Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 338
Jul 26, 2018
Segway’s autonomous security robots fight crime
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: robotics/AI, security, transportation
Jul 25, 2018
Novel membrane advances low-cost, grid-scale energy storage
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: solar power, sustainability, transportation
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have developed a crucial component for a new kind of low-cost stationary battery system utilizing common materials and designed for grid-scale electricity storage.
Large, economical electricity storage systems can benefit the nation’s grid in numerous ways: balancing loads between peak and off-peak demand times; supplying energy during outages; storing electricity from fluctuating sources like wind and solar power; and accommodating extreme fast charging of electric vehicles.
The grid chiefly relies on hydropower facilities for energy storage, although stationary systems using lithium-ion batteries are increasing. However, lithium is expensive and mostly sourced from countries outside the United States.
Continue reading “Novel membrane advances low-cost, grid-scale energy storage” »
Jul 24, 2018
CityHawk eVTOL flying car entering “full-scale development”
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: energy, transportation
Israel’s Urban Aeronautics (UA) has announced it’s going into full-scale development of its CityHawk VTOL flying car. The first manned flights of this hybrid-powered, 170 mph six-seater will take place in 2021–22, after which it’ll be converted to run on hydrogen fuel cells.
Jul 23, 2018
New ‘trackless train’ which runs on virtual rail lines launched in China
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
Is it a tram, or is it a train, or even a fancy bus?
The world’s first electric-powered ‘trackless train’ has been launched in China.
Using virtual rail lines on the streets of Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, the new Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) system can travel up to speeds of 43 mph.
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Jul 23, 2018
What Are The New Jobs In A Human + Machine World?
Posted by Marco Monfils in categories: business, employment, information science, robotics/AI, transportation
Interesting article on the limited future of human paid employment for AI, some thoughts.
By Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson
Superman versus Batman. Captain America versus Iron Man. Zuckerberg versus Musk?
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Jul 23, 2018
WARR Hyperloop pod hits 284 mph to win SpaceX competition
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: Elon Musk, engineering, transportation
It was a hyperloop hat trick by a team of German engineering students at the third annual SpaceX pod competition on Sunday. WARR Hyperloop from the Technical University of Munich took home the top prize — and set a new record — with their self-propelled pod reaching a top speed of 284 mph (457 km/h).
WARR Hyperloop was one of three finalists to participate in the competition. The teams were tasked with developing a pod to travel down the 1.2-kilometer (0.75-mile) tube, as part of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s vision for a futuristic, high-speed transportation system. The pod that reached the maximum speed would be crowned the winner. The only other requirement was that all pods be self-propelled. In addition to WARR, the other qualifying teams were Delft University from the Netherlands and EPF Loop from Switzerland.
Jul 22, 2018
Engine test anomaly deals setback to Boeing’s plans for Starliner space taxi
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: space, transportation
Boeing confirms that it experienced an anomaly last month during tests of the engines that would be used on its CST-100 Starliner space taxi in the event of a launch emergency.
The anomaly resulted in an unwanted leak of propellant, and although no hardware was destroyed, the issue is likely to contribute to further delays for NASA’s plan to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station on the Starliner.
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Jul 21, 2018
Hyperloop, the superfast ‘vacuum train,’ is coming to China
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: Elon Musk, transportation
The super fast, futuristic transportation was first envisioned by Elon Musk in 2013. Now it’s coming to China.
Jul 21, 2018
Transition To Autonomous Cars Will Take Longer Than You Think, Waymo CEO Tells Governors
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: robotics/AI, transportation
The big roll out Was going to be 2022, now looking like maybe 2027. There has been some shady stuff happening in the background in the USA to hold up self driving cars. It seems the people who were set to lose a lot of money on the changeover have found ways to hold it up.
Despite the rapid accumulation of testing miles, Krafcik warned the governors not to end all of their infrastructure investments just yet. Responding to a question about the need for new parking facilities, he responded that there will be a very long period of overlap between personally owned human driven vehicles and shared automated vehicles from Waymo and others. He suggested that it might be possible to slow down on some massive parking structures but was non-committal on timelines.
With Waymo planning to launch its commercial service by the end of 2018, GM coming in 2019 and others including Zoox, Daimler and Voyage in the next 2–3 years, there will be shared automated vehicles on the road. However, these will be limited to locations where they are demonstrated to function reliably and there is a market for ride-hailing despite the optimistic projections of some investors and developers. Widespread adoption in the millions of vehicles globally is unlikely before the latter half of the 2020s.