future with robots

Till now designers are unable to make a robot that can simulate the smooth movement of human ,but robot also has some features .Robot can work long time without rest or mistakes, can carry heavy things and can work in narrow space such as in nanotechnology. Now we are going to discuss the latest Developments of robots in some important fields in our everyday life .

Using Robots to Build Beautiful Structures

We will let the photos talk about how we can use robots to build fantastic structures :

Home-robots :

t's been a long time coming, but Intuitive Automata's Autom robotic weight loss coach is now up for pre-order on a dedicated "MyAutom" website. If you haven't been following the saga of Autom, it was first an MIT Media Lab robot with a significantly different look. Autom's developer at MIT, Cory Kidd, co-founded Intuitive Automata to help commercialize Autom based on the original MIT project, and it's starting to look like everything will be coming together within the next year. Not to get off topic or anything, but it's fantastic to see a research robot like this make the difficult jump into the consumer market. Congrats to Dr. Kidd!

Anyhow, back to the robot. We know that Autom is designed to be exceptionally interactive, crunching data on your health, diet, and exercise regimen and giving back friendly and constructive criticism. Studies have shown that people who use Autom stick with their diet and exercise routines for twice as long as people using more traditional weight loss methods. Don't ask me how, maybe it's something about those big blue eyes?

If this sounds good to you, you can be one of the very first people to have this friendly little robot helping you out every day with a deposit of $195. This is not the final price, however, it's just the pre-order deposit. The final price is the $195 deposit plus a balance of $670 when the robot ships, for a total of $865. This does seem a bit steep, although I'll admit to not being familiar with how much a typical weight loss program costs.

military-robots:

Textron's T-Ram is the Suicidal Mini-UAV You've Always Wanted

The U.S. Air Force has been looking for what they're calling a "Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System" to be fielded with special ops units next year. If the name of the program doesn't explain it, the above pic should: they essentially want a mortar round with wings, a camera, and a little engine. In other words, a surveillance UAV that can suicidally attack targets on command.

There are several systems with this capability currently in the works, but the operational requirements and principles are all the same. LMAMS needs to weigh three kilos or less, including the vehicle and the launching system. It needs to be able to deploy and fire in under 30 seconds, reach an altitude of 100 meters, and acquire and track a human-sized target in a further 20 seconds. At that point, the drone can either dive at its target, landing within a one meter radius and exploding its small (but still quite lethal) warhead, or it can loiter for up to 30 minutes, sending back live video.

Now, this seems like a fairly dangerous little robot to have around, but before you get all worked up about killer robots and stuff, remember that these special ops units already have tools to deal with situations that the LMAMS is designed for: namely, blindly chucking dumb mortars and grenades at things, calling in air support, or putting themselves in harms way to get a better view of their target. All the LMAMS does is to reduce risk and collateral damage. Or at least, that's the idea, but whether it'll work in practice remains to be seen.

humanoids :

Dr. James Law, a researcher at the Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University, has had an absolutely fantastic idea: he's nominated the iCub robot to carry the Olympic Torch as part of the 2012 Olympic Games, which will be held in London (that's in England, folks) starting next summer.

Dr. Law is proposing that iCub be included in the torch-carrying relay in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing, one of the guys who arguably invented the computer and whose test for artificial intelligence robots are continually striving to pass. This is a great idea, but I think that iCub should be part of the torch relay on its own merits: it'll be a first for robots and great publicity for engineering education and all that. Or at least, it'll be great as long as iCub doesn't faceplant in a puddle and snuff the torch out.

The only problem with this idea is that the short-sighted and obviously outdated nomination rules specify that all nominees have to be at least 12 years of age, which would mean that iCub wouldn't technically qualify. On the upside, nowhere does it say that nominess have to be human, so maybe iCub has a shot at this after all.

 

Smallest electric motor ever

For the first time, an electric motor has been made from a single molecule. At 1 nanometre long, that makes the organic compound the smallest electric motor ever.
Its creators plan to submit their design to Guinness World Records, but the teeny motor could also have practical applications, such as pushing fluid through narrow pipes in "lab-on-a-chip" devices.
Molecules have previously converted energy from light and chemical reactions into directed motion like rolling or flapping. Electricity has also set an oxygen molecule spinning randomly. But controlled, electrically-driven motion – necessary for a device to be classed as a motor – had not yet been observed in a single molecule.
To address this, E. Charles Sykes at Tufts University in Boston and colleagues turned to asymmetric butyl methyl sulphide, a sulphur atom with a chain of four carbons on one side and a lone carbon atom on the other. They anchored the molecule to a copper surface via the sulphur atom, producing a lopsided, horizontal "propeller" that is free to rotate about the vertical copper-sulphur bond

Record smashed

Above the molecule they placed a metal needle a few atoms wide at its tip. When they flowed a current from this tip, through the molecule, to the conductive copper below, the molecule converted the electrical energy into rotational energy. It bounced around in jittery hops about 50 times a second.

