Friday, December 23, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
2013 BMW X1 Facelift spied for the first time
Right on queue, the BMW X1 facelift was caught by spy photographers for the first time outside their test facility in southern Germany.
The facelifted X1 is right on time as the compact SAV hits its 3 year mid-life crisis. Therefore, we can expect a restyled model to arrive by the end of 2012 since production started at the end of 2009 in Leipzig.
As the black camouflage on a white colored prototype indicates, the car has newly designed front and rear bumper fascias as well as a new design inside the headlamps. The rear tail lights in these photos are the same but they will change later in the development.
Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/111120238707/2013-bmw-x1-facelift-spied-for-the-first-time#ixzz1fRWwgGnV
Supercharged Toyota GT 86 in the pipeline
The Toyota GT 86 and their Subaru and Scion siblings have been well received so far, however general consensus is there is still room for improvements. You might be pleased, yet unsurprised to hear the Japanese manufacturer is working on an even hotter version.
The source of the information comes from the GT 86's chief engineer Tetsu Tada who has confirmed the hotter model is well past the consideration stage. In fact, test cars are already out on the road and being evaluated by Toyota Racing Developments.
The existing Subaru sourced 197bhp (147 kW / 200PS) 2.0 naturally aspirated boxer engine will benefit from a supercharger which should boost the overall power output by at least 50bhp. The existing chassis is believed to be strong enough to easily cope with the extra power, but Toyota will be working on an improved suspension system.
Interestingly Tada also revealed some performance specifications of the standard model. This is something we have been craving for since the unveiling of the Toyota GT 86, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. The standard GT 86 will accelerate from 0-62mph (0-100kph) in around 6.8sec in addition to a top speed of 143mph (230 km/h).
Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/111120238709/supercharged-toyota-gt-86-in-the-pipeline#ixzz1fRWI9ebI
Audi developing new stylish language
Audi has been heavily criticized for making their models look alike, but that's about to change.
Speaking at a recent event, design director Stefan Sielaff confirmed Audi is developing a new styling language that will attempt to give their three model lines (sedans/wagons, crossovers and sports cars) a unique identity. Dubbed AQR, the program will establish common styling attributes that will only be used across certain body styles.
For example, sedans could get a sloping grille while crossovers would have a more upright one. This sounds like a minor change, so it will be interesting to see what the design team comes up with.
In addition, future e-tron models could receive bespoke styling to help distinguish them from their conventionally-powered counterparts.
Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/111120238727/audi-developing-new-styling-language#ixzz1fRV2v3hc
Speaking at a recent event, design director Stefan Sielaff confirmed Audi is developing a new styling language that will attempt to give their three model lines (sedans/wagons, crossovers and sports cars) a unique identity. Dubbed AQR, the program will establish common styling attributes that will only be used across certain body styles.
For example, sedans could get a sloping grille while crossovers would have a more upright one. This sounds like a minor change, so it will be interesting to see what the design team comes up with.
In addition, future e-tron models could receive bespoke styling to help distinguish them from their conventionally-powered counterparts.
Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/111120238727/audi-developing-new-styling-language#ixzz1fRV2v3hc
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Suzuki Launches Intruder M800 in India
The Intruder M1800R is already prevalent in India. But, its high performing engine was not suited for the Indian roads which is why the same model with a slightly lower powered engine is launched.
The M800 has been launched in 12 cities so far in the Indian sub continent including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. Regarding the launch of the bike, Mr Atul Gupta, Vice President (Sales & Marketing), Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) said, “The Intruder M800 is more focused as an entry level cruiser which performs like its bigger brother giving a chance to the Indian youth to step in to the world of performance biking.”
The bike is powered by a 805 cc liquid-cooled, fuel-injected V-Twin engine mated with a 5 speed constant mesh gearbox. The fuel injection system with Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV) delivers smooth low to mid rpm throttle response and high torque output. The bike is also equipped with an automatic Idle Speed Control (ISC) system which eliminates the choke and shortens the engine’s warm up time. For precise control of the bike, the M800 is equipped with a Powerful 32-bit-prosessor Engine Control Module (ECM). In order to cut down the emission from the exhaust, a Pulsed AIR (PAIR) injection system is also fitted on to this bike.
Just like any other macho looking cruiser, the M800 is also visually pleasing with too much of chrome pinch all over the body of the bike. The chrome runs all along the engine as well. The bike is known for its one of the weirdest looking headlamp shape coupled with its fairing. The instrument cluster of the Intruder M800 is integrated with its distinctive headlight cowl to the purposeful tailsection. The instrument cluster boasts of a fuel gauge and a clock too. The silver finish extends to the wheels too. The dimensions of the wheels are 16 inch for the front and 15 inch rear wheels.
The 41mm inverted front forks add sporty looks and performance. The rear tail section is an all LED which looks gorgeous to look from the rear. Also, the rear light is housed within a casing so as to offer an entirely all new look.
Here is the brief spec list of the newly launched Suzuki Intruder M800
Engine Type : 4-stroke, 2-cylinder, Liquid-cooled, OHC, 45°V-twin
Bore x Stroke : 83.0 mm x 74.4 mm
Engine Displacement : 805 cc
Compression Ratio : 9.4 : 1
Carburetion : Fuel injection
Oil Capacity : 3.7L
Ignition : Electronic ignition (Transistorized)
Starter System : Electric
Lubrication System : Wet sump
Transmission : 5 speed constant mesh
Primary Drive Ratio : 1.690 (71 / 42)
Final Drive Ratio : 3.503 (17 / 15 x 34 / 11)
Frame Type : Double cradle (steel)
Rake / Trail : 33.15′ degrees / 141 mm (5.6 in.)
Suspension : Front Telescopic, coil spring, oil damped
Rear : Link type, coil spring, oil damped
Wheel Front :16 M/C x MT3.00
Wheel Rear : 15 M/C x MT4.00
Brake Front : 2 piston calipers, 300 mm disc
Brake Rear : Drum brake
Tyre Front : 130/90-16M/C 67H tubeles
Tyre Rear : 170/80-15M/C 77H tubeless
Fuel Tank : 15.5 L (4.1 US gal.)
Overall Length : 2,395 mm (94.3 in.)
Overall Width : 890 mm (35.0 in.)
Overall Height : 1,105 mm (43.5 in.)
Wheelbase: 1,655 mm (65.2 in.)
Seat Height : 700 mm (27.6 in.)
Curb Mass : 269 kg (593 lbs.)
The bike is available in 3 different colours Viz Metallic Oort Grey, Pearl Nebular Black and Candy Max Orange. Coming to the most important aspect of the bike which is the pricing, the cruiser is priced at INR 8,80,000 (8.8 lakh)
The M800 has been launched in 12 cities so far in the Indian sub continent including Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. Regarding the launch of the bike, Mr Atul Gupta, Vice President (Sales & Marketing), Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) said, “The Intruder M800 is more focused as an entry level cruiser which performs like its bigger brother giving a chance to the Indian youth to step in to the world of performance biking.”
The bike is powered by a 805 cc liquid-cooled, fuel-injected V-Twin engine mated with a 5 speed constant mesh gearbox. The fuel injection system with Suzuki Dual Throttle Valve (SDTV) delivers smooth low to mid rpm throttle response and high torque output. The bike is also equipped with an automatic Idle Speed Control (ISC) system which eliminates the choke and shortens the engine’s warm up time. For precise control of the bike, the M800 is equipped with a Powerful 32-bit-prosessor Engine Control Module (ECM). In order to cut down the emission from the exhaust, a Pulsed AIR (PAIR) injection system is also fitted on to this bike.
Just like any other macho looking cruiser, the M800 is also visually pleasing with too much of chrome pinch all over the body of the bike. The chrome runs all along the engine as well. The bike is known for its one of the weirdest looking headlamp shape coupled with its fairing. The instrument cluster of the Intruder M800 is integrated with its distinctive headlight cowl to the purposeful tailsection. The instrument cluster boasts of a fuel gauge and a clock too. The silver finish extends to the wheels too. The dimensions of the wheels are 16 inch for the front and 15 inch rear wheels.
The 41mm inverted front forks add sporty looks and performance. The rear tail section is an all LED which looks gorgeous to look from the rear. Also, the rear light is housed within a casing so as to offer an entirely all new look.
Here is the brief spec list of the newly launched Suzuki Intruder M800
Engine Type : 4-stroke, 2-cylinder, Liquid-cooled, OHC, 45°V-twin
Bore x Stroke : 83.0 mm x 74.4 mm
Engine Displacement : 805 cc
Compression Ratio : 9.4 : 1
Carburetion : Fuel injection
Oil Capacity : 3.7L
Ignition : Electronic ignition (Transistorized)
Starter System : Electric
Lubrication System : Wet sump
Transmission : 5 speed constant mesh
Primary Drive Ratio : 1.690 (71 / 42)
Final Drive Ratio : 3.503 (17 / 15 x 34 / 11)
Frame Type : Double cradle (steel)
Rake / Trail : 33.15′ degrees / 141 mm (5.6 in.)
Suspension : Front Telescopic, coil spring, oil damped
Rear : Link type, coil spring, oil damped
Wheel Front :16 M/C x MT3.00
Wheel Rear : 15 M/C x MT4.00
Brake Front : 2 piston calipers, 300 mm disc
Brake Rear : Drum brake
Tyre Front : 130/90-16M/C 67H tubeles
Tyre Rear : 170/80-15M/C 77H tubeless
Fuel Tank : 15.5 L (4.1 US gal.)
Overall Length : 2,395 mm (94.3 in.)
Overall Width : 890 mm (35.0 in.)
Overall Height : 1,105 mm (43.5 in.)
Wheelbase: 1,655 mm (65.2 in.)
Seat Height : 700 mm (27.6 in.)
Curb Mass : 269 kg (593 lbs.)
The bike is available in 3 different colours Viz Metallic Oort Grey, Pearl Nebular Black and Candy Max Orange. Coming to the most important aspect of the bike which is the pricing, the cruiser is priced at INR 8,80,000 (8.8 lakh)
Monday, November 28, 2011
10 Tips on Being a Sensible Rider
This is for all those who forget the fact that all vehicles are equipped with turn indicators. They are after all meant to be used. Why can’t you indicate the other riders that you’re all set to go off the straight road. Make it clear that it’s your responsibility to do so.
Two wheelers are meant to carry only two people. I repeat so that it becomes more clear, two wheelers are meant to carry only two people. Where from do you get the idea of making four people sharing a single seat? Agreed that India is still in the clutches of poverty. But, this is a sign of high life risk which affects the other riders and commuters on the road as well.
Don’t ever ride your vehicle without Rear View Mirrors fitted. Only when you get a glimpse of what is happening behind you, you’ll be able to ride comfortably. I’ve noticed that all idiots who tend to turn immediately along a straight road are those who haven’t installed rear view mirrors.
People tend to ride off their senses in the traffic signals. Don’t try pushing yourself into every single gap resulting in dashing the other two wheelers from behind. Understand that you are also in a verge of getting the cars which are stuck with you in the signal getting scratched along its body.
Don’t jump traffic signals. I always wanted to ask a question to these guys and here it goes. Isn’t it a fact that you can only jump this signal and still be caught in the red light of the next one? What joy does that offer you? For God’s sake stop doing that cheap act.
It you’re forced to carry some baggage or luggage with you in your two wheeler, see to it that they are properly tied and are intact. Don’t ever proceed commuting thinking that it’ll stay perfectly in the place where you’ve kept it. What happens here is that the rider will start losing his/her balance in the mid of the road leading to a disastrous fall. The disaster mentioned here will not be just for you but for other ladies and gentlemen as well.
Guys, keep this is in your mind as a ‘Golden Rule’ whenever you ride your bike. Be to that side of the road where you are gonna make a turn. If you have to take a left turn along a main road, make sure that you start moving to the left side of the road a little earlier. I do observe a lotta people taking a left turn from the right end of the road. This creates confusion in the mind of the rider coming begin you. This is what is called ‘Senseless Driving.’
This rule is for riders using vehicles with Disc Brakes. It so happens that most of the time, a commuter is forced to brake hard and obviously uses the front discs. But, it so happens that most of the regular riders prefer using the discs over the rear brakes. The problem with this method of braking is something which you would have never observed. The person following you in his vehicle night not have discs in this bike/scooter. In such a case, when you tend to use your disc at instances where it’s not necessary, then there are more chances of your bike getting hit from the rear. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to use where you have to.
Please don’t ride your vehicle in the night without turning on the headlamp. My pal sitting next to me asks who does it. But, the answer is that there are too many id**ts in the country who does this creating accidents everywhere irrespective of it being the city roads or the highways. Common sense again, right? I’ve faced issues because of such riders many a time.
There is nothing called ‘Negligence’ which comes into play when riding. Be alert and careful. Above that be Cautious on what is happening around you in the road.
Two wheelers are meant to carry only two people. I repeat so that it becomes more clear, two wheelers are meant to carry only two people. Where from do you get the idea of making four people sharing a single seat? Agreed that India is still in the clutches of poverty. But, this is a sign of high life risk which affects the other riders and commuters on the road as well.
Don’t ever ride your vehicle without Rear View Mirrors fitted. Only when you get a glimpse of what is happening behind you, you’ll be able to ride comfortably. I’ve noticed that all idiots who tend to turn immediately along a straight road are those who haven’t installed rear view mirrors.
People tend to ride off their senses in the traffic signals. Don’t try pushing yourself into every single gap resulting in dashing the other two wheelers from behind. Understand that you are also in a verge of getting the cars which are stuck with you in the signal getting scratched along its body.
Don’t jump traffic signals. I always wanted to ask a question to these guys and here it goes. Isn’t it a fact that you can only jump this signal and still be caught in the red light of the next one? What joy does that offer you? For God’s sake stop doing that cheap act.
It you’re forced to carry some baggage or luggage with you in your two wheeler, see to it that they are properly tied and are intact. Don’t ever proceed commuting thinking that it’ll stay perfectly in the place where you’ve kept it. What happens here is that the rider will start losing his/her balance in the mid of the road leading to a disastrous fall. The disaster mentioned here will not be just for you but for other ladies and gentlemen as well.
Guys, keep this is in your mind as a ‘Golden Rule’ whenever you ride your bike. Be to that side of the road where you are gonna make a turn. If you have to take a left turn along a main road, make sure that you start moving to the left side of the road a little earlier. I do observe a lotta people taking a left turn from the right end of the road. This creates confusion in the mind of the rider coming begin you. This is what is called ‘Senseless Driving.’
This rule is for riders using vehicles with Disc Brakes. It so happens that most of the time, a commuter is forced to brake hard and obviously uses the front discs. But, it so happens that most of the regular riders prefer using the discs over the rear brakes. The problem with this method of braking is something which you would have never observed. The person following you in his vehicle night not have discs in this bike/scooter. In such a case, when you tend to use your disc at instances where it’s not necessary, then there are more chances of your bike getting hit from the rear. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to use where you have to.
Please don’t ride your vehicle in the night without turning on the headlamp. My pal sitting next to me asks who does it. But, the answer is that there are too many id**ts in the country who does this creating accidents everywhere irrespective of it being the city roads or the highways. Common sense again, right? I’ve faced issues because of such riders many a time.
There is nothing called ‘Negligence’ which comes into play when riding. Be alert and careful. Above that be Cautious on what is happening around you in the road.
Insights on the 2012 Bajaj Pulsar
The following are the insights we get to know about the 2012 Pulsar from the spy pics clicked somewhere near the Bajaj’s Chakan plant in Pune.
The rear tail light is similar to the traditional twin lamp design which still looks perfect on the bike.
The rear quarter of the bike will more or less compete with the Yamaha R15 V2.0 which has a sharp ending. The rear lamps are now more sharper and note the number plate holder. It is perfectly inspired from the Japanese bikes.
These bikes have no rear wheel hugger which we’ll find in the production models.
For all Monoshock suspension lever, it’s time for you to rejoice. Note the yellow colour mono-shocks on the rear. It looks damn sporty on this model.
