The first electric racing car

New at the Formula Student competition: electric mobility

The electric trend conquers curricula and competitions. One example: the Formula Student Competition 2010.


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

Formula Student Germany?
In a team students build a single seat formula racing car to participate in a worldwide competition. What is important is not speed but the overall package of construction, performance, financial planning and sales arguments.

The challenge of Formula Student is that in addition to their normal studies, students are to gain intensive experience in building and manufacturing as well as with the economic aspects of the automotive industry.


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

New discipline: electric mobility

24 teams intensively worked on solutions to an eco-friendly mobility. Finally eight of them managed to get into the final. Besides all other obstacles the teams have to overcome, scrutineering is hardest: "First of all, all electric drive elements have to be checked for safety. The complete high-voltage system is marked orange on the vehicle and every racing bolide is fitted with an e-stop," says Ulf Steinfurth, head of the scrutineering team.

"Team of TU Delft wins Formula Student Germany The winner of Formula Student Germany 2010 is the team of TU Delft. In the new electric vehicle discipline, Formula Student Electric, the greenteam of the Stuttgart University won the cup."


Image source: Formula Student Gallery

More information:
»»» http://www.formulastudentelectric.de/

However, if you can't afford a real Antonov...

... this is how to build your own:

Image source: www.ipmsdeutschland.de

What is the world's largest aircraft?
Seek and ye shall find:

http://www.fai.org/records/

Antonov is flying...now also in Europe

Image source: http://de.academic.ru/

Some months ago An-225 started to conquer the Western sky. In cooperation with Antonow, British freight charter airlines hire this heavyweight for the transport of overweight loads no other aircraft can transport. With a payload of 250 tons the An-225 can transport more than double the load of the Jumbo freighter Boeing 747-400F, and the maximum flight weight of 600 tons is even higher than that of the Airbus A380; this European jumbo, the world's largest passenger aircraft started flying in 2005 and weighs "only" 550 tons with full load.

»»» See http://www.antonov.com

My dream: The Antonow

Image source: wikipedia.org

»»Compare the Antonow An-225 (green) to the other wide-bodied aircraft: Boeing 747-8I (blue), Hughes H-4 (yellow) and Airbus A380 (red)

Who or what is this?

Length: 85.30 m
Height: 18.20 m
Wing span: 88.40 m
Tail span: 32.65 m
Wing area: 905 m²
Aspect ratio: 8.63

Wing loading:
• Minimum (empty weight): 193 kg/m²
• Maximum (maximum takeoff weight): 663 kg/m²

Dimensions cargo compartment:
• Length: 43.3 m
• Width: 6.4 m
• Height: 4.4 m

Cargo volume: 1.220 m³
Empty weight: approx. 175 tons
Maximum takeoff weight: approx. 600 tons

Maximum payload:
• internal: 250 tons
• external: 90 tons

Maximum speed: 820 Km/h
Service ceiling: 11,000 m

Max. range:
• without load: 15,400 Km
• with 200 t load: 4,500 Km
• with maximum load: 2,500 Km

Crew: 7 persons, of whom 6 in the cockpit
Engines: Six ZMKB Lotarew D-18T-by-pass engine with 229.85 kN thrust each

Airplanes as far as you can see...

at the airport on the observation deck I spot airplanes and a flat caterpillar-like 4-wheel vehicle. Awesome, how small it looks next to the airplane.
I find out from a member of the service staff that it is an aircraft tractor: OK, an aircraft tractor...

what if it should pull an aircraft like this one:


this is what an aircraft tractor looks like:
Pushback tractors use a low profile design to fit under the aircraft nose. To have enough traction, the tractor needs to be heavy, and most models can have extra ballast added. A typical tractor for large aircraft weighs up to 54 metric tons and has a drawbar pull of 334 kN Often, the driver's cabin can be raised for increased visibility when reversing, and lowered to fit under aircraft.

»»» http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushback

A look back

MobiliTec - Premiere at HANNOVER MESSE 2010

One of the truly big themes of many sectors is electric mobility. Faced with mounting CO2 emissions and dwindling fossil fuel resources, the world will sooner or later have to embrace alternative mobility and drive technologies. Bringing about this paradigm shift necessitates ongoing multidisciplinary cooperation between automobile manufacturers, drive system and component manufacturers, energy companies, and experts from science and government.

HANNOVER MESSE has been profiling mobility technologies for many years, and from 2010 on will be consolidating these themes in an all-new flagship tradeshow named "MobiliTec." The new show will focus on mobility technologies such as hybrid and electric drive systems, mobile energy storage solutions and alternative fuels.

The new show's exhibition content will be supplemented by an international forum staged on site in the exhibition area. Visitors will also be able to test-drive innovative new electric vehicles on a dedicated test track.

»»» http://www.hannovermesse.de/mobilitec



Image source: Hanover Fair

To the moon and back...

What an honour if your own invention shows great results...

... also the moon vehicle is very interesting, isn't it?


Source: NASA

»»» NASA's Mobility Field Test Phase 2 (video)

NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Lunar Architecture Team conducted studies of the possible scenarios that may be encountered on the moon. The desert-like landscape in Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona provided an ideal landscape for testing.



Source: NASA