Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber may boast an impressive strength-to-weight ratio, and it looks cool, but it does have at least one shortcoming when compared to other building materials – it's difficult to recycle. Nonetheless, Trek Bicycle has begun a program that will see much of the company's waste carbon fiber being sent to a specialized recycling facility, where it will be processed for use in other products. According to the Cyclingnews website, the initiative should keep up to 54,000 pounds (24,500 kg) of the material out of landfills and in use, every year. Read More
In an effort to understand how animals move elegantly and in turn provide robots with the same ability, researchers at the University of Bielefeld's Center of Excellence 'Cognitive Interaction Technology' (CITEC) have developed the hexapod walking robot called HECTOR (Hexapod Cognitive autonomously Operating Robot). The robot, which possesses the scaled up morphology of a stick insect and can carry several times its own weight, will be used as a test bed in various departments and projects at the University. Read More
Swedish adventurer Johan Ernst Nilson definitely has his work cut out for him. On April 6th he began his one-year Pole2Pole trek, in the course of which he intends to travel from the North to South Pole using only carbon-neutral transportation. He has already begun to ski down from the North Pole, with other legs of his journey intended to include travel by dog sled, sailboat, bicycle and kite-assisted sled. Given that his life may depend on everything performing properly, he won’t just be using a garden-variety toboggan to haul his gear across the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps – instead, expedition sponsor Audi has made him a one-of-a-kind sled. Read More
Given that legendary Italian bicycle-maker Colnago has collaborated with Ferrari on limited-edition bikes in the past, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that another bicycle company might also see the technological (and marketing) value of hooking up with a maker of racing and luxury automobiles. This time around, it’s America’s Specialized, that has joined forces with the UK’s McLaren Applied Technologies. Together, the two have created what is being promoted as “the fastest complete performance bike in the world” – the S-Works + McLaren Venge. Read More
Audi tries its hand at making skis with the Carbon Ski concept
If you can buy Porsche bicycles, Lamborghini hard drives, or spend a day at the Ferrari World amusement park, then why shouldn’t you be able to snap on a pair of Audi skis? You may soon have the chance, given the reported success of the German automaker’s experiment with its Audi Carbon Ski concept. Designed and developed at Audi Concept Design in Munich, the downhill skis were created in collaboration with specialists from ski-making company Head, and the German Ski Association. The result is an ultra-lightweight ski that is said to offer premium performance. Read More
A new high performance fiber that is better at absorbing energy without breaking than Kevlar has been created by the U.S Department of Defence. While still under development, the material could be used in bulletproof vests, parachutes, or in composite materials for vehicles, airplanes and satellites in the future. The fiber has been engineered from carbon nanotubes spun into a yarn and held together using a polymer. The resultant material is tough and strong while still remaining flexible. Read More
Estonia is not a country known for motorcycles, but the reemergence of a pre-WW2 motorcycle brandname could change all that. Tallinn-based Renard Motorcycles will begin production of its GT next year. The bike's carbon-fiber and Kevlar monocoque chassis weighs just 11 kg and incorporates the airbox and fuel tank while the metal components other than the Moto Guzzi 1200cc Quattrovalvole v-twin engine are all CNC milled from a solid aircraft quality aluminium. The carbon parallelogram front suspension and design are reminiscent of a Confederate Wraith, as is the limited edition, stellar price (EUR75,000), craftsmanship and beauty. Read More
Nanotechnology boosts conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced plastics
Protecting aircraft from lightning strikes probably isn't the first use of nanotechnology that springs to mind, but that's exactly what Fraunhofer researchers hope to achieve by combining carbon nanotubes with carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). Read More
Lamborghini reveals carbon fiber Sesto Elemento concept
Automobili Lamborghini has become one of the driving forces in carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) research. The Italian automaker runs two development facilities, the ACRC (Advanced Composite Research Center) and the ACSL (Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory), and collaborates with companies such as Boeing. The result is a “host of patents” for CFRP technologies, designed for the production of incredibly light yet strong and stiff automobiles. To show us all what’s possible when it kicks out the carbon fiber jams, Lamborghini has just unveiled its Sesto Elemento concept supercar at the 2010 Paris Motor Show... that would be 570 hp, 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 300 km/h (186 mph) for starters. Read More
FlyingLift gives camcorders a birds-eye view
Sick of straining your arm to get that all-important above the crowd video angle? Here's a solution that will give you a true birds-eye view. Due to hit the market at the end of the year, FlyingLift is a remote controlled quadrocopter which can carry a conventional video camera of up too 500 grams in weight while beaming images back to the ground in real-time. The system consists of an electrically powered carbon fiber chopper, a backpack-mounted receiver unit, a hand-held controller and a set of video glasses which deliver what the camera sees to one eye while leaving the other eye free to follow the quadrocopter in flight. Read More