The design of the alloy wheels is sure to rock. There is a ten spoke alloy which is fitted to the 2012 Pulsar which looks terribly hot and is even one of the best looking wheels on the Indian bikes.
The seating position is all set to see a change with this model. It is very clear that is resembles the KTM Dukes in this aspect. The KTM 125 Duke which I reviewed in Singapore in the month of August is what I got reminded right at the first sight. Kudos for that!
Note the biggest change in the 2012 Pulsar. The exhaust is not visible onto the right rear half nor it’s got an underseat exhaust. Then where is it? There are more chances that it houses a centralized exhaust which is very new for an Indian bike
The front disc appears to be pretty bigger than the one found in the present model. Implies improvised braking which gets to feel it’s need in a bike with improvised performance. So what is the change in engine now? Awesome question with absolutely no answer (unfortunately)!
The engine might now be liquid cooled to take the R15 V2.0 head on. There are more chances of this to happen.
There is a complete makeover with the headlamp fairing in the front as well. Let’s wait for some more time to know what is exactly is as it’s not clear with these images.
The platform on which the Pulsar was built on has also seen a complete change. Looks like Bajaj has made use of KTM’s platform to build this bike. Very evident from the pics.
For an all new visual upgrade, air scoops along the side of the fuel tank have now grown bigger and resembles the KTM Dukes once again. Bajaj’s 39 per cent stake in the Austrian maker KTM has not gone waste.
But, a major concern is that there are no discs at the rear. Will this see a change in the production model? Let’s see how it goes
The rear tail light is similar to the traditional twin lamp design which still looks perfect on the bike.
The rear quarter of the bike will more or less compete with the Yamaha R15 V2.0 which has a sharp ending. The rear lamps are now more sharper and note the number plate holder. It is perfectly inspired from the Japanese bikes.
These bikes have no rear wheel hugger which we’ll find in the production models.
For all Monoshock suspension lever, it’s time for you to rejoice. Note the yellow colour mono-shocks on the rear. It looks damn sporty on this model.
The design of the alloy wheels is sure to rock. There is a ten spoke alloy which is fitted to the 2012 Pulsar which looks terribly hot and is even one of the best looking wheels on the Indian bikes.
The seating position is all set to see a change with this model. It is very clear that is resembles the KTM Dukes in this aspect. The KTM 125 Duke which I reviewed in Singapore in the month of August is what I got reminded right at the first sight. Kudos for that!
Note the biggest change in the 2012 Pulsar. The exhaust is not visible onto the right rear half nor it’s got an underseat exhaust. Then where is it? There are more chances that it houses a centralized exhaust which is very new for an Indian bike
The front disc appears to be pretty bigger than the one found in the present model. Implies improvised braking which gets to feel it’s need in a bike with improvised performance. So what is the change in engine now? Awesome question with absolutely no answer (unfortunately)!
The engine might now be liquid cooled to take the R15 V2.0 head on. There are more chances of this to happen.
There is a complete makeover with the headlamp fairing in the front as well. Let’s wait for some more time to know what is exactly is as it’s not clear with these images.
The platform on which the Pulsar was built on has also seen a complete change. Looks like Bajaj has made use of KTM’s platform to build this bike. Very evident from the pics.
For an all new visual upgrade, air scoops along the side of the fuel tank have now grown bigger and resembles the KTM Dukes once again. Bajaj’s 39 per cent stake in the Austrian maker KTM has not gone waste.
But, a major concern is that there are no discs at the rear. Will this see a change in the production model? Let’s see how it goes
Honda to Launch Two New Products In 2012
Honda is a company that is been synonymous with refined engines and trusted bikes all across the globe. The company had proved its potential in India as well with few of its best sellers like the CB Unicorn in the bike segment and the Activa in the scooter segmentHMSI (Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India) had earlier set a target for itself of selling 2.1 Mn units in the Financial Year 2012. Now, the company is even more confident of achieving its target within the specified time.
According to one of the latest news article in Financial Chronicle, ‘While other two wheeler makers such as Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj and TVS reported fall in sales in the range of 5-15 per cent in October when compared with September this year, Honda Motorcycle managed to maintain its sales volumes with a marginal drop in sales. The company sold 178,181 two wheelers in October, against 178,146 units in September.’ This figure clearly reveals the potential of the company in the Indian market.
To take these figures forward during the FY 2012, HMSI has also planned to launch two new products in the next year out of which one will be a bike and the other a scooter. But, we’ve no clues on what category would these new products be falling under. It’s not to be forgotten that Honda Activa was indeed a game changer when coming to the scooter segment in the Indian two wheeler market.
Talking about the plans of the company, Mr. NK Rattan, Vice – President – Sales & Marketing told, “We expect this growth momentum to continue. We plan to sell 21 lakh units from our Manesar and Tapukara plant and end the fiscal FY’11-12 with an estimated 27 per cent growth over 16.56 lakh units sold in FY’10-11. We are on track to achieve this target.”
The reason for them to stay on track achieving their target is their new plant which started its operation from the month of July this year in Tapukara, Rajasthan. The first phase of this plant with an installed capacity of 0.6 million units production capacity has already been completed. With the second factory of HMSI in the same state of Rajasthan, the company intends to increase the total capacity of its production to a whooping 1.2 Mn units by the month of March 2012.
As a customer , this should rejoice every single customer of HMSI who is either waiting to het its product delivered after waiting for many long months besides satisfying the frequent customer issue of unavailability of spare parts for Honda products. Mr. Rattan said in the interview, “This shall ease out the waiting period to less than one month.”
Currently, almost all Honda products are facing a waiting period of 90 days to as much as 180 days and at times even more. This had only added woes to the customers in the recent past.
He also said the present order booking is around 60 days and the company is in a position to serve its customers faster. “Aviator and CBF Stunner are doing very well,” he added without providing any further details on the statement.
The company’s new scooter will most likely be showcased in Delhi Auto Expo which is scheduled to take place in the month of January 2011. One info we’ve got about the company’s yet to be launched bike is that it’s gonna be targeting the youth of the nation exclusively. This news makes us go crazy now. This simply means that the bike is gonna be worth the wait. But, unfortunately its only he scooter which will be showcased and not the bike. The bike will be launched only by the end of current fiscal year. The two launches is solely done with the intention of boosting the company’s sales further which enhance the HMSI in achieving their target specified above on time.
Further, to meet the growing demand o Honda’s products in theSouthern part of the country, the company has recently laid the foundation stone for its third manufacturing facility in the state of Karnataka. With its expansion from 16.5 lakh units in FY2010-11 to 40 lakh units in early half of the year 2013, HMSI hopes to reduce waiting periods for all its products in the portfolio.
Mr. Subrata Ray, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Ratings, Icra mentioned in one of his comments, “HMSI continues to maintain its leadership position in the scooters segment through its flagship brand Activa (besides Aviator and Dio) enjoying a market share of 45.4 per cent in Q2, 2011- 12.”
The figures seems really impressive for a company like Honda with ling waiting periods though its taking all necessary steps to reduce it. We just want our readers to stay with us at the time of Delhi Auto Expo as we’ll bring more insights onto these products. Do open up your discussion on the new products from Honda in the box below.
According to one of the latest news article in Financial Chronicle, ‘While other two wheeler makers such as Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj and TVS reported fall in sales in the range of 5-15 per cent in October when compared with September this year, Honda Motorcycle managed to maintain its sales volumes with a marginal drop in sales. The company sold 178,181 two wheelers in October, against 178,146 units in September.’ This figure clearly reveals the potential of the company in the Indian market.
To take these figures forward during the FY 2012, HMSI has also planned to launch two new products in the next year out of which one will be a bike and the other a scooter. But, we’ve no clues on what category would these new products be falling under. It’s not to be forgotten that Honda Activa was indeed a game changer when coming to the scooter segment in the Indian two wheeler market.
Talking about the plans of the company, Mr. NK Rattan, Vice – President – Sales & Marketing told, “We expect this growth momentum to continue. We plan to sell 21 lakh units from our Manesar and Tapukara plant and end the fiscal FY’11-12 with an estimated 27 per cent growth over 16.56 lakh units sold in FY’10-11. We are on track to achieve this target.”
The reason for them to stay on track achieving their target is their new plant which started its operation from the month of July this year in Tapukara, Rajasthan. The first phase of this plant with an installed capacity of 0.6 million units production capacity has already been completed. With the second factory of HMSI in the same state of Rajasthan, the company intends to increase the total capacity of its production to a whooping 1.2 Mn units by the month of March 2012.
As a customer , this should rejoice every single customer of HMSI who is either waiting to het its product delivered after waiting for many long months besides satisfying the frequent customer issue of unavailability of spare parts for Honda products. Mr. Rattan said in the interview, “This shall ease out the waiting period to less than one month.”
Currently, almost all Honda products are facing a waiting period of 90 days to as much as 180 days and at times even more. This had only added woes to the customers in the recent past.
He also said the present order booking is around 60 days and the company is in a position to serve its customers faster. “Aviator and CBF Stunner are doing very well,” he added without providing any further details on the statement.
The company’s new scooter will most likely be showcased in Delhi Auto Expo which is scheduled to take place in the month of January 2011. One info we’ve got about the company’s yet to be launched bike is that it’s gonna be targeting the youth of the nation exclusively. This news makes us go crazy now. This simply means that the bike is gonna be worth the wait. But, unfortunately its only he scooter which will be showcased and not the bike. The bike will be launched only by the end of current fiscal year. The two launches is solely done with the intention of boosting the company’s sales further which enhance the HMSI in achieving their target specified above on time.
Further, to meet the growing demand o Honda’s products in theSouthern part of the country, the company has recently laid the foundation stone for its third manufacturing facility in the state of Karnataka. With its expansion from 16.5 lakh units in FY2010-11 to 40 lakh units in early half of the year 2013, HMSI hopes to reduce waiting periods for all its products in the portfolio.
Mr. Subrata Ray, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Ratings, Icra mentioned in one of his comments, “HMSI continues to maintain its leadership position in the scooters segment through its flagship brand Activa (besides Aviator and Dio) enjoying a market share of 45.4 per cent in Q2, 2011- 12.”
The figures seems really impressive for a company like Honda with ling waiting periods though its taking all necessary steps to reduce it. We just want our readers to stay with us at the time of Delhi Auto Expo as we’ll bring more insights onto these products. Do open up your discussion on the new products from Honda in the box below.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Top Mechanical Engineering Companies in India
Mechanical Engineering is a field of engineering that applies the principles of material science and physics for maintenance, production, design and analysis of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that uses mechanical and heat power for the operation of tools and machines, production and designing tasks.
This branch of engineering needs understanding of core concepts like structural analysis, material science, thermodynamics, kinematics and mechanics. These core principles are used along with tools like product lifecycle management and computer aided engineering for the analyzing and designing of medical devices, robotics, watercraft, aircraft, transportation systems, cooling and heating systems, machinery and industrial equipment, manufacturing plants, etc… Mechanical engineers are recruited by many organizations engaged in this field in India and the names of top companies engaged in mechanical engineering and that also recruits mechanical engineers frequently are given below:
Top seven mechanical engineering companies:
• Tata Group
• Kirloskar
• Godrej Group
• Larsen & Toubro
• Thermax
• Siemens
• Suzlon
Some of the details regarding these top mechanical engineering companies in India are given below:
Tata Group:
Tata group is a popular business group in India and they have made their presence felt in almost every industry in India. Tata Group is private company that came into existence in the year 1868 and this company frequently recruit engineers for working in different subsidiaries. In their recruitment for engineers, mechanical engineers forms a major part and they recruit mechanical engineers for most of their engineering operations.
Kirloskar:
Kirloskar Group work in core mechanical engineering fields and they are engaged in the manufacture of air conditioning related equipments, refrigerators, agricultural products, pumps, valves, compressors and several other products. Since they are engaged in the manufacture of products pertaining to defence, marine, oil & gas, energy, building & construction, water resource management and irrigation sectors, they recruit mechanical engineers for a wide range of their operations.
Godrej Group:
Godrej Group is also engaged in different sectors and they have made their mark in locks & furniture, air conditioning and refrigerator manufacture. They have their headquarters in the city of Mumbai and the company has earned the top 15th position among the best companies to work for in India. They recruit mechanical engineers for their operations in the electrical and electronics division, precision engineering division and process equipment division.
Larsen & Toubro:
Larsen & Toubro is popularly known as L&T and they are leaders in the engineering and construction sector in India. They also have their operations in other sectors like petrochemicals, metals, mining, electrical, automobile and aerospace and they recruit mechanical engineers for efficiently carrying out operations in most of these sectors.
Thermax:
Thermax is another great organization to find job opportunities for the mechanical engineering graduates. They are engaged in a wide range of business areas like air pollution control, power, waste water treatment, cooling, heaters, boilers, etc… They have made their presence felt in different countries of the world and they are always on the lookout for efficient mechanical engineers.
Siemens:
Siemens is a multi-national company with operations all over the world and they have nearly 19 manufacturing plants in India. They are engaged in consumer products, healthcare, energy, building technologies, etc… for which they recruit mechanical engineers for carrying out the operations efficiently.
Suzlon:
Suzlon holds the pride of being the 5th largest and 8th largest Wind Turbine manufacturing company in the whole of Asia and World respectively. They have production facilities in different states in India like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. This company is an environmental-friendly company and they are one among the top green companies in India since they generate power from different sources like wind, solar, etc…
In addition to these companies, other top companies like GE, Bosch India and Schneider Electric also recruit mechanical engineers.
This branch of engineering needs understanding of core concepts like structural analysis, material science, thermodynamics, kinematics and mechanics. These core principles are used along with tools like product lifecycle management and computer aided engineering for the analyzing and designing of medical devices, robotics, watercraft, aircraft, transportation systems, cooling and heating systems, machinery and industrial equipment, manufacturing plants, etc… Mechanical engineers are recruited by many organizations engaged in this field in India and the names of top companies engaged in mechanical engineering and that also recruits mechanical engineers frequently are given below:
Top seven mechanical engineering companies:
• Tata Group
• Kirloskar
• Godrej Group
• Larsen & Toubro
• Thermax
• Siemens
• Suzlon
Some of the details regarding these top mechanical engineering companies in India are given below:
Tata Group:
Tata group is a popular business group in India and they have made their presence felt in almost every industry in India. Tata Group is private company that came into existence in the year 1868 and this company frequently recruit engineers for working in different subsidiaries. In their recruitment for engineers, mechanical engineers forms a major part and they recruit mechanical engineers for most of their engineering operations.
Kirloskar:
Kirloskar Group work in core mechanical engineering fields and they are engaged in the manufacture of air conditioning related equipments, refrigerators, agricultural products, pumps, valves, compressors and several other products. Since they are engaged in the manufacture of products pertaining to defence, marine, oil & gas, energy, building & construction, water resource management and irrigation sectors, they recruit mechanical engineers for a wide range of their operations.
Godrej Group:
Godrej Group is also engaged in different sectors and they have made their mark in locks & furniture, air conditioning and refrigerator manufacture. They have their headquarters in the city of Mumbai and the company has earned the top 15th position among the best companies to work for in India. They recruit mechanical engineers for their operations in the electrical and electronics division, precision engineering division and process equipment division.
Larsen & Toubro:
Larsen & Toubro is popularly known as L&T and they are leaders in the engineering and construction sector in India. They also have their operations in other sectors like petrochemicals, metals, mining, electrical, automobile and aerospace and they recruit mechanical engineers for efficiently carrying out operations in most of these sectors.
Thermax:
Thermax is another great organization to find job opportunities for the mechanical engineering graduates. They are engaged in a wide range of business areas like air pollution control, power, waste water treatment, cooling, heaters, boilers, etc… They have made their presence felt in different countries of the world and they are always on the lookout for efficient mechanical engineers.
Siemens:
Siemens is a multi-national company with operations all over the world and they have nearly 19 manufacturing plants in India. They are engaged in consumer products, healthcare, energy, building technologies, etc… for which they recruit mechanical engineers for carrying out the operations efficiently.
