Latest Stories

Issue Archive

Automotive Engineering - July/August 2020

News

Transportation

Top Transmission Engineers Project Big Future for E-Axles, Advanced Motors

A panel of high-ranking transmission and driveline engineers projected outsized adoption for electric-axle (e-axle) technology, as well as significant expansion...

SAE Standards News

Connectivity

New Cooperative Driving Automation Standard Provides Clarity to Support Advancement of Full Automation

In May, amid quarantine and lockdowns for the Coronavirus pandemic, SAE International published SAE J3216 Standard: Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Cooperative Driving Automation for On-Road Motor Vehicles. The new standard...

News

Power

Mercedes-AMG Ready with Electrically-Assisted Turbocharger

In an announcement signaling automakers’ continuing R&D efforts for internal-combustion propulsion, Mercedes-AMG said it is preparing to launch a new,...

Articles

Mechanical & Fluid Systems

The Electric, Autonomous Revolution Lifts Off

Nearly a quarter-century ago, the Vertical Flight Society, a helicopter-industry group founded in 1943 as the American Helicopter Society, published a graphic dubbed “V/STOL Aircraft and...

News

Energy

Hybridization the Highlight of Ford’s All-New 2021 F-150

Ford this week unveiled an all-new version of its F-150 fullsize pickup, highlighted by a first-ever full-hybrid variant and the promise – but not yet specifics – of...

Articles

Software

Radar Testing with an O-Scope

A new generation of compact radar sensors with long range and high resolution is under development for automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) and future fully autonomous vehicles. Operating in the...

Road Ready

Automotive

2021 Ford Bronco Aims to Kick Some Jeep

“There is nothing on this truck that is superfluous – no decorative chrome or extraneous styling. It’s designed for function, not fashion,” explained Paul Wraith, chief designer for...

What We’re Driving

Power

What We’re Driving: 2020 Mazda3 Premium AWD

Before I started a drive in the 2020 Mazda3, I had to toggle the drive-select to “sport.” And release the parking brake. Each and every time. At least the two switches are in proximity...

News

Energy

Nissan Reveals Production Ariya EV SUV

Nissan has revealed the production version of its Ariya electric vehicle (EV), a 5-door SUV with an intended range of 300 miles. Nissan claims the Ariya will go on sale in Japan next year, with...

News

Software

Ford Engineers Charged with a Blank EV Slate for the All-New 2021 Mustang Mach-E

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E is an all-new vehicle. It’s Ford’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) and it’s built on an all-new electric...

What We’re Driving

Unmanned Systems

What We’re Driving: 2020 Nissan Versa SR

The 2020 Nissan Sentra’s most important asset isn’t as obvious as its all-new sheetmetal, although nobody could deny the sharky new body is an immense upgrade over the dowdy previous...

SAE Standards News

Regulations/Standards

SAE J3300 Pioneers Test-Driver Certification

The best part of my job as editor of SAE Standards News is engaging with the various committee members who volunteer their time for the good of industry, and the SAE staffers who support...

News

Materials

Directing GM’s 3D-Printed Future

Among automakers, General Motors was an early adopter of 3-D printing/additive manufacturing (AM) in the 1980s and is accelerating both its use of, and investment in, the technology. Nearly 40,000...

News

Unmanned Systems

Understanding the Competitive Dynamic

As summer passes, the industry still is gritting its teeth amidst the restart from months of COVID-driven paralysis. OEMs and suppliers are bracing for a potential second wave, along with the impact...

Articles

Weapons Systems

Lunewave Promises Low-Cost Radar with High-Performance 360-Degree View

Radar sensing has been used for various functions in passenger vehicles for more than two decades. Like all sensors intended an automated vehicle (AV), radar has...

News

Manned Systems

Kontron’s Embedded Boards Help Drive Autonomy Forward

Transportation technologies driven by autonomy are making partnerships an increasingly important part of vehicle-development strategies. That has created significant openings for...

INSIDER

Aerospace

NASA Helicopter Prepares for Trip to Mars

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter will travel with the Perseverance rover through 314 million miles to get to Mars. Once there, the Mars Helicopter Delivery System will set it free from the...

INSIDER

Defense

Army Drones Change Shape Mid-Flight

Soon, the U.S. Army will be able to deploy autonomous air vehicles that can change shape during flight. A new tool was developed that can rapidly optimize the structural configuration for unmanned...

News

Sensors/Data Acquisition

Scalable Hardware-Software Interface Answers Overlooked AV Testing Need

In 2016, Oregon-based PolySync introduced DriveKit, a set of open-source hardware and software tools that enabled skunkworks engineering teams to electronically...

Technical Innovation

Connectivity

Softing Envisions Secure, Reliable Predictive Maintenance

Modern heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks and buses but also forestry and agricultural machines or construction equipment, are packed with E/E components that support...

INSIDER

Test & Measurement

Nuclear Bomb Proves Compatible With F-15E Strike Eagle

Dropped from above 25,000 feet, the mock B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb was in the air for approximately 55 seconds before hitting and embedding in the lakebed, splashing a 40- to...

INSIDER

Materials

Multifunctional Nanofiber Protects Against Explosions

Since World War I, the vast majority of American combat casualties has come not from gunshot wounds but from explosions. Today, most soldiers wear a heavy, bullet-proof vest to...

INSIDER

Robotics, Automation & Control

Army Researchers Augment Combat Vehicles With AI

When soldiers enter a new environment, their mission demands they stay one step ahead of the enemy; however, they may find it challenging to maintain a high level of alertness if they're...

INSIDER

Aerospace

Training Drones for Acrobatic Maneuvers

Pilots have long used acrobatic maneuvers to test the limits of their airplanes – the same goes for flying drones. Researchers have developed a quadrotor helicopter that can learn to fly...

INSIDER

Aerospace

NASA to Fly Personnel on Suborbital Spacecraft

For the first time in the agency’s history, NASA has initiated a new effort to enable NASA personnel to fly on future commercial suborbital spaceflights.

Commercial suborbital...

INSIDER

Aerospace

Airbus Tests Autonomous Commercial Aircraft

Airbus has concluded tests of its Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off and Landing (ATTOL) project, achieving autonomous taxiing, takeoff, and landing of a commercial aircraft.

The ATTOL project...

News

Manned Systems

SAE Live: TuSimple and Penske Executives to Detail the Automated Freight Network Partnership

With pressures from the COVID-19 situation pressuring U.S. business and economic structures, development and deployment of high-level vehicle...

News

Software

Embracing the Digital Transformation in Aerospace & Defense

The aerospace & defense (A&D) industry has always been known for great innovation and high expectations. Even during the difficult times with the impact of COVID-19,...

News

Power

Porsche Partners to Develop 3D-Printed Pistons

Additive manufacturing (AM), aka 3D printing, is not new to Porsche. The German manufacturer heavily leverages AM processes in prototyping, and since May 2020, in production for...

INSIDER

Design

Argonne and Raytheon to Collaborate on Aircraft Engine Design

As fuel is burned in aircraft engines, temperatures reach extremely high levels, necessitating the use of thermal management strategies, such as effusion or film cooling, to...

INSIDER

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Bell Joins U.S. Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft Program

Bell Textron Inc. has announced agreements with nine premier aerospace industry leaders to form Team Invictus. The companies are producing the Bell 360 Invictus prototype...

INSIDER

Test & Measurement

Missile Warning Satellite Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing

The world’s most advanced missile defense satellite recently and successfully came out of almost two months of harsh simulated space environmental testing. The U.S. Space...