The U.S. drone program has seen significant press since the first Gulf War when the defenders of Faylaka Island surrendered to the Pioneer drone, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), flying spotting services for the USS Wisconsin (BB 64). Since that time, the technology powering U.S. drones has steadily improved now allowing the MQ-1B Predator and …
Vehicle platooning is one of the innovations in the automotive industry that aim to improve the safety, efficiency, mileage, and time of travel of vehicles while relieving traffic congestion, decreasing pollution and reducing stress for passengers. One of the recent demonstrations of this technology was during the PATH program done in California by 8 Buicks …
Disabling Onstar is not a task that is as simple as pushing a button. Onstar is a device that permits the vehicle to be tracked and, if something happens to the vehicle, allows an operator to conact the vehicle. For some people, there is discomfort with Onstar having the ability to track the vehicle. To …
MagLev Trains are trains that rely on magnets or magnetic force to run. There are different kinds of MagLev Trains that have been developed and they differ on the technology used to attract the magnetic force or magnets to make the train run or levitate. Each project is developing its own version of Magnetic levitation …
One of the most prominent gauges on an automobile’s dashboard is the speedometer. Its primary function is to give a visual indication of a vehicle’s speed in miles or kilometers (or both) per hour. Since the majority of these devices are still analog, they may require speedometer calibration when new tires are installed, major automotive …
A driverless car (also autonomous/autopilot/auto-drive car) refers to a car that does not need human intervention to function. The first driverless car achieved a maximum speed of 20 miles-per-hour and was built by Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in 1977. The Mercedes Benz robot van built during the 1980s achieved a full speed of 60 miles-per-hour …
Most hybrid cars use a combination of gasoline and electric engines. There are also types of hybrid cars that use a combination of diesel and electric engines. Gasoline & Electric -Powered Cars ‘Regular’ gasoline-powered cars derive their propulsion power from combustion of gasoline. The combustion of gas produces the energy needed to turn the transmission …
There are several different types of traffic cameras. Some types of traffic cameras are only focused on traffic patterns and traffic density. Other types of traffic cameras are placed in locations where traffic infractions commonly occur to capture traffic incidents and record the details for punitive purposes. Cameras for Traffic Monitoring Cameras for traffic monitoring …
A pulse jet engine is a type of jet engine that uses pulses of combustion rather than continuous combustion to stay in the air, thereby reducing fuel costs and increasing efficiency. While pulse jet engines have been used in many functional jets, they can also be used for a variety of other applications such as …
A throttle position sensor is a device that can detect a difference in throttle position. The Engine Control Unit (ECU) uses throttle position sensors in internal combustion engines to gauge the throttle’s position as well as the rate of change in the throttle’s position in order to relay this information to other devices in the …