Episodios
-
A Ukrainian made reduction light sport aircraft, the Aeroprakt A-22, appears to have been the platform for a drone attack on a Russian factory in Tataristan, only 800 miles behind the lines and deep inside Russia. While hardly a high-performance platform for drone conversion, these are light sport aircraft has several advantages.
The aircraft is cheap and simple, and uses mechanical flight controls that are relatively easy to automate. It uses no special materials and a commercially available engine, and in flight, is indistinguishable to radar from aircraft and helicopters. The attack was highly successful, and itâs likely that more will be seen on the battlefield in the future
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
The third test flight of the SpaceX Starship system ended in in the loss of the vehicle as both booster and the orbital vehicle failed. But both booster and space vehicle were far closer to mission success than either of the first two test flights, and changes are underway for flight four.
According to Jim Anderton, the reaction of the engineering team at SpaceX mission control was rather strange. The celebratory atmosphere and cheering make for a stark contrast to the very serious tone of NASA mission control in Houston during Space Shuttle and Apollo Saturn flights.
Is this youthful exuberance, or is there a generational shift in what was once an almost religious reverence for space vehicle launch operations?
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
¿Faltan episodios?
-
In complex systems, especially in aviation, itâs rarely possible to single out an individual or corporate unit for failures like those seen on Boeing aircraft recently. Several media outlets have been talking about a âbad week for Boeingâ with Boeing aircraft losing wheels, experiencing engine fires and dropping vertically while in cruising flight, causing passenger injuries.
On the heels of the Alaska Airlines door plug incident, the optics are bad â but the simple fact is, these incidents involve completely different aircraft models, built over a span of decades. With different failures, and different failure modes, itâs unlikely that Boeing is the sole cause of each one.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
A recent CNN story about a former Boeing employee who refuses to fly on the Boeing 737 Max went viral, throwing fuel on the fire over quality issues at the company.
For manufacturing professionals, missing bolts â although serious â are not especially surprising. Itâs not widely understood, but it is true that even 100% human visual inspection of a specification or attribute will not even come close to achieving zero-defect production.
Part of the reason is because of the natural limitations in human inspection, but a major issue is that inspectors are subject to the same personal issues that degrade their performance as any other employee. Legal and illegal substance use and abuse, physical illness, mental health issues and physical disability can all play a part.
How a corporation deals with underperforming quality control personnel is another factor. Automation of inspection processes will help, but can sometimes introduce a new level of uncertainty in quality assurance processes. Perfection will always be elusive, but statistically, the accident rate for air travel is at historic lows.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
Kei cars are cute, fun, affordable and not available in America.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
Things are becoming obsolete, faster. Why?
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
It isnât culture, profitability or accounting. Itâs the nature of the business.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
Hypersonic commercial space planes are just within reach using current technology, with a leading propulsion contender being Reaction Enginesâ SABRE combined cycle power plant.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
The Betavolt radioisotope-powered battery doesn't have great power output â but it is continuous, suggesting that this technology would be a complement to lithium-ion batteries in many applications such as industrial self-powered sensors.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
With Fordâs recent production cut for the F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup, many industry analysts are expressing doubt about the continued growth of demand for EVs in America.
With pickup trucks representing the highest volume and highest profit margin segment in the U.S. auto industry, why is demand for an electric version slowing?
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
The recent failure of a plug door in an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 generated lots of speculation about the cause of this unusual failure. As is frequently the case when components fall off aircraft, fasteners were immediately brought into question.
Whether or not the plugs were positively fastened to the airframe is still in question, but the mainstream media refers to all aviation fasters as âbolts,â and frequently implies that fasteners are the primary restraining force against cabin air pressure.
While missing fasteners could definitely allow the plug to shift, screws donât hold back the pressure; the design of the plug does.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
The Robinson R22 and its larger sibling the R44, are two of the most widely produced light helicopters in the world. They are relatively cheap to buy, and have low operating costs, making them popular with flight schools, private pilots and law enforcement agencies. They also have a reputation for crashes.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
EVâs are the future of motoring. Quiet, smooth, no pollution and no gas. Performance? With both high horsepower and very high torque off idle, we know that electric vehicles are fast and quick. So whatâs not to like?
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
*This is our last episode of 2023! We'll be back again the week of January 8th.*
Golf equipment, particularly golf balls, have seen significant impact of technological advancements, leading to longer driving distances. This trend poses challenges for golf course design as courses struggle to accommodate the increased length. To address this, the PGA, in collaboration with the Royal and Ancient, plans to implement new engineering criteria for golf balls by 2028, aiming to reduce driving distances for both professional and amateur players.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
The Saturn 1 project originated with a U.S. Army requirement for a heavy lift launch vehicle in the late 1950s and was ready for initial test flights shortly after President Kennedy announced the Apollo moon landing program.
The timing was perfect, since the program needed launch vehicles to test Apollo flight hardware a fast as possible. Reliability of launch vehicle systems early 1960s was not good and explosions, guidance problems and propulsion failures were surprisingly common.
Saturn 1 however, in its first iteration, flew 10 times between 1961 and 1965, with no failures. And then the follow-on Saturn 1B flew 9 times, again with perfect reliability. Why? Great design and forward planning.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
If you live in Southeast Asia, you have multiple options for low-cost motor vehicles that are unavailable in North America. An example is the very utilitarian Toyota pickup, the IMV 0, which has a base price as low as as US$10,000. High style it isnât, but as a utility vehicle, it combines a very practical form factor with economy and solid engineering.
A typical entry level half-ton pickup in the United States has a transaction price well into the $40,000 range, and Toyotaâs own US product is frequently more expensive than that, much more expensive. Is there a market for very basic, rugged and inexpensive utility vehicles in America? With rising interest rates and inflation, the answer isâ possibly", but to date, no manufacturer has tested the big American market with a low-priced vehicle.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
While the second test flight of the SpaceX Starship space launch system ended with the explosion of both booster and spacecraft, perhaps the most technically challenging aspect of the mission, hot staging, operated perfectly. Hot staging simplifies rocket design by eliminating ullage rockets and associated sequencers, but itâs hard on the booster stage, which at SpaceX, is expected to not only survive, but fly back for a soft landing for eventual reuse.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
Fear that artificial intelligence will replace humans and create a miserable and dystopian world has been a staple of science fiction like the Terminator's Skynet.
But will it actually happen?
Faith in technology is the cornerstone of modern society and from the perspective of the average user, including engineers, computer software already operates as a kind of artificial intelligence. What matters are the answers, and the questionsâand until AI learns to read minds, that will always be where humans dominate.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
Heat pumps have been around for residential heating and cooling for decades, but the movement toward carbon-free energy has made them more relevant than ever. Compared to purely electric heat, heat pumps are four to five times more efficient. But can they actually replace the combustion of fossil fuels like natural gas, propane or kerosene?
That depends on multiple factors, including the sophistication of the heat pump, the ambient temperatures expected in winter, and whether or not an auxiliary combustion heater will still be needed. If the latter is true, the capital cost of two systems may argue for expenditures to reduce heat loss, rather than replacing the heat source.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
-
On March 31, 2022, the Biden Administration announced several measures to address the spike in oil prices caused by the Ukraine war, and slipped in an unusual measure: the Defence Production Act. The DPA is normally used in times of war to authoritatively allocate raw materials and finished goods according to a priority system to ensure that the military has what it needs. But itâs unusual to implement the DPA for raw material production in peacetime.
* * *
Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.
- Mostrar más