Sunday, September 28, 2008

3D digital camera - super wide angle


Next-Gen Camera Gear Debuts at Photokina 2008

By Jock Fistick 09.26.08

Fuji is showing off a functioning prototype of its new FinePix Real 3D System which debuted at Photokina. The camera incorporates dual-imaging sensors that can simultaneously capture two images and then instantaneously process them into a single image file via the newly developed RP (Real Photo) Processor 3D.

The camera has a 2.8-inch LCD that is capable of resolving 3-D images as well as conventional 2-D picture files. Looking at the camera's LCD display and seeing a 3-D image jumping out at you will take a bit of getting used to, but it is cool nonetheless. The two separate sensors opens up a whole world of possibilities, and not just for 3-D:

Multiple zooms: Set the two lenses independently of each other to capture a wide angle and telephoto view of the same scene simultaneously.

Ultrawide panoramic shooting: Images taken by shooting the left and right side of a wide landscape can be automatically stitched together in the camera to make a superwide panoramic image.

Record video and still images simultaneously: The camera employs two lenses and two sensors: (one lens/sensor can be recording video and the second lens/sensor can be used to snap a high-resolution still image at any time without interrupting the video recording.

Look for the consumer version in 2009.

Photo: Jock Fistick/Wired.com

http://www.kodak.com/US/images/en/corp/1000words/stereoCamera.jpg

Kodak stereo camera antique


ujifilm announces a radical departure from current imaging systems with the development of a completely new, real image system (3D digital camera, 3D digital photo frame, 3D print) that marks a complete break from previous attempts to introduce this technology. The arrival of digital photography over a decade ago opened up so many new ways of enjoying images, not only through capture, but also through manipulation, printing and display. Sales of digital cameras, and other devices like camera phones or webcams have raced ahead of what experts had expected because of the sheer scope of what has become possible in digital imaging. Fujifilm 3D camera

Fujifilm 3D camera system
Fujifilm is determined to push those boundaries yet further, to produce devices which offer new ways to capture and process images, and to expand consumer enjoyment of photography in ways that had hitherto only been imagined. Fujifilm has a strong research program currently running to improve every aspect of capture and output. This is based on the broad concept of producing images as lifelike as possible, or more simply, 'capturing an image exactly as your eye sees it.' The 'Real Photo Technology' program is determined to improve key quality metrics for each generation of camera, like 'high resolution with low noise', 'expanded wide dynamic range', 'intelligent scene recognition', 'intelligent flash', 'face detection' etc., culminating in the announcement this September of a new type of sensor, Fujifilm Super CCD EXR, which will take image quality to levels hitherto undreamed of.

Fujifilm 3D camera

3D photography systems
Previous 3D systems were hampered by poor image quality, and a cumbersome user experience, which often meant the need for special 3D glasses. One major benefit of the FinePix Real 3D System is that for digital camera LCD playback, display and print, the consumer can enjoy the image just as it was originally seen with the naked eye. The same research team is determined to use these key technologies to open up a new market with 3D imaging. The new 3D image system features advanced image signal processing and micro-component technologies, and is so far able to demonstrate a camera, a viewing panel and a 3D printing system.

Fujifilm 3D camera

Fujifilm 3D camera processor
The 3D camera depends heavily on a newly developed chip called the 'RP (Real Photo) Processor 3D' which synchronises the data passed to it by both CCD sensors, and instantaneously blends the information into a single high quality image, for both stills and movies. 'Built-in 3D auto' determines optimal shooting conditions from both sensors. 3D auto means that as soon as the shutter is depressed, key metrics for the image, such as focus, zoom range, exposure, etc. are synchronised.

