Engineering TV : Future Tech

Solar Decathlon Refract House - Part 2

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:22:00 GMT

We continue our interview with Preet Anand about the Refract House, which uses a holistic and environmentally conscious design to produce a contemporary architectural solution using highly efficient and sustainable systems and materials. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2009 combines the latest in home design and energy performance with the innovative spirit of university students from around the world. In the fall of 2009, the teams will transport their homes to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., forming a "solar village", where they will be judged in 10 different categories or challenges. Also watch this episode: Solar Decathlon Refract House - Part 1. For more information, visit Refract House.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(664 Views, 0 Comments)

Solar Decathlon Refract House - Part 1

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:05:00 GMT
For three weeks in October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy will host the Solar Decathlon—a competition in which 20 teams of college and university students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered house. Engineering TV talks with Santa Clara University's Preet Anand about the Refract House, made in conjunction with California College of the Arts. The Refract House uses the latest in sustainable, bio-based building materials, cutting-edge thermal efficiencies, and comprehensive controls systems. Also watch this episode: Solar Decathlon Refract House - Part 2. For more information, visit Refract House.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(1052 Views, 2 Comments)

Designing the Kia Soul'Ster

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Designed for active, sun-loving young drivers on a budget, the Kia Soul'Ster is an open-air variation concept based on Kia's Soul compact crossover SUV. Tom Kearns, Chief Designer at Kia Motors, discusses his team's design process for the Soul'Ster and some of the considerations necessary to translate a conceptual theme into a practical vehicle that fits into a spirited lifestyle. For more information, go to: Kia Motors.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(1257 Views, 1 Comments)

Constellation Space Suit

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 GMT
Paragon has received authorization to begin work on NASA’s Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS). Paragon is beginning this work on the first major space suit redesign in over 40 years as part of a team led by Oceaneering International. Paragon has key responsibilities in the design and manufacture of the suit’s life support and thermal control system. The first suits will support the debut flight of the new Orion spaceship that Paragon is also working on, currently planned to launch in 2015. With modifications, the suit will go on to be used exploring the surface of the Moon and Mars. Also watch this episode: Paragon Dive System. For more information, go to: Paragon Space Development Corporation.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(4429 Views, 2 Comments)

Growing Plants on the Moon

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:00:00 GMT
What does it take to grow plants on the Moon? Paragon Space Development Corporation CEO Taber MacCallum answers that question from the 25th International Space Symposium. Growing the first plant on another world has enormous symbolic importance as well as important scientific research value for creating self contained lunar outposts and eventual settlements. In addition to leading the design of biological payloads, Paragon’s responsibilities on the Odyssey Moon team include robotic lunar lander design support and the lander’s thermal control system. Also watch this episode: Lunar Oasis: Greenhouse on the Moon. For more information, go to: Paragon Space Development Corporation.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(2448 Views, 0 Comments)

Lunar Oasis: Greenhouse on the Moon

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT
The first Moon flower will become a reality when private lunar expedition partners Odyssey Moon and Paragon Space Development Corporation deliver a biological greenhouse to the lunar surface. Google Lunar X PRIZE contender Odyssey Moon partnered with Paragon, a Tucson-based firm and manufacturer of key components for NASA’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The lunar plant will be another space biology first for Paragon, having bred the first animals through complete life cycles in space, and grown the first aquatic plant in space. Also watch this episode: Growing Plants on the Moon. For more information, go to: Paragon Space Development Corporation.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(2196 Views, 0 Comments)

MoonOne Robotic Lunar Lander

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Odyssey Moon's partnership with NASA will allow them to develop the "MoonOne" (M-1) lunar lander based on the Common Spacecraft Bus (CSB) developed at the NASA Ames Research Center. The Hover Test Vehicle used for ground testing of the CSB is demonstrating that small teams and rapid prototyping can lead to some game changing innovations. Odyssey Moon is the first of a series of mission opportunities designed to enable low cost, rapid, and frequent access to the Moon for government, academic and commercial customers. Also watch this episode: Odyssey Moon and the Lunar X PRIZE. For more information, go to: Odyssey Moon.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(3997 Views, 0 Comments)

Odyssey Moon and the Lunar X PRIZE

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT
From the 25th International Space Symposium, Bob Richards, CEO of Odyssey Moon, talks about their commercial space enterprise, their involvement with the Lunar X PRIZE, and some unique payloads they plan on delivering to the surface of the moon. Odyssey Moon was the first team to complete registration for the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE competition and plans to make history with the first private robotic mission to the surface of the Moon. Also watch this episode: MoonOne Robotic Lunar Lander. For more information, go to: Odyssey Moon.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(1707 Views, 0 Comments)

