February 8, 2007, 8:58 PM CT

Calm Your Car's Rattling

Scientists at Purdue University are getting close to eliminating those rattling and squeaking noises in your car's headrest and other components, major sources of consumer dissatisfaction that automakers would like to eliminate.

The headrest and its seemingly simple adjusting mechanism have proved surprisingly complex, said Douglas Adams, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. He and doctoral student Janette Jaques have applied mathematical models that simulate rattling headrests for analyses aimed at reducing vibration and enabling designs that eliminate the annoyance.

Noise and vibration are important factors in customer satisfaction, Adams said.

"If you are driving down the street and something is rattling or squeaking, the perception is that the vehicle is of poor quality," he said. "So, quality and noise and vibration sort of go hand-in-hand. Virtually every car has headrests, so this problem is especially interesting".

The same modeling and experimental techniques developed for the research could be used to reduce squeaking and rattling in other components, such as instrument panels, seats, transmission gears, suspension components and seatbelt mechanisms.

"A car has thousands of parts," Adams said. "Any time you have one component sitting next to another and they're not welded together, you've got the potential for them to hit one another, causing rattling. It's an industrywide problem".........

Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

January 30, 2007, 7:39 PM CT

Sources of the World's Tiny Pollutants

Pinpointing pollutant sources is an important part of the ongoing battle to improve air quality and to understand its impact on climate. Researchers using NASA data recently tracked the path and distribution of aerosols -- tiny particles suspended in the air -- to link their region of origin and source type with their tendencies to warm or cool the atmosphere.

By altering the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth's surface, aerosols influence both regional and global climate, but their impact is difficult to quantify because most only stay airborne for about a week, while greenhouse gases can persist in the atmosphere for decades. As per a research findings published Jan. 24 in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, scientists investigated the sources of aerosols and how different types of aerosols influence climate.

"This study offers details on the aerosol source regions and emission source types that policy makers could target to most effectively combat climate change," said Dorothy Koch, lead author and atmospheric scientist at Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), New York.

Using a GISS computer model that includes a variety of data gathered by NASA and other U.S. satellites, the scientists simulated realistic aerosol concentrations of important aerosol types in the atmosphere and studied the amount of light and heat they absorb and reflect over several regions around the globe.........

Posted by: Tyler      Read more         Source

January 7, 2007, 9:56 PM CT

Age, Gender Major Factors In Severity Of Auto-accident Injuries

Understanding the differences among drivers in different gender and age categories is crucial to preventing serious injuries, said researchers in a new study showing stark statistical differences in traffic-accident injuries depending on the gender and age of drivers.

The new findings are especially important because the number of drivers 65 and older is expected to double by 2030 in the United States to 70 million, said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University and the study's co-author. National statistics show that fatalities rose by 7 percent for drivers 75 and older from 1981 to 2000, remained steady for drivers from 65-74, but dropped for younger drivers.

"It is reasonably well known that age and gender have an effect on the likelihood of an accident, but the influence that age and gender have on driver injuries once an accident has occurred is not well understood," Mannering said.

The Purdue researchers found statistically significant differences in the severity of injuries suffered in accidents involving men and women drivers and drivers within three age groups: young drivers, 16-24; middle-aged drivers, 25-64; and older drivers, 65 and above.

"Because the factors that affect how severely you are going to be injured vary depending on your age and gender, a better understanding of age and gender differences can lead to improvements in vehicle and highway design to minimize driver injury severity," Mannering said. "What is clear is that safety research and policy must begin to seriously address gender- and age-related matters because there are compelling differences and considerable potential to improve safety if these differences are properly addressed."........

Posted by: Jim      Read more         Source

December 20, 2006, 5:02 AM CT

Volvo's New System to Avoid Rear-End Collisions

It was very recently that Volvo established a Safety center in China owing to the large number of accidental deaths which impressed me a lot as Volvo was really concerned about saving lives more than anything and this time around Volvo has devised another system which ensures that those day to day puny rear-end clashes are nullified.