Fujifilm 3D camera

Real 3D digital photography
The camera is also fitted with built-in synchro control, giving 0.001-second precision for shutter control and movie synchronisation. The processor uses the very latest technologies of high sensitivity and high resolution as the newest 2D processors. Special identical high quality compact Fujinon lenses have been developed for the 3D system to ensure complete conformity between the left and right images. The LCD monitor system has also been completely revised. The camera is fitted with a 2.8-inch, 230,000 pixel LCD. Thanks to a new engineering approach, screen flickering and image deterioration, thought to be difficult to overcome, are reduced to an absolute minimum to achieve beautiful, natural 3D images. The screen will also resolve 2D images as any other camera LCD.


http://www.livingroom.org.au/photolog/kodak-v570.jpg

kodak v570 (not a stereo camera but a separate wide-angle lens!)

The Kodak EasyShare V570 is a digital camera that takes what Kodak offers in their range in a new direction with what they are billing as the world's first dual-lens digital still camera. One lens is an ultra wide angle lens (23mm) and the other a 5x Optical zoom (39 - 117mm). Each lens has it's own CCD - both of which are linked to the camera's 5 megapixel CCD sensor.


Bookmark and Share
posted by u2r2h at Sunday, September 28, 2008 0 comments

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Venice 2008 Film Festival

The 65th Venice International Film Festival, one of the most prestigious in the world with Cannes and Berlin, closed on September 6th. While Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler won the festival’s biggest prize, if you take a look at all the “collateral awards”, quite a few films emerge.


http://ethiopianfilmsfestival.com/images/film.jpghttp://www.asharpshow.com/photos/hgerima.jpghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/showcase/submitted/images/gallery/12068122685099883233_1.jpg


Thus the Italian film Giovanna’s Father and the Ethiopian filmTeza both garnered 5 awards while the Italian Pranzo Di Ferragosto, the American The Hurt Locker, and the Italian/French/Romanian Pa-ra-da collected 4 awards each. Additionally, the Italian documentary Below Sea Level won 3 awards and the Russian Paper Soldier, the American Vegas: Based On A True Story, the Sri Lankan Machan, the Japanese Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea and the French films Stella and L’Apprenti each got 2 awards.

View the full list of winners right here:

Main Prizes

Golden Lion for best film: Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler

Silver Lion for best director: Aleksei German MI. for Paper Soldier (Bumaznyj Soldat)

Special Jury Prize: Haile Gerima’s Teza

Coppa Volpi for best actor: Silvio Orlando in Giovanna’s Father (Il Papà Di Giovanna)

Coppa Volpi for best actress: Dominique Blanc in L’Autre

Marcello Mastroianni Prize for best emerging actor or actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Burning Plain

Osella for best cinematography: Alisher Khamidhodjaev and Maxim Drozdov for Paper Soldier

Osella for best screenplay: Haile Gerima for Teza

Special Lion for overall work: Werner Schroeter

Luigi De Laurentis Award for debut film: Gianni Di Gregorio’s Pranzo Di Ferragosto

Horizon Prizes

Premio Orizzonti: Lav Diaz’s Melancholia

Premio Orizzonti Doc: Gianfranco Rosi’s Below Sea Level

Special Mention to: Philippe Grandrieux’s Un Lac and Huang Wenhai’s Women

Short Film Prizes

Golden Lion for best short film: Carlos Armella’s Tierra Y Pan

Special Mention to: Karchi Perlmann’s Vascora

U.I.P. Award for best European short film: Joost Van Ginkel’s Zand

Collateral Awards after the jump

Collateral Prizes

FIPRESCI Award for best film: Tariq Teguia’s Inland (Gabbla)

FIPRESCI Award for best film in the Horizons and International Critics’ Week: Ramin Bahrani’s Goodbye Solo

SIGNIS Award for best film: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker

SIGNIS Special Mention to: Amir Naderi’s Vegas: Based On A True Story and Haile Gerima’s Teza

International Critics’ Week best film: Samuel Collardey’s L’Apprenti

SNGCI Award for best film: Gianni Di Gregorio’s Pranzo Di Ferragosto

SNGCI Special Mention to: Marco Pontecorvo’s Pa-ra-da

SNGCI Award for best actor: Silvio Orlando in Giovanna’s Father

SNGCI Award for best actress: Isabella Ferrari in A Perfect Day (Un Giorno Perfetto)