Suzlon:
Suzlon holds the pride of being the 5th largest and 8th largest Wind Turbine manufacturing company in the whole of Asia and World respectively. They have production facilities in different states in India like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. This company is an environmental-friendly company and they are one among the top green companies in India since they generate power from different sources like wind, solar, etc…
In addition to these companies, other top companies like GE, Bosch India and Schneider Electric also recruit mechanical engineers.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
TOP 10 CAR MANUFACTURERS
Haven’t you seen millions of cars roaring around in your neighborhood every day and night? Have you ever wondered who would be the top manufacturer among all the cars? Well today we’d cover the top 10 motor vehicle manufacturers in the world. I tried googling and wikiying and could come up with this list, and I hope its right to its best extent.
Any suggestions and changes are really welcome. Here comes the list of Top10 motor vehicle/car manufacturers in the world.10. Fiat (Italy)
10.FIAT
The 10th manufacturer on this list is Fiat S.p.A., an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. About 2,524,325 volume of units are manufactured every year. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli.
9. Suzuki (Japan)
Suzuki Motor Corporation is the 9th largest automobile manufacturer in the world by production volume with almost 2.6 million units approx. released every year. Suzuki has 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries.Suzuki was founded in 1909 as Suzuki Loom Works by Michio Suzuki.
8. Hyundai-Kia (South Korea)
At number 8 on the list of top ten motor manufacturers is South Korean manufacturer Hyundai-Kai who produce 2,777,137 cars approx. every year. The Indian subsidiary of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the Hyundai Motors India, is the country’s second largest car manufacturer. The Hyundai Motor Company was founded in 1967. It became the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group when Hyundai Motor Company purchased 51% of South Korea’s second-largest car company, Kia Motors in 1998.
7. PSA Peugeot Citroen (France)
Peugeot Citroen, which of course is the producer of both Peugeot and Citroen models, is the seventh largest automaker in the world and the second largest in the Europe. The total volume manufactured per year is 3,325,407 units approx. In December 1974 Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% share of Citroën. In May 1976 they increased their stake of the then bankrupt company to 89.95%, thus creating the PSA Group. PSA’s old TU engine family has been replaced by Prince engine(link here) which was designed by the joint venture between PSA and BMW.
6. Nissan (Japan)
Nissan Motors stands sixth in the list of top 10 motor vehicle manufacturers. It is among the top three Asian car companies. Nissan Motors was founded in 1932. Nissan faced severe financial difficulties in 1999 and entered an alliance with Renault S.A. of France. The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have featured among World’s 10 Best Engines for 14 straight years.5. Honda (Japan)
The Honda Motor Company secures the fifth place with total volume of 3,912,700 units approx. per year. The Civic and the Accord were in the top five list of sales. Honda superseded Nissan in 2001 and became Japan’s second largest car maker. Honda is also the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the internal combustion engines. Honda produces more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. The company was founded by a self-taught engineer Soichiro Honda on 24th September 1948. The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car. Also, Honda was the first Japanese automobile
manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura in 1986
4. Ford (USA)
Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. Presently, it is world’s fourth largest car maker with 2,145,000 units of global sales. It should be noted however that Ford does have a popular range of vans and other non passenger vehicles. In 2007, Ford fell from second to third-ranked car maker for the first time in 56 years, behind only General Motors and Toyota. As of 2008, Ford has become the second largest automaker in Europe (only behind Volkswagen), with sales that occasionally exceed those in the United States and large markets in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
3. Volkswagen (Germany)
At third on the list is German business Volkswagen group with a total of 6,517,288 cars rolling off the production line. A large proportion of these cars are likely to be from the ‘Golf’ range. Volkswagen is second-largest market is China, where its subsidiary, Volkswagen Group China (VGC), is by far the largest joint venture automaker, selling more than one million vehicles in 2008.The German luxury car company was founded on May 28, 1937 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler wanted a “people’s car”. Volkswagen literally means ‘people’s car’ in German.
2. General Motors (USA)
By sales, General Motors ranked as the largest U.S. automaker and the world’s second largest. General Motors had the third highest global revenues among automakers on the Fortune Global 500. Amongst GM’s more famous brands worldwide are Cadillac and Chevrolet. General Motors was established in 1908 by William C. Durant. GM was world’s number one car company for consecutive 77 years from 1931 to 2007.
1. Toyota (Japan)
Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation is the world’s largest car manufacturer. It manufactures about 9,237,780 units per year. The widest produced model is likely to be ‘Corolla’ which is one of the most popular and best selling cars in the world. The Japanese giant has been severely affected by the 2007-2009 financial crises with a loss of US$4.4 billion. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father’s company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. In 1934, it created its first product, the Type A engine, while still a department of Toyota Industries.
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Any suggestions and changes are really welcome. Here comes the list of Top10 motor vehicle/car manufacturers in the world.10. Fiat (Italy)
10.FIAT
The 10th manufacturer on this list is Fiat S.p.A., an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. About 2,524,325 volume of units are manufactured every year. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli.
9. Suzuki (Japan)
Suzuki Motor Corporation is the 9th largest automobile manufacturer in the world by production volume with almost 2.6 million units approx. released every year. Suzuki has 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries.Suzuki was founded in 1909 as Suzuki Loom Works by Michio Suzuki.
8. Hyundai-Kia (South Korea)
At number 8 on the list of top ten motor manufacturers is South Korean manufacturer Hyundai-Kai who produce 2,777,137 cars approx. every year. The Indian subsidiary of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the Hyundai Motors India, is the country’s second largest car manufacturer. The Hyundai Motor Company was founded in 1967. It became the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group when Hyundai Motor Company purchased 51% of South Korea’s second-largest car company, Kia Motors in 1998.
7. PSA Peugeot Citroen (France)
Peugeot Citroen, which of course is the producer of both Peugeot and Citroen models, is the seventh largest automaker in the world and the second largest in the Europe. The total volume manufactured per year is 3,325,407 units approx. In December 1974 Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% share of Citroën. In May 1976 they increased their stake of the then bankrupt company to 89.95%, thus creating the PSA Group. PSA’s old TU engine family has been replaced by Prince engine(link here) which was designed by the joint venture between PSA and BMW.
6. Nissan (Japan)
Nissan Motors stands sixth in the list of top 10 motor vehicle manufacturers. It is among the top three Asian car companies. Nissan Motors was founded in 1932. Nissan faced severe financial difficulties in 1999 and entered an alliance with Renault S.A. of France. The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have featured among World’s 10 Best Engines for 14 straight years.5. Honda (Japan)
The Honda Motor Company secures the fifth place with total volume of 3,912,700 units approx. per year. The Civic and the Accord were in the top five list of sales. Honda superseded Nissan in 2001 and became Japan’s second largest car maker. Honda is also the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the internal combustion engines. Honda produces more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. The company was founded by a self-taught engineer Soichiro Honda on 24th September 1948. The first production car from Honda was the S500 sports car. Also, Honda was the first Japanese automobile
manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura in 1986
4. Ford (USA)
Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. Presently, it is world’s fourth largest car maker with 2,145,000 units of global sales. It should be noted however that Ford does have a popular range of vans and other non passenger vehicles. In 2007, Ford fell from second to third-ranked car maker for the first time in 56 years, behind only General Motors and Toyota. As of 2008, Ford has become the second largest automaker in Europe (only behind Volkswagen), with sales that occasionally exceed those in the United States and large markets in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
3. Volkswagen (Germany)
At third on the list is German business Volkswagen group with a total of 6,517,288 cars rolling off the production line. A large proportion of these cars are likely to be from the ‘Golf’ range. Volkswagen is second-largest market is China, where its subsidiary, Volkswagen Group China (VGC), is by far the largest joint venture automaker, selling more than one million vehicles in 2008.The German luxury car company was founded on May 28, 1937 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler wanted a “people’s car”. Volkswagen literally means ‘people’s car’ in German.
2. General Motors (USA)
By sales, General Motors ranked as the largest U.S. automaker and the world’s second largest. General Motors had the third highest global revenues among automakers on the Fortune Global 500. Amongst GM’s more famous brands worldwide are Cadillac and Chevrolet. General Motors was established in 1908 by William C. Durant. GM was world’s number one car company for consecutive 77 years from 1931 to 2007.
1. Toyota (Japan)
Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation is the world’s largest car manufacturer. It manufactures about 9,237,780 units per year. The widest produced model is likely to be ‘Corolla’ which is one of the most popular and best selling cars in the world. The Japanese giant has been severely affected by the 2007-2009 financial crises with a loss of US$4.4 billion. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father’s company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. In 1934, it created its first product, the Type A engine, while still a department of Toyota Industries.
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Friday, July 15, 2011
Your Brain On Androids
Ever get the heebie-jeebies at a wax museum? Feel uneasy with an anthropomorphic robot? What about playing a video game or watching an animated movie, where the human characters are pretty realistic but just not quite right and maybe a bit creepy? If yes, then you've probably been a visitor to what's called the "uncanny valley."
The phenomenon has been described anecdotally for years, but how and why this happens is still a subject of debate in robotics, computer graphics and neuroscience. Now an international team of researchers, led by Ayse Pinar Saygin of the University of California, San Diego, has taken a peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of an uncanny android (compared to videos of a human and a robot-looking robot).
Published in the Oxford University Press journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, the functional MRI study suggests that what may be going on is due to a perceptual mismatch between appearance and motion.
The term "uncanny valley" refers to an artificial agent's drop in likeability when it becomes too humanlike. People respond positively to an agent that shares some characteristics with humans -- think dolls, cartoon animals, R2D2. As the agent becomes more human-like, it becomes more likeable. But at some point that upward trajectory stops and instead the agent is perceived as strange and disconcerting. Many viewers, for example, find the characters in the animated film "Polar Express" to be off-putting. And most modern androids, including the Japanese Repliee Q2 used in the study here, are also thought to fall into the uncanny valley.
Saygin and her colleagues set out to discover if what they call the "action perception system" in the human brain is tuned more to human appearance or human motion, with the general goal, they write, "of identifying the functional properties of brain systems that allow us to understand others' body movements and actions."
They tested 20 subjects aged 20 to 36 who had no experience working with robots and hadn't spent time in Japan, where there's potentially more cultural exposure to and acceptance of androids, or even had friends or family from Japan.
The subjects were shown 12 videos of Repliee Q2 performing such ordinary actions as waving, nodding, taking a drink of water and picking up a piece of paper from a table. They were also shown videos of the same actions performed by the human on whom the android was modeled and by a stripped version of the android -- skinned to its underlying metal joints and wiring, revealing its mechanics until it could no longer be mistaken for a human. That is, they set up three conditions: a human with biological appearance and movement; a robot with mechanical appearance and mechanical motion; and a human-seeming agent with the exact same mechanical movement as the robot.
At the start of the experiment, the subjects were shown each of the videos outside the fMRI scanner and were informed about which was a robot and which human.
The biggest difference in brain response the researchers noticed was during the android condition -- in the parietal cortex, on both sides of the brain, specifically in the areas that connect the part of the brain's visual cortex that processes bodily movements with the section of the motor cortex thought to contain mirror neurons (neurons also known as "monkey-see, monkey-do neurons" or "empathy neurons").
According to their interpretation of the fMRI results, the researchers say they saw, in essence, evidence of mismatch. The brain "lit up" when the human-like appearance of the android and its robotic motion "didn't compute."
"The brain doesn't seem tuned to care about either biological appearance or biological motion per se," said Saygin, an assistant professor of cognitive science at UC San Diego and alumna of the same department. "What it seems to be doing is looking for its expectations to be met -- for appearance and motion to be congruent."
In other words, if it looks human and moves likes a human, we are OK with that. If it looks like a robot and acts like a robot, we are OK with that, too; our brains have no difficulty processing the information. The trouble arises when -- contrary to a lifetime of expectations -- appearance and motion are at odds.
"As human-like artificial agents become more commonplace, perhaps our perceptual systems will be re-tuned to accommodate these new social partners," the researchers write. "Or perhaps, we will decide it is not a good idea to make them so closely in our image after all."
Saygin thinks it's "not so crazy to suggest we brain-test-drive robots or animated characters before spending millions of dollars on their development."
It's not too practical, though, to do these test-drives in expensive and hard-to-come-by fMRI scanners. So Saygin and her students are currently on the hunt for an analogous EEG signal. EEG technology is cheap enough that the electrode caps are being developed for home use.
The research was funded by the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego. Saygin was additionally supported by the California Institute of Telecommunication and Information Technology (Calit2) at UCSD.
Saygin's coauthors are Thierry Chaminade of Mediterranean Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, France; Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University and ATR, Japan; Jon Driver of University College London; and Chris Firth of University of Aarhus, Denmark.
The phenomenon has been described anecdotally for years, but how and why this happens is still a subject of debate in robotics, computer graphics and neuroscience. Now an international team of researchers, led by Ayse Pinar Saygin of the University of California, San Diego, has taken a peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of an uncanny android (compared to videos of a human and a robot-looking robot).
Published in the Oxford University Press journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, the functional MRI study suggests that what may be going on is due to a perceptual mismatch between appearance and motion.
The term "uncanny valley" refers to an artificial agent's drop in likeability when it becomes too humanlike. People respond positively to an agent that shares some characteristics with humans -- think dolls, cartoon animals, R2D2. As the agent becomes more human-like, it becomes more likeable. But at some point that upward trajectory stops and instead the agent is perceived as strange and disconcerting. Many viewers, for example, find the characters in the animated film "Polar Express" to be off-putting. And most modern androids, including the Japanese Repliee Q2 used in the study here, are also thought to fall into the uncanny valley.
Saygin and her colleagues set out to discover if what they call the "action perception system" in the human brain is tuned more to human appearance or human motion, with the general goal, they write, "of identifying the functional properties of brain systems that allow us to understand others' body movements and actions."
They tested 20 subjects aged 20 to 36 who had no experience working with robots and hadn't spent time in Japan, where there's potentially more cultural exposure to and acceptance of androids, or even had friends or family from Japan.
The subjects were shown 12 videos of Repliee Q2 performing such ordinary actions as waving, nodding, taking a drink of water and picking up a piece of paper from a table. They were also shown videos of the same actions performed by the human on whom the android was modeled and by a stripped version of the android -- skinned to its underlying metal joints and wiring, revealing its mechanics until it could no longer be mistaken for a human. That is, they set up three conditions: a human with biological appearance and movement; a robot with mechanical appearance and mechanical motion; and a human-seeming agent with the exact same mechanical movement as the robot.
At the start of the experiment, the subjects were shown each of the videos outside the fMRI scanner and were informed about which was a robot and which human.
The biggest difference in brain response the researchers noticed was during the android condition -- in the parietal cortex, on both sides of the brain, specifically in the areas that connect the part of the brain's visual cortex that processes bodily movements with the section of the motor cortex thought to contain mirror neurons (neurons also known as "monkey-see, monkey-do neurons" or "empathy neurons").
According to their interpretation of the fMRI results, the researchers say they saw, in essence, evidence of mismatch. The brain "lit up" when the human-like appearance of the android and its robotic motion "didn't compute."
"The brain doesn't seem tuned to care about either biological appearance or biological motion per se," said Saygin, an assistant professor of cognitive science at UC San Diego and alumna of the same department. "What it seems to be doing is looking for its expectations to be met -- for appearance and motion to be congruent."
In other words, if it looks human and moves likes a human, we are OK with that. If it looks like a robot and acts like a robot, we are OK with that, too; our brains have no difficulty processing the information. The trouble arises when -- contrary to a lifetime of expectations -- appearance and motion are at odds.
"As human-like artificial agents become more commonplace, perhaps our perceptual systems will be re-tuned to accommodate these new social partners," the researchers write. "Or perhaps, we will decide it is not a good idea to make them so closely in our image after all."
Saygin thinks it's "not so crazy to suggest we brain-test-drive robots or animated characters before spending millions of dollars on their development."
