Checking Out Some New (and Old) Automotive Technology

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Team Berkeley’s Hyperlane concept took first place in the AEM Infrastructure Vision 2050 challenge, which presented concepts for U.S. transportation and infrastructure at the Tech Experience at ConExpo CON/AGG. Hyperlane’s separate reserved lane allows self-driving cars to roll along at 120 mph.

“UC Berkeley graduate students, Baiyu Chen and Anthony Barrs see self-driving cars as the transportation of the future,” reports Leah Scully from our sister brand, Machine Design. “Their Hyperlane would take up real estate on existing highways and drive down the price point of constructing new infrastructure like high-speed rails. They expect their Hyperlane concept to be feasible by 2050, as major car companies like Tesla and Ford continue to invest in technologies for self-driving vehicles like car-to-car communications and physical sensors.”

New York Auto Show

The New York International Auto Show (Fig. 2) dates back to 1900 and will have nearly 1,000 cars and trucks on display. Machine Design editors had a preview of the show and captured some photos of the latest tech. Check out Jaguar/Panasonic’s FIA Formula E Championship electric-powered race car. The racing circuit consists of 10 teams and 20 drivers. Sebastien Buemi of Switzerland, driving a Spark-Renault Z.E. 15 was last season’s winning driver.

The International Auto Show highlights the latest and greatest cars and technology, including electric and self-driving cars, but there are a lot of cool cars that have a few years behind them. According to Machine Design once again, “The Summit Racing Equipment’s Piston-Powered Auto-Rama roared into Cleveland’s International Exposition Center (I-X Center) a few weekends ago, bringing more than 1,000 customized and classic cars, motorcycles, boats, aircraft, antique trucks, monster trucks, military vehicles, and historic construction equipment.” (see “Gallery: Hot Rods & Cool Cars” on machinedesign.com). The show’s motto is “If a piston makes it go, it’s in this show.”

One of the highlight cars is a 1930 Ford Roadster that started out as a 1930 Ford coupe. It now has 350-in.³ engine and overbored the cylinders by .030 in. to add another 5 in.3 of displacement. Jesse Woost also added two 50-mm turbochargers that add 30 psi to the incoming air. The orange hot rod hit 130 mph.

Electronics and self-driving cars may be cutting edge tech but sometimes the classics are worth enjoying.

from Electronic Design - Engineering Essentials Curated By Experts http://bit.ly/2pdAnji