Technology Madness

Vertical Volkswagens’ car garage

Volkswagen Golfs are stacked in one of the massive glass silos at Autostadt; amazing German Engineering

Travel between Los Angelis and Seattle in one tank of Compressed AIR

Could the Air Car be the next generation motor vehicle? Could this charming (but looks very retro) car be the starting of ‘death’ count-down for the oil-petroleum guzzler automotive industry in coming days?

Air Car is running exclusively on compressed air, it emits only air - zero pollution. The air car claims to be able to drive 106 miles per gallon which is 170 kilometer per gallon. Now lets say if car has 10 gallon tank, it means you can drive 1060 Miles in one tank of Gas (opppss, sorry, please read AIR, not gas) that is approximately distance between Los Angelis and Seattle. Wow, now this is amazing fuel economy.

It’s NOT a dream or a project on paper but ZPM (http://zeropollutionmotors.us) will begin taking reservations in mid-2009 for US deliveries of our compressed air vehicle in 2010. It is estimated to have a retail price of $17,800USD. A six-seater model is the first Air Car scheduled to enter the US. On top of all cool specs, this car has no keys - just an access card which can be read directly from your pocket. Also, Refilling the car tank will cost $2 (…that is unless the price of air goes up… he he)

Check it out. Watch this you tube video:

Via [popularmechanics.com and blog.sabasearch.com]

End of one more boring task - inflate your car tire

Tiers commonly leak slowly and unnoticeably. It’s very boring to visit gas station, almost every month, to inflate your car tire. Its also time consuming if you want to find a gas station which offers free compressed air to their customer. It is important to have your car tier inflated up to tire manufacturer’s recommendations. It improves gas mileage and tire longevity. Poor tire pressure costs the US an extra $3.7 billion in fuel annually. (source here: http://www.selfinflatingtire.com/index.html)

Latest automobile technology has an answer for the problem. Technology called “SIT” Self-inflating Tires.  SIT is a newly developed, very simple, inexpensive and reliable system for Self-inflating Tires.  SIT consisting of just two components: a peristaltic pump and a stop-valve that stops over-inflation. However, it is not as simple as it sounds. Brilliant design  of CODA DEVELOPMENT, Czech Republic works behind this break-through innovation.  

How it works:
SIT is an integral tire component that uses atmospheric air to automatically inflate the tire. As a main source of energy it uses only wheel rotation, so there is no compressor or similar additional device needed. The inflation capability doesn’t depend on the speed of the vehicle. It can be inflated with any speed. However, it can not inflate when car is not in motion. Principally, a round tube embedded in the tire’s sidewall is squeezed together at the bottom as the tire rolls, forcing air into the tire. Once it’s inflated to the stop value stops pressure - which can be mechanical — shuts off. That’s it.

Currently SIT is not in commercially production but they demonstrated SIT technology at SAE World Congress in April 2008.

Via [Code developmant]

Extra reading:

• Run-flat tire on Wikipedia
• Pirelli SWS
• Tweel on Wikipedia
• Tire inflation systems
• Peristaltic pump on Wikipedia
• Goodyear. “Running a tire 20 percent under inflated - only 5 to 7 pounds per square inch (psi) - can increase fuel consumption by 10 percent.”

Technorati Tags: Inflation, Peristaltic, Peristaltic Pump, Self Inflating TIRE, SIT, Tire, Automotive, Road Safety  

Del.icio.us Tags: Inflation, Peristaltic, Peristaltic Pump, Self Inflating TIRE, SIT, Tire, Automotive, Road Safety

Update (Aug 5, 2008): With reference to Obama and Mccain’s latest tug of war about tire pressure issue, (and read this too!) Obama or Maccain should include automatic self inflating tire technology in their energy plan and should promise to offer tax credit for installing SIT (self inflating tire) in your car tire. What do you think about it?

Smart Car by GmbH - DaimlerChrysler

The Smart car, manufactured by smart GmbH, a division of DaimlerChrysler, is the most fuel-efficient gas powered car on the road today, and is the third-most fuel efficient vehicle in the U.S, with hybrid vehicles holding the first two spots.  The smart car gets an estimated 40 - 50 miles per gallon, and is powered by a 3-cylinder gas engine.  The gas tank holds 8.67 gallons, and the vehicle possesses both an automatic or manual mode of operation.  At only 8.2 feet long, and weighing in at just 1,588 pounds, it is the smallest vehicle on the road today.  The vehicle comes with air, power windows, and driver and passenger airbags.

The Smart car is made out of a titanium egg shell that is designed to protect the passengers inside.  Still, it can be intimidating when moving at 70 miles an hour down the expressway.  Watch this (below) Smart Car crash test video and judge for yourself! This car coming to the U.S. early next year.