Isvema Award for debut or seond film: Gianni Di Gregorio’s Pranzo Di Ferragosto

Label Europa Cinemas Award for best film: Uberto Pasolini’s Machan

Sicily Film Commission Doc/it Award: Gianfranco Rosi’s Below Sea Level

Sicily Film Commission Doc/it Special Mention to: Samuel Collardey’s L’Apprenti

Golden Lion Cub Award for best film: Pupi Avati’s Giovanna’s Father

Cinema for UNICEF commendation: Haile Gerima’s Teza

Art Cinema Award: Mikhail Kalatozishvili’s Wild Field

Venice Cinema Award: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker

Enrico Fulchignoni Award: Marco Bechis’ Birdwatchers (La Terra Degli Uomini Rossi)

Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Award: Sylvie Verheyde’s Stella

Biografilm Lancia Award for best fiction: Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married

Biografilm Lancia Award for best documentary: Gianfranco Rosi’s Below Sea Level

Nazareno Taddei Award: Pupi Avati’s Giovanna’s Father

Don Gnocchi Award: Marco Pontecorvo’s Pa-ra-da

Don Gnocchi Special Mention to: Ezio Greggio in Giovanna’s Father

Future Film Festival Digital Award: Mamoru Oshii’s The Sky Crawlers

Future Film Festival Digital Special Mention to: Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea (Gake No Ue No Ponyo)

Brian Award: Bahman Mo’tamedian’s Khastegi

Queer Lion Award: Stefano Tummolini’s Un Altro Pianeta

Lanterna Magica Award: Marco Pontecorvo’s Pa-ra-da

CinemAvvenire best film: Amir Naderi’s Vegas: Based On A True Story

CinemAvvenire Peace & Diversity Award: Haile Gerima’s Teza

FEDIC Award: Uberto Pasolini’s Machan

Bastone Bianco Award: Takeshi Kitano’s Achilles And The Tortoise (Achilles To Kame)

Human Rights Film Network Award: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker

Arca Cinemagiovani Award for best film: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker

Arca Cinemagiovani Award for best Italian film: Gianni Di Gregorio’s Pranzo Di Ferragosto

Arca Cinemagiovani Altre Visioni Award: Yeo Joon Han’s Sell Out!

EIUC Human Rights Film Award: Akram Barmak’s Kabuli Kid

Lina Mangiacapre Award: Sylvie Verheyde’s Stella

Air For Film Fest Award: Marco Pontecorvo’s Pa-ra-da

Open Award: Philip Haas’ The Butcher’s Shop

Poveri Ma Belli Award: Paolo Benvenuti’s Puccini E La Fanciulla

Mimmo Rotella Foundation Award: Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea


http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h98/monaib/hypocracy.jpg



OVERVIEWED: Decolonizing the Mind
Third Cinema and the World: Some Stations on the Journey
By James Neil
‘Create two three… many Vietnams – that is the watchword.’
Ernesto Che Guevara, from Message to the Tricontinental, 1966

With revolutions in Egypt (1952), Cuba (1959), Algeria (1962) and the newly independent countries of Africa in the 1950s and 1960s the ‘third world’ was placed firmly on the political world stage by 1968. These changes inspired mass cultural movements and a confident New Left, and helped to make that year an astonishing one for cinema, with antecedents and a profound legacy.

European filmmakers Joris Ivens, Chris Marker, Agnes Varda and Cesare Zavattini spent considerable time in Cuba, either making films or teaching at the newly established film institute. One significant local director was Santiago Alvarez who made NOW (1965) - a short visceral pamphlet documentary composed of stills and moving images of the Civil Rights struggle, Klu Klux Klan lynching and police brutality. The film weaves a narrative of struggle through rapid montage and reaches a crescendo with Lena Horne’s stirring title song, evoking a powerful sense of urgency. Meanwhile, Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea focuses on a petty-bourgeois intellectual who cannot comprehend the dynamic changes preceding the Bay of Pigs invasion and Missile Crisis. Complex and layered in its use of documentary forms, Memories questioned intellectual political commitment and marked a mature Cuban filmmaking free of didacticism.