Dubbed the City Safety system and rightly so , this technology enables the driver to avoid those collisions which happen in the daily urban driving routine by applying the brakes automatically in case the car senses a potential collision. Volvo has plans to launch this system in the market within the next two years.

Ingrid Skogsmo, director of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre said and I quote:.

The system offers benefits to all involved. For the occupants of the car in front, the risk of whiplash injuries is avoided or reduced. What is more, the system can help reduce or sometimes even eliminate the cost of repairs to both vehicles.

This is a much mandatory system keeping in view the urban traffic as a survey reveals that 75% of the collisions happen at speeds upto 30km/hr and this system has been to formulated to act at speeds upto 30 km/hr. If the relative speed difference between the two cars is, less than 15km/hr the system can help avoiding the collision completely. Between 15 to 30 km/hr, the system focuses more on maximum speed reduction before the impact, which gives the driver an opportunity to maneuver.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 11, 2006, 5:09 AM CT

At the Bucharest Luxury Show 2006

The Rich Romanians could satiate their taste for luxury cars at the Bucharest Luxury Show 2006, as it is flooded with a jing-bang of Automotive Luxury at its best/worst. There are a number of things, which make a car standout from the crowd to get a dubbing of a luxurious Saloon. It could be the highest variants from any range of BMW, Mercedes, Rolls- Royce, Buggati Veyron etc. It could also be a high-price tag, eventhough I do not support this convention but this is the way luxury is defined by Baron Roth's elsewhere. Apart from these two ways to define luxury ,there is another one thatthough unconventional but still has the potential to turn the heads of few Richie-Riches.

How about gold plating your cars, well it is does not sound startling to me as we recently ran you guys through a diamond studded Merc. but then there is the difference of the material used this time around.This years Bucharest Luxury Show is hosting cars that are Gold Plated , courtesy : Real Gold Company. Following are few pictures of such gold plated cars, which were unveiled at the aforesaid venue.

These pictures may portray stupidity to a conventional Auto Geek but they would certainly allure the Rich, you can have my word on that as I have seen them owning stranger cars than this, such is the dexterity level of those rich people as they thrive on hype and such strange things definitely add to their hype feed!........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 5, 2006, 8:03 PM CT

DaimlerChrysler Car-2-X Communication

Car accidents have been a major problem for the motorists and have led to so much damage. For years, the attempts are being made to reduce this risk by implementing new technologies that enable drivers to sense the danger and avoid it. Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication System is one of them. DaimlerChrysler has introduced a similar but much efficient system "WILLWARN". The system uses "Car-2-X Communication" to transmit radio details collected by on-board sensors. The system can warn the following cars about the fog, black ice or obstacles on the road such as broken-down vehicles well in advance providing the driver with enough time to adjust the speed of the vehicle to avoid accidents.

The system is beneficial over other systems as expensive, fixed-installation transmitting and receiving devices are not required, since the cars themselves act as both transmitters and receivers. The cars can setup an ad-hoc radio network to send any information to the other vehicles within the network and for the vehicles outside the network the car acts as a relay passing on the warnings further.

The system can be implemented with cooperation of other car manufacturers and permission from relevant authorities to set up a radio network in desired frequencies. Radio beacons at the side of the road are mandatory in order to ensure that the first vehicles to be equipped with such a system benefit immediately. The system will ensure the safety of vehicles and reduce the accident rate to a great extent.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 5, 2006, 5:09 AM CT

Can the Stanley Cup playoffs harm your hearing?

During last year's NHL playoffs, Edmonton Oilers' fans tried to earn the title of loudest arena in the game, but new University of Alberta research shows that even a few hours of exposure to that level of noise can be harmful.

