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Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Aptiv’s Autonomous-Vehicle ‘Air-Traffic Control’

It’s well known that the safe operation of an autonomous vehicle (AV) relies on robust sensing, path planning and compute capability. What’s often overlooked is the role of a...

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Materials

Porsche to Use 3D Printing to Customize Seats

Porsche is enacting a pilot program that employs 3D printing to create a customized “comfort layer” in a bucket seat that allows the user to select from several levels of support based on...

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AR/AI

Toyota Improves ‘Little Things’ to Refine 2020 Highlander Manufacturing

Manufacturing the fourth generation of Toyota’s Highlander crossover unfolds in the 4.5 million sq-ft2 Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (TTMI) plant in...

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Manned Systems

The Ford Performance Racing School Settles a New Location out West

The Ford Performance Racing School (FPRS) has a new home out west. After running programs for eight years at the facility previously known as Miller Motorsports Park...

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Power

Kubota Enters Stand-On Track-Loader Segment with New SCL1000

Kubota took the wraps off its first-ever entrant into the stand-on track-loader market at the 2020 ConExpo-Con/Agg tradeshow in Las Vegas. The new SCL1000 is the smallest machine...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

British HFQ Process May Enhance Aluminum’s High-Volume Future

With this year’s end stage of a major collaborative R&D project, the longstanding competition between steel and aluminum for high-volume vehicle production is set to...

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Materials

ALLEGRO Project Seeks to Boost Lightweight-Materials Durability

First define the lightweight material that best complements electric vehicle (EV) and automated-vehicle (AV) range efficiency – then optimize it for increased durability via...

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Photonics/Optics

Driver-Monitoring Systems to Be as Common as Seat Belts

Regulators across the globe, most notably in Europe, are calling for driver-monitoring systems to become standard vehicle-safety equipment. The ability for a vehicle to combine...

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Design

Aerion Taps Siemens’ Xcelerator Portfolio to Enable Next-Generation Global Transportation Networks

Aerion Supersonic in Reno, Nevada, is developing supersonic aircraft – modern air vehicles capable of traveling faster than the speed of...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Quadricycle AV Pod Pops Open in London

Mobility “pods” regularly pop up in the automated-driving universe and the latest is a quadricycle prototype called MOTIV, claimed by its creators to “break the mold for future mobility...

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Manned Systems

Jeep Debuts Desert Rated Badge with Gladiator Mojave

Jeep’s renowned Trail Rated designation for low-speed off-roading prowess is getting a high-speed counterpart, with the new Desert Rated moniker’s debut for the 2021 Jeep Gladiator...

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Robotics, Automation & Control

Executive Interview: IFS CEO Darren Roos Sees Sea Change in Cloud, SaaS Adoption Worldwide

Executives and engineers from across myriad high-tech markets – aerospace and defense (A&D), advanced manufacturing, energy, field service, and...

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Software

Aerospace & Defense, Maintenance, Manufacturing Embrace Cloud, SaaS

Cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) adoption is up across aerospace & defense (A&D), energy, engineering, manufacturing, and field service globally. The...

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Regulations/Standards

GM’s Cruise Unveils Dedicated Self-Driving Vehicle Built for Upgradable Hardware

In 2016, General Motors acquired Cruise Automation, thereby launching its self-driving business. After four years using modified Chevrolet Bolt hatchbacks...

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Manned Systems

‘Active Scents’ Show Potential to Enhance Cabin Experience and Improve Driver Safety

A Tel Aviv, Israel startup company is taking the now-familiar concept of aromatherapy to a new level. Saying its research into “active scents” can...

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Energy

CES 2020: Cartica AI’s Simpler Solution for Autonomous Vision

The wide rollout of autonomous vehicles (AVs) will require advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and significant computing horsepower. The efficiency and effectiveness of the...

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Unmanned Systems

CES 2020: VW Creates New Autonomous Subsidiary

Volkswagen announced on Jan. 8 the formation of a new subsidiary called Volkswagen Autonomy, Inc. The new unit will oversee the development of Level-4 autonomous systems for VW. Alexander...

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Energy

Proving Grounds Are the Hush-Hush Heroes of the Latest Automotive Test Technology

The world’s independent vehicle test-track operators often are the unsung heroes of new-vehicle development. They work in an atmosphere of secrecy that...

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Unmanned Systems

Emulating 5G Networks for AV Testing

As 5G technology applications spread throughout the auto industry, case testing is a vital aspect of attaining and maintaining efficiency. The U.K.’s Spirent Communications and the Warwick...

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Energy

Does EV Material Testing Need to Get Physical?

As the CEO of the ZwickRoell Group, Dr. Jan Stefan Roell oversees a multi-industry, materials-testing business. The family-owned company’s history of invention includes the first hydraulic...

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Energy

EV Startup Rivian Gets More Funding from Ford, Amazon

Rivian, the startup electric vehicle (EV) developer focusing on pickup trucks, SUVs and commercial delivery vehicles, announced on Dec. 23 that it completed a new $1.3-billion round of...

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Power

New IAAPS Powertrain R&D Center to Accelerate Development of Propulsion Systems

The auto industry needs new areas of expertise, new development tools, and new ways of facilitating collaboration and innovation to keep pace with technologies...

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Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Getting a Grip on EV Fasteners

It may not get much R&D fanfare, but fastenings and their coatings will play an essential engineering role in electrified vehicles (EVs). There is an increasing demand from the auto industry for...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

New GM, LG Chem Joint Venture to Build EV Battery Plant in U.S.

General Motors and longtime battery partner LG Chem announced the companies are forming an equally-owned joint-venture (JV) company to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries for...

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Articles
Power

Chevy Tweaks 2020 Bolt’s Battery Chemistry to Add Range

In late 2016, the Chevrolet Bolt became a breakthrough vehicle for long-range EV affordability. At the time, no other electric car came close to offering the Bolt’s 238 mi (383...

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Manned Systems

Silicon Valley Summit Refines Autonomous Safety Thinking

Until recently, leading autonomous vehicle (AV) technologists posited that ultra-safe, go-anywhere robotaxis would soon be on the road. But questions about those timelines –and the...

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Power

Tesla Cybertruck Takes Styling, Materials Risks

Tesla has unveiled its latest concept electric vehicle (EV), the Cybertruck. Revealed at a post-L.A. Auto Show event at Tesla’s design center just south of L.A. in Hawthorne, California on...

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Software

New Proving-Ground Tools Needed to Manage AV Testing

According to Dr. Richard Simpson, principal systems engineer at test systems’ supplier AB Dynamics, a universal command and control system for test-track operators is vital to manage...

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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Ford Unveils 2021 Mustang Mach-E Electric Vehicle

With the unveiling of the 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle (EV), Ford seems to be betting the way to expand mainstream America’s demand for EVs through its collective right foot. The...

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