Smart Crash Test - video powered by Metacafe

via [here]

New Parking Meter, calls you when time is up

As per statistics, SFO studies shows that 50% of parking tickets remain unpaid or disputed.  Big cities traffic office is lookout for more convenient, effective and more customer friendly kind of meter. Wouldn’t it have been nicer had the cop just called you to say, “Hey, just though you might want to throw a couple of quarters down my way.” Well this is exactly this machine is going to do, yes! this machine will call you when time is up and also gives you an option to extend your stay by cell phone. Great system when you don’t have change or only large denominations (remember, we have $2 coins in Canada) Currently it is implemented in in SFO, Vancouver and Niagara Falls. Beware: if you fail to pay, this machine will take your snap, I mean your car’s plate photo and send you a bill/fine to your home.

See videos of the super meter at Photo Violation Tech’s Web site. They’re in WMV format, so good luck.

If I am regular visitor, Fred Mitschele should build some system like EzPass. Customer don’t need to go to machine and swipe credit card. If I park my car in certain designated area, I got charged through my tag (like Ezpass does) and recharged my balance if it goes down below x dollar. That’s more easy and super convenient. What do you say Fred Mitschele?

Stuck in traffic? Google Maps service may help you.

Google announced a new addition to the Google Maps service,
the traffic levels can now be displayed with a click of a mouse. There
are 30 American cities that work with the new tool, some examples can
be seen at: New York and Chicago and Seattle

However there no legend explanation on which color is what. Later I found from their site: if your route shows red, you’re looking at a stop-and-go commute;
yellow, you could be a little late for dinner; green, you’ve got smooth
sailing. At lest  they should have made it with mouse hover. But Anyway, its another cool functionality on top of finest mapping tool.

Via googleblog.blogspot.com

Forum busts hit and run, Don’t mess with the internet

With the internet shrinking the globe, its really a bad idea to hit and run weather its your fault or not. Beyond.ca member happen to be there at the time of accident. Guy took finest and clean two-three snaps, using this DSLR and monster lens, of these jerks zipping away from the scene. Beyond.ca member three33 created a post asking others to be on the lookout for a silver RSX that’d cracked up his buddy’s car. within minutes its all over internet, partly thanks to digg.com! Don’t mess with the internet

Via [Autoblog.com]

Regardless, here’s unedited pictures:
http://www.pokerknightsonline.com

Planes still flying with same problem as TWA 800

I saw the program: Could TWA 800 happen again? “CNN Presents: No Survivors” on CNN today and left many question in my mind. Knowing the fact about the problem which bought TWA 800 down, still we all are flying on the plane with same problem. Don’t you think its madness?

Ten years after the explosion of TWA Flight 800, the very problem that led to the disaster still has not been fully fixed — despite a warning from the Federal Aviation Administration that it is “virtually certain to occur” again without additional safeguards. via [cnn]

The Official Notification Of The Crash
NTSB Identification: DCA96MA070

Scheduled 14 CFR 121 operation of TRANSWORLD AIRWAYS (D.B.A. TWA)

Accident occurred JUL-17-96 at EAST MORICHES, NY
Aircraft: Boeing 747, registration: N93119
Injuries: 230 Fatal.

On July 17, 1996, about 8:45pm, TWA flight 800, N93119, a Boeing
747-100, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island
shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport. The airplane
was on a regularly scheduled flight to Paris, France. The initial
reports are that witnesses saw an explosion and then debris descending
to the ocean. There are no reports of the flight crew reporting a
problem to air traffic control. The airplane was manufactured in
November 1971. It has accumulated about 93,303 flight hours and 16,869
cycles. On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crew members.
The airplane was destroyed and there were no survivors.

Similar reading: NTSB investigating laptop batteries as the cause of UPS cargo plane fire

Washington (DC) - Laptops get hot, but can they cause a plane to catch on fire? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating whether laptop batteries caused a UPS cargo plane to catch on fire last February. The DC-8 plane with three crew members made an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport after a fire broke out in the cargo hold. The fire continued to burn for four hours destroying the plane and most of the UPS packages inside. Via [tgdaily]

bk_keywords:Airline, plane

BMW Develops Driving Simulator

BMW has developed an interesting driving simulator for their Munich center to test its cars. Two videos find it here: LeftLaneNews

The system enables engineers to perform extensive performance testing on actual cars — long before bringing prototypes onto the track or road. It also allows tests to be conducted under exactly the same condition several times, eliminating major variables in the testing and design process

[via LeftLaneNews]

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Park your BMW with a click

Park your BMW in the garage with a click of the car’s remote. This is really cool for my friend who has difficulties in parking at very tight spot. Watch this video, now you can park BMW with a single click without a fear of dent on it.

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