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Category: transportation – Page 606

To critics, it’s flat-out junk science, not even worth thinking about. But its inventor, Roger Shawyer, has doggedly continued his work. As Danger Room reported last year, Chinese scientists claimed to validate his math and were building their own version.

Shawyer gave a presentation earlier this week on the Emdrive’s progress at the CEAS 2009 European Air & Space Conference. It answered few questions, but hinted at how the Emdrive might transform spaceflight — and warfare. If the technology works, that is.

The heart of the Emdrive is a resonant, tapered cavity filled with microwaves. According to Shawyer, a relativistic effect generates a net thrust, an effect confirmed by various Emdrives he has built as demonstrations. Critics say that any thrust from the drive must come from another source. Shawyer is adamant that the measured thrust is not caused by other factors.

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A Canadian engineer has come up with a new concept for a four-winged scramjet that could carry 75 passengers at speeds of up to Mach 10 — which is 10 times the speed of sound and five times faster than Concorde. That means the proposed Skreemr jet could cross the Atlantic in just half an hour.

Unfortunately, the design is purely conceptual and the designers admit that it’s unlikely to ever be realised, due to the current limitations of scramjet technology. But it’s still a pretty cool glimpse into what we could one day achieve with air travel.

As most science lovers will know, scramjet systems work by combusting liquid using oxygen taken from the atmosphere passing through the aircraft. This means that, unlike traditional propulsion systems, the craft doesn’t need to carry any liquid oxygen, so the whole thing becomes a lot lighter, and therefore faster.

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During the press conference for the release of the Autopilot, Tesla CEO Elon Musk referred to each Model S owners as “expert trainers” – meaning that each driver will train the autonomous features of the system to feed the collective network intelligence of the fleet by simply driving the electric vehicle on Autopilot.

He said that the system should improve everyday, but that improvements might only become noticeable every week or so by adding up. Just a few weeks after the release, Model S owners are already taking to the Tesla Motors Club forum to describe how the Autopilot is improving…

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Nissan says its autonomous car will be ready for sale to consumers by 2020.

Nissan Motor Co. is aggressively pushing forward with plans for a mostly autonomous car that will be ready for sale to consumers by 2020, putting it well ahead of its global competitors.

Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the technology would be ready by the Japanese auto maker’s self-imposed deadline—though he wasn’t sure if it would be legal on any nation’s roads.

“We are very excited about it and we want to come as soon as…

Continue reading “Nissan Speeds Ahead of Rivals With Plans for Driverless Car” | >

At the Tokyo Motor Show 2015, Nissan unveiled a concept vehicle that embodies Nissan’s vision of the future of autonomous driving and zero emission EVs: the Nissan IDS Concept.

Presenting at the show, Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “Nissan’s forthcoming technologies will revolutionize the relationship between car and driver, and future mobility.”

After leading the development and expansion of EV technology, Nissan once again stands at the forefront of automotive technology. By integrating advanced vehicle control and safety technologies with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI), Nissan is among the leaders developing practical, real-world applications of autonomous drive technology.

In August 2013, Ghosn said that by 2020 Nissan plans to equip innovative autonomous drive technology on multiple vehicles. Progress is well on track to achieve this goal.

Continue reading “Introducing the Nissan IDS Concept” | >

The aim of the exercise is to develop rider-support systems similar to those we are seeing developed in automobiles to make driving safer. “We want to apply the fundamental technology and know-how gained in the process of this challenge to the creation of advanced rider safety and rider-support systems and put them to use in our current businesses, as well as using them to pioneer new lines of business,” says Yamaha’s release.

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Substantially smaller and longer-lasting batteries for everything from portable electronic devices to electric cars could be come a reality thanks to an innovative technology developed by University of Waterloo researchers.

Zhongwei Chen, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo, and a team of graduate students have created a low-cost battery using silicon that boosts the performance and life of lithium-ion batteries. Their findings are published in the latest issue of Nature Communications.

Waterloo’s silicon battery technology promises a 40 to 60 per cent increase in energy density, which is important for consumers with smartphones, smart homes and smart wearables.

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Acer might be better-known for its range of laptops, tablets, phones, and similar consumer electronics, but it has quietly lifted the lid on a brand-new product line — an electric, all-terrain vehicle (eATV).

The Taiwanese tech titan unveiled the eATV “X Terran” (presumably that’s not meant to be ‘Terrain’) prototype at the eCarTech conference in Munich last week, but the company didn’t reveal too many details. We have, however, now obtained some photos of the vehicle.

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InVisage filmed in challenging, bright sunlight conditions to test the dynamic range, and shot fast moving subjects (RC race cars) to show off the global shutter. The resulting footage (below) is surprisingly cinematic, considering that the sensor is smartphone sized. (It’s also a bit soft, which the company chalked up to the sensor being an early prototype.) The tech looks intriguing, though the level of hype in the press release and making-of film is a bit over-the-top. Still, if it can be refined further — perhaps by a sensor company like Sony — it could result in strikingly better smartphone and camera images in the not-too-distant future.

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