That would certainly be a hard thing to get used to, Chuck. I used to take my car out of gear while descending mountain passes in Colorado. I would sometimes turn off the engine and just coast. Then one day I got a new car. I tried the same thing. Problem was, the new car had a feature where the steering would lock up when you turned the engine off. I came pretty close to driving off a cliff.
I don't know the details of how it will work, Rob, but the general idea is that it could shut down, even at speeds of 75 mph, when the driver pulls his or her foot off the gas and coasts. To make it happen, the vehicle has to synchronize the starter motor to the powertrain's spinning ring gear during deceleration. To do that, a very good crankshaft sensor is needed. Suppliers tell us that this feature won't be available in the first generation of start-stop technology. But subsequent generations will have it. By shutting down during coasting, automakers say they can reduce fuel consumption by an additional 10%.
I wish I had, Rob. I'm really curious about this concept of shutting down the engine while gliding at high speeds. Bosch engineers told me earlier this year that they, too, foresee shutting down engines at as much as 75 mph.
Why are EV charging cables so expensive? If there are complex electronics involved, why isn't that built into the car, so you could just plug in with a standard 110 or 220 extension cord? Simple power supplies can auto-sense whether you've plugged into 110 or 220, but a $40,000.00 car can't? Can anyone offer insight or point me to a link that discusses this?
With something you love, there's a fine line between work and play. It's a testament to the power of the technology that engineers are having that much fun all the while pushing the boundaries of what's possible and learning the new environments.
I agree, naperlou. The Freescale competition was cool. And the engineers were serious about it. Although the sign said, "Engineers at play," it didn't seem like they were playing.
Beth, I have to admit that I'm not a likely candidate for colorful interior LED lighting, either. Some consumers like it, though. Ford's My Color has been very popular on the Mustang.
Agreed, gsmith120. I see the light now too in terms of some applications where internal LEDs could lend an assist. Although in today's world, most passengers would be using some sort of electronics device--smart phone, tablet, e-Reader--all of which have backlit capabilities hence they don't really need an onboard light for clarity.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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