Cyborg Manned Hoverbike

Malloy Aeronautics have their eye on a truly groundbreaking (pun intended) concept, which actually makes quite a bit of sense. View their kickstarter here. 

The goal is to create a drone which can be piloted by either a human or remote controlled. Using simplified helicopter technology, the engineers were able to push the envelope on current drone tech to create such machinery capable of reaching altitudes of  9000ft with speeds up to 100 knots.

1/3 scale version

Be sure to participate in the kickstarter if you're interested in the company, project and/or future endeavours. I'm sure Google is keeping a close eye on this.

They even give you the schematics to create "Buster". Pretty neat.

I can see where the inspiration came from ...

~

The Genius of Invention: Power (Electricity)

Great documentary.



Moral of the story: We need to focus more on creating sustainable energy via solar power.

Three Dyson Inventions You'll Never See In Stores

Article by Megan Wollerton via CNET

Dyson just recently announced plans to expand beyond its trademark vacuums, but it turns out that the brand has been working on non-vacuum prototypes all along.

Dyson's DC41 Animal Complete vacuum cleaner.

 - Colin West McDonald/CNET

Dyson, the British luxury small appliance manufacturer, is best known for the colorful cyclonic filters it uses on its vacuum cleaners. But it wants the world to know it's been working on other kinds of products, too, revealing three never-before-seen prototypes to show off its innovation expertise.

Is it coincidental timing that Dyson is offering up this broader view of its R&D operations, less than 24 hours before news of an anticipated expansion by Apple into smart home tech? The projects listed here aren't exact corollaries to, say, a set of smart light bulbs, but as Google, Facebook, and other tech companies start expanding their horizons, why not one more?

James Dyson, the company's founder, famously went through thousands of vacuum prototypes (5,127, to be exact) to perfect his vision before bringing it to production. Today, he employs teams of scientists and engineers who continue to develop products within the industry, but the company has been building all sorts of other concepts for years now, too -- many of which have nothing to do with vacuums or its other high-end retail items.

James Dyson wearing the Dyson Halo N066 augmented reality headset.

Dyson Halo N066 smart glasses and watch

The N066 was a full-color 3D augmented reality headset that Dyson started working on in 2001. It projected a 10-inch display about 1 meter (3.3 feet) in front of you and let you select among a list of applications. Sound familiar?

The headset relied on a pocket-sized computer to give you information about things in your immediate area. Through audio and visual prompts, it helped wearers perform tasks, like reading emails. A virtual keyboard also allowed you to write emails on any surface.

You could disconnect the portable computer, dock it, and use it as a desktop computer of sorts.

The controller is another hardware component of N066. It was designed to be worn on the wrist like a watch and worked like a laptop pointing stick so you could move the virtual cursor across the virtual display.

The Dyson Halo was in development for three years before the project was stalled. The team of engineers were asked to focus on bringing the brand's existing product categories to the US instead. However, tech from N066 is being used in more recent projects.

The Dyson Diesel Trap X007

Dyson Diesel Trap X007 engine filter

Another Dyson prototype was inspired by the brand's signature cyclonic vacuum filters. Since the cyclone technology is used to remove allergens and other harmful particles from your floors, Dyson decided to apply the same theory to diesel fuel engines. The idea was that it would help filter out more of the hazardous environmental pollutants that diesel engines expel.

Early versions of X007 relied on cyclone tech, but needed too much energy to run properly. Several iterations later and Dyson had a working prototype. Dyson claims that it had a hard time getting people interested in this product -- as manufacturers were more interested in ceramic filters -- and stopped developing the X007.

The Dyson Digital Motor V4HF

Dyson Digital Motor V4HF

The goal of this project was twofold: to develop a digital motor for a fuel cell and to simultaneously decrease its size and increase its performance efficiency. Ten engineers worked on the digital motor project for three years. Eventually, the team came up with V4HF.

According to Dyson, this small, lightweight motor did improve efficiency and increase power density. It also made the notoriously slow fuel cell start-up time nearly three times faster. While this prototype hasn't shown up anywhere yet, Dyson is still considering possible applications for V4HF.

Earlier this year, we reported on Dyson's $8 million investment in a robotics research lab and its plans for a large-scale $420 million R&D build-out expansion at its headquarters in Wiltshire, UK. Growing its R&D branch will give Dyson the opportunity to focus even more attention on its side projects. And while we haven't heard specifics just yet, Dyson decided to excite our anticipation by sharing a few of its pre-R&D-expansion concepts. These three never-before-seen Dyson prototypes didn't advance beyond the concept stage, but might just give us an idea of what to expect from the vacuum-maker-turned-tech-innovator in the future.