Origami Optics

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:17:00 GMT
Most camera lenses refract light, leading to the familiar cylindrical tube geometry. In some cases, where extended focal length or reduced track length are required, concentric mirrors can be used to effectively reduce barrel length. Recent advances in diamond machining and image processing make it possible to take this approach to a new extreme. With up to 8 reflections, large ray angles, and a lens shaped more like a lens cap than a tube, so-called Origami Optics allowed researchers at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering to squeeze long focal lengths into a thin package and still collect enough light for fast, sharp exposures. Applications may range from compact imagers for micro-UAV surveillance craft to a miniature telephoto lens for future cell phones. "Our imager is about seven times more powerful than a conventional lens of the same depth," says Eric Tremblay, a UCSD electrical and computer engineering graduate student and the first author of a recent Applied Optics paper describing the new technology. Tremblay works with professor Joseph Ford in the Photonic Systems Integration Lab at the Jacobs School. The research is funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of the "MONTAGE" imager program.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(7367 Views, 3 Comments)

CMU Plasmonics

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:13:00 GMT
Interdisciplinary research addressing fundamental issues and questions, a systems level approach, along with close ties to industry, all brought together to yield relevant and timely research is the formula for success in the ECE Department at Carnegie Mellon. Under the direction of Elias Towe, research includes plasmonics. In physics, a plasmon is a quantum of a plasma oscillation. The plasmon is the quasiparticle resulting from the quantization of plasma oscillations just as photons and phonons are quantizations of light and sound waves, respectively. Thus, plasmons are collective oscillations of the free electron gas density, often at optical frequencies. Plasmons have been considered as a means of transmitting information on computer chips, since plasmons can support much higher frequencies (into the 100 THz range, while conventional wires become very lossy in the tens of GHz). Plasmons have also been proposed as a means of high-resolution lithography and microscopy due to their extremely small wavelengths. Both of these applications have seen successful demonstrations in the lab environment. Finally, surface plasmons have the unique capacity to confine light to very small dimensions which could enable many new applications.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(1534 Views, 0 Comments)

CMU Photonics

CurtisEllzey — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:23:00 GMT
At Carnegie Mellon University, Professor Elias Towe's group pursues research in basic optical and quantum phenomena in materials for applications in novel photonic devices that enable a new generation of information processing systems for communication, computation, and sensing. The group is also interested in understanding new pathways and fundamental mechanisms for solar energy conversion devices. Current focus is on the use of phenomena (such as three-dimensional quantum-confinement effects in nanometer-scale structures) in the study of novel devices. Examples include: quantum-dot infrared detectors and imaging sensors, electrically-pumped photonic crystal micro-cavity lasers with quantum-dot active regions, multi-spectral solar energy conversion devices, plasmonic bio-sensors, and fluorescence bio-sensing devices.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(1715 Views, 0 Comments)

Raytheon BluWāv Hy-DRA (Part 2)

CurtisEllzey — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:03:00 GMT
BluWāv's experience with in-wheel hub motors, in collaboration with Raytheon and Tucson Embedded Systems, has led to the design and development of a complete electric drive and energy storage system for the Raytheon BluWāv Hy-DRA, a purpose built war fighting all-terrain vehicle for the Special Operations Forces Warfighter. The Hy-DRA has (4) 46 kW hub motors producing 250 horsepower, a 5.1 kWh, 316V Submersible Li-Ion Battery Pack with Management System, All Electric (Stealth) Attack Mode capable of 75 MPH, and a fuel economy of 35 MPG in Series Hybrid Mode.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(2333 Views, 0 Comments)

Raytheon BluWāv Hy-DRA (Part 1)

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:20:00 GMT
In joint development with a Raytheon, BluWāv Systems developed a series hybrid system consisting of four in-wheel hub motors and battery system. The Hy-DRA (Hybrid-Defense Recon Assault) vehicle can be powered by an on-vehicle or removable generator set, fuel cell and hydrogen storage system, or a large plug-in hybrid compatible energy storage solution to provide a 40 mile or more range. BluWāv's Series Hybrid drive maximizes the use of electric drive while reserving precious package space for all the remaining vehicle components. The key benefit that BluWāv's hybrid system provides for the Military is stealth. The electric drive system provides silent operation with little heat signature.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(3064 Views, 0 Comments)

Smart Coatings

CurtisEllzey — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:19:00 GMT
Som Mitra, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and environmental science at New Jersey Institute of Technology, is experimenting with polymers that when dissolved in a solvent become like a paint, and thus can be used as a coating. Solar cells can be inexpensively printed or simply painted on exterior building walls or roofs. They could be an inexpensive source of power for appliances, heating and cooling units, laptops, etc.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(2556 Views, 0 Comments)

SWORDS Robotic Weapons Platform

CurtisEllzey — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:37:00 GMT
Military robots are widely used for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), reconnaissance, communications, hazmat, security, defense and rescue. TALON SWORDS robots can be configured with M240 or M249 machine guns or Barrett .50 caliber rifles for armed reconnaissance missions. The system was evaluated by the 5th Special Forces in Iraq and three systems have completed evaluation with the 3rd Infantry Division and were deployed to Iraq in 2007. Alternative weapons, including 40 mm grenade launchers and anti-tank rocket launchers, continue to be evaluated by the U.S. Army.

Have a story suggestion? Want to be featured on Engineering TV?
Send us a tip at: EngineeringTV@Penton.com!

(4752 Views, 6 Comments)