Greenpeace's new ship, built to order, is ready to sail
The 190-foot yacht is the third of its name, and the first built specifically for the environmental group. Greenpeace launched the first Rainbow Warrior, a converted fishery research vessel, in 1978. That boat met a violent end seven years later when French foreign intelligence agents bombed it in Auckland, New Zealand’s harbor, killing a Greenpeace photographer. The second Rainbow Warrior, a converted trawler, launched in 1989. It retired last August after 22 years in service.
The new $32-million ship was funded entirely by private donations from some 100,000 supporters. According to Greenpeace, it is one of the greenest ships of its class, relying primarily on wind power.
Greenpeace will use the ship to carry out campaigns against what the organization calls environmental crimes, like whaling and shipping timber from rainforests. Greenpeace will also use the ship—as well as its two existing ships, which are both icebreakers—to give free rides to scientists conducing climate-related research (Greenpeace has no editorial control over the work). The Rainbow Warrior can carry nearly nine tons of scientific equipment.
In late January, the ship finished its 18-day cross-Atlantic maiden voyage from Europe, where it was built, arriving in New York City for a series of educational pit stops. Today, it’s in Baltimore. After that, it’s headed to North Carolina and Florida. And then, the ship and crew will embark on their first mission together: a campaign against climate change in the Brazilian Amazon.
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LIGHTER BODY
Designers cut 100 pounds by using a higher proportion of lightweight aluminum- steel composite in the body. As the car travels faster, an adaptive rear spoiler shifts position, applying as much as 200 pounds of downforce to the rear wheels and increasing stability.
MORE-EFFICIENT ENGINE
The standard 3.4-liter, 350-horsepower flat-six boxer engine is 16 percent more efficient than the outgoing engine yet more powerful by five horsepower. The pricier 911 S comes with a 400-horsepower, 3.8-liter flat-six and runs from 0 to 60 in as little as 3.9 seconds.
FUEL-SAVING TRICKS
Both new 911s come with a stop-start system that powers down the engine at stoplights and fires it back up once the driver touches the accelerator. When coasting, the car’s “sailing” mode automatically idles the engine for further fuel savings.
SEVEN-SPEED STICK
After years of pushing “automated manual” transmissions, Porsche does stick-shift fans a favor by offering the new 911 with the first seven-speed manual transmission. A shift lock prevents drivers from selecting the highway-speed overdrive gear prematurely.
COMPUTER ASSISTANCE
A torque-vectoring system slows down the inside rear wheel to pivot the 911 more quickly around corners. Anti-roll assist (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control) senses cornering forces and adjusts the suspension to keep the body flat through turns.
ENGINE: 3.4-liter flat-six (3.8-liter flat-six in 911 S)
TOP SPEED: 178 mph (187 mph for 911 S)
PRICE: From $83,050
BIGGER BATTERY
At 85 kilowatt-hours, the Model S boasts more than triple the battery capacity of the Nissan Leaf. Its thousands of lithium-ion cells use a new electrode chemistry from Panasonic, which could allow them to store more power than other comparably sized cells.
FAST CHARGE
Tesla plans to install proprietary 440-volt charging stations (first along the I-5 Corridor between Los Angeles and San Francisco) built to match up with the Model S’s circuitry. They will provide a full charge in an hour. Standard chargers will require a full night.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
To protect the motor, circuitry and battery from heat, channels filled with liquid coolant run through the components. Pumps cycle coolant through a front radiator and a pair of A/C condensers. This helps the motor deliver twice the power of its Roadster predecessor.
LIGHT BODY
To increase the sedan’s range, the designers of the Model S kept its weight low with a body constructed from 97 percent aluminum. They added heavier structural steel only where necessary for safety: in central supports and front-end crash zones.
ROOMY CABIN
The Model S’s batteries sit beneath the floor in a large flat pack that spreads the width of the car and about two thirds of its length. This arrangement leaves ample space in the trunk for cargo or two backward-facing jump seats. The main interior holds five adults.
Top Speed:130 mph
Range: 300 miles
Seats: Five adults, two children
Price: $77,400
RP-1 would work even better. A kerosene fuel developed in the 1950s as a more efficient alternative to alcohol-based rocket fuels, RP-1 powered the Soyuz and Falcon 9 spacecrafts. “It’s a close relative of diesel fuel, so there is no real problem using it in diesel engines,” Martinez-Sanchez says. “The only special thing about RP-1 is a lower volatility and a higher viscosity, so the engine might not run well on cold days,” he says.
RP-1 probably isn’t worth the trouble, though. Rocket fuel is less efficient than gas, and it wouldn’t even make a car go any faster.