Kinetic Art

Absolutely breathtaking sculptures, and a wonderful soundtrack to go along with the visuals. Leonardo Da Vinci would be proud.

ENGINEERING - DEEP WATER COOLING

Last night I was out for a coffee catching up with my cousins (Civil Engineer and Architect). We were having a discussion about random topics when deep water cooling came up. Apparently this process is used in Toronto by a company by the name of Enwave (View Here) to cool various office buildings/condo's in the downtown core by the means of pumping cold water from the lake. My cousin went into detail about how this process works, however I needed more information in order to solidify said concept. 

So here it is (mostly linked from Wikipedia/various websites.) 

Deep Water Source Cooling

Deep water source cooling (DWCS) or deep water air cooling is a form of air cooling for process and comfort space cooling which uses a renewable, large body of naturally cold water as a heat sink. It uses water at 4 to 10 degrees Celsius drawn from deep areas within lakes, oceans, aquifers or rivers, which is pumped through the one side of a heat exchanger. On the other side of the heat exchanger, cooled water is produced.

Industrial Heat Exchanger 

Water is most dense at 3.98 °C (39.16 °F) at standard atmospheric pressure. Thus as water cools below 3.98 °C it decreases in density and will rise. As the temperature climbs above 3.98 °C, water density also decreases and causes the water to rise, which is why lakes are warmer on the surface during the summer. The combination of these two effects means that the bottom of most deep bodies of water located well away from the equatorial regions is at a constant 3.98 °C.

Air conditioners are heat pumps. During the summer, when outside air temperatures are higher than the temperature inside a building, air conditioners use electricity to transfer heat from the cooler interior of the building to the warmer exterior ambient. This process uses electrical energy.

Unlike residential air conditioners, most modern commercial air conditioning systems do not transfer heat directly into the exterior air. The thermodynamic efficiency of the overall system can be improved by utilizing evaporative cooling, where the temperature of the cooling water is lowered close to the wet-bulb temperature by evaporation in a cooling tower. This cooled water then acts as the heat sink for the heat pump.

Air Conditioner Cycle Diagram 

Deep lake water cooling uses cold water pumped from the bottom of a lake as a heat sink for climate control systems. Because heat pump efficiency improves as the heat sink gets colder, deep lake water cooling can reduce the electrical demands of large cooling systems where it is available. It is similar in concept to modern geothermal sinks, but generally simpler to construct given a suitable water source.

Deep lake water cooling allows higher thermodynamic efficiency by using cold deep lake water, which is colder than the ambient wet bulb temperature. The higher efficiency results in less electricity used. For many buildings, the lake water is sufficiently cold that the refrigeration portion of the air conditioning systems can be shut down during some environmental conditions and the building interior heat can be transferred directly to the lake water heat sink. This is referred to as "free cooling", but is not actually free, since pumps and fans run to circulate the lake water and building air.

One added attraction of deep lake water cooling is that it saves energy during peak load times, such as summer afternoons, when a sizable amount of the total electrical grid load is air conditioning.

DWCS Diagram 

Advantages

Deep water source cooling is very energy efficient, requiring only 1/10 of the average energy required by conventional cooler systems. The energy source is fully renewable, provided that the heat brought to the lake does not disturb its natural cycles. It does not use any ozone depleting refrigerant.

Depending on the needs and on the water temperature, couple heating and cooling can be considered. For example, heat could first be extracted from the water (making it colder); and, secondly, that same water could cycle to a refrigerating unit to be used for effective cold production.

Disadvantages

Deep water source cooling requires a large and deep water quantity in the surroundings. To obtain water in the 3 to 6 °C (37 to 43 °F) range, a depth of 50 m (160 ft) to 70 m (230 ft) is required, depending on the local conditions.

The set-up of a system is expensive and labour-intensive. The system also requires a great amount of source material for its construction and placement.

First System In Canada

Since August 2004, a deep lake water cooling system has been operated by the Enwave Energy Corporation in Toronto, Ontario. It draws water from Lake Ontario through tubes extending 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) into the lake, reaching to a depth of 83 metres (272 ft). The deep lake water cooling system is part of an integrated district cooling system that covers Toronto's financial district, and has a cooling power of 59,000 tons (207 MW). The system currently has enough capacity to cool 3,200,000 square metres (34,000,000 sq ft) of office space.

The cold water drawn from Lake Ontario's deep layer in the Enwave system is not returned directly to the lake, once it has been run through the heat exchange system. The Enwave system only uses water that is destined to meet the city's domestic water needs. Therefore, the Enwave system does not pollute the lake with a plume of waste heat.