Bill Hodgetts from the U of A's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and Dr. Richard Liu, from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry measured the noise levels during games three, four and six during the Stanley Cup finals against the Carolina Hurricanes last year. Liu attended the games and wore a noise dosimeter near his ear every second of the entire game. No matter where he went in the building, the dosimeter would sample his noise exposure. The research is published in the current edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The researchers found that for the levels experienced in game three, it took less than six minutes to reach the maximum allowable daily noise dose. Or everyone at the game received approximately 8100 per cent of their daily noise dose without any hearing protection. "Given the vast numbers of fans that do not wear hearing protection to hockey games, thousands are at risk for hearing damage," said the researchers.

Most people don't consider the risk of excessive noise exposure when participating in leisure activities, say the researchers, even though such noise over a period of a few hours can be harmful. "The risk of hearing loss for those who attend hockey games frequentlyseason ticket holders, workers in the arena, hockey players themselveswarrants serious consideration," they write in the paper. Even the cheapest foam earplugs would make a difference.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 5, 2006, 4:20 AM CT

Ford a Sinking Ship

The Ford is in dire state and its present CEO Alan Mulally is pulling out all stops to pull out this billion dollar company from the red zone.

Eventhough it has been just two months that Alan has taken over as CEO but the company is working tirelessly to implement his 4-point agenda which was firstly to align the infrastructure in such a way so as to build as a number of vehicles as is the demand.

Secondly to accelerate the product development by integrating the research divisions which are at present scattered all around the world.

Thirdly to have money in coffers so as to execute plans and fourthly to integrate ford team worldwide so as to make it a collective effort in saving Ford.

But the analysts at Wall Street are skeptic and are saying they dono't think these steps will be enough to save Ford.

No auto analyst is suggesting investing in ford shares and an automotive analyst with Bank of America, Ronald Tadross says,.

"They're going to fail themselves and their investors if they don't restructure at an equal or even greater pace".

He believes that it ford will easily miss its years targets. He and other analysts said that very point that the Ford losses will put the company back by a $1 Billion. They further think that Ford should be more open with it restructuring plans so as to gain the confidence of the investors.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 4, 2006, 4:55 AM CT

Mercedes Working on Anti-Microsleep System

The Mercedes are working on developing an Anti-Microsleep system which will pre-warn the drivers of their fatigue. The symptoms of fatigue are red eyes, yawning and shivering.

In the study that they conducted they observed that most of the accidents occur when the body is fatigued the reactions correspond to that of when driving drunk. The aim was to find the gradual transaction from a fully awake state to the state of fatigue.

Just some facts for you that if you are driving at 60mph and your eye closes for just a second you would have traveled 22 meters before you wake and these 22 seconds can result in a fatal crash.

The system will analyze the driver's behavior and will keep the data stored for future references.

The factors taken into account will be individual driving style, the duration of journey, the time of the day and the traffic situation. By comparing the data the system will reach to a conclusion on whether to warn the driver or not based on the probability calculus.

It was found out that after 2200 hours the level of human performance drop and it is lowest between 0300 to 0400 hours.

The assistance system will try to warn the drivers of the eminent problem and will make a vital contribution in improving road safety.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

December 3, 2006, 8:47 PM CT

2006 Hummer 02 Concept

Environment sustainability is a challenge for all auto makers and with pollution levels increasing and governments getting tougher in their stance to have less polluting vehicles, a vehicle that satisfies all is a major headache now.

The 2006 Design Challenge's theme is "Environmental Sustainability" and the guidelines mandatory that vehicles entering the contest should have 100 per cent recyclable components and should have maximum life span of 60 months.

The GM's designer team set out to make a "Hummer O2 Concept". The concept featured a phototropic body shell which will use Algae in body panels to transform CO2 to oxygen.

The vehicle will be powered by Hydrogen fuel cells located in a central position and will be propelled by hydraulic motors attached to each wheel.

Just taking it a notch higher in terms of recyclable materials they have put in 100 -per cent post-consumer materials in the final design.

Via Digiads ........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source