Nuna9 Solar Car Revealed

Nuna9 - Revolutionary

Nuna9 has been designed differently from anything that has ever been created in the solar racing world and the most significant aerodynamic change is that the nose of the Nuna9 has now become more compact and does not tend to overhang any longer.

 The organisers of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge tend to control the regulations for each edition. The solar panel this year is only allowed to be a maximum of 4 m² in comparison to 6 m² in the earlier race. The team aerodynamicist, Jasper Hemmes, had explained that the design of Nuna9 tends to signify a new step ahead in solar racing.

As a consequence of the change to the World Solar challenge regulation, the need of a smaller solar panel had been utilised on cars of this year. This could mean that they had to make dramatic modifications to the car and eventually they had reached at this exceptional shape. The details of the solar car had not been kept undisclosed till date, from the competitors.

Sander Koot, team captain had stated that Nuna9 is revolutionary and the shape of the car is totally different to the earlier solar cars. They wanted to keep the new shape a secret for as long as possible to refrain from letting the competition in the open.

Take on the Dutch Nuna9

In recent years, the gap between the different teams during the race had been lessening down. They also had seen elements of the earlier solar cars reflected in what the other teams had been in the race. It had been naturally important to them once again in bringing home the world championship title this year.

This was the reason why the TU Delft students have kept the interior of the car away from interfering eyes. Sander chuckled that they do not want to go giving them ideas. After winning the race on various cases as well as the reigning world champion, the Nuon Solar Team is said to be the clear favourite to take the title home in Australia.

The controllers of the race have now been utilising the slogan `Take on the Dutch’ in order to challenge teams from across the world to try and overcome the team from TU Delft. To characteristically direct their winning mentality, the team had intended to mount a lion’s mane on their solar car.

Mane of Lion – Symbolic of Dutch Pride/Glory

Sarah Bennink Bolt, a member of the team had explained that the mane radiates strength and the larger the lion’s mane, the stronger and more invincible he is. The mane of the lion is also symbolic of Dutch pride and glory. The Nuon Solar Team for this year tends to comprise of sixteen students.

They will be defending their world title in October 2017 during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge with Nuna9, their self-built solar car. The TU Delft students had won the race in total of six times inclusive of the last edition of the race in 2015. They had covered over 3,000 kilometres and the track had stretched around Australia, from Darwin to Adelaide.

Tesla's Cars Can Drive Themselves Starting Tomorrow

Tesla – Car’s Self Driving Features

Tesla recently announced at a press event, the release of version 7.0 of the Model S software, which is a broadly expected new build that permits the car’s self-driving features. The capabilities had first been announced last year while the essential sensors had been added to all Model S cars which had rolled off the assembly line since last September.

However, Tesla wanted more time to amplify the systems which it has been testing this year. The 7.0 release would start soon in the US on a rolling basis and would be proceeding to Europe and Asia soon pending regulatory approval.

This does not seem to be a completely autonomous vehicle like that of Google car, but the main feature is what Tesla calls Autosteer that tends to keep the car in its present lane once they are already on the road, managing speed as well as distance from the car ahead.

Elon Must, on the call, was cautious to call Autosteer as a `beta’ feature wherein drivers were instructed to keep their hands on the wheel even though the function was engaged. He commented that they want people to be quite careful, while admitting that some people tend to take their hands off the wheel regardless and that they do not advise that.

Features - Auto Lane Change

A forthcoming version 7.1 would add the capability of sending the car off to a garage on its own and come back to pick you up which is another feature informed, when Musk had announced autopilot potentials last year. The Tesla in fact instructs drivers to keep their hands on the wheel while the car is steering for them and helps to keep liability squarely out of their court.

He comments that if there is an accident, the driver of the car is responsible, while also observing that there would ultimately be a time where self-driving vehicles would be safe and reliable adequately to abandon drivers of that liability completely.

The other 7.0 features Auto Lane Change which would automatically move to the nearby lane by tapping the turn signal together with the Autopark which tends to scan constantly for available parking around the car.

System Comprises of Four Sensor Categories

When it locates a space for park, the cartends to park it on its own. Besides this, there is also the Automatic Emergency Steering and Side Collision Warning, which utilises the ultrasonic sensors to move the car away from risk while cautioning the driver whenever it is essential.

The system comprises of four sensor categories on the car namely forward radar, forward-facing camera, 360 degree ultrasonic sensors and the GPS accompanied with Tesla’s high resolution navigation maps which trail the individual lanes and features of the roadways.

These types of sensors are found on several modern vehicles that are equipped with semi-autonomous features such as lane keep and dynamic cruise control. Tesla is constantly uploading real world sensor data from 7.0 equipped vehicles to home base which Musk calls it `fleet learning technology’.

This means that the autopilot potentials need to be theoretically more reliable over a period of time and the functions will improve with passage of time, even without a firmware update since the car is accessing Tesla’s high-res maps.

5 Future Car Technologies

A spanking new vehicle is a dream buy and high on anyone’s aspirational list. The auto industry is all about constant change. The new generation consumer also wants new technologies to make their drive more comfortable. The automotive engineers at the R & D department of all the manufacturers are bringing us new technologies from time to time. There are innumerable new technologies in the department of safety, infotainment, and innovation. Here are 5 future car technologies that we may see in our cars in the near future. Also check Upcoming car in India.

1) A car that will make its own decisions is not going to be that far in future. Driver Override System is a new technology that may be ready in the next five years. Even now there are certain cars which kill the engine when there is a fault in the engine or when it over speeds. The driver override system will apply the brakes even if the driver has the gas pedal floored. The increase in using of sensors in the cars will force the cars to take decisions. This is a shift in priority.

2) Over are those days when you had to search for your car keys. The Biometric Vehicle Access is the new future of starting your car. Recently we had seen the switch to keyless entry and start. In the future get ready for a key-fob-less entry and start. One will be able to unlock and start your car with your fingertip or retina iris. This technology follows the same procedure used at high security areas where the user or, here, the owner/driver, is recognised by the pattern on the finger tip or the pattern on the iris.

3) Another technology one may find in the future cars is the Reconfigurable Body Panels. How would it seem to have a car which looks like an SUV, but has the powerful motor of a truck? Imagine an SUV with lightweight body panels and advanced motors that retract the roof and side glass into the lower body panels. Reconfigurable Body Panels may be the future of body of the cars.

4) We know of single, double and three-cylinder cars. How about a four-cylinder supercar? We already have a Ford GT supercar which has a twin-turbo V6. By 2020 we are expecting to see the first full-fledged, 200 mph supercar with a four-cylinder engine.

5) Now, the idea of a self-driving car is not a new idea. We have already seen James Bond and other super heroes owning self driven cars which can even park by themselves. But a truly self-driving car means exactly that, one that can drive itself, and they are probably closer to being a reality in the very near future.

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And if the cars were expressing emotions?

Cars as we know it could well see a revolution in size in coming years if one relies on the concept of Face Value. Indeed, a very experienced German designer presented a concept vehicle expressing emotions. The designer in question is called Lukas Rittwage. This student Hochshule Anhalt found that cars lose more and more the emotional side as well as technology advances gradually the automotive industry.