It's not too practical, though, to do these test-drives in expensive and hard-to-come-by fMRI scanners. So Saygin and her students are currently on the hunt for an analogous EEG signal. EEG technology is cheap enough that the electrode caps are being developed for home use.
The research was funded by the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UC San Diego. Saygin was additionally supported by the California Institute of Telecommunication and Information Technology (Calit2) at UCSD.
Saygin's coauthors are Thierry Chaminade of Mediterranean Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, France; Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University and ATR, Japan; Jon Driver of University College London; and Chris Firth of University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
2013 Land Rover Range Rover Spy Photos - Future Cars
Even for a vehicle with such historically long lifecycles, the Land Rover Range Rover is overdue for a full updating. You may remember that the current truck was designed under BMW ownership, updated by Ford, and recently got new engines and an interior under Tata rule. One generation, three parent companies. Three consecutive British prime ministers have no doubt ridden in them, too. Fortunately, as these spy photos—and those we previously captured—suggest, an all-new Rover family is just around the bend.
Given Land Rover’s convoluted full-size lineup—LR4, only-slightly-larger Range Rover, and LR4-based Range Rover Sport, which is smaller than either—we’re not entirely certain which model this is. In general proportion and in details such as the door handles tucked into the body line, it bears strong resemblance to the big-dog Range Rover. But the cut line of the rear door and the greenhouse, which tightens toward the back of the truck, make the body of this mule look very much like a hacked-up current-gen Range Rover Sport.
It’s also tough to tell what’s happening at the rear corners, thanks to a pair of blinders that have been slapped on, but the rear glass looks to have a slightly sharper slope to it and more streamlined trim at the edges. Overall, regardless of which model this is, it seems like the goal will be refining the current shape for better aerodynamics and lower wind noise, without losing the classic Range Rover silhouette.
Old-School but High-Tech
Technology will no doubt play a large role in the next Rover’s launch, and the most obvious bits peeking out in these photos are the LED clusters in the headlights. Behind them, expect a new hybrid powertrain to brighten the stately SUV’s eco image. Land Rover previewed this powertrain with the Range_e concept earlier this year. That vehicle used a diesel V-6 paired up with a plug-in hybrid system, but if the company intends to sell a Range Rover hybrid to U.S. customers, it’ll most likely have to use a gas engine.
As for the traditionally motivated models, we expect Land Rover to get a few more years out of its selection of 5.0-liter V-8s, both naturally aspirated and supercharged. Minor updates may eke out some gain in efficiency, but a larger increase likely will come from a jump from six- to eight-speed automatic transmissions, the new industry standard. As usual, Europeans will benefit from a range of turbo-diesels while we will not. A concept might preview a production model in the next year, but don’t expect production to start until the end of 2012 at the earlies
Given Land Rover’s convoluted full-size lineup—LR4, only-slightly-larger Range Rover, and LR4-based Range Rover Sport, which is smaller than either—we’re not entirely certain which model this is. In general proportion and in details such as the door handles tucked into the body line, it bears strong resemblance to the big-dog Range Rover. But the cut line of the rear door and the greenhouse, which tightens toward the back of the truck, make the body of this mule look very much like a hacked-up current-gen Range Rover Sport.
It’s also tough to tell what’s happening at the rear corners, thanks to a pair of blinders that have been slapped on, but the rear glass looks to have a slightly sharper slope to it and more streamlined trim at the edges. Overall, regardless of which model this is, it seems like the goal will be refining the current shape for better aerodynamics and lower wind noise, without losing the classic Range Rover silhouette.
Old-School but High-Tech
Technology will no doubt play a large role in the next Rover’s launch, and the most obvious bits peeking out in these photos are the LED clusters in the headlights. Behind them, expect a new hybrid powertrain to brighten the stately SUV’s eco image. Land Rover previewed this powertrain with the Range_e concept earlier this year. That vehicle used a diesel V-6 paired up with a plug-in hybrid system, but if the company intends to sell a Range Rover hybrid to U.S. customers, it’ll most likely have to use a gas engine.
As for the traditionally motivated models, we expect Land Rover to get a few more years out of its selection of 5.0-liter V-8s, both naturally aspirated and supercharged. Minor updates may eke out some gain in efficiency, but a larger increase likely will come from a jump from six- to eight-speed automatic transmissions, the new industry standard. As usual, Europeans will benefit from a range of turbo-diesels while we will not. A concept might preview a production model in the next year, but don’t expect production to start until the end of 2012 at the earlies
CAM works inside CAD
It's important to consider the context in which a CAM program will be used when evaluating it.
Printer-friendly version
The Hole Recognition tool in SolidCAM inspects the geometry and the history tree of the SolidWorks model to generate toolpaths for machining all types of holes, including complex counterbored, countersunk, and threaded ones.
The Hole Recognition tool in SolidCAM inspects the geometry and the history tree of the SolidWorks model to generate toolpaths for machining all types of holes, including complex counterbored, countersunk, and threaded ones.
SolidCAM lets users easily program custom procedures unique to the nuances of machines such as the horizontal boring machine at Alpha Engineering & Design. It's the second-largest such machine in the Colorado region.
SolidCAM lets users easily program custom procedures unique to the nuances of machines such as the horizontal boring machine at Alpha Engineering & Design. It's the second-largest such machine in the Colorado region.
For instance, SolidCAM is excellent when considering how well it contributes to work on the production floor. Customers send us a variety of file formats for parts they want us to manufacture, so it's useful to have a system that quickly converts data into usable form, and without demanding a lot model repair or drawing conversions. SolidCAM works inside of SolidWorks 3D MCAD software, which accurately imports many 2D and 3D file formats that let SolidCAM efficiently generate CNC programs for them.
Another important CAM consideration is a program's ability to generate "posts." These are subroutines for often-repeated machining actions specific to a particular CNC machine. Without posts, it would be necessary to have station operators who understand G-code (raw CNC machine language) manually fix a part's program.
In fact, when it comes to posts, SolidCAM lets users easily program commonly used cuts and calculations. This is not always the case with other CAM software. In fact, before acquiring this CAM package, I paid consultants to write custom procedures. Although the results were close to what I wanted, they weren't great. Also, other CAM programs often use proprietary languages, which makes it hard for me to program with much success.
Another useful SolidCAM feature: It lets users edit common tasks. This comes in handy because the CNC machines in our shop, like most machine tools, have slightly different nuances. For example, they have different canned cycles and use various M--codes to execute certain operations. The CAM software lets users modify posts for each machine.
In terms of production efficiency, the software's programmability and ease of use is almost priceless. Users need only send a model through SolidCAM to the machine tool, set up the material, and hit Go. There's no need to review the G-code or perform a dry run 2 in. above the part to make sure there are no bugs in the programming.
Other great features come from combining the software with SolidWorks. For example, the program module in the package lets users define raw stock, fixtures, and target parts before a project goes to the shop floor. These CNC layouts are visually displayed in SolidWorks so users can verify that a cutting tool won't gouge into a nested piece or a clamp won't interfere with a cut.
The CAM software also has a visually intuitive layout. For example, home position is obvious. This comes in handy when using multiple coordinate systems.
The close coordination between CAD and CAM means users can send more than just parts to CAM. Users can model complete projects, including machine pad, fixturing, vises, and several nested parts, in one run. Users can document projects in SolidWorks and then print fully dimensioned setup sheets for operators. These sheets contain instructions on the position of raw stock and clamps. Visual instructions show what has already been programmed, so operators need not rethink problems. Users can even send entire project into SolidCAM all at once.
The software has saved me from many problems that plagued previous CAM systems. These include hundreds of hours spent remodifying G-code, which delayed tooling, and the expense of parts that had to be trashed. SolidCAM gets tool paths right the first time.
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The Hole Recognition tool in SolidCAM inspects the geometry and the history tree of the SolidWorks model to generate toolpaths for machining all types of holes, including complex counterbored, countersunk, and threaded ones.
The Hole Recognition tool in SolidCAM inspects the geometry and the history tree of the SolidWorks model to generate toolpaths for machining all types of holes, including complex counterbored, countersunk, and threaded ones.
SolidCAM lets users easily program custom procedures unique to the nuances of machines such as the horizontal boring machine at Alpha Engineering & Design. It's the second-largest such machine in the Colorado region.
SolidCAM lets users easily program custom procedures unique to the nuances of machines such as the horizontal boring machine at Alpha Engineering & Design. It's the second-largest such machine in the Colorado region.
For instance, SolidCAM is excellent when considering how well it contributes to work on the production floor. Customers send us a variety of file formats for parts they want us to manufacture, so it's useful to have a system that quickly converts data into usable form, and without demanding a lot model repair or drawing conversions. SolidCAM works inside of SolidWorks 3D MCAD software, which accurately imports many 2D and 3D file formats that let SolidCAM efficiently generate CNC programs for them.
Another important CAM consideration is a program's ability to generate "posts." These are subroutines for often-repeated machining actions specific to a particular CNC machine. Without posts, it would be necessary to have station operators who understand G-code (raw CNC machine language) manually fix a part's program.
In fact, when it comes to posts, SolidCAM lets users easily program commonly used cuts and calculations. This is not always the case with other CAM software. In fact, before acquiring this CAM package, I paid consultants to write custom procedures. Although the results were close to what I wanted, they weren't great. Also, other CAM programs often use proprietary languages, which makes it hard for me to program with much success.
Another useful SolidCAM feature: It lets users edit common tasks. This comes in handy because the CNC machines in our shop, like most machine tools, have slightly different nuances. For example, they have different canned cycles and use various M--codes to execute certain operations. The CAM software lets users modify posts for each machine.
In terms of production efficiency, the software's programmability and ease of use is almost priceless. Users need only send a model through SolidCAM to the machine tool, set up the material, and hit Go. There's no need to review the G-code or perform a dry run 2 in. above the part to make sure there are no bugs in the programming.
Other great features come from combining the software with SolidWorks. For example, the program module in the package lets users define raw stock, fixtures, and target parts before a project goes to the shop floor. These CNC layouts are visually displayed in SolidWorks so users can verify that a cutting tool won't gouge into a nested piece or a clamp won't interfere with a cut.
The CAM software also has a visually intuitive layout. For example, home position is obvious. This comes in handy when using multiple coordinate systems.
The close coordination between CAD and CAM means users can send more than just parts to CAM. Users can model complete projects, including machine pad, fixturing, vises, and several nested parts, in one run. Users can document projects in SolidWorks and then print fully dimensioned setup sheets for operators. These sheets contain instructions on the position of raw stock and clamps. Visual instructions show what has already been programmed, so operators need not rethink problems. Users can even send entire project into SolidCAM all at once.
The software has saved me from many problems that plagued previous CAM systems. These include hundreds of hours spent remodifying G-code, which delayed tooling, and the expense of parts that had to be trashed. SolidCAM gets tool paths right the first time.
Audi A7 TDI
The A7 turns heads. Everywhere. You would think that the metallic beige Audi isn’t unique enough to catch the jaded Mumbaikar’s eye, but that’s just what it does. Credit goes to its low, brooding stance and slit eyed headlamps, but where the A7 is racier than the regular German executive cars is with its Mustang-like fastback rear. We think it looks fantastic and other road users seem to unanimously agree.
We like what’s under the skin too. The A7 shares its innards with the A6 and, indeed, the A4 and A8, all these models using Audi’s MLB platform. It may look like a coupé, but the car occupies quite a bit of real estate. At a shade under five metres long and almost two metres wide, it is longer and wider than an A6, but smaller than an A8.
And, like its siblings, the engine is longitudinally mounted and sends power to all four wheels. Audi’s tried and tested 3.0 V6 diesel motor has been improved for the A7 by using higher injection pressures, new camshaft profiles and a revised turbo. As with most Audi Quattro systems, this one sends 60 percent of its power to the rear axle. Suspension is by way of double wishbones up front and a multi-link setup at the rear with Audi’s adaptive air suspension taking care of damping. A lot of the body is aluminium, including the front suspension struts, so this car weighs in a rather light 1770kg (for its size). The 54/46 front/rear weight distribution is impressive too.
This is a long, low car, and it feels that way when you get in. You stoop to enter, and sit a lot lower than in conventional saloons of this size, but it’s a comfortable place once inside. We liked the interior’s craftsmanship and trimmings that make it feel quite special. The swooping dashboard and door inserts, the precision machining of the aluminium centre console controls and the showy arrival of the MMI system’s screen that rises out from a slot in the dash, all create an alluring first impression.
At the rear, the fastback roofline will scuff the scalps of taller people, and sitting three abreast is a bit of a squeeze. Legroom isn’t bad but what makes it a tad uncomfortable is the upright seat back. The underlying message here is don’t buy this car if the rear seat is a priority. The boot is reasonably spacious and though it’s a bit shallow, it makes up with its length and you can split and fold the rear seats for a bigger load area.
There’s no stinting on equipment. Standard features include adaptive air suspension, two-zone climate control, a fuel saving start-stop system, Audi’s Multi-Media Interface, a parking system with a reverse camera, and 18-inch alloy wheels. The options list is quite long too, so you can really spec it up. But, as with all Audis, the spare tyre is a space saver.
Drive it, and you’ll see the A7 is much more than just a looker. Press the engine start button and the 245bhp, 3.0-litre V6 diesel starts and settles into a beautifully refined idle. The strong point of this engine is the way it makes its 51kgm of torque. It peaks at a low 1400rpm and stays there all the way to 3250rpm. Keep the engine spinning in this range (easy to do via the seven-speed, twin-clutch auto) and you’ll find a car that is rapid in its responses. Flat out, it moves off with convincing urge and performance is befitting of its sporty looks – 100kph comes up in a very rapid 6.6sec and 200kph comes up in under half a minute. The engine is incredibly smooth and refined for the most part, and gets audible only when nearing its redline.
If there is a slight hiccup with the powertrain, it’s that the transmission occasionally hesitates when you want to kick-down. Using the paddleshifts cures this problem, so it is best to do so when you want a quick overtake.
Adding to the car’s relaxed highway manners is the tall seventh gear which gives it long legs. It’s a shame then that there is so much tyre roar in the cabin, especially over concrete roads. It’s the one thing that stops it from being as relaxed a tourer as some of its German rivals.
Around town, the low driving position can be a bit intimidating at first, but you get used to it. That big rear window really makes it easy to see out the back though. It has a genuinely comfortable and pliant ride despite the big wheels and the low-profile rubber. With the adaptive air suspension in comfort mode, it absorbs bumps well and we love the way it dispatches bumps and expansion joints with solid thunks. The comfort setting does allow the car to wallow ever so slightly over undulations and small bumps do tend to catch it out but this isn’t too bad. Ground clearance isn’t as bad as we expected either – simply raise the car on its suspension and it’ll climb over most speedbreakers.
Audi’s drive select system (standard on the A7) lets you tailor everything from engine responsiveness, steering weight, suspension setting and even seatbelt pre-tensioning. Select the dynamic mode and the steering weights up a bit more and you can feel the suspension tightly controlling body movements. Around corners, the A7 displays phenomenal grip and fantastic body control and is quite fun to drive on a twisting road. The electrically assisted steering is a big letdown though – it feels too inert, lifeless and vague. If not for the desensitised steering, the A7 would have been quite a hoot to drive.
The A7 costs Rs 64 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) which means it sits exactly between the A6 and the A8 on price. It is expensive but that’s the price you pay for style. The A7’s looks, drivetrain and equipment are all compelling reasons to buy one. It rides well, is very refined and is a lot more practical than its shape would suggest. Sweet chariot it is.
