When Volkswagen launched its "People’s Car" project, soliciting ideas for futuristic visions and concepts that could be made into reality, more than 119,000 ideas were posted, including the Hover Car, the Music Car, and the Smart Key. All were highlighted at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show.
The Music Car concept involves an LED-covered Volkswagen Beetle that changes color to match the music selections of the driver, while the zero-emission, two-seated Hover Car levitates above the road and propels itself forward using electromagnetic road networks.
The Smart Key concept caters to the uber-attached, providing them with a 9mm HD touchscreen on the ignition key that monitors the status of the car throughout the day and keeps tabs on it via satellite transmission.
As for ZERO EMMISSIONS, what about all of the ADDED magnetic fields that will be produced? What are the side efects of being constantly surrounded by high power magnetic fields. It doesn't mater what we do, there will always be some form of emmission to deal with.
To call a new technology ECO friendly or ZERO emmission is misleading. EV cars aren't as ECO friendly as people think because of all of the environmental issues that are forgotten about in their production. It's just that these problems are created somewhere else, so people conveniently forget that they even exist.
I agree that Maglev is a neat idea, but not practical. It would take forever to get the planet restructured so that it could be used everywhere. Too bad it wasn't thought of and implemented 150 years ago. It might have had a chance then.
Obviously , this "concept" is not being demonstrated in real life.. and the author didn't think it was going to be believed by readers of Design News as such.
Some of you should be feel sheepish .. not mis-lead or intentionally fooled.
As to "Magnetic levitation" comments. It was never indicated "what" was being demonstrated to create levitation.
May I offer a alternative answer.... Quantum locking? maybe?
Quantum locking... THIS SHOULD NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH SUPER CONDUCTIVITY and MAGNETISM.
Not that this technology is demonstrable, but it could answer some of the questions and limitations leveled at magnetic levitation for this application.
I agree with the people who are upset about Design News posting something like this, whether it's in a blog or not. Design News is a technical magazine, read by professionals. It's not some college student's web site where he wants to impress his friends and have fun. As an engineer, I expect Design News to keep me up to date with new equipment, new technologgy, things that might be useful in my applications at work.
This blog article has really detracted from the credibility and reliability of Design News. As a result, I will not be paying much attention to the stuff that comes across my computer screen from this source. I'll stick to the magazine, where childish foolishness likely will not occur.
If any engineer believed that this concept video was real for more than a milisecond, he doesn't deserve to be an engineer. I'm not even going to start listing the technical problems with this concept. All the explainations in the video are bogus.
I thoroughly enjoyed the video for what it is - a concept, one that's been around for years, one that we as engineers should work towards bringing about but one that practically is many years out.
I remember Moller's skycar designs since from when I was a kid reading Popular Science in the early 1970s. To my knowledge, not one of them ever managed to carry a human being on board.
I've seen many engineers shake their heads in disgust over two decades at the ridiculous claims he made. These things were never able to fly. They preyed upon hapless, ignorant investors with all sorts of idiotic claims for engines that are thermodynamically unlikely.
The noise from the engines was the least of his problems.
I was impressed until the mag-lev concept was explained by minerals underground. Mag lev, without going into details, is much more complicated. :-) Great video, though.
I like the visibility their prototype affords, however.
Many years ago I designed the controls for a mag-lev hover train that did work. But the power source was on the track side because there was simply no way that thyhe train car could carry enough power to lift itself for any amount of time.
Another thing is certain is that the car is not working with the "minerals in the ground" to produce a useable amount of lift.Just assume 100% efficiency and do the math.
Why Does Design News continue to post this article over and over as if it is a legitimate product announcement when you are well aware that it is a hoax?
You are rapidly losing your credibility. Please stop doing this.
This would be appropriate for an April 1 issue, but not really any other time. Of course it could be sort of entertaining to see just how it was produced. But really, even over an active magnetic track it would not ride that far up. And once again, it simply could not carry enough energy to deliver that kind of power.
Also, at one point we saw the blue glow underneath the vehicle. is this really a car using warp drive? Don't tell us it is magnetic levitation if it was really a warp drive system, using the dilithium crystals.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Labs have observed a reaction in lithium-air batteries that could help improve the design of these cells for electric vehicles and other applications.
Healthcare might seem to be an unlikely target application for the Internet of Things technology, but recent developments show small ways that big-data is going to make an impact on patient care moving into the future.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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