The first Tricontinental conference in Havana in January 1966 brought together liberation movements from across the world. Che Guevara’s message for global left-wing unity informed Fernando Solanas’ and Octavio Getino’s The Hour of the Furnaces (La Hora de los hornos, 1968) (see p.58). Their manifesto ‘Towards a Third Cinema’ envisages a cinema that is neither ‘First Cinema’ (commercial, as in Hollywood), or ‘Second cinema’ (art without political commitment). Instead, they advocated a ‘Third Cinema’ that could act as a catalyst and foment social and political change.

Despite their materialist Marxist approach, Solanas and Getino argued that Third Cinema could be made anywhere and Hour… was edited into segments so that each reel could be screened individually to initiate discussion. The film created a dynamic dialectical synthesis between contending forces. Political commitment determined film form.


A leading exponent of Brazil’s ‘Cinema Novo’ movement was Glauber Rocha. His Black God White Devil (1964) follows a bandit who kills his cheating landowning boss and then befriends a messianic preacher who advocates violence. Surreal and naturalistic by turns, the film blends mysticism, religion and radical political ideas. In his manifesto, ‘An Aesthetic of Hunger’, Rocha expounds the ideas of key thinker Frantz Fanon arguing for a cinema that serves ‘the great causes of our time’ and ‘an aesthetics of violence’ which challenges dominant cinematic practice directly. In so doing the ‘colonizer [will] understand, through horror, the strength of the culture he exploits.’ Applying Brechtian distanciation and a dazzling array of stylistic strategies he created a ‘baroque’ Latin American form that would be an important precursor to 1968.

.
.

Fanon’s seminal book The Wretched of the Earth traced his trajectory from a psychiatric practitioner to his commitment to ‘revolutionary violence’ as exemplified by the FLN, the Algerian liberation movement. Three decades after Rocha’s work, Isaac Julien produced Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Mask (UK, 1996), a complex poetic study of one of the twentieth century’s pivotal cultural figures. Mixing archive footage, commentary and experimental dramatisation, it delves into Fanon’s studies of the effects of colonialism and his self-understanding as a ‘colonized individual.’

Among the most audacious and riveting films on the Algerian liberation struggle was The Battle of Algiers (1966) by director Gillo Pontecorvo and producer Yacef Saadi, charting 1956-57, when the FLN fought an urban guerrilla campaign against French occupation. Its grainy black and white episodic structure offers a documentary quality reminiscent of newsreel and continues to have a profound contemporary relevance. In the 1950s René Vautier joined the FLN in Algeria and established a film unit called the ‘Groupe Farid’ with Ahmed Rachedi and Djamel Chanderli. Together they produced an extraordinary elegy on the liberation struggle Algeria in Flames /L’Algérie en flammes (1958).

The Egyptian director Youssef Chahine offered the world The Earth /Al-Ard (1969), a neo-realist chronicle of a peasant village’s struggle against an unscrupulous landowner. Rich with symbolic motifs it shows how political oppression does not necessarily engender solidarity among the disinherited when they are disunited.

.
.

Three filmmakers who emerged as giants of African cinema were Djibril Diop Mambety, Ousmane Sembene and Haile Gerima. Mambety directed the visually stunning Touki Bouki (Senegal, 1973) about a scheming couple who try to emigrate to France. Firmly modernist in its critique of the colonising force of Western consumer bourgeois life, it deploys vérité techniques and wry humour. Black Girl (1966) is Sembene’s pioneering film about Diouana, who travels to France to become a housemaid. Her white employers had left Senegal yet never came to terms with their reduced status in France. They both mistreat Diouna and collect aspects of Africa, like a mask that becomes both a symbol of Diouna’s separation from Senegal and part of the post-colonial Western appetite for a commodified African culture.