LEGO for the iPad generation

An innovation that looks to omit the process of programming, wiring and soldering, littleBits allows for myriads of experimentation, where mini circuit boards with functions such as light, sound, sensor buttons and more are snapped together via magnets to make larger circuits.


Aiming to help users engineer their ideas without difficulty, littleBits breaks down complex concepts into palpable, color coded blocks, and as founder Ayah Bdeir aptly puts it, presents itself as “LEGO for the iPad generation.” In the short above, Bdeir shares the core themes behind littleBits, its beginnings and how the New York-based start-up looks to stimulate a generation of artists and designers. Head over to littleBits for more on the imprint.

LEGO Hot-Rod

Melbourne-based entrepreneur Steve Sammartino and 20-year-old Romanian genius Raul Oaida came together to build a LEGO hot-rod that’s powered exclusively with air.

Comprised of more than half a million bricks, the engine itself consists of four orbital motors and 256 pistons to reach a speed of 30 km/h.

full scale LEGO car runs entirely on air from designboom on Vimeo.

Into The Wilderness

SHIN YOSHIKAWA - Into The Wilderness from Silly Thing on Vimeo.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered - FORZE VI

The FORZE VI is a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle created by a foundation that comprises about 70 students. Most of these students study at the Delft University of Technology. The team is multi-disciplinary; all the faculties are represented by their students and the team is also managed by students. Apart from the technical and managerial challenges, maintaining public relations is done by students as well. To assist in this field, the team has a cooperation with the Rotterdam Business School.

The Forze VI is (the 6th vehicle created by FORZE, but first of its kind to be closed wheel) set to compete against gasoline powered opponents in the Catherham Cup. The goal is to set a lap record for hydrogen fuel cell cars at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Based on the Lotus 7 chassis, the VI utilizes a push rod with carbon links suspension and weighs roughly 860 kg's. It's powered by a combination of electric motors rated at 100kW (135 hp) with a boost power of 190kW (258 hp). Top speed is 210 km/h. It's fuel cell system is a Ballard FC Velocity MK1100 stack with Forze balance of plant hardware & software. The drivetrain is created using Planetary Gears (ratio 1:3:66).

Hydrogen reacts with oxygen from the air. During this reaction, electricity and water is produced. The electricity is used to power the electric engines, the water is used to cool the brake system. Excess water is evaporated instead of routed to the ground or held within additional tanks on board.

Complete 100 kW fuel cell system developed by Forze. 

How to create electric energy

"In the race cars of Forze a PEM fuel cell is used. In the fuel cell stack, many cells are combined to create an efficient system. The cells are stacked upon each other. Fuel cells come in many varieties; however, they all work in the same general manner. They are made up of three adjacent segments: the anode, the electrolyte, and the cathode. Two chemical reactions occur at the interfaces of the three different segments. The net result of the two reactions is that fuel is consumed, water and/or carbon dioxide is created, and an electric current is created, which can be used to power electrical devices, normally referred to as the load.

In the Forze racecars PEM fuel cells are used (Proton Exchange Membrane).

On the anode side, hydrogen diffuses to the anode catalyst where it later dissociates into protons and electrons. These protons often react with oxidants causing them to become what is commonly referred to as multi-facilitated proton membranes. The protons are conducted through the membrane to the cathode, but the electrons are forced to travel in an external circuit (supplying power) because the membrane is electrically insulating. On the cathode catalyst, oxygen molecules react with the electrons (which have traveled through the external circuit) and protons to form water in this example, the only waste product, either liquid or vapor. A schematic image shows the working principle of a cell."




I will be sure to follow up on this seeing as how they are technically an FSAE team. However, going from open wheel to closed wheel is a daunting task, even for 70 members. A new competition based on this chassis would be amazing!

Hillclimb - FSAE Edition

Those Germans! (FSAE - Formula Society of Automotive Engineers).

Honda CBR600RR powerplant 

Almost time to start the design process of next seasons car, which I should probably document haha.

Engineer Dad Builds His Son The Best Toy Car Ever Seen

This is absolutely fantastic! Definitely gives me inspiration to build a kart of my own.

"The builder of this sub-scale, carbon-fiber beauty is a Chinese automotive engineer who goes by the handle Lingziluo, and, according to his answers on a reddit thread, the little car cost over $15,000 in parts, and if you were to factor in the labor cost, would easily cost more than a new BMW 3 Series. That kid better not complain about getting underpants for his birthday." Via Jalopnik

Streamline, Drag coefficient=0.24, as low as Tesla Model S

DESIGN

CAD Design 

It's not made of steel, all carbon fiber!

LED Light Systems 

All Aloy Rims 

CHASSIS

SUSPENSION

Double Wishbone Suspension

Axle

EXTRA'S

Keyless Start

New Paint