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.
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