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Power

SAE Symposium Covers New Approaches in Thermal Management

Vehicle thermal management, once almost exclusively about safely rejecting powertrain heat, continues to evolve to dealing with two extremes in operation of battery electric...

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Articles
Software

CES 2020: Toyota to Build a City of the Future

There’s hardly a region on Earth that Toyota doesn’t reach. At the 2020 CES conference, the company announced a visionary project of similar scope, saying it intends to build a...

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Briefs
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Calculating Electrical Requirements for Direct Current Electric Actuators

When designing electro-mechanically actuated systems, there are several electrical design requirements that must be determined.

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Articles
Power

Engine Developers Increase Efforts to Decrease Fuel Usage

Engineers are leaving no stone unturned in their unceasing drive to improve fuel economy, leveraging electronics, monitoring airflow and using data from outside the vehicle....

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News
Test & Measurement

ConExpo & IFPE 2020: Go Big or Go Home

My inbox has been inundated with notifications of press conferences and exciting new construction equipment, power systems, and other advanced technologies to be revealed at the rapidly approaching...

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Original Equipment
Manned Systems

Volvo CE Showcases 100-Ton EC950F Excavator, New Hybrid Assist That Cuts Fuel Use by 15%

The entrance to Volvo Construction Equipment’s ConExpo-Con/Agg exhibit (F3432), through what the company has dubbed “excavator alley,” will lead...

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Technical Innovation
Manned Systems

Self-Driving Trucks Cut Fuel Consumption by 10%

Enhancing safety and helping combat driver shortages are two benefits that heavy-duty autonomous-truck proponents have preached during development. You can now add significant fuel savings to...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Energy Harvesting for Soft-Matter Machines and Electronics

A new class of soft multifunctional materials could be used to convert mechanical deformation from vibrations and stretching into electrical energy.

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News
Propulsion

Engineering the World’s Fastest Tractor

For farmers in a hurry, JCB’s Fastrac series agricultural tractors are capable of speeds up to 43 mph (69 km/h) in stock form. But the British company believes in challenging its engineers to...

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Q&A
Power

Parker Takes Electro-Hydrostatic Approach for Electric Machines

Off-highway industrial machines require multi-function implement operation with dynamic duty cycles. In many cases, machine implements demand short bursts of full engine power...

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News
Manufacturing & Prototyping

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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News
Electronics & Computers

Isuzu Simplifies Fuel Changeovers

Isuzu is making it easier for equipment owners to switch fuels from natural gas to liquid propane, letting users switch by merely sending a signal to the engine. Released in October 2019, the dual-fuel...

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Articles
Automotive

Autonomy’s ‘Pirouetting’ Future

Designing and engineering a 360-degree steering capability for a production electric autonomous road vehicle’s four wheels is no mean achievement. But Protean Electric also combines this pirouetting capability with an in-wheel electric motor, “innovative” suspension and pneumatic ride height control.

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Road Ready
Power

Volvo’s Polestar Powerhouse Plug-In Hybrid

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s why Polestar, Volvo’s new electric performance subsidiary, used its first vehicle as a rolling showcase of the brand’s...

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News
Energy

‘Laxatives’ May Ease Challenge of Lithium-Ion Alternative

The R&D dimension of the automotive industry often reveals novel solutions and cross-linking between materials, but a team of international scientists has come up with...

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News
Power

What We’re Driving: 2020 Range Rover Sport HST

JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) goes straight to the point: it's new inline six-cylinder gasoline engine is “more responsive and better balanced” than a V6, the company said. That’s what...

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News
Motion Control

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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News
Energy

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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Technical Innovation
Propulsion

Mahle and Partners Develop Super-Efficient Engine for Stationary Power

Mahle Powertrain, with partners Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Kohler Co., Louthan Engineering and Intellichoice Energy, has developed a prototype single-cylinder...

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News
Energy

Narrower Focus, Bigger Payoff for Commercial EVs

Government regulations are prompting a changeover to electric powertrains, with early growth coming in commercial vehicle applications where range and recharging are more easily managed....

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News
Unmanned Systems

Caterpillar Launches Next-Gen Mini Hydraulic Excavator, Skid Steer and Compact Track Loaders

Covering about 2.5 million ft2 and including roughly 2,800 exhibitors, the triennial ConExpo-Con/Agg event boasts an even-larger footprint for...

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News
Mechanical & Fluid Systems

Insights into Heavy-Duty Engine Design

Engine developers face numerous challenges in their work. When building the new clean-sheet design C3.6 engine, Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems considered several factors including customer...

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News
Energy

ACeDrive Consortium Plans More Efficient EV Powertrain

It’s called ACeDrive, which may sound innocuous for an auto-industry project, but the consortium that formed it has announced that it seeks to develop the world’s lightest and most...

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News
Propulsion

Is DC Fast-Charging Ready for Prime Time?

It’s a trip we’ve done scores of times with barely a thought. From our home near SAE International headquarters in western Pennsylvania to the metro Detroit area is approximately 300 miles (483...

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News
Power

Toyota Reveals RWD FCEV Mirai, Plug-In RAV4

As part of an electrified stable primed for the 2019 Tokyo and Los Angeles auto shows, Toyota has unveiled its all-new Mirai fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) and the upcoming plug-in hybrid...

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News
Energy

Mahle Reveals ‘Fits All’ Modular and Scalable Integrated Hybrid Powertrain

Mahle is developing a complete “fits all, off-the-shelf” modular hybrid-drive propulsion system for a wide range of automakers’ models, designed to cut...

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News
Power

Volvo's Tricks of the EV Trade

Volvo first demonstrated its Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show. Replacing the starter-motor and alternator with the ISG allows a gas engine to shut off at will — mainly to...

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News
Photonics/Optics

Volkswagen Turns Classic Van into Innovative, Retro-Ride EV

“Hello, Eric,” said the vehicle. “Are you ready to go?” responded Eric Glaser, a principal product designer at Volkswagen’s Innovation and Engineering Center California...

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News
Unmanned Systems

2020 Volkswagen Passat GTE

A mid-life update and up-spec for Volkswagen’s Europe-built Passat range brings a plug-in hybrid-electric (PHEV) version – a first for the model – for MY2020. Not for the first time (the Phaeton was one...

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