Sunday, 30 August 2015

Formula E season two — technical developments (update)


Credit: The Roar

Formula E, season 1, was effectively a single make formula. All parts, including drive trains, were fixed. This season, inverter, electric motor & gearbox can be designed by the individual teams, but the battery is still controlled.

Perhaps most interesting in season 2, is the number of gearbox ratios used. In the fixed specification season 1, all cars had 5 forward gears. This year, everything from 1 to 5 forward gears is being used by different teams.



Andretti, in their season 2 car, has had problems with software, plus coolant leaks from the gearbox have been shorting out the motors. As a result, they will be reverting to the season 1 drive train.

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/news/andretti-ditches-season-two-powertrain

http://current-e.com/features/analysis/gambling-on-deadline-day/ / Andretti ditches season two powertrain Andretti Formula E team revert season one powertrain disastrous testing campaign team completed only a handful of laps new ATEC-01 technical package develop new package season three 2016/17 2016 2017 Andretti ATEC-01 season two package newly designed carbon gearbox series of coolant leaks shorted out the motors software glitches team first two Donington tests Andretti team running two cars Donington Park season-one specification Robin Frijns Simona de Silvestro first effective laps team Andretti TE Connectivity Houston Mechatronics building developing season two powertrain homologated season two McLaren Hewland motor gearbox respectively loss of face reverting season one technical package prepares first race revert back to the season one powertrain package new software updates change motor maps optimise internal communication between motor battery introduced this season software available to all teams original season one tech package learn the new software software models McLaren Hewland package Beijing test software season one package /

Saturday, 29 August 2015

Three things everybody agrees about nutrition


Credit: www.eatforhealth.gov.au

What should you eat?

The answer is confused by any number of factors, including:

● people who regard their food preferences as nutritional imperitives

● people who (often unconsciously) regard food as entertainment, a cure for boredom or stress, or a solution to any number of psychological symptoms, & ignore nutrition

● propaganda from marketing organisations for food industries — beef, sugar, salt etc.

● charlatans who want to part you from your money with large volumes of cheap fat, sugar & salt, fad diets, or devices such as blenders


http://lifehacker.com/why-theres-so-much-confusion-over-nutrition-and-fitness-1572870867

However, there are three things almost all authorities agree on:
1. Minimise sugar
2. Avoid artificial trans fats
3. Eat more vegetables

If you read the comments in the article below, keep in mind:

● Ignore most of the fruit vs vegetables debate. A botanist will tell you that a fruit is the part of a flower in which the seeds develop1. Thus, a wheat grain & a tomato are fruits & an apple is a false (or accessory) fruit2 (to a botanist, the fruit of an apple is the fibrous part around the seeds that you probably throw away — the core). For a discussion of nutrition, the botanist’s definition is irrelevant. This is much more useful: “From a culinary standpoint, vegetables are less sweet — or more savory — & served as part of the main dish. Fruits are more sweet & tart & are most often served as a dessert or snack.”3 So vegetables include what the botanist will call a fruit (tomato), stem (celery), leaf (lettuce), flower (broccoli), root (carrot) & tuber (potato), but exclude grains, nuts & seeds.

● If a “diet” differs from the advice given above & in the article linked below, it is generally the “diet” which is wrong. Keep in mind that many popular diets were originally designed to treat specific medical conditions & may even be dangerous if used for other purposes.


http://vitals.lifehacker.com/the-only-three-things-everybody-agrees-on-when-it-comes-1709039566
__________

1 “What's the Difference Between a Fruit & a Vegetable?” http://www.livescience.com/33991-difference-fruits-vegetables.html
2 “Accessory fruit”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessory_fruit
3 “Fruit or vegetable — Do you know the difference?”, http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/fruit-vegetable-difference/bgp-20056141 / not much agreement about nutrition fat salt carbs government guidelines paleo vegan fad diets eggs white bread low-fat salad dressing three basic things sugar trans fat vegetables government guidelines controversial Paleo non-scientific disagree minimize sugar bad for you really bad for you World Health Organization evidence linking sugar to obesity tooth decay strict limit no more than 10% of your calories should come from added sugar Five percent even better food pyramid discouraged fats sweets calorie limit SoFAS solid fats added sugars added sugar calories can of Coke Starbucks smoothie allowed sugars for the day added sugars include table sugarsucrose corn syrup natural sweeteners honey maple syrup empty calories calories glass of milk side salad handful of nuts burger calories vitamins protein useful nutrients increases triglycerides bad cholesterol linked to diabetes endocrinologist Robert Lustig sugar fructose causes fatty liver chronic metabolic disease Paleo gurus The Sugar Association part of a healthy diet calorie content empty calories artificial trans fats partially hydrogenated oils trans fats aren’t found in nature oil donuts pie crusts frying oil margarine unhealthy saturated fats saturated fats trans fats nature dairy products conjugated linoleic acid harmless beneficial labeling partially hydrogenated oils heart disease diabetes obesity diet junk food fried foods mass-produced cupcakes USDA trans fat on their naughty listsolid fats SoFAS saturated fat World Health Organization paleo vegan processed foods eat more vegetables vegetarians vegetables paleo natural food vegetables USDA detox diet solid food veggies eat more vegetables potatoes starch starchy beans leafy greens vegetables health benefits vitamins fiber lowered lower risk of heart disease eat those veggies fruits too much sugar whole fruits sugar in fruit fiber purveyors of crap science gateway claims sales pitches too much sugar in our diet healthy diet lots of vegetables principles /

