UNIKENZY ENGINEERING

To kick start a new era of electric vehicles, Citroen is undergoing a brand overhaul which will take full effect in 2023. By:   Yousuf Ashraf Citroen  is set to unveil a “significant conceptual family vehicle” by the end of this month. It will be the first car to wear the French manufacturer's new logo, the one that’s set to feature on all Citroen models from mid-2023. The fresh design is the tenth iteration of the firm’s chevron badge, and arrives as the brand begins its march into an all-electric age.  The new badge features larger chevrons embedded in a vertical oval frame, with a flatter aesthetic than the current chrome logo. Citroen’s revised brand identity will also extend to the firm’s online services, as well as its in-car infotainment software and the My Citroen smartphone app, all of which will feature new lettering and colour themes. White and grey will form the basis of the palette, with two “signature” colours - Monte Carlo blue and Infra red - picking out

By :  IRMA VENTER Volvo Cars has promised that its new battery electric flagship model, the EX90, will be the safest Volvo yet.  The EX90 is scheduled to go on sale globally in the second half of next year. Volvo Cars says the sports-utility vehicle will boast one of the most advanced sensor sets on the market.  “A Volvo-unique suite of eight cameras, five radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors and a cutting-edge light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor will combine with in-house developed software, the vehicle’s core computing power and a new real-time interior sensing system, to move [Volvo] a step closer to its vision of a future with zero collisions,” says the Scandinavian auto maker. Embedded in the EX90’s roofline, the LiDAR sensor will be able to detect pedestrians at up to 250 m away, and something as small and dark as a tyre on a black road 120 m ahead – all while travelling at highway speeds.  “We are fusing our understanding of the outside environment with o

Source: Cornell University  Cornell University researchers have installed electronic "brains" on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size -- smaller than an ant's head -- so that they can walk autonomously without being externally controlled. While Cornell researchers and others have previously developed microscopic machines that can crawl, swim, walk and fold themselves up, there were always "strings" attached; to generate motion, wires were used to provide electrical current or laser beams had to be focused directly onto specific locations on the robots. "Before, we literally had to manipulate these 'strings' in order to get any kind of response from the robot," said Itai Cohen, professor of physics. "But now that we have these brains on board, it's like taking the strings off the marionette. It's like when Pinocchio gains consciousness." The innovation sets the stage for a new gen

The deadline is the end of September. By:  Baba Tamim            A "Tesla Bot" humanoid robot prototype Elon Musk is getting ready to unveil his 'Optimus' humanoid robot, and an improved smart summon feature as a top priority in the run-up to Tesla's AI Day 2 on September 30. The Tesla Bot, also known as Optimus, was among the concepts that the company unveiled during its inaugural AI day and is prepared for release, news reports across sections of media noted on Tuesday. Both projects, according to the tech mogul, have a deadline at the end of the month. "Autopilot/AI team is also working on Optimus and (actually smart) summon/autopark, which have end of month deadlines," Musk wrote while responding to a Tesla fan club account on Twitter. Musk's Texas-based company is reportedly considering ambitious plans to use thousands of humanoid robots within its factories before eventually extending to millions globally, per a job posting. According to Musk,

New aircraft are expected to enter service by 2028 . By: Ameya Paleja   Air Canada has agreed to order 30 hybrid electric aircraft from Sweden-based Heart Aerospace, the airline said in a press release. Capable of flying on battery power alone, the aircraft are expected to reduce the airline's carbon emissions while providing operational benefits. This is the second time that Heart Aerospace has secured an order from a North American carrier. In July last year, United Airlines signed an agreement to procure 100 electric planes from the Swedish manufacturer. As Interesting Engineering had reported then, United Airlines picked the ES-19, the all-electric aircraft that can carry 19 passengers seated in a 1+1 configuration with three seats in the last row. The ES-19 is expected to be in service by 2026. However, Air Canada has chosen a larger aircraft, the ES-30, which can typically ferry 30 passengers. THE ES-30 HYBRID-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT According to Heart Aerospace's w

Scientists teach robot to laugh at jokes By:  Engineering and Technology   Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan have designed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that appropriately responds to human laughter. The  shared-laughter AI system is being used  to train a robot called Erica to detect laughter from those around ‘her’, then decide whether to laugh and what kind of laughter would be best, differentiating between light chuckles and rip-roaring peals of laughter. The scientists’ findings - described in the journal   Frontiers in Robotics and AI  - could in future help make conversations between humans and robots more natural.  “We think that one of the important functions of conversational AI is empathy,” said lead author Dr Koji Inoue. “Conversation is, of course, multimodal, not just responding correctly. We decided that one way a robot can empathise with users is to share their laughter, which you cannot do with a text-based chatbot.” In the shared-laughter m

The World’s Fastest Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor By:  David Waterworth The shape of the longest railroad bridge in South Korea has inspired University of New South Wales engineers to design a new high-speed motor. The prototype interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) has achieved speeds of 100,000 RPM, making it the world’s fastest interior permanent magnet synchronous motor. IPMSM motors are used in the traction drives of electric vehicles. 📷: University of New South Wales Associate Professor Rukmi Dutta and Dr. Guoyu Chu. The new technology has been developed by a team headed by Associate Professor Rukmi Dutta and Dr Guoyu Chu from the University of New South Wales School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications. “An IPMSM type motor has magnets embedded within its rotors to create strong torque for an extended speed range. However, existing IPMSMs suffer from low mechanical strength due to thin iron bridges in their rotors,

The agency is looking for a plane that can launch from ship flight decks and small austere land locations. DARPA is launching a new VTOL. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has begun a program called the AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY X-Plane, nicknamed ANCILLARY, that aims to develop and flight demonstrate technologies required for the production of a vertical takeoff and landing ( VTOL ), low-weight, high-payload, and long-endurance aircraft. Minimizing personnel costs and vulnerability “The goal is to build a plane that can launch from ship flight decks and small austere land locations in adverse weather without launch and recovery equipment typically needed for these systems,” stated DARPA's press release published on Friday. “The ability for the warfighter to deploy and retrieve such systems in challenging conditions without reliance on infrastructure would minimize personnel, costs, and vulnerability during sensitive operations

It wants to be the leading e-SUV brand in the market. Stellantis-owned Jeep unveiled the first images of two new fully electric SUVs, Recon and Wagoneer, to launch four new all-electric SUVs in the U.S. and Europe by 2025, a company press release said. The aim to reduce carbon emissions from transportation has forced automakers to turn the page on their internal combustion engines and move toward a future of electric vehicles. With states like California in the U.S. setting an earlier date for a complete ban on the sale of gas-powered cars, many car companies need to accelerate their design pipeline and test the waters with multiple models. Jeep's entry into the battery electric vehicles (BEV) is markedly delayed. However, that isn't stopping the company management from aiming high as it wants to become the leading e-SUV brand on the market. It also set some ambitious goals, with a 100 percent passenger BEV sales target in Europe by the end of the decade. Leading th