Because the propeller is asymmetrical, there are two ways it can be oriented with respect to the copper. In one orientation – but not the other – the molecule's hops were not random but slightly biased towards rotating clockwise, allowing the researchers to classify it as a motor.

It is not clear why the bias occurs but Sykes suspects that an inherent asymmetry in the tip of the metal needle could explain why it only occurs in one molecular orientation.

Friction fighter

If accepted by Guinness, the motor will be a record smasher. The current world-record holder for the smallest electric motor is a giant by comparison, composed of two 200-nanometre-long carbon nanotubes. Current running through these nanotubes pushes drops of molten metal from the outside of one tube to the other.

Sykes hopes to harness his tiny motor to fight the friction that slows fluid flow in nanosized tubes.

Kevin Kelly of Rice University in Houston, Texas, who was not involved in the work, points out that if electrical energy transfer behaves differently depending on the shape of the molecules, this could have implications for the design of molecule-scale electrical circuits, which could be used in tiny sensors or computer chips.

Journal reference: Nature Nanotechnology, DOI:

Fuel Cells ( Energy Source of the Future )

According to many experts, we may soon find ourselves using fuel cells to generate electrical power for all sorts of devices we use every day. A fuel cell is a device that uses a source of fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant to create electricity from an electrochemical process.

Much like the batteries that are found under the hoods of automobiles or in flashlights, a fuel cell converts chemical energy to electrical energy.

All fuel cells have the same basic configuration; an electrolyte and two electrodes. But there are different types of fuel cells, based mainly on what kind of electrolyte they use.

Many combinations of fuel and oxidant are also possible. The fuel could be diesel or methanol, while air, chlorine, or chlorine dioxide may serve as oxidants. Most fuel cells in use today, however, use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.

Fuel cells have three main applications: transportation, portable uses, and stationary installations.

In the future, fuel cells could power our cars, with hydrogen replacing the petroleum fuel that is used in most vehicles today. Many vehicle manufacturers are actively researching and developing transportation fuel cell technologies.

Stationary fuel cells are the largest, most powerful fuel cells. They are designed to provide a clean, reliable source of on-site power to hospitals, banks, airports, military bases, schools, and homes.

Fuel cells can power almost any portable device or machine that uses batteries. Unlike a typical battery, which eventually goes dead, a fuel cell continues to produce energy as long as fuel and oxidant are supplied. Laptop computers, cellular phones, video recorders, and hearing aids could be powered by portable fuel cells.

Fuel cells have strong benefits over conventional combustion-based technologies currently used in many power plants and cars. They produce much smaller quantities of greenhouse gases and none of the air pollutants that create smog and cause health problems. If pure hydrogen is used as a fuel, fuel cells emit only heat and water as a byproduct. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are also far more energy efficient than traditional combustion technologies.

The biggest hurdle for fuel cells today is cost. Fuel cells cannot yet compete economically with more traditional energy technologies, though rapid technical advances are being made. Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it is difficult to store and distribute. Canisters of pure hydrogen are readily available from hydrogen producers, but as of now, you can't just fill up with hydrogen at a local gas station.

Many people do have access to natural gas or propane tanks at their houses, however, so it is likely that these fuels will be used to power future home fuel cells. Methanol, a liquid fuel, is easily transportable, like gasoline, and could be used in automobile fuel cells. However, also like gasoline, methanol produces polluting carbon dioxide.

Get more information here .. http://ze-engineer.blogspot.com/2011/02/dont-know-about-fuel-cell-technology.html

The 15 most significant cars of the 2011 Frankfurt motor show

Over 100 new cars were unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show, but which are the most important? From production cars to concepts that will never be built, CAR's road test editor Ben Pulman, decides on the 15 most significant models premiered at the IAA...

1 – Land Rover DC100 concept

Chunky and funky, it’s Land Rover’s Evoque, the Defender urbanised, modernised and stylised for the 21st century. Range Rovers have become too ‘bling’, but the DC100 has the restrained elegance of the Disco 3 – we’ll ignore its bright yellow sister, the speedster-style DC100 Sport. It’s not a conventional, utilitarian take on the Defender for the traditional Landie customer, but bar the Army just how much of a market is there out there? The most profitable sales are to be found in market segments where you can charge premium prices, so don’t expect a wash-with-a-hose £15k rival for the Panda 4x4. Most importantly, the DC100 – and its Sport sister – confirm that Land Rover will replace the Defender (it’s about time really), and public reaction to these two will shape the new car due in 2015.