Friday, 28 August 2015

do NOT link


Credit: 417Marketing

If you publish a link to a web page, web crawlers will crawl the page, raising the link’s rank in search engines. This will happen, even if your link is contained in a post criticising a scam, cult, or other questionable material. So, your critical article will increase the popularity of the site, unless … doNOTlink

http://www.donotlink.com/dnl/faq

How web crawlers work:

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/crawling-indexing.html / donotlink linking to dubious websites no such thing as bad publicity Internet link to a website strengthens its position in search engines bad review of a website makes it more popular alerting others website promotes fraud scam cult questionable business link to that site search engines improve offending site's rank more people will find these shady websites exposed to their content proper context donotlink donotlink.com Google juice seaarch engine donotlink block search engines crawling link post link forums message boards Facebook Twitter Reddit shady websites undue credibility linking questionable websites prevent your links improving these websites' position search engines url shorteners donotlink creates hortened url website url linking directly to the website visit donotlink.com website's url shady stuff prevent search engines crawling website routes links questionable sites unique intermediate url forwards visitor destination javascript url is blocked robots.txt file search engine robots discouraged from crawling it nofollow attribute link intermediate page robots reminder not crawl link known robot crawl the link code identify serve it a blank page 403 Forbidden instead of redirecting to the url continually improving our algorithms combination blacklists bayesian inference identify crawlers bots search engines scrapers caught out /

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

7 years of iPhone ads (2007-2014)

Interesting to look back at how mobile phones, not just the iPhone, have changed in 7 years. When the iPhone was announced, my phone had a VGA resolution camera, which overwhelmed the 320 x 320 screen resolution, a browser unworthy of the name ...

/ iPhone smartphone Android Apple Google Siri Google N ow hardware software development Skype Voip video audio music iTunes malware security Touch ID fingerprint scanner Applecare /

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Cooper promises a complete tire from a desert shrub in 2017


Parthenium argentatum Gray, commonly known as guayule, native to the south western United States & northern Mexico4
Credit: US Department of Agriculture/Flickr/Green Car Reports

A substantial part of the cost & environmental impact of many products is the energy used in transporting raw materials to the site of manufacture.

Rubber is produced commercially from petroleum (synthetic rubber) & sap of the Hevea brasiliensis1 tree (natural rubber). 94% of natural rubber is sourced from Asia2.

As a strategically important material, rubber supply has security implications for many nations.

A number of plants, apart from Hevea have been used as a source of natural rubber in the past2,3. One such, is Parthenium argentatum Gray4, commonly known as guayule, native to the south western United States & northern Mexico.

As a desert plant, one of its advantages is that it can be grown on land which is good for little else.

A number of prominent companies, including Bridgestone, Ford & Cooper, together with Ohio State University, have recently been researching guayule rubber for automotive use. Cooper has already made some tire components from guayule rubber & has promised a complete tire in 2017.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099704_cooper-tire-we-will-make-complete-tire-from-desert-shrub-in-2017
__________

1 "Hevea", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hevea

2 "Natural rubber", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber#Current_sources

3 "History of attempts to commercialize Guayule in South Australia as a source of natural rubber", http://pir.sa.gov.au/aghistory/minor_crops/guayule

4 "Parthenium argentatum", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenium_argentatum / lowering environmental impact car changing materials components U.S. tire industry substitutes imported natural rubber petroleum synthetic rubber Cooper Tire demonstrate tires components made from the guayule plant a desert shrub Southwestern United States Mexico make a complete tire guayule-sourced rubber 2017 PanAridus plants manufactures rubber Cornell University Clemson University guayule substitute costly imported rubber environmentally questionable petroleum Bridgestone bio-rubber research manufacturing center Ford partnership Ohio State University find automotive uses startup Yulex Cooper tire project PanAridus working use guayule rubber consumer products wet suits Patagonia Cooper's project $6.9 million Biomass Research and Development Initiative grant administered jointly U.S. Department of Energy US Department of Agriculture yielding latex processed into rubber produces resin used in adhesives flavors fragrances biofuel fibrous material plant made into biofuel construction materials cultivating guayule alternative hevea source of natural rubber early 1900s World War II advancing Japanese forces cut off U.S. access to hevea Guayule grows much faster than hevea advantages Hevea less prone to cracking less heat buildup rubber guayule some tire components from 100-percent guayule rubber replacing domestically-sourced material tyres
tires 70 percent of global rubber use demand is expected to grow countries fully industrialize industrial /

Monday, 24 August 2015

How much does air conditioning impact electric vehicle range?


