This Engineering Newswire looks at savings lives with a tiny dot, driving a super-efficient SuperTruck, rewriting rock history and going to auction to bet on TRONs light cycle.
Life Saving Dot
Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Center and ad agency, Grey Group Singapore, have developed an adhesive-backed felt bindi embedded with iodine to help fight against malnutrition and other diseases.
Millions of women across rural India suffer from breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease and complications during pregnancy. Most of these cases have been linked to iodine deficiency.
The Life Saving Dot dispenses the daily-required amount of the iodine into the wearer's body via their skin as it's worn.
SuperTruck Is Super-Efficient
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its SuperTruck Challenge which provided funding for truck manufacturers to prototype new designs that were at least 50 percent more efficient. Now, Daimler Trucks North America has unveiled their “SuperTruck” at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The concept vehicle features an impressive 115 percent boost in vehicle freight efficiency.
The Supertruck is also 700 pounds lighter than a standard tractor frame and uses a waste heat recovery system to harvest energy from hot exhaust to boost its battery power. Additional enhancements include a 50 percent increase in engine brake, a 54 percent reduction in overall aerodynamic drag, and a sustained 12.2 miles per gallon logged at 65 miles per hour on a stretch of I-35 between San Antonio and Dallas.
TRON Light Cycle Goes to Auction
RM Sotheby’s, a collector car auction house, will be auctioning off a real life TRON light cycle that is being touted as a work of mobile art. The custom electric vehicle was built for Sotherby’s Andrews Collection, which features a lineup of 75 cars and an assortment of memorabilia. The lot will be auctioned off with the light cycle on May second of this year.
A majority of the light cycle design is fiberglass, however carbon fiber and Kevlar were used in areas that needed extra structural strength. It is powered by a 96 volt, direct-drive electric motor with lithium batteries and a computer-controlled throttle. It also features rebound and compression damping with a spring-preloaded front suspension and rigid rear suspension, in addition to front and rear hydraulic brakes.
Digital Instrument Rewrites Rock History
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Artiphon is a little start-up that has spent the last four years in Music City trying to create intuitive music expression for everyone. Their solution is the INSTRUMENT 1, a patented multi-instrument technology that allows you to play any instrument in any style with a single device.
According to beta testers, what makes the device unique, other than an entirely pressure sensitive interface capable of playing any sound, are the digital strings. Artiphon has figured out a way to create string-like playability on a digital device that responds to the force of the users touch.