Price Range (in lakhs)*
Ex-showroom Price Rs 64 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)
ENGINE
Fuel Diesel
Installation Front, longitudinal, all-wheel drive
Type 6 cyls in-vee, 2967cc, turbo-diesel
Power 245bhp at 4000-4500rpm
Torque 51kgm at 1400-3250rpm
Transmission
Type Auto
Gearbox Seven-speed twin-clutch
Chassis & Body
Length 4969mm
Width 1911mm
Height 1420mm
Wheel Base 2914mm
Weight 1770kg
Wheels 18 inch
Tyres 255/45 - R18
Suspension
Front Double wishbones
Rear Multi-link setup with adaptive air suspension
Steering
Type Power Electronic
Brakes
Front Ventilated discs
Rear Ventilated discs
Anti-lock Yes
Acceleration
0-20 1.02
0-40 1.93
0-60 3.11
0-80 4.74
0-100 6.67
0-120 9.18
0-140 12.29
0-160 16.38
0-180 21.46
Acceleration in Gear
20-80kph in kickdown 4.39
40-100kph in kickdown 5.31
We like what’s under the skin too. The A7 shares its innards with the A6 and, indeed, the A4 and A8, all these models using Audi’s MLB platform. It may look like a coupé, but the car occupies quite a bit of real estate. At a shade under five metres long and almost two metres wide, it is longer and wider than an A6, but smaller than an A8.
And, like its siblings, the engine is longitudinally mounted and sends power to all four wheels. Audi’s tried and tested 3.0 V6 diesel motor has been improved for the A7 by using higher injection pressures, new camshaft profiles and a revised turbo. As with most Audi Quattro systems, this one sends 60 percent of its power to the rear axle. Suspension is by way of double wishbones up front and a multi-link setup at the rear with Audi’s adaptive air suspension taking care of damping. A lot of the body is aluminium, including the front suspension struts, so this car weighs in a rather light 1770kg (for its size). The 54/46 front/rear weight distribution is impressive too.
This is a long, low car, and it feels that way when you get in. You stoop to enter, and sit a lot lower than in conventional saloons of this size, but it’s a comfortable place once inside. We liked the interior’s craftsmanship and trimmings that make it feel quite special. The swooping dashboard and door inserts, the precision machining of the aluminium centre console controls and the showy arrival of the MMI system’s screen that rises out from a slot in the dash, all create an alluring first impression.
At the rear, the fastback roofline will scuff the scalps of taller people, and sitting three abreast is a bit of a squeeze. Legroom isn’t bad but what makes it a tad uncomfortable is the upright seat back. The underlying message here is don’t buy this car if the rear seat is a priority. The boot is reasonably spacious and though it’s a bit shallow, it makes up with its length and you can split and fold the rear seats for a bigger load area.
There’s no stinting on equipment. Standard features include adaptive air suspension, two-zone climate control, a fuel saving start-stop system, Audi’s Multi-Media Interface, a parking system with a reverse camera, and 18-inch alloy wheels. The options list is quite long too, so you can really spec it up. But, as with all Audis, the spare tyre is a space saver.
Drive it, and you’ll see the A7 is much more than just a looker. Press the engine start button and the 245bhp, 3.0-litre V6 diesel starts and settles into a beautifully refined idle. The strong point of this engine is the way it makes its 51kgm of torque. It peaks at a low 1400rpm and stays there all the way to 3250rpm. Keep the engine spinning in this range (easy to do via the seven-speed, twin-clutch auto) and you’ll find a car that is rapid in its responses. Flat out, it moves off with convincing urge and performance is befitting of its sporty looks – 100kph comes up in a very rapid 6.6sec and 200kph comes up in under half a minute. The engine is incredibly smooth and refined for the most part, and gets audible only when nearing its redline.
If there is a slight hiccup with the powertrain, it’s that the transmission occasionally hesitates when you want to kick-down. Using the paddleshifts cures this problem, so it is best to do so when you want a quick overtake.
Adding to the car’s relaxed highway manners is the tall seventh gear which gives it long legs. It’s a shame then that there is so much tyre roar in the cabin, especially over concrete roads. It’s the one thing that stops it from being as relaxed a tourer as some of its German rivals.
Around town, the low driving position can be a bit intimidating at first, but you get used to it. That big rear window really makes it easy to see out the back though. It has a genuinely comfortable and pliant ride despite the big wheels and the low-profile rubber. With the adaptive air suspension in comfort mode, it absorbs bumps well and we love the way it dispatches bumps and expansion joints with solid thunks. The comfort setting does allow the car to wallow ever so slightly over undulations and small bumps do tend to catch it out but this isn’t too bad. Ground clearance isn’t as bad as we expected either – simply raise the car on its suspension and it’ll climb over most speedbreakers.
Audi’s drive select system (standard on the A7) lets you tailor everything from engine responsiveness, steering weight, suspension setting and even seatbelt pre-tensioning. Select the dynamic mode and the steering weights up a bit more and you can feel the suspension tightly controlling body movements. Around corners, the A7 displays phenomenal grip and fantastic body control and is quite fun to drive on a twisting road. The electrically assisted steering is a big letdown though – it feels too inert, lifeless and vague. If not for the desensitised steering, the A7 would have been quite a hoot to drive.
The A7 costs Rs 64 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) which means it sits exactly between the A6 and the A8 on price. It is expensive but that’s the price you pay for style. The A7’s looks, drivetrain and equipment are all compelling reasons to buy one. It rides well, is very refined and is a lot more practical than its shape would suggest. Sweet chariot it is.
Price Range (in lakhs)*
Ex-showroom Price Rs 64 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)
ENGINE
Fuel Diesel
Installation Front, longitudinal, all-wheel drive
Type 6 cyls in-vee, 2967cc, turbo-diesel
Power 245bhp at 4000-4500rpm
Torque 51kgm at 1400-3250rpm
Transmission
Type Auto
Gearbox Seven-speed twin-clutch
Chassis & Body
Length 4969mm
Width 1911mm
Height 1420mm
Wheel Base 2914mm
Weight 1770kg
Wheels 18 inch
Tyres 255/45 - R18
Suspension
Front Double wishbones
Rear Multi-link setup with adaptive air suspension
Steering
Type Power Electronic
Brakes
Front Ventilated discs
Rear Ventilated discs
Anti-lock Yes
Acceleration
0-20 1.02
0-40 1.93
0-60 3.11
0-80 4.74
0-100 6.67
0-120 9.18
0-140 12.29
0-160 16.38
0-180 21.46
Acceleration in Gear
20-80kph in kickdown 4.39
40-100kph in kickdown 5.31
Skoda’s future model plans
The future for Skoda seems bright in India with the company looking forward to another decade of rapid growth. Skoda has planned the introduction of an all-new range of models. The Czech carmaker intends to add more emotion to its design without compromising on practicality.
The upcoming Skoda Rapid, which will compete with the VW Vento, will be priced marginally cheaper, yet superbly built, if not as well equipped and will be more spacious. Skoda also plans to exploit the niche compact SUV market with different variants of the Skoda Yeti. A cheaper 110bhp version, will be launched later this year and an automatic version with a DSG ’box will come next year. The Laura RS, a sportier version of the current Laura, with a stiffer suspension and body kit but without an engine upgrade is also ready for launch this August
Skoda is also looking to introduce a Rs 4 lakh hatchback and a sub-four-metre saloon that will be based on the VW Up platform and will sit neatly below the Rapid. The company is also planning to bring the Octavia name back with the next-generation Laura, which will rival VW’s Jetta. The next-gen Octavia will be unveiled sometime next year.
The upcoming Skoda Rapid, which will compete with the VW Vento, will be priced marginally cheaper, yet superbly built, if not as well equipped and will be more spacious. Skoda also plans to exploit the niche compact SUV market with different variants of the Skoda Yeti. A cheaper 110bhp version, will be launched later this year and an automatic version with a DSG ’box will come next year. The Laura RS, a sportier version of the current Laura, with a stiffer suspension and body kit but without an engine upgrade is also ready for launch this August
Skoda is also looking to introduce a Rs 4 lakh hatchback and a sub-four-metre saloon that will be based on the VW Up platform and will sit neatly below the Rapid. The company is also planning to bring the Octavia name back with the next-generation Laura, which will rival VW’s Jetta. The next-gen Octavia will be unveiled sometime next year.
Fiat hires Italian veteran to take on Volkswagen in Indian automobile market
Italian car maker Fiat has roped in 53-year-old Enrico Atanasio to turn around the fortunes of its struggling Indian operations as rivals such as Volkswagen rapidly ramps up its market share in the world's fast-growing automobile market after China. Atanasio will take charge as Fiat India's senior vice-president (commercial) to spearhead an initiative to boost product pipeline and overhaul marketing functions .
Two top executives in the commercial operations, Ravi Bhatia and Tarun Khanna, will report to the new Italian head. While Bhatia will coordinate with the joint venture partner Tata Motors, Khanna will be in charge of spare parts sourcing. Rajeev Kapoor will continue to be the president & Chief Executive Officer of Fiat India. The move to bring an Italian to the top management stems from Fiat's desire to align the Indian operations to the global brand. "It was felt that an Italian would help in better global brand positioning and in aligning the Indian operations with the global operations soon.
Two top executives in the commercial operations, Ravi Bhatia and Tarun Khanna, will report to the new Italian head. While Bhatia will coordinate with the joint venture partner Tata Motors, Khanna will be in charge of spare parts sourcing. Rajeev Kapoor will continue to be the president & Chief Executive Officer of Fiat India. The move to bring an Italian to the top management stems from Fiat's desire to align the Indian operations to the global brand. "It was felt that an Italian would help in better global brand positioning and in aligning the Indian operations with the global operations soon.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Six Tips on Maintaining Your Bike at its Best
1. Tyre Air Pressure: Ensure tyre pressures are maintained at manufacturer recommended levels. Different pressures are recommended for single seat and pillion riding, observe them to squeeze out the optimum mileage. Over-inflated tyres do result in better mileage but play havoc with the ride, handling and stability, so don’t get desperate.
2. Brakes: Both the brakes should have the right amount of free play. To check that brakes are not binding, put the bike on the main stand and ensure that both the wheels turn freely.
3. Chain: The chain should be well lubricated and have the right amount of slack. You can read more about Motorcycle Chain Maintenance.
4. Air filter: Keep the air filter clean as dusty conditions in India tend to clog up the filter in no time. Change the air filter at recommended intervals and increase the cleaning frequency in particularly dusty climes. Clutch: Should be properly adjusted and have the right amount of free play. An over tightened clutch will cause it to slip unnoticeably and increase the fuel consumption while also burning it out quickly.
5. Engine: Again regular servicing and tune-ups will keep the engine running like clockwork and reduce your petrol bills. Pay special attention to cleaning the carburettor and maintaining valve clearences. Don’t neglect the spark plug, ensure it is clean, the gap is set correctly or replace it if past its prime as it’s the most crucial link in proper combustion. Most modern bikes require the choke to be used on cold starts as they run lean to meet emission norms as well as fuel efficiency requirements.
6. Engine Oil: Engine oil should be changed religiously. The oil thickens due to carbon deposits creating drag in the movement of engine internals. Running the bike on dirty oil will not only increase fuel consumption but also reduce the life of the engine.
2. Brakes: Both the brakes should have the right amount of free play. To check that brakes are not binding, put the bike on the main stand and ensure that both the wheels turn freely.
3. Chain: The chain should be well lubricated and have the right amount of slack. You can read more about Motorcycle Chain Maintenance.
4. Air filter: Keep the air filter clean as dusty conditions in India tend to clog up the filter in no time. Change the air filter at recommended intervals and increase the cleaning frequency in particularly dusty climes. Clutch: Should be properly adjusted and have the right amount of free play. An over tightened clutch will cause it to slip unnoticeably and increase the fuel consumption while also burning it out quickly.
5. Engine: Again regular servicing and tune-ups will keep the engine running like clockwork and reduce your petrol bills. Pay special attention to cleaning the carburettor and maintaining valve clearences. Don’t neglect the spark plug, ensure it is clean, the gap is set correctly or replace it if past its prime as it’s the most crucial link in proper combustion. Most modern bikes require the choke to be used on cold starts as they run lean to meet emission norms as well as fuel efficiency requirements.
6. Engine Oil: Engine oil should be changed religiously. The oil thickens due to carbon deposits creating drag in the movement of engine internals. Running the bike on dirty oil will not only increase fuel consumption but also reduce the life of the engine.
Bike Cleaning and Maintenance Tips
Be it your new Lord of the Streets or your cute budget bike, they are such loyal buddies taking the lazy you to office, to grocer, carrying you and your monthly grocery through the crowded streets to home, after you’ve had enough of the rest-of-the-world experience. Don’t you think we need to pay back our 4-stroke bike at least giving it a once-in-a-while cleaning at house? So said, I would like you to read through the following lines.
You got all those bike accessories as because you liked the way they changed the look of your bike; whether it is the shiny chrome, or the dual tone graphics on it, or even extra beautiful paint. These could set your bike apart in a crowd and give it a special identity like you have in your work place. While you receive all that pampering do you pay back to your bike? In fact let me tell, even a 1lakh bike will be great on road if its dirty and an decade old bike can still be shining and attracting second looks- all in the maintenance.
I am going to give you a few tips in bike cleaning and hopefully with the pampering it receives it will never let you down:
If you have had a long drive the bike needs a cool down time period before you head for a washing episode. It allows the engine to cool down. If not there could be streaking, damage to chrome and spotting and at times even crack of the engine as well. Look for leaks if any and wear of the tyres, any loose bolts and even hoses, and give a thorough look at other areas which sometimes take your attention to otherwise neglected things.
Cleaning Equipment Required: The list of soaps, waxes and cleaning agents is almost endless and if you are a little careful you can do a hell lot with a good brush, clean rags, and some water. But so said, I would suggest that you pick a cleaning solution that is tailor made for bikes. Inappropriate cleaners will get on saddle, blue the chrome and get on the paint. Thus, use products that will not cause problems as regards to spoiling the finish or discoloring it. Remember cheap cleaning products will only harm your vehicle.
Once preparing the cleaning solution as per the mixing direction start cleaning your toy. Give heavy dirt settled on fenders and bugs a presoak treatment and then rinse with jet of water to clean off the loosened dirt. Use a clean sponge or cloth so it doesn’t scratch the chrome or the paint.
Give a thorough rinse to the bike, give a little rubbing, but an extra wash and rinse is any day better than rubbing for the reason that it will dull the shine of the paint or scratch the chrome. But so said, when water is scarce give a gentle rubbing to the heavily soiled areas. Clean the hidden areas as well to ensure it’s absolutely free of dirt. Ensure that the cleaning solution is washed off the bike. Give another rinse job and if there is run off of the water with no signs of beading your bike needs a thorough polishing; however, with the manufacturer recommended polishes.
Clean the wheels with separate rag and rinse the wheels again separately. Wipe the bike off the water with dry and soft cloth. Avoid doing this under direct exposure to sun to prevent any streaking.
Never use a dryer or air compressor to dry the vehicle as it might grit the finish and cause irreparable damage. Use a cloth to dry rather than a blower or a dryer. Clean the leather saddle (if) with the manufacturers recommendations.
Once the bike is clean you can pamper the tyres if you desire. Give some oil treatment to the chain with the recommended oil. With so much bike spa treatment your bike is ready to carry your lazy body again, but now with more shine and beauty.
You got all those bike accessories as because you liked the way they changed the look of your bike; whether it is the shiny chrome, or the dual tone graphics on it, or even extra beautiful paint. These could set your bike apart in a crowd and give it a special identity like you have in your work place. While you receive all that pampering do you pay back to your bike? In fact let me tell, even a 1lakh bike will be great on road if its dirty and an decade old bike can still be shining and attracting second looks- all in the maintenance.
I am going to give you a few tips in bike cleaning and hopefully with the pampering it receives it will never let you down:
If you have had a long drive the bike needs a cool down time period before you head for a washing episode. It allows the engine to cool down. If not there could be streaking, damage to chrome and spotting and at times even crack of the engine as well. Look for leaks if any and wear of the tyres, any loose bolts and even hoses, and give a thorough look at other areas which sometimes take your attention to otherwise neglected things.