Harvest 3000 Years (Ethiopia, 1975) by Haile Gerima follows Kebebe, a wandering musician who was robbed of his land by a landowner whilst away fighting Italian fascism. Kebebe assumes the role of a griot and through his songs agitates the peasantry to rise up against an outdated and pernicious feudal system. The film’s impressive mise-en-scene posits the story within the broader historical context of the continent’s colonialist legacy. From across three continents, these films reflected and engendered a rising consciousness that found its moment of epiphany in Paris in 1968.

James Neil is an independent film curator. Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Mask; The Battle of Algiers and Harvest 3000 Years will be screened at London’s Birkbeck Cinema on Saturday 3rd May.
Bookmark and Share
posted by u2r2h at Wednesday, September 24, 2008 0 comments

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Stop Cancer - Free Drinks - Free Sex




911 - PHYSICS

North Tower Pulverization
The top is already gone - what is pressing down on this massive building?

South Tower Pulverization
Stop calling this a "collapse"

Blown to Kingdom Come
Smoke pours up; the building peels to the sides all the way down to the ground.

South Tower Obliteration
If the top part is what is pile-driving the bottom part, why is it shorter than the top of the North Tower next to it? If gravity is all that is doing this, doesn't all that dust mean that the lower part is resisting the upper part? How is the top part losing mass at the same time it is driving the lower part downward in "free-fall"? (the ENTIRE DEMOLITION TOOK 10 seconds!, AMAZING, but TRUE!)

Strong Building
Those massive core columns could support the building's weight several times over. The external columns could also bear 40% of the building's weight with no wind, and also could withstand steady wind loads of 30 times the weight of a Boeing 767.

"Flight 175"
Real planes don't do this. Holographs do.
Watch THIS MOVIE and be flabbergasted about TV Fakery.
Go here and see the more weird photos.


But maybe you rather be left in peace..
then do nothing, the LORDS of this world have you under control, just watch TV.




Bookmark and Share
posted by u2r2h at Tuesday, September 23, 2008 0 comments

Friday, September 19, 2008

Free Piston - Generator for the 3rd World

Can someone please make a 1kw free piston multi-fuel indestructible Engine to power the third world? Like make an FP-electric-motor moped, motorcycle or small van? Or something like the Tata Nano?

http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/assets/resources/2008/01/Tata-Nano.jpg


http://bioage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/lce.png

Modeling a Two-Stroke, Free-Piston HCCI-Like Engine for Hybrid Applications

3 November 2006

Lce
Basic design of a free-piston engine as generator (not the engine modeled). Click to enlarge. Source: Prof. Valeri Golovitchev, Chalmers

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, are exploring the development of a two-stroke, free–piston compression-ignited engine employing uniflow scavenging as a genset in hybrid applications.

Free-piston engines (engines without a crank) are under consideration by a number of developers as a potential high-efficiency engine for use in hybrids. The EPA, for example, is exploring the use of a free-piston engine in its heavy-duty hydraulic hybrid system.

The Chalmers researchers, as described in a paper presented at FISITA 2006, have developed a numerical analysis for their free-piston engine. The engine under exploration consists of a block with a double-ended cylinder and four exhaust valves at each end. Air flow is supplied through two belts with twelve intake ports in each. The researchers used a diesel fuel model in their calculations.

Combustion at alternating cylinder ends drives the piston assembly back and forth, thereby driving permanent magnets fixed on the connecting rod back and forth through the coils of the linear generator. The engine uses and HCCI-like combustion mode—Partially Premixed Compression Ignition (PPCI)—combustion to deliver high efficiency and low emissions.

The researchers varied engine design and spray parameters such as fuel injection timings and spray included angles to optimize the engine operation in terms of indicated efficiency and exhaust mixture composition.

To select high efficiency low emissions operating conditions for Diesel and HCCI combustion modes the parametric map analysis has been employed. Based on the map analysis, the optimal one- and multiple-pulse injection timings and profiles and external EGR levels were found for the engine under study. Two-cycle free – piston engine modeling demonstrated nearly similar pressure vs CAD histories in each cycle indicating the engine stable operation.

