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Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 353

Oct 15, 2019

Researchers design new material using artificial intelligence

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Researchers at TU Delft have developed a new supercompressible but strong material without conducting any experimental tests at all, using only artificial intelligence (AI). “AI gives you a treasure map, and the scientist needs to find the treasure,” says Miguel Bessa, first author of a publication on this subject in Advanced Materials on 14 October.

Foldable bicycle

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Oct 15, 2019

Researchers design a solution for traffic management that helps reduce jams and pollution in cities

Posted by in categories: education, robotics/AI, transportation

A team of researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse III (France) have developed a system that is capable of managing all traffic in a city, which will help to prevent traffic jams while reducing the driving times of vehicles and pollution levels. The system has been designed for autonomous vehicles and includes a route provider service capable of forecasting the present and future density of traffic in the city. It also takes that information into account when choosing new routes. The work has been published in Electronics.

Unlike existing systems that can suggest alternative routes depending on the bottlenecks at a certain time, the new system makes it possible to find out the present and future density of in the entire metropolitan area, and controls traffic as a whole, aiming to minimize or totally eliminate . In addition, it allows including different criteria—environmental, atypical situations, accidents, etc.—to dynamically provide advice about routes.

“Our proposal makes it easier for authorities to restrict or eliminate traffic in a certain area during the time period they find appropriate. For example, reducing traffic next to schools during the entry/exit hours, or in areas where ambulances circulate or an accident has happened, etc.,” explains Carlos Tavares Calafate, researcher at the Networking Research Group-DISCA of the UPV and coordinator of the work.

Oct 14, 2019

Elon Musk: Tesla Pickup looks like ‘an armored personnel carrier from the future’

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Elon Musk gave another hint about the Tesla Pickup truck design, which he now calls ‘Cybertruck’. The CEO says that it looks like ‘an armored personnel carrier from the future.’

The CEO shocked some when he said that the Tesla Pickup Truck will have a ‘really futuristic-like cyberpunk Blade Runner’ design without explaining what that meant other than saying that ‘it won’t be for everyone’.

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Oct 14, 2019

3D integrated metasurfaces stacking up for impressive holography

Posted by in categories: computing, encryption, engineering, holograms, nanotechnology, physics, security, transportation

Physicists and materials scientists have developed a compact optical device containing vertically stacked metasurfaces that can generate microscopic text and full-color holograms for encrypted data storage and color displays. Yueqiang Hu and a research team in Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body in the College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering in China implemented a 3D integrated metasurface device to facilitate miniaturization of the optical device. Using metasurfaces with ultrathin and compact characteristics, the research team designed optical elements by engineering the wavefront of light at the subwavelength scale. The metasurfaces possessed great potential to integrate multiple functions into the miniaturized optoelectronic systems. The work is now published on Light: Science & Applications.

Since existing research on multiplexing in the 2-D plane remains to fully incorporate capabilities of metasurfaces for multi-tasking, in the present work, the team demonstrated a 3D integrated metasurface device. For this, they stacked a hologram metasurface on a monolithic Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavity-based color filter microarray to achieve simultaneous cross-talk, polarization-independent and highly efficient full-color holography and microprint functions. The dual function of the device outlined a new scheme for data recording, security, encryption and information processing applications. The work on 3D integration can be extended to establish flat multi-tasking optical systems that include a variety of functional metasurface layers.

Metasurfaces open a new direction in optoelectronics, allowing researchers to design optical elements by shaping the wavefront of electromagnetic waves relative to size, shape and arrangement of structures at the subwavelength. Physicists have engineered a variety of metasurface-based devices including lenses, polarization converters, holograms and orbital angular momentum generators (OAM). They have demonstrated the performance of metasurface-based devices to even surpass conventional refractive elements to construct compact optical devices with multiple functions. Such devices are, however, withheld by shortcomings due to a reduced efficiency of plasmonic nanostructures, polarization requirements, large crosstalk and complexity of the readout for multiwavelength and broadband optical devices. Research teams can therefore stack 3D metasurface-based devices with different functions in the vertical direction to combine the advantages of each device.

Oct 13, 2019

Ceramics That Won’t Shatter

Posted by in category: transportation

A biomimetic ceramic that is strong and tough could be used to make lightweight vehicles.