2 – Mercedes F125 concept

Not the best-looking Merc concept car of recent years, but ignore it at your peril. Mercedes’ F-branded concepts always offer a glimpse of the future before any other manufacturer, and the F125 (built to celebrate the company’s 125th anniversary) is more forward gazing than most – think two generations hence. The F125 boasts a hydrogen fuel cell, cutting edge lithium-sulphur batteries, a gargantuan 620-mile range, an eMatic all-wheel drive system, and a lightweight body built from the ground up to accommodate the specific requirements of a hydrogen-fuelled powertrain. It’s Mercedes going all-in on an H2 future.

3 – Volkswagen Up

It’s not an innovative rear-engined and rear-wheel drive supermini like the original concepts promised; in fact, looking at its conventional layout you’d be forgiven for just thinking it’s VW’s replacement for the Fox. Which it is. But the VW Group has put a lot of thought (and thus money) into this car, there’ll be Skoda and Seat versions too, and a gaggle of Up concepts at Frankfurt previewed potential GTI, EV and faux-4x4 versions. Hundreds of thousands of these things will be built, and with that badge to boot, Ford’s Ka and every other little city car out there should be worried. Simple, straightforward, and destined to be a success.

4 – Skoda MissionL concept

Understated and so easy to overlook – it’s just a Skoda, after all. But the MissionL – anyone else read it as Missoni? – will reach production (almost unchanged) in 2012, and it heralds Skoda’s entry into the hotly contested hatchback class, thus far ruled by the Focus and Golf. With VW parts bin backing, Skoda’s propensity to offer more space for less money, and a badge that those in the know now respect, it’s going to shake things up. And help double Skoda’s annual sales to 1.5m units by 2018.

5 – Porsche 911

No, not the new 911. We’ll admit the new 991 is significant (it’s cleaner, faster and better looking than its 997 predecessor, and will become a hybrid at some point in its life) but instead the now-defunct GT3 RS 4.0 is on my list thanks to a technicality – it made its motor show debut at Frankfurt.  It marks the end of a 911 that first ushered in water-cooled engines as the 996 in 1997, and secured Porsche’s future thanks to sharing parts with the Boxster. In final 4.0-litre guise it’s quite possibly the greatest road-legal 911 ever built, and unless Porsche’s engineers can work miracles, it’s also the end of the line for the amazing, motorsport-derived ‘Mezger’ flat six. Goodbye to a great.

6 – Jaguar C-X16 concept

Not actually as good looking in the metal as you might expect but there the disappointment ends (and it’s not exactly ugly). An aluminium chassis means it’s light, a supercharged 375bhp V6 for the R version means it’s fast, and prices from around £55k mean it’ll take on top-end Boxsters and bottom-rung 911s. It'll probably halve the number of deposits Porsche takes for the new 911 during the Frankfurt show.

7 – Citroen DS5

Utterly, utterly gorgeous. Citroen had a fleet of these, all in white with black wheels, shuttling tired hacks between the vast halls of the IAA, and they looked sleek, and low, and lovely. And no, I didn’t get a lift in one so I can’t be accused of giving PSA any preferential treatment. We get behind the wheel next month, and while I’d hate to assume the steering will be light and lifeless and ultimately the drive will disappoint, I reckon the DS5 was the best-looking new car at the IAA this year. Seriously.

8 - Maserati Kubang concept

Terrible. I know Porsche has the Cayenne and will soon have the Cajun, I know both Bentley and Lamborghini are working on SUVs, I know that this is the future as expanding, emerging markets demand these profitable cars which niche luxury manufacturers would only ignore at their peril. If you were the CEO, could you forgo a 4x4 knowing it dooms your company to build just a few thousand sports car each year? Or would you give the green light, secure Maser’s future, and set about improving the GT cars everyone loves? Exactly. That was from the head, so now from the heart. It’s ugly (every Maserati should be beautiful) and looks too much like a Mazda CX-7, and because it’s really a Grand Cherokee, a Porsche Cayenne is going to run rings around it.

9 & 10 – BMW i3 and i8

Couldn’t decide between these two carbon BMWs so they’re both in. Come 2013 the i3 will be launched in both range-extender and full EV forms, a £30k-plus supermini that’ll see just how much we’re prepared to pay for a car that’s shorter than a Fiesta. A genuinely innovative idea.