Resources:


On the graphic, notice the air assist fuel injector. One could have a diesel, w/variable cylinder compression, like the one Caterpillar is developing. The engine would compress the charge in the cyinder to 99.9-99.99% of HCCI pressure. Then a blast of high pressure air, maybe w/H2+O2 assist, would ignite the charge.
___It might be similar to another design that involved 2 cylinders (2cycle) side by side (one air compressor and one fuel air charge cylinder). That design might work with 3 cylinders (4cycle), with 2 fuel air and 1 air (2cycle). Another mod may be 3 cylinders, w/2 fuel air running on 2 cycle mode, 1 air @ 2x RPM via gears.

PemPek Systems of Australia (http://www.freepistionpower.com) has another free piston design with a linear generator - 100KW in a 280x280x660mm design - approx 100kg from what I can tell. Not as simple a design as Swedish one. Incorporates 4 pistons, which I assume are sychronized to reduce vibration. 100KW of electrical power in a 100kg/220lb package would be quite nice.


This reminds me of a free piston Stirling design. The way they counter acted vibration was to have another inline engine of the same configuration running in an opposing phase, to cancel vibration.


This engineer from Scandia created a start-up company, which attracted considerable attention here on West Coast. It was even highly praised by Lee Iacocca. Their design used loop scavenging and piston bottom forced induction. Also they flirted with HCCI.

The beauty of this concept is that tangential forces on piston are non-existed, and hence cylinder/piston skirt friction is minimal. It opens possibility to use low-friction ceramic coating and get rid of lubrication completely (and as a consequence to eliminate blow-by of oil on intake/exhaust ports). Simple stratified charge fuel injection, currently well established by a novelty at the time, could be easier to achieve then HCCI. Simple phasing mechanism like Scotch Yoke or better yet planetary Scotch Yoke certainly would work in such design, simplifying all thing dramatically

The main problems, as I understand, are high reciprocating mass, vibration, and troubles to compensate it in multi-cylinder design.


Take a look at the technical papers at sunpower.com to see the problems and fixes with stirling free piston linear alternators. Linear alternators are HEAVY and there is no way to get around it- basic physics gets in the way. The thing shown in the sketch would shake down the GM center.

On the other hand, free pistons can be balanced, and can have very high power, and can run on gas bearings with no wear for very long times. Long ago I tried a balanced, opposed IC free piston design with elecronically controlled valves and it looked good to me as a gas pumper driving a turbine. No money to pursue it.


I attended the SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress and Exhibition this last week. I visited with Peter Achten who was instrumental in developing the Chiron free piston engine (SAE paper 2000-01-2545). The Chiron, a hydraulic pumping free piston engine was licensed to Caterpillar for more development, which according to one Cat engineer that development project has been stopped.


The Pattakon PRE or Pulling Rod Engine presented at
http://www.pattakon.com/pre
seems a better and realistic approach for absolutely vibration free power plants with top overall thermal efficiency, power concentration and reliability.
It uses only tested, today technology.


http://www.pattakon.com/pre/PRE6b.gif


Free Piston Power Pack

The FP3 is a most efficient, low cost, elegant electric generator module of exceptional power density. Operation is based on 'free pistons' (unrestrained by con-rods or crank shaft) being driven back and forth inside cylinders by controlled internal combustion. Permanent magnets are attached to these pistons and move through stator coils, thus generating electric power.

Compression ratio and stroke, as well as exhaust valve timing and lift, are software controlled rather than through conventional mechanical means. The result is mechanical simplicity, unequalled efficiency and extremely low harmful emissions.

freepiston
(Figure 1: 100kW generator module)

Salient features of a 100kW FP3 module:

  • Size: 660x280x280mm
  • Mass: 100kg
  • Two-stroke operation
  • Integral charge compressor
  • Power Density: 1kW/kg; 2 kW/litre
  • Fuelled by Gasoline, Diesel (Bio, JP8), LPG, Ethanol, Hydrogen, etc.
  • Direct, high pressure fuel injection
  • Variable exhaust valve lift and timing
  • Variable compression ratio and stroke
  • Mechanical simplicity (software ‘replaces’ conventional con-rods, cam and crankshaft)
  • Readily scalable from 25 to 500kW output power
  • Efficiency 50%

What problem does our technology solve?

