Toyota developing free-piston engine linear generator for electric drive vehicles

Credit: Toyota/Charged EVs

Generators make electricty by moving a conductor near a magnet. Or the other way round. Just so long as the conductor & magnet move relative to one another. Usually, a number of magnets are arranged in a circle & the coil spins on a shaft inside the circle of magnets.

Less commonly, a linear generator has a magnet moving back & forth inside a conductive coil.

A free-piston engine is an internal combustion engine (ICE) without a crankshaft. Without a crankshaft, there will be no rotary motion, but by incorporating a linear generator, an engine/generator with no rotary motion is produced.



By eliminating the crankshaft & separate generator, friction is reduced. Up to 40% efficiency has been claimed for the Toyota unit.

Laboratory measurements of ICE efficiency are not usually equalled in practice. This is substantially because outside a very narrow range of engine speed & load, ICE efficiency falls quickly. In an electric vehicle range extender, an ICE operating at a constant speed can build up a small cushion of charge in the battery to cope with changing demands for power without changing ICE speed. In this way an ICE range extender has the potential to operate at its peak efficiency all of the time.

Toyota is not the first to experiment with a free piston engine, but it's interesting to to see a major manufacturer, without an electric vehicle on the market, developing such a device.

http://chargedevs.com/newswire/toyota-developing-free-piston-engine-linear-generator-for-electric-drive-vehicles/ / Toyota Central R&D Labs developing development prototype Free Piston Engine Linear Generator FPEG SAE 2014 World Congress in Detroit internal combustion engine ICE propel propels drive shaft FPEG designed generate electricity directly two stroke two-stroke combustion chamber linear generator gas spring chamber piston moved combustion gas magnets attached linear coil converting kinetic energy electrical energy Toyota FPEG double piston system combustion chamber adjustable gas spring chamber returning piston combustion event power stroke kinetic energy piston stored gas spring extracted return stroke combustion chamber side magnetic mover mounted outer periphery piston linear generator permanently excited synchronous machine stationary coil mover neodymium-iron-boron magnets piston iron-core stator power electronics drive machine motor generator video animation of Toyota’s FPEG researchers achieved output power 10 kW 42% thermal efficiency B/C segment electric drive vehicles prototype cooling lubrication lubricating problems /

Awesome robot spider (video)

Credit: Robotix/The Daily Mail

Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame waxes lyrical & demonstrates his arachnobot & the custom case he created to hold & protect the fragile & expensive device. Truly amazing!

Warning: the video below is not for arachnophobes, but if you're OK with the image above, you're probably good to go with the video below.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2358219/Its-make-skin-crawl--The-ultra-realistic-robotic-spider-moves-like-real-thing-.html / Adam Savage 3D printer Mythbusters servo battery custom case calibration nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery charge arachnid robot remote control controlled arachnophobia /

Self cleaning paint from Nissan (video)

If the video didn't convince you, compare the two sides of the car below:


Credit: Nissan/Wired

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/self-washing-car/

http://www.dailytech.com/Nissan+Testing+SelfCleaning+Car+Through+the+Use+of+Oleophobic+Paint/article34796c.htm / washing wash car Nissan develop deveopment developing paint repel repels water oil self cleaning car paint developed engineers Nissan Technical Centre GB UK hydrophobic oleophobic repels water oil gunk goo stick sticks slides right off wax engineer surface finish Ultra-Ever Dry Nissan Note repel repelling rain spray frost sleet standing water mud literally slides right off hydrophobic oleophobic coating Rust-Oleum hydrophobic spray iPhone smartphone smart phone oleophobic coating reduce fingerprints screen test testing standard equipment option /

The surprising medical value of poop

Credit: luchschen/Shutterstock.com/Exact Sciences/SingularityHUB

http://singularityhub.com/2014/04/26/the-surprising-medical-value-of-poop/ / next-gen next gen DNA sequencing bio analysis Raymond McCauley Singularity University genetics track sequence prohibitive price point range health issues brute force tool price has continued to drop improvements sequencing methods researchers identify DNA versatile toolkit flush it down the toilet traces of intestinal lining blood stool sample cell-free DNA feces people colorectal cancer third most common cause of death in the United States leading cause of cancer deaths screening rates colonoscopy invasive patient fast sedation this shit is serious study The New England Journal of Medicine FDA committee hearing stool test Cologuard non-invasive screening colorectal cancer scientific findings food and drug administration FDA committee approve test Exact Sciences cancers pre-cancers FIT study blood painful probe analyzes hemogloblin DNA methylation markers mutations KRAS gene total amount of DNA in the stool sample pre-malignant polyps methylation markers diagnostic /

Researchers extend battery life with dual-function electrolyte

Credit: DoE/Charged EVs

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have a lithium ion battery in development, with a new solid (!) electrolyte which promises to extend battery life & improve storage capacity.

http://chargedevs.com/newswire/ornl-researchers-extend-battery-life-with-dual-function-electrolyte/ / researchers DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory develop developing developed unique battery chemistry extend battery life electrolyte two functions study Pushing the Theoretical Limit of Li-CFx Batteries bi-functional Electrolyte published Journal of the American Chemical Society ORNL researchers electrolyte ion conductor cathode supplement cooperative chemistry enabled ORNL developed solid electrolyte extra boost battery cell capacity extends lifespan bi-functional electrolyte revolutionizes revolutionary concept conventional batteries design batteries energy density ORNL’s Chengdu Liang team demonstrated concept lithium carbon fluoride battery researchers solid lithium thiophosphate electrolyte generated 26 percent higher capacity theoretical maximum cooperative interactions electrolyte cathode discharge battery discharges generates lithium fluoride salt catalyst catalyzes electrochemical activity electrolyte capacity active battery engineered /

Hand held lithium ion battery pack charges your phone & starts your car (video)

Slightly larger than the battery in my previous post, this one starts a Toyota V6 six times by my count. Notice that one cable of the conventional car battery is disconnected, so no possibility of it helping.

No indication of wires or battery pack overheating.

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Samsung Galaxy S5 owners hit by fatal camera error problem

Credit: International Business Times

May be restricted to the Verizon version.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/25/samsung_s5_problem/

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2014/04/verizon-and-samsung-acknowledge-galaxy-s5-camera-issue/ / Samsung's latest phone the Galaxy S5 fatal flaw Warning: Camera Failed flaw some owners report smart phone smartphone error message high quality camera owners perform force stop clear the cache factory reset settings through recovery US carrier Verizon flaw post Twitter replace device GS5 XDA Developers forums Samsung Experience Rep Flashed factory binaries image Odin Factory reset camera failed camera app force close clear cache hardware related replace phone Samsung spokesperson customers carrier service Samsung’s standard limited warranty dim light gradation handily /