Cleaning Equipment Required: The list of soaps, waxes and cleaning agents is almost endless and if you are a little careful you can do a hell lot with a good brush, clean rags, and some water. But so said, I would suggest that you pick a cleaning solution that is tailor made for bikes. Inappropriate cleaners will get on saddle, blue the chrome and get on the paint. Thus, use products that will not cause problems as regards to spoiling the finish or discoloring it. Remember cheap cleaning products will only harm your vehicle.
Once preparing the cleaning solution as per the mixing direction start cleaning your toy. Give heavy dirt settled on fenders and bugs a presoak treatment and then rinse with jet of water to clean off the loosened dirt. Use a clean sponge or cloth so it doesn’t scratch the chrome or the paint.
Give a thorough rinse to the bike, give a little rubbing, but an extra wash and rinse is any day better than rubbing for the reason that it will dull the shine of the paint or scratch the chrome. But so said, when water is scarce give a gentle rubbing to the heavily soiled areas. Clean the hidden areas as well to ensure it’s absolutely free of dirt. Ensure that the cleaning solution is washed off the bike. Give another rinse job and if there is run off of the water with no signs of beading your bike needs a thorough polishing; however, with the manufacturer recommended polishes.
Clean the wheels with separate rag and rinse the wheels again separately. Wipe the bike off the water with dry and soft cloth. Avoid doing this under direct exposure to sun to prevent any streaking.
Never use a dryer or air compressor to dry the vehicle as it might grit the finish and cause irreparable damage. Use a cloth to dry rather than a blower or a dryer. Clean the leather saddle (if) with the manufacturers recommendations.
Once the bike is clean you can pamper the tyres if you desire. Give some oil treatment to the chain with the recommended oil. With so much bike spa treatment your bike is ready to carry your lazy body again, but now with more shine and beauty.
tips to avoid scratches on bike
1. Whenever you are to park your bike in a tight parking lot, make sure you always park it on its main (centre) stand and not on its side stand. This is because, when you park with the side stand, your bike is easily prone to be touched by the neighbouring bike when the person takes his/her bike out thereby getting scratched.
2. Apply a coat of Teflon periodically so as to avoid the minor scratches (atleast).
3. Whenever possible, try avoiding very busy parking areas. When you are not busy, park it in some free area a little far away and walk the mile. (Good for health too..!!)
4. When the number of scratches is more, making the bike look really bad, there is nothing to panic. There are so many spray painters in almost all the cities. Try discussing with them on re-painting on that particular area alone. Out of my personal experience I tell you, it works out really well.
5. You also have spray paint in small cans at very affordable prices (mostly, it doesn’t exceed 300 bucks). If the scratched area is very small, this would prove to be an apt solution. But, be very careful in using them. The problem with these paints is that they don’t get adhered onto the body as you spray it. It usually clots downward, thereby creating a mark all along the body. So, use them on surfaces where clotting would be minimum..
6. There are more chances of your bike getting scratched during service. Might sound odd, but true. Careless handling and lack of space results in getting your bike scratched. So, tell them about this issue and give it for service.
7. In traffic signals, do not try to push yourself into every single gap. This is where most scratches happen. If it’s true that you love your bike a lot, don’t attempt to do it.
8. Riders having a R15, Fazer, Karizma, Pulsar 220 and other such bikes with side fairings need to drive carefully because it is this part that projects outside the body. Especially, when you get down from some other bikes and get on to this. This is when you don’t get the feel of extra projections. Don’t take this light, it’s happened to my pal.
9. Do not wipe your bikes with clothes other than soft ones. These days, you get separate soft cloth to wipe bikes. Hardly, costs you a hundred bucks. Worth the penny.
10. Last but not the least, Clean your bike regularly. Wipe it immediately when you find come bird-droppings. This may lead to scratches if not wiped off.
2. Apply a coat of Teflon periodically so as to avoid the minor scratches (atleast).
3. Whenever possible, try avoiding very busy parking areas. When you are not busy, park it in some free area a little far away and walk the mile. (Good for health too..!!)
4. When the number of scratches is more, making the bike look really bad, there is nothing to panic. There are so many spray painters in almost all the cities. Try discussing with them on re-painting on that particular area alone. Out of my personal experience I tell you, it works out really well.
5. You also have spray paint in small cans at very affordable prices (mostly, it doesn’t exceed 300 bucks). If the scratched area is very small, this would prove to be an apt solution. But, be very careful in using them. The problem with these paints is that they don’t get adhered onto the body as you spray it. It usually clots downward, thereby creating a mark all along the body. So, use them on surfaces where clotting would be minimum..
6. There are more chances of your bike getting scratched during service. Might sound odd, but true. Careless handling and lack of space results in getting your bike scratched. So, tell them about this issue and give it for service.
7. In traffic signals, do not try to push yourself into every single gap. This is where most scratches happen. If it’s true that you love your bike a lot, don’t attempt to do it.
8. Riders having a R15, Fazer, Karizma, Pulsar 220 and other such bikes with side fairings need to drive carefully because it is this part that projects outside the body. Especially, when you get down from some other bikes and get on to this. This is when you don’t get the feel of extra projections. Don’t take this light, it’s happened to my pal.
9. Do not wipe your bikes with clothes other than soft ones. These days, you get separate soft cloth to wipe bikes. Hardly, costs you a hundred bucks. Worth the penny.
10. Last but not the least, Clean your bike regularly. Wipe it immediately when you find come bird-droppings. This may lead to scratches if not wiped off.
10 Most Practical Tips On Protecting Your Bike Against Theft
Original Source: 10 Most Practical Tips On Protecting Your Bike Against Theft from BikeAdvice.in
There are exclusive expert teams all over the world which specialises the act of stealing motorcycles. There are many reasons for bikes to be stolen. “Any stolen vehicle is abandoned, sold or used for crimes later. In seventy five per cent of crimes, bikes are used as getaways by criminals. For example, recently in all the chain snatching incidents and angadia loots, thieves used bikes for the purpose,” said a senior city police official.
Here are a few facts on bike theft:
1. The rate of bike theft is almost twice the rate of car theft.
2. More or less half of the motorists have the habit of not locking their bikes.
3. Out of the total bikes stolen, hardly 26% is recovered.
4. As much as 60% of the bikes are dismantled into parts and are sold.
5. Believe me or not, a professional thief can steal a bike in less than just 15 seconds and it is a fact.
Do not panic. There are solutions to keep our bikes away from the hands of these culprits. Here are a few practical tips.
1. Anti-theft security system: Firstly, install a branded anti-theft security system to your bike. These as most of you know is remote controlled, which deducts vibrations on your bike when the ignition is turned off and starts producing noise to shoo away the thieves; it alerts you as well. You can get one such installed in the showroom itself. Almost all showrooms these days does it Cost varies between 800 to 1500 bucks. Xenos is a trustable brand when it comes to bike security systems.
2. Fork lock: Add a fork lock to the front wheel of your bike. It prevents your bike from moving along either direction. When parking, lock it and go. It doesn’t look odd too and adds up to the security as well.
3. Lock your bikes first: Check out the second fact that is mentioned above. More or less half of the motorists have the habit of not locking their bikes. You have to inculcate the habit of locking your bike when going elsewhere. There exist no alternative to this primary solution. Consider it your duty and execute them.
4. Install original locks: When a situation arises wherein you need to remove your lock assembly and go for a new one, have no second thought; Proceed straight to the showroom to get an original one installed.
5. Chain your bikes: Stock locks are the easiest to break and take away your bike. This is because, they are damn used to it that they can do it just like that. Keep this in mind. So, chain your bikes to some pillar or post nearby. Though might sound to be a cheap and on outdated idea, you still have to.
6. Demand a jobcard: When giving your bikes for customization or repairs wherein you will have to handover your bike to them do not forget for God’s sake to demand a jobcard or a receipt bearing your bike’s number and model. There are those small shops in every city which professionally steal your bike in this way. Beware!
7. Be within the visual reach of your bike: You will find particular areas in almost every big city which deals only with automobile spares and jobs. When you ought to park your bike in such areas, be within the visual reach of your bike. Else, within minutes it’ll be dismantled and taken away.
8. Park properly: Avoid parking your bikes on streets near your home. Try parking in a garage.
9. Avoid bike stands: Avoid leaving your bike in bike stands for a long instance. Pretty risky. If you frequently do it, develop a personal touch with the guy out there. The best thing you can do is this.
10. Insurance: Last but not least, have your bike insured up to date. Anything might happen anytime. It’s better that we stay on the safe side.
There are exclusive expert teams all over the world which specialises the act of stealing motorcycles. There are many reasons for bikes to be stolen. “Any stolen vehicle is abandoned, sold or used for crimes later. In seventy five per cent of crimes, bikes are used as getaways by criminals. For example, recently in all the chain snatching incidents and angadia loots, thieves used bikes for the purpose,” said a senior city police official.
Here are a few facts on bike theft:
1. The rate of bike theft is almost twice the rate of car theft.
2. More or less half of the motorists have the habit of not locking their bikes.
3. Out of the total bikes stolen, hardly 26% is recovered.
4. As much as 60% of the bikes are dismantled into parts and are sold.
5. Believe me or not, a professional thief can steal a bike in less than just 15 seconds and it is a fact.
Do not panic. There are solutions to keep our bikes away from the hands of these culprits. Here are a few practical tips.
1. Anti-theft security system: Firstly, install a branded anti-theft security system to your bike. These as most of you know is remote controlled, which deducts vibrations on your bike when the ignition is turned off and starts producing noise to shoo away the thieves; it alerts you as well. You can get one such installed in the showroom itself. Almost all showrooms these days does it Cost varies between 800 to 1500 bucks. Xenos is a trustable brand when it comes to bike security systems.
2. Fork lock: Add a fork lock to the front wheel of your bike. It prevents your bike from moving along either direction. When parking, lock it and go. It doesn’t look odd too and adds up to the security as well.
3. Lock your bikes first: Check out the second fact that is mentioned above. More or less half of the motorists have the habit of not locking their bikes. You have to inculcate the habit of locking your bike when going elsewhere. There exist no alternative to this primary solution. Consider it your duty and execute them.
4. Install original locks: When a situation arises wherein you need to remove your lock assembly and go for a new one, have no second thought; Proceed straight to the showroom to get an original one installed.
5. Chain your bikes: Stock locks are the easiest to break and take away your bike. This is because, they are damn used to it that they can do it just like that. Keep this in mind. So, chain your bikes to some pillar or post nearby. Though might sound to be a cheap and on outdated idea, you still have to.
6. Demand a jobcard: When giving your bikes for customization or repairs wherein you will have to handover your bike to them do not forget for God’s sake to demand a jobcard or a receipt bearing your bike’s number and model. There are those small shops in every city which professionally steal your bike in this way. Beware!
7. Be within the visual reach of your bike: You will find particular areas in almost every big city which deals only with automobile spares and jobs. When you ought to park your bike in such areas, be within the visual reach of your bike. Else, within minutes it’ll be dismantled and taken away.
8. Park properly: Avoid parking your bikes on streets near your home. Try parking in a garage.
9. Avoid bike stands: Avoid leaving your bike in bike stands for a long instance. Pretty risky. If you frequently do it, develop a personal touch with the guy out there. The best thing you can do is this.
10. Insurance: Last but not least, have your bike insured up to date. Anything might happen anytime. It’s better that we stay on the safe side.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
IAS SYLLABUS FOR MECH
Mechanical Engineering - Preliminary Syllabus
Statics :
Simple applications of equilibrium equations.
Dynamics :
Simple applications of equations of motion, work, energy and power.
Theory of Machines :
Simple examples of kinematic chains and their inversions.
Different types of gears, bearings, governors, flywheels and their functions.
Static and dynamic balancing of rigid rotors.
Simple vibration analysis of bars and shafts.
Linear automatic control systems.
Mechanics of Solids :
Stress, strain and Hookes Law. Shear and bending moments in beams. Simple bending and torsion of beams, springs and thin walled cylinders. Elementary concepts of elastic stability, mechanical properties and material testing.
Manufacturing Science :
Mechanics of metal cutting, tool life, economics of machining, cutting tool materials. Basic types of machine tool and their processes. Automatic machine tools, transfer lines. Metal forming processes and machines-shearing, drawing, spinning, rolling, forging, extrusion. Types of casting and welding methods. Powder metallurgy and processing of plastics.
Manufacturing Management :
Methods and time study, motion economy and work space design, operation and flow process charts. Cost estimation, break-even analysis. Location and layout of plants, material handling. Capital budgeting, job shop and mass production, scheduling, dispatching, Routing, Inventory.
Thermodynamics :
Basic concepts, definitions and laws, heat, work and temperature, Zeroth law, temperature scales, behaviour of pure substances, equations of state, first law and its corollaries, second law and its corollaries. Analysis of air standard power cycles, Carnot, Otto, diesel, Brayton cycles. Vapour power cycles, Rankine reheat and regenerative cycles, Refrigeration cycles-Bell Coleman, Vapour absorption and Vapour compression cycle analysis, open and closed cycle gas turbine with intercooling, reheating.
Energy Conversion :
Flow of steam through nozzles, critical pressure ratio, shock formation and its effect. Steam Generators, mountings and accessories. Impulse and reaction turbines, elements and layout of thermal power plants.
Hydraulic turbines and pumps, specific speed, layout of hydraulic power plants.
Introduction to nuclear reactors and power plants, handling of nuclear waste.
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning :
Refrigeration equipment and operation and maintenance, refrigerants, principles of air conditioning, psychrometric chart, comfort zones, humidification and dehumidification.
Fluid Mechanics :
Hydrostatics, continuity equation, Bernoulli's theorem, flow through pipes, discharge measurement, laminar and turbulent flow, boundary layer concept.
Statics :
Simple applications of equilibrium equations.
Dynamics :
Simple applications of equations of motion, work, energy and power.
Theory of Machines :
Simple examples of kinematic chains and their inversions.
Different types of gears, bearings, governors, flywheels and their functions.
Static and dynamic balancing of rigid rotors.
Simple vibration analysis of bars and shafts.
Linear automatic control systems.
Mechanics of Solids :
Stress, strain and Hookes Law. Shear and bending moments in beams. Simple bending and torsion of beams, springs and thin walled cylinders. Elementary concepts of elastic stability, mechanical properties and material testing.
Manufacturing Science :
Mechanics of metal cutting, tool life, economics of machining, cutting tool materials. Basic types of machine tool and their processes. Automatic machine tools, transfer lines. Metal forming processes and machines-shearing, drawing, spinning, rolling, forging, extrusion. Types of casting and welding methods. Powder metallurgy and processing of plastics.
Manufacturing Management :
Methods and time study, motion economy and work space design, operation and flow process charts. Cost estimation, break-even analysis. Location and layout of plants, material handling. Capital budgeting, job shop and mass production, scheduling, dispatching, Routing, Inventory.
Thermodynamics :
Basic concepts, definitions and laws, heat, work and temperature, Zeroth law, temperature scales, behaviour of pure substances, equations of state, first law and its corollaries, second law and its corollaries. Analysis of air standard power cycles, Carnot, Otto, diesel, Brayton cycles. Vapour power cycles, Rankine reheat and regenerative cycles, Refrigeration cycles-Bell Coleman, Vapour absorption and Vapour compression cycle analysis, open and closed cycle gas turbine with intercooling, reheating.
Energy Conversion :
Flow of steam through nozzles, critical pressure ratio, shock formation and its effect. Steam Generators, mountings and accessories. Impulse and reaction turbines, elements and layout of thermal power plants.
Hydraulic turbines and pumps, specific speed, layout of hydraulic power plants.
Introduction to nuclear reactors and power plants, handling of nuclear waste.
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning :
Refrigeration equipment and operation and maintenance, refrigerants, principles of air conditioning, psychrometric chart, comfort zones, humidification and dehumidification.
Fluid Mechanics :
Hydrostatics, continuity equation, Bernoulli's theorem, flow through pipes, discharge measurement, laminar and turbulent flow, boundary layer concept.
