Piezoelectric roads converts traffic energy

Converting mechanical stress into eletricity wouldnt be new to hear as we all know the mechanism is called piezoeletriciy. With new inventions, keeping in mind our future needs, energy conversions have proved a big way to supply and distribute energy.

Contribute energy in future with piezoeletric concept

Israeli engineers are about to begin testing a 100 meter stretch of roadway embedded with a network of Piezo Electric Generators (IPEG�). The piezoelectric effect converts mechanical strain into electrical current or voltage and the system is expected to scale up to 400 kilowatts from a 1-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway.
Initially though, the system can be configured to generate and store energy from roads, airport runways and rail systems at the same time as delivering real-time data on the weight, frequency and spacing between passing vehicles

School-of-Eporo-robot-car

The latest offering by Nissan is its school of fish EPORO Robot Concept Car which mimics the behaviour of fish in the water. This concept is designed to travel in group of vehicles, mimicking the behavioural pattern of a school of fish in avoiding collision with each other.

Nissan-eporo-robot-car

Nissan will demonstrate this breakthrough technology with a group of six EPOROs when they make their world debut at the CEATEC JAPAN 2009, October 6 – 10 at the Makuhari Messe.

In developing EPORO, three rules of fish behavior were applied to its driving control.

Fish behaviour Rules:

Collision Avoidance — look after avoiding collision with other fishes.

Traveling Side-by-Side —travel close to nearest fishes with a minimum distance to avoid contact or collision.

Get closer —move closer with the other fishes to fill in the gaps in between.

Nissan initially revealed its �anti-collision� technology in 2008, with the BR23C robot based on the behavioral characteristics of a bumblebee.

Though the bumblebees, like fish, demonstrate anti-collision abilities such as detecting and avoiding obstacles and collision, bees tend to move alone while fish travel in schools. Nissan studied the behavior of groups of fish, as it better mirrored a traffic environment.

Narrow form adopted by communicating

Eporo-robot-car-in-cue

This is the world’s first development of a robot car that can travel in a group by sharing the position and information of others within a group via communication technologies.

Am sure that car lovers would have come across the golden word called Hypermiling. Now for those who are new to the knowledge of fuel economy, this is the right place to start.

Hypermiling is the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. They exceed manufacturers stated efficiency of their vehicles by modifying their driving habits and techniques. Hypermiling is a great way to save on fuel costs and drive safely.

Those who practice these techniques are referred to as �hypermilers�.

Which is the best vehicle for hypermiling?

The best results are seen in Hybrid vehicles such as the Honda Insight, the Toyota Prius Hybrid and the Honda Civic Hybrid”. Hybrids are especially good as they have a secondary power source.

Hypermiling basics:

—Drive less. Try to use public transport, walking or bicycling.

Best way towards fuel economy

—Don’t accelerate hard

—Ensure that your tyres are inflated properly. Too much pressure in tyres is dangerous.� Low tyre pressure results more drag and thus less MPG.

—Avoid peak traffic

Avoid driving in traffic for better hypermiling

—Keep a note of your fuel consumption.

—Avoid idling your vehicle. Idling does cause extra wear and tear. Some studies show that idling for just a couple of seconds can burn gas two times as fast as when driving at average speeds. This will mean that you have to pay extra cost on gas for your idling behavior.

Avoid idling on fuel

—Your route matters. Generally, if you prefer the lightest traveled roads than the busier ones then you are more into employing the fuel saving techniques than when you are struck in the traffic. You cannot hypermile on a short route actually, so driving long with hypermiling technique would actually save you more fuel than over a short busier road.

—Choose the path with minimum stop lights and stop signs.

Choose paths with minimum stop lights

—Lift your windows up, this would reduce the drag. Closed windows cause drag.

Well , these are few basics on fuel saving techniques, which can be easily followed. Try these out first before start practicing the advanced ones. They are

Pulse and Glide (P&G)

Forced Auto Stop (FAS)

Driving without Brakes (DWB)

Ridge Riding

Driving with Load (DWL)