]]>RP-1 would work even better. A kerosene fuel developed in the 1950s as a more efficient alternative to alcohol-based rocket fuels, RP-1 powered the Soyuz and Falcon 9 spacecrafts. “It’s a close relative of diesel fuel, so there is no real problem using it in diesel engines,” Martinez-Sanchez says. “The only special thing about RP-1 is a lower volatility and a higher viscosity, so the engine might not run well on cold days,” he says.
RP-1 probably isn’t worth the trouble, though. Rocket fuel is less efficient than gas, and it wouldn’t even make a car go any faster.
]]>Custom fabrication is becoming easier and easier
STEP 1: DESIGN
Using Alibre Design Expert 3-D CAD software, I created an assembly, which lets you model previously designed parts as they will eventually fit together. In the assembly, I placed my throttle position sensor (TPS) over the fuel-injection pump to derive all the dimensions of my bracket from those two parts. I then modeled the bracket that will attach the TPS to the pump.
STEP 2: FABRICATION
I first 3-D-printed an inexpensive prototype to verify that my design would work. Then I looked to machine it. Parts better suited to conventional machining require a multi-axis CNC machine. For anything made from flat parts, a laser cutter is the best tool. Because my bracket would be made of sheet metal, I took the CAD model to a local shop that has a punch press, another type of CNC machine.
And, of course, video of the construction:
FABRICATION SHOPS AROUND THE WEB
eMachineShop: For laser cutting, injection molding, and a variety of other machining processes.
Ponoko: For laser cutting of plastics, cardboard, wood and other materials.
Shapeways: For 3-D printing.
One of the most inspiring shows we've been to
The cloud of doom that hovered over the last several North American International Auto Shows is finally gone. Detroit's Cobo Hall was a busy place this week, as the world's automakers unveiled an inspired crop of attractive sedans (many of them hybrids, and some with a plug), sports cars, and concepts. Here's a look at the highlights.
]]>One of the most inspiring shows we've been to
The cloud of doom that hovered over the last several North American International Auto Shows is finally gone. Detroit's Cobo Hall was a busy place this week, as the world's automakers unveiled an inspired crop of attractive sedans (many of them hybrids, and some with a plug), sports cars, and concepts. Here's a look at the highlights.
]]>The plan costs $50 million, but it'll be unlike any roller coaster ever built
BRC drew its concept from the “Vomit Comet,” the plane NASA uses to train astronauts. The KC-135A aircraft flies a looping parabolic path, creating about 25 seconds of microgravity each time it zips up and over the parabola’s camelback hump. BRC’s proposed theme-park ride would travel a somewhat simpler trajectory—up and then back down a soaring steel edifice, similar to the existing “Superman: Escape from Krypton” coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. But unlike Superman and other open-car coasters, the vomit-comet ride would be fully enclosed. Rather than the thrill of hurtling forward to one’s perceived doom, riders would enjoy the illusion of floating within a stable chamber.
To create that illusion, a linear induction motor system would speed coasters up the track with unprecedented precision. As the coaster approached a top speed of more than 100 mph, it would suddenly and ever so slightly decelerate—just enough to throw the passengers up from their seats, like stones from a catapult—and then quickly adjust its speed to fly in formation with and around the passengers. (The ride’s calculations would correspond to the unique heft of any particular group.) As the coaster reached the top of the track and began to drop back down, the computer system would continue to match its speed to that of the falling passengers, extending the sensation of weightlessness for several additional seconds, and finally rapidly decelerate to a stop back at the base station.
Roller coasters typically cost no more than $30 million, but Bob Rogers, BRC’s founder and chief creative officer, says the zero-gravity ride would cost $50 million or more, in large part because the precision-response propulsion system is so complex. But if someone were to write a check today, Rogers says, his company could be sending riders on weightless journeys by the end of 2013—and the new owners could make money on the side by renting the coaster after hours to scientists who wanted to perform the tests they now run using NASA’s original Vomit Comet. Simply by heading over to the amusement park, they too will be able to experience the equivalent of eight seconds in outer space—which, Rogers says, “will feel like forever.”
INSIDE THE RIDE
Passengers would enter the coaster through gull-wing doors, face forward, and sit upright, six to 16 to a car. They would buckle into simple two-point restraints, but the belts would be kept slightly slack so they would have room to rise out of their seats. Once aboard, they could remove from a small stand in front of their seats one of several tethered “scientific packages”—a cup filled with water, a ball, a gyroscope. In addition to experiencing weightlessness, they would be able to observe how the selected object changed properties in zero gravity. The cars would also be outfitted with drains. Should the ride live up to its nauseous namesake, attendants at the unloading stations would be ready with hoses.