Mechanical Engineering Syllabus for Engineering Services Exam
Mechanical Engineering Paper-I
(For both objective and conventional type papers)
1. Thermodynamics, Cycles and IC Engines, Basic concepts, Open and Closed systems. Heat and work. Zeroth, First and Second Law, Application to non-Flow and Flow processes. Entropy, Availability, Irreversibility and Tds relations. Claperyron and real gas equations, Properties of ideal gases and vapours. Standard vapour, Gas power and Refrigeration cycles. Two stage compressor. C-I and S.I. Engines. Pre-ignition, Detonation and Diesel-knock, Fuel injection and Carburation, Supercharging. Turbo-prop and Rocket engines, Engine Cooling, Emission & Control, Flue gas analysis, Measurement of Calorific values. Conventional and Nuclear fuels, Elements of Nuclear power production.
2. Heat Transfer and Refrigeration and Airconditioning. Modes of heat transfer. One dimensional steady and unsteady conduction. Composite slab and Equivalent Resistance. Heat dissipation from extended surfaces, Heat exchangers, Overall heat transfer coefficient, Empirical correlations for heat transfer in laminar and turbulent flows and for free and forced Convection, Thermal boundary layer over a flat plate. Fundamentals of diffusive and connective mass transfer, Black body and basic concepts in Radiation, Enclosure theory, Shape factor, Net work analysis. Heat pump and Refrigeration cycles and systems, Refrigerants. Condensers, Evaporates and Expansion devices, Psychrometry, Charts and application to air conditioning, Sensible heating and cooling, Effective temperature, comfort indices, Load calculations, Solar refrigeration, controls, Duct design.
3. Fluid Mechanics:
Properties and classification of fluids, Manometry, forces on immersed surfaces, Center of pressure, Buoyancy, Elements of stability of floating bodies. Kinematics and Dynamics.
Irrotational and incompressible. Inviscid flow. Velocity potential, Pressure field and Forces on immersed bodies. Bernoulli’s equation, Fully developed flow through pipes, Pressure drop calculations, Measurement of flow rate and Pressure drop. Elements of boundary layer theory, Integral approach, Laminar and tubulent flows, Separations. Flow over weirs and notches. Open channel flow, Hydraulic jump. Dimensionless numbers, Dimensional analysis, Similitude and modelling. One-dimensional isentropic flow, Normal shock wave, Flow through convergent - divergent ducts, Oblique shock-wave, Rayleigh and Fanno lines.
4. Fluid Machinery and Steam Generators:
Performance, Operation and control of hydraulic Pump and impulse and reaction Turbines, Specific speed, Classification. Energy transfer, Coupling, Power transmission, Steam generators Fire-tube and water-tube boilers. Flow of steam through Nozzles and Diffusers, Wetness and condensation. Various types of steam and gas Turbines, Velocity diagrams. Partial admission. Reciprocating, Centrifugal and axial flow Compressors, Multistage compression, role of Mach Number, Reheat, Regeneration, Efficiency, Governance.
Mechanical Engineering Paper-II
(For both objective and conventional type papers)
5. THEORY OF MACHINES:
Kinematic and dynamic analysis of planer mechanisms. Cams. Gears and gear trains. Flywheels. Governors. Balancing of rigid rotors and field balancing. Balancing of single and multicylinder engines, Linear vibration analysis of mechanical systems. Critical speeds and whirling of shafts Automatic controls.
6. MACHINE DESIGN:
Design of Joints : cotters, keys, splines, welded joints, threaded fasteners, joints formed by interference fits. Design of friction drives : couplings and clutches, belt and chain drives, power screws.
Design of Power transmission systems : gears and gear drives shaft and axle, wire ropes.
Design of bearings : hydrodynamics bearings and rolling element bearings.
7. STRENGTH OF MATERIALS:
Stress and strain in two dimensions, Principal stresses and strains, Mohr’s construction, linear elastic materials, isotropy and anisotropy, stress-strain relations, uniaxial loading, thermal stresses. Beams : Bending moment and shear force diagram, bending stresses and deflection of beams. Shear stress distribution. Torsion of shafts, helical springs. Combined stresses, thick-and thin-walled pressure vessels. Struts and columns. Strain energy concepts and theories of failure.
8. ENGINEERING MATERIALS:
Basic concepts on structure of solids. Crystalline maferials. Detects in crystalline materials. Alloys and binary phase diagrams. Structure and properties of common engineering materials. Heat treatment of steels. Plastics, Ceramics and composite materials. Common applications of various materials.
9. PRODUCTION ENGINEERING:
Metal Forming : Basic Principles of forging, drawing and extrusion; High energy rate forming; Powder metallurgy.
Metal Casting : Die casting, investment casting, Shall Moulding, Centrifugal Casting, Gating & Riser design; melting furnaces.
Fabrication Processes : Principles of Gas, Arc, Shielded arc Welding; Advanced Welding Processes, Weldability: Metallurgy of Welding.
Metal Cutting : Turning, Methods of Screw Production, Drilling, Boring, Milling, Gear Manufacturing, Production of flat surfaces, Grinding & Finishing Processes. Computer Controlled Manufacturing Systems-CNC, DNC, FMS, Automation and Robotics.
Cutting Tools Materials, Tool Geometry, Mechanism of Tool Wear, Tool Life & Machinability; Measurement of cutting forces. Economics of Machining. Unconventional Machining Processes. Jigs and Fixtures. Fits and tolerances, Measurement of surface texture, Comparators Alignment tests and reconditioning of Machine Tools.
10. INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING:
Production Planning and Control : Forecasting - Moving average, exponential smoothing, Operations, scheduling; assembly line balancing, Product development, Break-even analysis, Capacity planning, PERT and CPM.
Control Operations : Inventory control ABC analysis, EOQ model, Materials requirement planning. Job design, Job standards, Work measurement, Quality Management - Quality analysis and control. Operations Research : Linear Programming - Graphical and Simplex methods, Transportation and assignment models. Single server queueing model.
Value Engineering : Value analysis for cost/value.
11. ELEMENTS OF COMPUTATION:
Computer Organisation, Flow charting, Features of Common computer Languages - FORTRAN, d Base III, Lotus 1-2-3, C and elementary Programming.
(For both objective and conventional type papers)
1. Thermodynamics, Cycles and IC Engines, Basic concepts, Open and Closed systems. Heat and work. Zeroth, First and Second Law, Application to non-Flow and Flow processes. Entropy, Availability, Irreversibility and Tds relations. Claperyron and real gas equations, Properties of ideal gases and vapours. Standard vapour, Gas power and Refrigeration cycles. Two stage compressor. C-I and S.I. Engines. Pre-ignition, Detonation and Diesel-knock, Fuel injection and Carburation, Supercharging. Turbo-prop and Rocket engines, Engine Cooling, Emission & Control, Flue gas analysis, Measurement of Calorific values. Conventional and Nuclear fuels, Elements of Nuclear power production.
2. Heat Transfer and Refrigeration and Airconditioning. Modes of heat transfer. One dimensional steady and unsteady conduction. Composite slab and Equivalent Resistance. Heat dissipation from extended surfaces, Heat exchangers, Overall heat transfer coefficient, Empirical correlations for heat transfer in laminar and turbulent flows and for free and forced Convection, Thermal boundary layer over a flat plate. Fundamentals of diffusive and connective mass transfer, Black body and basic concepts in Radiation, Enclosure theory, Shape factor, Net work analysis. Heat pump and Refrigeration cycles and systems, Refrigerants. Condensers, Evaporates and Expansion devices, Psychrometry, Charts and application to air conditioning, Sensible heating and cooling, Effective temperature, comfort indices, Load calculations, Solar refrigeration, controls, Duct design.
3. Fluid Mechanics:
Properties and classification of fluids, Manometry, forces on immersed surfaces, Center of pressure, Buoyancy, Elements of stability of floating bodies. Kinematics and Dynamics.
Irrotational and incompressible. Inviscid flow. Velocity potential, Pressure field and Forces on immersed bodies. Bernoulli’s equation, Fully developed flow through pipes, Pressure drop calculations, Measurement of flow rate and Pressure drop. Elements of boundary layer theory, Integral approach, Laminar and tubulent flows, Separations. Flow over weirs and notches. Open channel flow, Hydraulic jump. Dimensionless numbers, Dimensional analysis, Similitude and modelling. One-dimensional isentropic flow, Normal shock wave, Flow through convergent - divergent ducts, Oblique shock-wave, Rayleigh and Fanno lines.
4. Fluid Machinery and Steam Generators:
Performance, Operation and control of hydraulic Pump and impulse and reaction Turbines, Specific speed, Classification. Energy transfer, Coupling, Power transmission, Steam generators Fire-tube and water-tube boilers. Flow of steam through Nozzles and Diffusers, Wetness and condensation. Various types of steam and gas Turbines, Velocity diagrams. Partial admission. Reciprocating, Centrifugal and axial flow Compressors, Multistage compression, role of Mach Number, Reheat, Regeneration, Efficiency, Governance.
Mechanical Engineering Paper-II
(For both objective and conventional type papers)
5. THEORY OF MACHINES:
Kinematic and dynamic analysis of planer mechanisms. Cams. Gears and gear trains. Flywheels. Governors. Balancing of rigid rotors and field balancing. Balancing of single and multicylinder engines, Linear vibration analysis of mechanical systems. Critical speeds and whirling of shafts Automatic controls.
6. MACHINE DESIGN:
Design of Joints : cotters, keys, splines, welded joints, threaded fasteners, joints formed by interference fits. Design of friction drives : couplings and clutches, belt and chain drives, power screws.
Design of Power transmission systems : gears and gear drives shaft and axle, wire ropes.
Design of bearings : hydrodynamics bearings and rolling element bearings.
7. STRENGTH OF MATERIALS:
Stress and strain in two dimensions, Principal stresses and strains, Mohr’s construction, linear elastic materials, isotropy and anisotropy, stress-strain relations, uniaxial loading, thermal stresses. Beams : Bending moment and shear force diagram, bending stresses and deflection of beams. Shear stress distribution. Torsion of shafts, helical springs. Combined stresses, thick-and thin-walled pressure vessels. Struts and columns. Strain energy concepts and theories of failure.
8. ENGINEERING MATERIALS:
Basic concepts on structure of solids. Crystalline maferials. Detects in crystalline materials. Alloys and binary phase diagrams. Structure and properties of common engineering materials. Heat treatment of steels. Plastics, Ceramics and composite materials. Common applications of various materials.
9. PRODUCTION ENGINEERING:
Metal Forming : Basic Principles of forging, drawing and extrusion; High energy rate forming; Powder metallurgy.
Metal Casting : Die casting, investment casting, Shall Moulding, Centrifugal Casting, Gating & Riser design; melting furnaces.
Fabrication Processes : Principles of Gas, Arc, Shielded arc Welding; Advanced Welding Processes, Weldability: Metallurgy of Welding.
Metal Cutting : Turning, Methods of Screw Production, Drilling, Boring, Milling, Gear Manufacturing, Production of flat surfaces, Grinding & Finishing Processes. Computer Controlled Manufacturing Systems-CNC, DNC, FMS, Automation and Robotics.
Cutting Tools Materials, Tool Geometry, Mechanism of Tool Wear, Tool Life & Machinability; Measurement of cutting forces. Economics of Machining. Unconventional Machining Processes. Jigs and Fixtures. Fits and tolerances, Measurement of surface texture, Comparators Alignment tests and reconditioning of Machine Tools.
10. INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING:
Production Planning and Control : Forecasting - Moving average, exponential smoothing, Operations, scheduling; assembly line balancing, Product development, Break-even analysis, Capacity planning, PERT and CPM.
Control Operations : Inventory control ABC analysis, EOQ model, Materials requirement planning. Job design, Job standards, Work measurement, Quality Management - Quality analysis and control. Operations Research : Linear Programming - Graphical and Simplex methods, Transportation and assignment models. Single server queueing model.
Value Engineering : Value analysis for cost/value.
11. ELEMENTS OF COMPUTATION:
Computer Organisation, Flow charting, Features of Common computer Languages - FORTRAN, d Base III, Lotus 1-2-3, C and elementary Programming.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
GATE SYLLABUS FOR MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS
Linear Algebra: Matrix algebra, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values and eigen vectors.
Calculus: Functions of single variable, Limit, continuity and differentiability, Mean value theorems, Evaluation of definite and improper integrals, Partial derivatives, Total derivative, Maxima and minima, Gradient, Divergence and Curl, Vector identities, Directional derivatives, Line, Surface and Volume integrals, Stokes, Gauss and Green’s theorems.
Differential equations: First order equations (linear and nonlinear), Higher order linear differential equations with constant coefficients, Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations, Initial and boundary value problems, Laplace transforms, Solutions of one dimensional heat and wave equations and Laplace equation.
Complex variables: Analytic functions, Cauchy’s integral theorem, Taylor and Laurent series. Probability and Statistics: Definitions of probability and sampling theorems, Conditional probability, Mean, median, mode and standard deviation, Random variables, Poisson, Normal and Binomial distributions.
Numerical Methods: Numerical solutions of linear and non-linear algebraic equations Integration by trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule, single and multi-step methods fordifferential equations.
APPLIED MECHANICS AND DESIGN
Engineering Mechanics: Free body diagrams and equilibrium; trusses and frames; virtual work; kinematics and dynamics of particles and of rigid bodies in plane motion, including impulse and momentum (linear and angular) and energy formulations; impact.
Strength of Materials: Stress and strain, stress-strain relationship and elastic constants, Mohr’s circle for plane stress and plane strain, thin cylinders; shear force and bending moment diagrams; bending and shear stresses; deflection of beams; torsion of circular shafts; Euler’s theory of columns; strain energy methods; thermal stresses.
Theory of Machines: Displacement, velocity and acceleration analysis of plane mechanisms; dynamic analysis of slider-crank mechanism; gear trains; flywheels.
Vibrations: Free and forced vibration of single degree of freedom systems; effect of damping; vibration isolation; resonance, critical speeds of shafts.
Design: Design for static and dynamic loading; failure theories; fatigue strength and the S-N diagram; principles of the design of machine elements such as bolted, riveted and welded joints, shafts, spur gears, rolling and sliding contact bearings, brakes and clutches.
FLUID MECHANICS AND THERMAL SCIENCES
Fluid Mechanics: Fluid properties; fluid statics, manometry, buoyancy; control-volume analysis of mass, momentum and energy; fluid acceleration;differential equations of continuity and momentum; Bernoulli’s equation; viscous flow of incompressible fluids; boundary layer; elementary turbulent flow; flow through pipes, head losses in pipes, bends etc.
Heat-Transfer: Modes of heat transfer; one dimensional heat conduction, resistance concept, electrical analogy, unsteady heat conduction, fins; dimensionless parameters in free and forced convective heat transfer, various correlations for heat transfer in flow over flat plates and through pipes; thermal boundary layer; effect of turbulence; radiative heat transfer, black and grey surfaces, shape factors, network analysis; heat exchanger performance, LMTD and NTU methods.
Thermodynamics: Zeroth, First and Second laws of thermodynamics; thermodynamic system and processes; Carnot cycle. irreversibility and availability; behaviour of ideal and real gases, properties of pure substances, calculation of work and heat in ideal processes; analysis of thermodynamic cycles related to energy conversion.
Applications: Power Engineering: Steam Tables, Rankine, Brayton cycles with regeneration and reheat. I.C. Engines: air-standard Otto, Diesel cycles. Refrigeration and air-conditioning: Vapour refrigeration cycle, heat pumps, gas refrigeration, Reverse Brayton cycle; moist air: psychrometric chart, basic psychrometric processes. Turbomachinery: Pelton-wheel, Francis and Kaplan turbines — impulse and reaction principles, velocity diagrams.
MANUFACTURING AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Engineering Materials: Structure and properties of engineering materials, heat treatment, stressstrain diagrams for engineering materials.
Metal Casting: Design of patterns, moulds and cores; solidification and cooling; riser and gating design, design considerations.
Forming: Plastic deformation and yield criteria; fundamentals of hot and cold working processes; load estimation for bulk (forging, rolling, extrusion, drawing) and sheet (shearing, deep drawing, bending) metal forming processes; principles of powder metallurgy.
