Engineering

DUSTBOT collaborative, multifunctional robots keep your town clean

By Dario Borghino

20:14 September 23, 2009 PDT

A group of European companies and universities have collaborated to produce a series of multifunctional robots for urban hygiene tasks. With abilities ranging from door-to-door garbage pickup and transportation, to automated street cleaning, the DUSTBOTs recently demonstrated their skills at a station in the town of Atxuri, Portugal. Read More

The world's first floating, rotating (floatating?) hotel building

By Loz Blain

05:47 September 18, 2009 PDT

Antalya is a city of around 800,000 people on the Southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Like most cities in that region, it has played host to a revolving cast of empires over the centuries, from the Romans, to the Byzantines to the Ottomans and Turks. Nestled between a stunning coastline and majestic mountain ranges, it's known as one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey, and it's also the site of one of the world's most unusual hotels. The Hotel Marmara Antalya features the only fully rotating hotel building in the world - and the way they've done it is fascinating. Read More

Torotrak’s new generation transmission is good gear

By Darren Quick

00:30 September 3, 2009 PDT

Most of the efforts to produce more environmentally-friendly cars in recent years have focused on alternative fuels and more efficient engines. UK-based engineering company, Torotrak, has instead decided to turn its expertise to another vehicle component with the development of a new generation transmission that it claims can not only slash CO2 emissions and improve fuel efficiency, but also boost performance. Read More

Researchers take first steps towards strain-based graphene engineering

By Dario Borghino

19:08 August 5, 2009 PDT

Scientists have long known the unique properties of graphene, a material just one-atom thick that shows promise as a replacement for silicon in electronics of the future. One of the difficulties is that unpredictable ripples form in graphene when exposed to temperature changes, but now scientists are learning more about how to control formation of these ripples, which could open up a new field of research - strain-based graphene electronics. Read More

Exclusive: Cranklock technical drawings

By Noel McKeegan

02:57 July 31, 2009 PDT

The Cranklock is a brilliantly simple idea that offers speed, safety and security benefits to cyclists by allowing the rider to lock the pedals at will - and our article and podcast on the subject has generated lots of interest over the past week. So we know what it does, but how does it do it? The company's engineering team has left no stone unturned in finding the right solution and many patent applications have been filed covering different versions of the mechanism. While exact details on the final production model are still under wraps, Cranklock inventor Chris Toal has given us a peek at early technical drawings from a couple of the patent applications to provide an insight into how the Cranklock will operate... plus the first pics of a new downhill prototype. Read More

Nissan's next generation CVT claims world's highest transmission ratio

By Jeff Salton

18:14 July 30, 2009 PDT

Nissan and its transmission supplier Jatco have developed a next generation CVT (continuously variable transmission) that promises better fuel economy and performance in a compact and lightweight package. The new CVT combines conventional CVT belt operation with an auxiliary gearbox and has a significantly increased gear ratio range – roughly 20 percent higher than other CVTs and among the world's highest for production vehicles according to Nissan. Read More

Scientists stick with silicon to extend Moore's Law

By Jeff Salton

23:40 July 26, 2009 PDT

Scientists at Rice University and North Carolina State University have found a method of attaching molecules to semiconducting silicon that may help manufacturers reach past the current limits of Moore's Law as microprocessors become smaller and more powerful. Read More

Phoenix: Concept vehicle for a brave new world

By Jeff Salton

19:33 July 22, 2009 PDT

First appearing in the Michelin Challenge Design earlier this year, the Phoenix concept features an orbital omni-directional four-wheel-drive system which allows for several types of motion - apart from moving forwards and backwards, it can rotate around its own axis and move sideways. Read More

ZPO tower Dubai - stunning and sustainable

By Jeff Salton

19:37 June 29, 2009 PDT

From the land of opulence – Dubai - comes another amazing feat of architecture and engineering to add to the emirate’s extravagant skyline. The spiraling tubular design for the Za'abeel Park Observation (ZPO) Tower incorporates roof gardens, extensive solar paneling and geothermal cooling and ventilation in an organically inspired structure topped by three observation deck "petals". Read More

Nanodiamonds promise next-Generation Cancer Treatments

By David Greig

03:55 May 22, 2009 PDT

Nanomaterials less than 100-thousand-millionths of a meter in size have the potential to radically change current drug delivery techniques with early trials showing the ability of nanomaterials to moderate the release of highly toxic chemotherapy drugs with reduced side effects and improved targeting. Using nanodiamonds, researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated a new tool designed to precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying to individual cells - the Nanofountain Probe. Read More

Nanocoating to help monitor safety of aircraft, bridges

By David Greig

22:10 May 20, 2009 PDT

One of the promising applications for the emerging field of nanotechnology is the monitoring of large-scale infrastructures, such as bridges. The latest foray into this field comes from the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) School of Engineering – it is studying a new nanocomposite material that could improve the maintenance of large-scale infrastructure and provide early warning of any deterioration. Read More

Rebuilding the face: medicine meets engineering at the beginning of an industrial revolution

By Loz Blain

00:11 February 10, 2009 PST

February 10, 2009 Mass-production technology has revolutionized so much of modern life that we take it for granted - but early iterations of all technologies were hand-built, relying on the skills and intuition of master craftsmen for the effectiveness of each end product. It might surprise you to learn that in the field of facial reconstructive surgery, the vast majority of work is still being done in a pre-industrial revolution fashion - and results for patients who present with horribly disfiguring facial tumors or bone injuries are as varied and inconsistent as the human hands that do the work. Dr. Ninian Peckitt, originally from the UK, has pioneered a truly revolutionary "Engineering Assisted Surgery" approach that uses advanced CT-to-CAD modeling, rapid stereolithographic prototyping, pinpoint CAD design, electron beam melting (EBM) mass-production and error-eliminating surgical procedures. The results are absolutely stunning. Patients that would normally require traumatic 20-hour operations involving complicated, imprecise and ugly bone grafts are being fitted with incredibly precise, long-lasting titanium facial inserts so effective that once surgical scars fade you'd never know they had a facial injury. Surgery is simple and can often be completed in an hour or two using techniques that eliminate human errors - and the entire procedure comes in at a fraction of the price. Peckitt's work is amazing - but if powerful lobbies in the medical fraternity have their way, it may cost him his career. Read More

Spray-on ceramic coating dramatically reduces external temperatures

By Mike Hanlon

December 19, 2006 A high-technology ceramic coating originally developed for the nuclear industry and already used by five Formula One teams is now available for automotive applications. Applied to the exhaust manifold using a high-temperature plasma spray, the Zircotec coating greatly reduces the release of heat, helping to protect the finish of the manifold, the engine and other components in the engine bay. The coating can also be applied to turbo housings, cam covers, heat shields and other metal components. Testing by race teams has shown a reduction in under-bonnet temperature of up to 25ºC and power improvements, from the lower air induction temperatures, of up to six percent. One motorcycle racing team that employed the system used a laser-guided thermometer and found that while the exhaust can have an internal temperature of around 150 degrees Centigrade, the outside temperate can be low enough for the exhaust pipe to be removed WITHOUT using gloves. Read More