top speed record for an electric motorcycle, with an unprecedented 240 km/hr (150.059 mph) two-pass average run sustained for one mile at the Bonneville Speedway. Lead up runs saw one-way speeds across the mile stretch at 260 kms/hr (161mph).
For more information, please visit www.ridemission.com
SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 2009
eniCycle: a fun electric unicycle (or one-wheeled Sedgway)
The eniCycle is one-wheel self-stabilizing unicycle, created by Slovenian inventor Aleksander Polutnik.
This unlikely looking form of personal transloprt is powered by a electric motor and features a self-balancing gyroscope system. The speed of eniCycle is controlled by leaning forwards/backwards like the Segway.
To ride the eniCycle, you sit on the seat and place your feet on foot rests on the both sides of the wheel.
Electronic gyroscope measures vertical angle of eniCycle. If you lean forwards, this is detected by gyroscope and the electronic accelerates the speed of the motor to put the eniCycle back in balance. In case you lean back, the speed is decelerated.
To turn left, you simply press the left foot rest. The wheel leans to the left and eniCycle turns left. To turn right you press the right foot rest.
Enicycle tested on The Gadget Slow. Think you can get the hang of it in 10 minutes?
For more information, please visit www.enicycle.com