Joining: Physics of welding, brazing and soldering; adhesive bonding; design considerations in welding.
Machining and Machine Tool Operations: Mechanics of machining, single and multi-point cutting tools, tool geometry and materials, tool life and wear; economics of machining; principles of non-traditional machining processes; principles of work holding, principles of design of jigs and fixtures
Metrology and Inspection: Limits, fits and tolerances; linear and angular measurements; comparators; gauge design; interferometry; form and finish measurement; alignment and testing methods; tolerance analysis in manufacturing and assembly.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Basic concepts of CAD/CAM and their integration tools.
Production Planning and Control: Forecasting models, aggregate production planning, scheduling, materials requirement planning.
Inventory Control: Deterministic and probabilistic models; safety stock inventory control systems.
Operations Research: Linear programming, simplex and duplex method, transportation, assignment, network flow models, simple queuing models, PERT and CPM.
Linear Algebra: Matrix algebra, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values and eigen vectors.
Calculus: Functions of single variable, Limit, continuity and differentiability, Mean value theorems, Evaluation of definite and improper integrals, Partial derivatives, Total derivative, Maxima and minima, Gradient, Divergence and Curl, Vector identities, Directional derivatives, Line, Surface and Volume integrals, Stokes, Gauss and Green’s theorems.
Differential equations: First order equations (linear and nonlinear), Higher order linear differential equations with constant coefficients, Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations, Initial and boundary value problems, Laplace transforms, Solutions of one dimensional heat and wave equations and Laplace equation.
Complex variables: Analytic functions, Cauchy’s integral theorem, Taylor and Laurent series. Probability and Statistics: Definitions of probability and sampling theorems, Conditional probability, Mean, median, mode and standard deviation, Random variables, Poisson, Normal and Binomial distributions.
Numerical Methods: Numerical solutions of linear and non-linear algebraic equations Integration by trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule, single and multi-step methods fordifferential equations.
APPLIED MECHANICS AND DESIGN
Engineering Mechanics: Free body diagrams and equilibrium; trusses and frames; virtual work; kinematics and dynamics of particles and of rigid bodies in plane motion, including impulse and momentum (linear and angular) and energy formulations; impact.
Strength of Materials: Stress and strain, stress-strain relationship and elastic constants, Mohr’s circle for plane stress and plane strain, thin cylinders; shear force and bending moment diagrams; bending and shear stresses; deflection of beams; torsion of circular shafts; Euler’s theory of columns; strain energy methods; thermal stresses.
Theory of Machines: Displacement, velocity and acceleration analysis of plane mechanisms; dynamic analysis of slider-crank mechanism; gear trains; flywheels.
Vibrations: Free and forced vibration of single degree of freedom systems; effect of damping; vibration isolation; resonance, critical speeds of shafts.
Design: Design for static and dynamic loading; failure theories; fatigue strength and the S-N diagram; principles of the design of machine elements such as bolted, riveted and welded joints, shafts, spur gears, rolling and sliding contact bearings, brakes and clutches.
FLUID MECHANICS AND THERMAL SCIENCES
Fluid Mechanics: Fluid properties; fluid statics, manometry, buoyancy; control-volume analysis of mass, momentum and energy; fluid acceleration;differential equations of continuity and momentum; Bernoulli’s equation; viscous flow of incompressible fluids; boundary layer; elementary turbulent flow; flow through pipes, head losses in pipes, bends etc.
Heat-Transfer: Modes of heat transfer; one dimensional heat conduction, resistance concept, electrical analogy, unsteady heat conduction, fins; dimensionless parameters in free and forced convective heat transfer, various correlations for heat transfer in flow over flat plates and through pipes; thermal boundary layer; effect of turbulence; radiative heat transfer, black and grey surfaces, shape factors, network analysis; heat exchanger performance, LMTD and NTU methods.
Thermodynamics: Zeroth, First and Second laws of thermodynamics; thermodynamic system and processes; Carnot cycle. irreversibility and availability; behaviour of ideal and real gases, properties of pure substances, calculation of work and heat in ideal processes; analysis of thermodynamic cycles related to energy conversion.
Applications: Power Engineering: Steam Tables, Rankine, Brayton cycles with regeneration and reheat. I.C. Engines: air-standard Otto, Diesel cycles. Refrigeration and air-conditioning: Vapour refrigeration cycle, heat pumps, gas refrigeration, Reverse Brayton cycle; moist air: psychrometric chart, basic psychrometric processes. Turbomachinery: Pelton-wheel, Francis and Kaplan turbines — impulse and reaction principles, velocity diagrams.
MANUFACTURING AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
Engineering Materials: Structure and properties of engineering materials, heat treatment, stressstrain diagrams for engineering materials.
Metal Casting: Design of patterns, moulds and cores; solidification and cooling; riser and gating design, design considerations.
Forming: Plastic deformation and yield criteria; fundamentals of hot and cold working processes; load estimation for bulk (forging, rolling, extrusion, drawing) and sheet (shearing, deep drawing, bending) metal forming processes; principles of powder metallurgy.
Joining: Physics of welding, brazing and soldering; adhesive bonding; design considerations in welding.
Machining and Machine Tool Operations: Mechanics of machining, single and multi-point cutting tools, tool geometry and materials, tool life and wear; economics of machining; principles of non-traditional machining processes; principles of work holding, principles of design of jigs and fixtures
Metrology and Inspection: Limits, fits and tolerances; linear and angular measurements; comparators; gauge design; interferometry; form and finish measurement; alignment and testing methods; tolerance analysis in manufacturing and assembly.
Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Basic concepts of CAD/CAM and their integration tools.
Production Planning and Control: Forecasting models, aggregate production planning, scheduling, materials requirement planning.
Inventory Control: Deterministic and probabilistic models; safety stock inventory control systems.
Operations Research: Linear programming, simplex and duplex method, transportation, assignment, network flow models, simple queuing models, PERT and CPM.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Aerospace Flywheel Development
1) INTRODUCTION
Presently, energy storage on the Space Station and satellites is accomplished using chemical batteries; most commonly nickel hydrogen or nickel cadmium. A flywheel energy storage system is an alternative technology that is being considered for future space missions. Flywheels offer the advantage of a longer lifetime, higher efficiency and a greater depth of discharge than batteries. A flywheel energy storage system is being considered as a replacement for the traditional electrochemical battery system in spacecraft electrical power systems. The flywheel system is expected to improve both the depth of discharge and working life by a factor of 3 compared with its battery counterpart. Although flywheels have always been used in spacecraft navigation and guidance systems, their use for energy storage is new. However, the two functions can easily be combined into a single system. Several advanced technologies must be demonstrated for the flywheel energy storage system to be a viable option for future space missions. These include high strength composite materials, highly efficient high speed motor operation and control, and magnetic bearing levitation.2) COMPONENTS OF FLYWHEEL SYSTEM
The main components of the flywheel energy storage system are the composite rotor, motor/generator, magnetic bearings, touchdown bearings, and vacuum housing. The flywheel system is designed for 364 watt-hours of energy storage at 60,000 rpm and uses active magnetic bearings to provide a long-life, low-loss suspension of the rotating mass. The upper bearing of the unit is a combination magnetic bearing, providing suspension axially as well as radically. The lower magnetic bearing suspends the shaft in the radial direction only. At each end of the shaft there is also a touchdown bearing. This provides a back up bearing system should the magnetic bearings fail during testing.
The motor/generator unit is located at the lower end of the shaft. It consists of a two-pole rotor piece with surface mounted samarium cobalt magnets and a carbon fiber retaining wrap. On the stator side, there are three phase sinusoidally distributed windings in twelve slots. A water jacket around the stator provides cooling. Field orientation and a combination of mechanical sensor less techniques are used to control the motor from zero and low speed up to full speed operation. The self-sensing technique is used at zero and low speeds to start the machine, then the control is switched to a back-EMF based sensor less technique for the normal higher speed operating range of the machine.
A typical system consists of rotor suspended by bearings inside a vacuum chamber to reduce friction, connected to a combination electric motor/electric generator. On larger systems, the bearings are magnetic. The rotors are generally made of steel on smaller systems but large systems use high-tensile-strength fibers (such as carbon fibers) embedded in epoxy resins, or some other high-strength composite material. Energy is stored by using an electric motor to increase the speed of the spinning flywheel. The system releases its energy by using the momentum of the flywheel to power the motor/generator.
3) FLYWHEEL CONTROL
There are three modes of operation for the flywheel in a spacecraft power system
1) Charge
2) Charge reduction
3) Discharge
In charge mode, the solar array produces enough current to charge the flywheel at its set point and to provide the required load current. The solar array electronics regulate the DC bus voltage during charge mode.
In charge reduction mode, the solar array continues to provide load current but it can not provide enough current to charge the flywheel at its set point. When this occurs, the DC bus voltage regulation function is transferred to the flywheel system.
In discharge mode, the flywheel system provides the entire load current and regulates the DC bus voltage.
3.1) CHARGE, CHARGE REDUCTION AND DISCHARGE CONTROL
In charge mode, the flywheel charges at a constant power, constant DC current rate using the excess current from the solar array. The charge control algorithm regulates the acceleration of the flywheel motor so that the DC current is maintained at the commanded set point. There are two components to the controller: the proportional-integral (PI) and the feed-forward (FF). The feed-forward portion uses the DC charging current command and converts it into a motor current command. The measured DC bus voltage and the estimated rotor speed from the back EMF estimation algorithm. The PI portion makes up for any inaccuracies in the relationship and guarantees zero steady state error. Thus fast, accurate performance is achieved with relatively low gains.
In charge reduction and discharge modes, the flywheel motor must decelerate at the appropriate rate to maintain the DC bus voltage at the commanded value while supplying the necessary current to the loads Again, there are two components to the controller: the PI portion and a disturbance decoupling portion (DD). In the decoupling portion, the DC flywheel current is measured and used as an early indicator to the controller whether there has been an increase or decrease in load. If there is a sudden increase in load, the capacitor will initially maintain the bus voltage and there will be an increase in the DC current, Flywheel, to supply the new load. This increase in Flywheel is measured and used to calculate the corresponding motor current. Thus the motor responds by decelerating more quickly, even before a drop in the DC bus voltage causes the system is in charge mode (current regulation) when the solar array provides enough current to meet both the load demands and the charging current to the flywheel system. Otherwise, the system is in charge reduction or discharge mode which means the flywheel system is regulating the DC voltage bus.
The transition from current regulation to voltage regulation is accomplished in the following manner. The solar array regulates the bus voltage to a set point value higher than the flywheel regulation set point as long as the solar array current is sufficient to provide both the load and the charging current. Once the solar array current begins to drop off, the DC bus voltage begins to fall and the flywheel current, Flywheel, also drops. This transition is detected in the controller by comparing the difference between the actual DC bus voltage and the flywheel set point voltage to the "voltage transition constant", VTC.Once this difference is less than the VTC, the integrator in the PI portion of the controller is reset. This reduces the command at point 2 to a value slightly larger than Flywheel. This value is then compared to the charge current set point. If it is less than, which it will be if the solar array is not producing enough current, then the system transitions into charge reduction mode where the DC bus voltage is regulated by the flywheel system. Similarly, as the system moves from eclipse into sunlight, the solar array will produce more current. When the array produces enough current to meet the load demand, the command at point 2 in the controller will become positive. When it exceeds the charge current set point, the integrator in the current regulator portion of the controller is reset and the system transitions back into charge mode where the flywheel system regulates the current into the flywheel and the solar array system regulates the DC bus voltage.
The three modes of operation: charge, charge reduction and discharge, were defined based on a battery energy storage system. Because the flywheel system is intended to replace batteries, these modes were duplicated in the flywheel system control. However, the flywheel energy storage system is capable of regulating the DC bus voltage both when charging and discharging, obviating the need for multiple modes and the transition between them. Designing the flywheel system control to perform this regulation at all times would result in an overall simpler control strategy, even when considering the necessary provisions to prevent over-speed or over current operation. This is an area for future study.
4) AEROSPACE FLYWHEEL CHALLANGES
The primary factor preventing the application of flywheels to long-term energy storage is loss in the bearings. Any mechanical bearing with contact between the stationary and rotating parts will have enough loss to render the system uneconomical one solution to the problem is to use a non-contact active magnetic bearing that employs conventional electromagnets. The rotational loss of such a bearing is 1-10% that of a mechanical bearing under the same operating conditions. The problem, however, is that the bearing itself consumes power, which is dissipated as heat in the copper electromagnets, and the bearing and cooling system power consumption must be included in the calculation of the overall system efficiency. A reasonable magnetic bearing consumes a few watts for each kilogram of flywheel weight, depending on the structure of the bearing and the control system, and this loss is sufficient to make a system using copper electromagnets uneconomical. Superconducting magnetic bearings, on the other hand, have demonstrated losses of 10-2 to 10-3 watts per kg for a 2,000 rpm rotor. This translates to an overall one-day, "round-trip" system efficiency of 84%, which is acceptable.
5) FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE (
It works by accelerating a rotor to a very high speed and maintaining the energy in the system as inertial energy. Commercially available
6) ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Flywheels are not affected by temperature changes as are chemical batteries, nor do they suffer from memory effect. Moreover, they are not as limited in the amount of energy they can hold. They are also less potentially damaging to the environment, being made of largely inert or benign materials. Another advantage of flywheels is that by a simple measurement of the rotation speed it is possible to know the exact amount of energy stored. However, use of flywheel accumulators is currently hampered by the danger of explosive shattering of the massive wheel due to overload.
One of the primary limits to flywheel design is the tensile strength of the material used for the rotor. Generally speaking, the stronger the disc, the faster it may be spun, and the more energy the system can store. When the tensile strength of a flywheel is exceeded the flywheel will shatter, releasing all of its stored energy at once; this is commonly referred to as "flywheel explosion" since wheel fragments can reach kinetic energy comparable to that of a bullet. Consequently, traditional flywheel systems require strong containment vessels as a safety precaution, which increases the total mass of the device. Fortunately, composite materials tend to disintegrate quickly once broken, and so instead of large chunks of high-velocity shrapnel one simply gets a containment vessel filled with red-hot sand (still, many customers of modern flywheel power storage systems prefer to have them embedded in the ground to halt any material that might escape the containment vessel). Gulia's tape flywheels did not require a heavy container and reportedly could be rewound and reused after a tape fracture.
When used in vehicles, flywheels also act as gyroscopes, since their angular momentum is typically of a similar order of magnitude as the forces acting on the moving vehicle. This property may be detrimental to the vehicle's handling characteristics while turning. On the other hand, this property could be utilized to improve stability in curves. Two externally joined flywheels spinning synchronously in opposite directions would have a total angular momentum of zero and no gyroscopic effect.
7) APPLICATIONS
In the 1950s flywheel-powered buses, known as gyro buses, were used in Yverdon, Switzerland, and there is ongoing research to make flywheel systems that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and have a greater capacity. It is hoped that flywheel systems can replace conventional chemical batteries for mobile applications, such as for electric vehicles. Proposed flywheel systems would eliminate many of the disadvantages of existing battery power systems, such as low capacity, long charge times, heavy weight, and short usable lifetimes. Flywheel systems have also been used experimentally in small electric locomotives for shunting or switching.
8) CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
This paper has presented a new algorithm for regulating the charge and discharge modes of a flywheel energy storage system using a sensor less field orientation control algorithm to provide the inner loop torque control. The algorithm mimics the operational modes presently found in battery systems and would allow the flywheel system to replace batteries on future spacecraft. Experimental and simulation results show the successful control of the flywheel system permanent magnet motor in all modes of operation. Additionally, transition between modes and DC bus voltage regulation during step changes in load was also demonstrated. A future application of flywheel technology is to use flywheels to combine the energy storage and the attitude control functions on a spacecraft. A minimum of four flywheels would be needed to provide three axes of attitude control plus power during eclipse
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