And in 2014 the £125k i8 supercar arrives. Audi has the R8 and Merc the SLS, and BMW missed the boat, yet while both rivals prepare limited-run, limited-range EV versions, the i8 will sail merrily past thanks to its three-cylinder hybrid drivetrain. It really is the supercar of the future.

11 – Ford Evos concept

Ignore the butterfly doors, don’t bother trying to find out what the powertrain is – instead, just look at the Evos. It’s not a jaw-dropper, but it heralds the start of a design language to replace the Blue Oval’s exisiting Kinetic Design. Which means the Mondeo, the Mk4 Focus, the next Fiesta, and every other Ford product over at least the next decade will be stylistically influenced by this car.

12 – Lancia Flavia Cabrio

Only Ferrari and Alfa seem to be surviving unmolested within the Fiat Group. Maserati has the Grand Cherokee-based Kubang, Fiat is flogging a Dodge Journey (thankfully not in the UK) and what’s going on between Lancia and Chrysler is utterly horrible. Us Brits get the American brand, which sells the 300C and Voyager alongside the Ypsilon and Delta, but it’s a name we don’t really care about. Pity the Italians then (and the rest of mainland Europe), as Lancia is being forced to sell the Voyager, the 300C (as the new Thema), and worst of the lot, the Flavia Cabrio. It’s just a 200 Convertible. There’ll be a business case behind it, but how low can you go? Worst car of the show. Look away if you don't want to be depressed.

13 – Alfa Romeo 4C concept

Another car that’s snuck in on a technicality: the 4C actually first appeared at the 2011 Geneva motor, but it’s been to the paintshop prior to its trip to Frankfurt, which gives us an excuse to feature it again. It’s gorgeous, stunning enough to distract you from the Flavia sitting opposite, and it’ll look like this when production starts in 2012. And it’s got the underpinnings to back up the good looks: carbonfibre platform engineered by Dallara, turbocharged 200bhp-plus 1.7, six-speed dual-clutch gearbox, rear-wheel drive, adaptive dampers. Just a few thousand will be built each year but it’s a brilliant halo car for Alfa to have as it returns to the USA.

14 – Toyota FT-86 II

Another car that we’ve seen before, but for Frankfurt it got a big rear wing and some new orange paint. Hardly significant, but this is the car that the CAR office is most excited about for 2012. Rear-wheel drive chassis, manual gearbox, 2.0-litre flat-four engine (with a turbo for the fast version). An excellent set of ingredients for a cheap sports car. Engineering partners Subaru meanwhile, are pissing around showing off boring transparent-paneled concepts and missing out on all the publicity.

15 – Vauxhall Rake concept

The VW Nils or Audi’s duo of Urban concepts could have featured here, as the automotive world readies a flurry a tiny, sub-500kg commuter vehicles. But Vauxhall’s effort, the Rake, is designed to be as cheap as possible (the suits mentioned a €12k starting price) with no carbon and just a simple steel chassis. And they say this could quite easily be in production by 2015. It also offers more weather protection than Renault’s open-air Twizy. An intriguing glimpse into our motoring tomorrows.

SOURCE : carmagazine.co.uk

Happy Engineer’s Day India

In India, Engineer's day is celebrated on September 15. This day is celebrated in the honor of Sir M. Visvesvaraya (1861-1962), who was a notable Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore during 1912 to 1919. Internationally recognised for his genius in harnessing water resources, he was responsible for successful design and construction of several river dams, bridges and implementing irrigation and drinking water schemes all over India.

He served as the dewan of Mysore State and was considered to be the architect of the all-round development of Karnataka.

Among his most successful projects are the design and construction of the K.R. Sagar dam and its adjoining Brindavan Gardens, turn-around of the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works, setting up of the Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory and the founding of the Bank of Mysore.

K.R. Sagar dam : 

 Other countries :

Engineer's Day in Argentina is celebrated on June 15

Engineer's Day in Colombia is celebrated on August 17

Engineer's Day in Iran refers to 24 February every year

Engineer's Day in Mexico is celebrated on July 1

I’ve no Idea about if other countries have an engineer’s day .. Do you have ??

YAK 42 CRASH ( Full Report )

The Yakovlev Yak-42 (NATO reporting name: Clobber) is a 100/120-seat three-engined mid-range passenger jet. It was designed as a replacement for several obsolete Aeroflot jets as a mid-range passenger jet. It was also the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines.

ABOUT ACCIDENT :

The Yak-42 that crashed near Yaroslavl taking 44 lives last week was in proper mechanical condition and the latest repairs were done to all requirements, the transport prosecution has ruled. Pilot error is the most likely cause of the tragic crash.