Credit: Volkswagen/Plug In Cars

For the time being, range of electric vehicles will continue to be limited, unless you have Tesla money to spend, or buy something with a fossil fueled range extender (GM Volt, BMW i3). Use of ancillaries reduces range further.

Green Car Reports has measured the impact of air conditioner use on range of an electric powered Volkswagen Golf.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099693_volkswagen-e-golf-climate-control-how-much-does-a-c-impact-range / Volkswagen e-Golf test hottest summers on record summer of 2015 more than 25 days 90 degrees 100-degree days serious heatwaves e-Golf’s climate control gasoline-engine versions start pushing out cold air electrically driven A/C compressor maintain a constant comfortable temperature cost of A/C in efficiency and range about 15 percent charge energy use 4.5 miles per kilowatt-hour 3.9 mi/kWh 3.7 mi/kWh particularly hot afternoon max A/C button 15-percent reduction in efficiency max mode full charge estimated range number climate control off 100 miles turn on the A/C real-world numbers 84 miles after a full charge air conditioning A/C low-charge warnings modes Normal driving mode three efficiency modes Eco mode reduced reduces air-conditioning output motor output top speed Eco+ mode limiting power 56-mph limit on top speed pre-cooling heat pump e-Golf SEL Premium model heat-pump heating recover heat from the ambient air waste heat battery pack drivetrain components improves efficiency heater system cold season compromising hot-weather comfort range LiIon lithium ion charge recharge range battery charge recharge quick charge /

Sunday, 23 August 2015

Formula E season two — pre-season testing at Donnington

Formula E, season 1, was effectively a single make formula. All parts, including drivetrains, were fixed. This season, inverter, electric motor & gearbox can be the individual team's design, but the battery is still controlled.

Most interesting is gearboxes, or the lack thereof. Multiple ratio gearboxes are employed in internal combustion engine vehicles, because of the narrow range of engine speeds over which they can produce useful amounts of power. Electric motors are much less limited. For this reason, almost all commercial electric vehicles have only one forward gear. Two exceptions are Brammo motorcycles1 & General Motors’ Volt2.

However, all is not rosy with electric drive.

“... a problem with any electric motor is that as rpm rises, it begins to act as a generator & produce a turning effect (torque) in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation. Naturally, this reduces power & torque at the output shaft. This is the reason why some Tesla Roadster prototypes had a two speed gearbox. When rising motor rpm began to reduce torque, a change to the higher gear reduced both rpm & the reverse torque effect. Problem was, Tesla couldn't source a 2 speed gearbox which was light enough, small enough & also strong enough to withstand the Roadster's huge torque output, so production vehicles had only one forward ratio. Practical outcome: despite its huge acceleration (0 to 97 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds depending on the model), top speed is limited to 200 kph (125 mph).” — My Holden Volt2

For season 2, teams have taken advantage of the new gearbox rules. Every number of ratios from one (i.e. no variable ratio), to five, is being utilized.

1 gear: DS Virgin & NEXTEV TCR (formerly known as China Racing)
2 gears: Renault
3 gears: Abt
4 gears: Mahindra & Venturi
5 gears: Team Aguri



http://electriccarsreport.com/2015/08/formula-e-test-one-what-we-learn/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
__________

1 AOL Autos/Translogic: “Brammo Empulse R Electric Motorcycle”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZjQjQUjgPs

2 My Holden Volt: “Does the ICE ever directly drive the wheels of the Volt?”, http://myholdenvolt.blogspot.com/2012/09/does-ice-ever-directly-drive-wheels-of_28.html / Sebastien Buemi Renault team first pre-season Formula E test Donington Park fastest Daniel Abt fastest first second sectors traffic final corners slowed down limited number of qualifying laps topping the timesheets lap time pre-season tests new technical changes season two teams design manufacture powertrain components energy battery turn the wheels inverter electric motor gearbox using the same battery speed pace efficiency manufacturers number of gears ratios electric motor instant torque power last year’s car five forward gears last year’s powertrain upgraded McLaren motor Mahindra four gears Venturi NEXTEV TCR DS Virgin direct drive system one gear gear changes per lap no power being delivered to the wheels regen braking slowing gear changes time different solutions Renault Abt last season electric motor sound one make series development is key defending champion Nelson Piquet Jr Andretti Trulli track Simona de Silvestro Old Hairpin grinding to a halt team corners Trulli team Jarno pre-season testing battery energy percentages manufacturer most efficient solution Renault e.dams Abt DS Virgin season starts in Beijing /