Oct 13, 2019

Porsche teams up with Boeing to build flying cars for rich people

Posted by in category: transportation

Porsche and Boeing are teaming up to build luxury, electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for rich people to fly above traffic-choked cities. They are the latest companies to announce intentions to explore the risky and potentially dangerous urban air mobility market.

Porsche and Boeing have signed a nonexclusive memorandum of understanding, which means they will look for ways to work together, but they aren’t locked into a binding agreement. As part of the partnership, the companies say they will “create an international team to address various aspects of urban air mobility, including analysis of the market potential for premium vehicles and possible use cases.”

The word “premium” would seem to indicate that this won’t be a “flying car” for the masses, which is fair considering we’re talking about Porsche here. Many companies interested in creating a network of electric flying taxis have stretched credulity by insisting that people at all income levels will be able to afford to purchase tickets. But given the costs associated with creating an infrastructure to support electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, including landing pads and charging stations, it seems clear that it will be marketed toward the very wealthy — at least to start.

Oct 12, 2019

We went inside Alibaba’s global headquarters | CNBC Reports

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, security, transportation

From facial recognition security to unmanned vehicles, Alibaba’s corporate campus is the office of the future. CNBC’s Uptin Saiidi gets a rare look inside the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China, where more than 20,000 employees are based.

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Oct 12, 2019

Toyota unveils revamped hydrogen sedan to take on Tesla

Posted by in categories: energy, transportation

TOKYO (Reuters) — Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) unveiled a completely redesigned hydrogen-powered fuel cell sedan on Friday in its latest attempt to revive demand for the niche technology that it hopes will become mainstream.

Japan’s biggest automaker has been developing fuel-cell vehicles for more than two decades, but the technology has been eclipsed by the rapid rise of rival battery-powered electric vehicles promoted by the likes of Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ).

Ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show starting on Oct. 24, Toyota unveiled a prototype of the new hydrogen sedan built on the same platform as its luxury Lexus brand’s LS coupe. The new Mirai model boasts longer driving range than its predecessor and completely redesigned fuel cell stack and hydrogen tanks, the company said.

Oct 11, 2019

Congratulations to 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Winners John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, mobile phones, sustainability, transportation

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to John B. Goodenough (The University of Texas at Austin), M. Stanley Whittingham (Binghamton University, State University of New York), and Akira Yoshino (Asahi Kasei Corporation and Meijo University) “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”. With the creation and subsequent optimization of lithium-ion batteries to make them more powerful, lighter, and more robust, the seminal work of Goodenough, Whittingham, and Yoshino has had a profound impact on our modern society. This ubiquitous technology has revolutionized our daily lives by paving the way for portable electronics and made renewable energy sources more viable. While attempts to improve the performance of batteries continue, the lithium-ion battery has remained the world’s most reliable battery system for more than 40 years. The three winners will each receive an equal share of the roughly $1 million award. At 97, Goodenough is now the oldest person ever to win the Nobel Prize.

“A long-awaited recognition for the creators of lithium-ion batteries has come true. The electrochemistry and material science communities – and the greater chemistry community as a whole – are excited to hear the news of the 2019 Nobel Prize award to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino for their pioneering contribution to lithium-ion batteries,” said ACS Energy Letters Editor-in-Chief Prashant Kamat. “As we all know, the lithium-ion battery has revolutionized our modern-day activities. From mobile phones to laptops and from electronic gadgets to electric cars, these storage batteries have become part of our everyday life. We at ACS Publications are excited to be part of this celebration.”

Whittingham laid the foundation of the lithium-ion battery while working at Exxon in the 1970s. During that time, the oil crisis in the United States was ongoing, and there was a strong drive to develop methods of energy storage and transport that did not rely on fossil fuels. Whittingham developed a 2V lithium-ion battery based on a titanium disulfide cathode and lithium metal anode. While a seminal contribution to the advancement of the lithium battery, adopting Whittingham’s system for everyday use would be limiting due to the high reactivity of lithium metal and risk of explosion.

Oct 11, 2019

Lazareth LMV 496 Transforming Jet Hover Bike

Posted by in categories: computing, transportation

This is the Lazareth LMV 496, which the world’s first transforming flying electric motorbike.

Lazareth have a jet engine in the hub of each wheel, and hydraulic actuators that tilt the four wheels out and up, forming a configuration something like a jet-powered hoverbike.

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