The last scheduled service of the plane was in August, during which the right engine was replaced and all other defects were reportedly eliminated. All these repairs were certified and correspond to requirements informed the transport prosecution.

The company that provided technical maintenance of the Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft was inspected by experts from the Russian transport prosecution.

An investigation by the Interstate Aviation Committee also failed to find any irregularities in the aircraft’s condition and operation prior to the crash, a spokesperson for the regulator said on Monday.

“The preliminary analysis showed that the lifting weight was within the norm; the pre-start check of control channels by the crew revealed no errors…Flight recorders so far revealed no signs of commands which would indicate sudden failures,” the committee said.

As earlier investigation ruled out the possibility that low-quality fuel could have been a cause of the tragedy. Technical problems and pilot error were the likely reasons behind the Yakovlev Yak-42 plane crash.

While the technical problem theory appears less possible on Monday, the most likely cause of the tragedy remains pilot error.

“Pilots may not have accelerated enough and forced the engines too late. When the plane hit the homing beacon mast, there was no chance to bring the machine under control,” a source in law enforcement told Interfax new agency on Monday. “This version is seen as the most likely,” he added. Though no official comments have been released so far concerning this scenario.

The examination of the flight recorders is expected in the coming days after the tape has dried. The “black boxes” contain the recording of the tragic flight, confirmed in the Interstate Aviation Committee.

After one of the two survivors of the last Wednesday crash died in hospital from severe injuries on Monday, flight crew member Aleksandr Sizov remains the only witness. His condition is listed as serious but stable. He has been moved to the main ward.

The investigation will have a chance to obtain evidence from Sizov only after he recovers sufficiently to be able to talk. This may become crucial information for the experts investigating the plane crash.

Workers of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations inspecting the wreckage of the Yak-42 aircraft that crashed during take-off near the Tunoshna Airport, Yaroslavl Region. The plane was heading to Minsk with the Yaroslavl's ice hockey team Lokomotiv on board. (RIA Novosti/Grigory Sysoev)

 

 

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All you need to know before buying portable generator

What is the portable generator ?

A portable generator is a gas or diesel-powered device which provides temporary electrical power. The engine turns a small turbine, which in turn creates usable electricity up to a certain level of wattage. Users can plug electrical appliance or tools directly into the generator's sockets, or the portable generator can be professionally wired into the sub-panel of a home.

Many construction teams use a portable generator to power tools and lights at a remote site. Sports officials may also bring in a portable generator to aid in night play or to run an electronic timer/scoreboard. Most commonly, residents and businesses left without power after a weather event will use a portable generator to keep vital appliances operating. A portable generator usually has enough power to keep a freezer, refrigerator, television and some lights working.

How Many Watts Do you NeedUse the charts below to determine your wattage requirements for a portable generator.

Generator Manufacturers

Caterpillar is one of the largest industrial equipment and generator manufacturing companies in the world.

Cummins is a international leader in diesel engine and power generateration equipment.

Detroit Diesel is a manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engines for commercial trucks and diesel generators.

Generac produces industrial, commercial, and residential power generator sets, as well as automatic transfer switches, fuel tanks, and enclosures.

Honda develops a top selling line of portable home, recreational, and construction generator products.

John Deere produces industrial diesel engines that are used by generator manufacturing companies worldwide.

Kohler is worldwide manufacturer of on-site power systems, residential backup, mobile, and marine generators.

Briggs and Stratton provides portable and home generators.

Onan manufactures RV, marine, commercial, home standby, and portable power gensets.

SDMO is an international manufacturer of industrial diesel powered gensets.

Safety Precautions while using the generator
There are a few safety requirements that should be adhered to while using a portable generator:

• To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning when using generators one should never run generators indoors, including garages, basements and sheds. Get some fresh air immediately if you start to feel dizzy or weak.
• Generators pose a risk of shock and electrocution, if they are operated in wet conditions. It is advisable to operate the generator under an open, canopy-like structure on a dry surface where water cannot reach it or puddle or drain under it. One should operate with their dry hands.
• For connecting appliances to the generator, use of heavy-duty extension cords that are specifically designed for outdoor use is recommended. The wattage rating for each cord should exceed the total wattage of all appliances connected to it. Extension cords that are long enough to allow the generator to be placed outdoors and far away from windows, doors and vents should be used. The entire length of each cord should be free of cuts or tears.
• One should never store fuel for the generator inside the house. Flammable liquids should not be stored inside living areas rather it should be kept in properly labeled, non-glass safety containers. One should also not store the fuels near a fuel-burning appliance, such as a natural gas water heater in a garage. Gasoline spilled on hot engine parts can cause fire.