Posted on September 16th, 2010 by jxh
Find waiting at an empty intersection annoying?
Your driving frustrations may soon be relieved, if city planners adopt a new self-organizing system for traffic lights.
European engineers have designed and tested a system that would give each traffic signal a sensor, to read the current traffic situation, and a computer chip, to calculate the expected flow of vehicles and then determine how long the light should stay green.
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Filed under: Computer, e-News, Electrical, Industrial / Manufacturing, Transportation | 1 Comment »
Tags: Computer, Electrical, Industrial, Transportation
Posted on September 13th, 2010 by jxh
Your apartment is heated by the warmth of human bodies in a nearby Metro station – creepy or cool?
We’re not sure, but French engineers are moving ahead with plans to install the experimental heating system in a public housing project in Paris.
The caloric heat collected from Metro passengers, as well as the heat collected from the train itself, will funnel through an underground corridor to heat exchangers that will push warm air through the building’s pipes.
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Filed under: Civil, e-News, Environmental, Transportation | Comments Off on Metro Passengers Will Heat Apartments
in Paris
Tags: Civil, Energy, Environmental, Green Technology, Green Transportation, Technology, Transportation
Posted on September 10th, 2010 by axb
Ever wonder how cars can make turns without skidding? Well, you have engineers to thank – more specifically, those who invented the differential (a device which allows the wheels of a car to turn at different speeds).
This vintage engineering tutorial, made by the General Motors, clearly and engagingly explains how differential gears work. Posted on YouTube last year, it has now received close to a million views – not bad for something made in 1937!
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Filed under: e-News, e-Videos, Mechanical, Transportation | Comments Off on Blast from the Past: A Vintage Engineering Video on Differential Gears
Tags: Cars, Engineering in History, Mechanical, Transportation
Posted on August 31st, 2010 by jxh
If you need examples of cool things engineers can do in college, consider this: mechanical engineering students from Ohio State University work together building alternative-fuel race cars as part of the Buckeye Bullet team.
Not cool enough? Well, the team just broke the electric car land speed world record with their most recent vehicle, the Buckeye Bullet 2.5.
Racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah last week, the Bullet 2.5 reached a peak speed of 320 miles per hour and logged a two-way average speed of 307.66 miles per hour.
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Filed under: e-News, Electrical, Mechanical, Transportation | Comments Off on Undergrads Build World’s Fastest Electric Car
Tags: Cars, Energy, Green Technology, Green Transportation, Mechanical, Transportation
Posted on August 20th, 2010 by axb
You’ve no doubt heard of electric hybrid cars, but a human-powered hybrid? Not only is it real and most likely coveted by the Flintstone family, but you may be able to own one as soon as next year.
With four passengers cranking the handles, the HumanCar can run on kinetic energy alone, and with fewer participants it relies partially on electricity.
How much more fun (and social!) would highway driving be if everyone used a car like this? Can we get a Yabba-Dabba-Doo?!
Video after the jump.
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Filed under: e-News, Environmental, Transportation | 2 Comments »
Tags: Cars, Environmental, Green Transportation, Transportation
