The race is on.
Category: transportation – Page 576
Elon Musk Says Tesla’s New Solar Tiles Can Defrost Themselves
Hold onto your butts solar aficionados, the next generation solar roof is coming, and it looks good. During a brief event Friday night, Elon Musk presented his plan to integrate solar roofs with Powerwall power packs. But that’s not all. On Saturday Musk expanded on his talk by explaining via Twitter that the new solar tiles would come with some pretty sweet features — more specifically, built-in defrosters.
Unlike the solar systems of the past, Tesla’s newly designed roofs will feature aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient glass solar tiles, that will replace a home’s roof rather than sit on top of it.
Harsh weather conditions — like snow and ice — are known for wreaking havoc on traditional asphalt shingles, but that’s not the case with Musk’s new design. The solar glass tiles are not only more durable, but are also packing specialized heating elements that work much like the rear defroster does on your car.
The future of America is driverless — By Tamara Warren | The Verge
Teslas Are Teaching Each Other How to Drive Better Than You
Your Tesla can drive itself. Not just on the highway, not under strict guidance, but everywhere. Or at least, it will have all the necessary gadgets to do so soon.
We are excited to announce that, as of today, all Tesla vehicles produced in our factory – including Model 3 – will have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver.
Soon fixing your robot will be as easy as fixing your car
Soon, we see Legos that self assemble from 4D printers, printers that can recycle robots & devices and produce a more improved robot and/ or devices. The days of manually working on equipment, autos, etc. will be gone except for the eccentric hobbyist.
Open-source hardware could democratize the future of robots.
Elon Musk Unveils Tesla’s New ‘Solar Roof’
Energy independent housing. Here you go.
Filmed on Oct 28, 2016.
Special Forces Would Def Love Tooling Around on Flying Motorcycles
So I thought up the Zaxon, a tactical vehicle that uses that turbojet technology to deploy special forces on the ground to a target less than 100 clicks away, possibly after dropping from a Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy.
The size of a standard touring motorcycle, the single-seat Zaxon would use two larger engines up front, and two smaller ones in back. The jets could tilt slightly for liftoff, landing, or full-speed flying. The large fuel tank would sit inside the bike, taking the space usually occupied by a motorcycle engine.
Two jet nozzles would help with lateral stability, making small adjustments when necessary. An onboard flying system would help stabilize the vehicle automatically, although the pilot would need to be trained to properly feel the bike and learn how to react to its movements.
Mercedes-Benz E-Class will blast pink noise at you just before an accident, to protect your ears
Mercedes-Benz is trying to cut down on hearing damage caused by the deafening crunch of a car crash, and it’s doing so by blasting pink noise through the stereo when you’re about to hit something, to trigger a fascinating physical response.
Mercedes-Benz has done a lot to push automotive safety forward over its long history. In 1978, the S-class offered the first (or one of the first, depending on who you ask) 4-wheel ABS systems on a production car. In 1987, along with BMW and Toyota, Mercedes put the first traction control systems into production cars.
More recently, in 2003, the company introduced its Pre-Safe system, a series of measures that kick in when the vehicle detects what it decides is an inevitable crash. Seat belts quickly tension to an optimum point, windows and sunroofs close, the seats puff up to stabilize the bodies in them, and in some cases they even move slightly toward the center of the car before impact.