The FP3 has the potential to make a greater single contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions than any other technology currently available. Installed in a Series Hybrid Electric vehicle, it offers a significant reduction in fuel consumption and harmful emissions when compared with a conventional power train. It provides a means for oil to continue to be the primary automotive energy source but in an economically viable and environmentally responsible manner. The FP3 is a sterling solution to the land transportation fossil fuel waste-and-pollution conundrum.

http://www.freepistonpower.com/product-images/4fp3-17.jpg


Primary Application

The exceptional power density of the FP3 makes it possible to construct a Series Hybrid Electric Motor Vehicle capable of regenerating, storing and subsequently re-using the kinetic energy, presently wasted, when slowing down and braking. This is achieved without any compromise in vehicle mass, performance, handling and payload capacity. The up-shot is a substantial reduction in fuel consumption and harmful emissions.

Figure 2:  FP3 installed in a Series Hybrid Electric Family Sedan
(Figure 2: FP3 installed in a Series Hybrid Electric Family Sedan)
  • Kerb weight 1300kg (2860lb)
  • 100kW FP3 complete with power electronics and DSP control system
  • Installed lithium-Ion battery power 164kW
  • Electric wheel motors 4x50=200kW
  • 200kW wheel motor control
  • Wheel motor gear ration 6.75:1
  • Torque on wheels:
    • 2122Nm (1563ft/lb) 0-100km/h (62mph)
    • 1415Nm (1042ft/lb) 150km/h (93mph)
  • Acceleration 0-100km/h in 5.4 seconds
  • Full recovery and storage of kinetic energy when slowing down and braking
  • Fuel consumption (in accordance with NEDC): City= 2.4ltr/100km; Highway= 3.6ltr/100km

Status quo of the FP3 R&D program

The FP3 project was launched in February 2001. Prototype electronic control and power modules, sub-systems and internal combustion engine components as well as associated control software were developed.

We first ran a quarter section spark ignition prototype in October, 2004. Mover sensor-less position control performed well. Shortcomings in the scavenging process and linear generator efficiency were identified. Novel, tilted passive intake valves have been developed which significantly improve scavenging efficiency.

The linear generator has been completely redesigned and optimised. Electrical efficiency is expected to increase to 95%.

A Diesel head, with central injection and a novel quad exhaust valve with a total power consumption of less than 300W has been designed and constructed and is currently undergoing test with promising results.

A means of applying a ceramic coating to the Linear Generator Stator Assembly has been developed and is currently being applied.

We expect to be able to assemble and test our second-generation, Diesel prototype by December, 2007.

Figure 3:  25kW FP3 spark ignition prototype module under test
(Figure 3: 25kW FP3 spark ignition prototype module under test)

Passive Intake Valves Image

Four passive intake valves are located in the crown of each piston. They are seated poppet valves and form the intake ports through which fresh air enters the combustion chamber. The intake valves operate in a completely passive manner, i.e. there are no external controls. The opening and closing of the intake valves is governed by the pressure differential that exists between the compressor and the combustion chamber. The passive intake valves provide three major benefits:

  • Uni-flow gas exchange
  • Elimination of intake and exhaust slots in the cylinder wall resulting in reduced piston ring wear
  • Axial module length reduction by allowing the generator to overlap the combustion chambers

Development of a linear alternator-engine for hybrid electricvehicle applications
Cawthorne, W.R.; Famouri, P.; Jingdong Chen; Clark, N.N.; McDaniel, T.I.; Atkinson, R.J.; Nandkumar, S.; Atkinson, C.M.; Petreanu, S.
Vehicular Technology, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 48, Issue 6, Nov 1999 Page(s):1797 - 1802
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/25.806772
Summary:This paper examines the design and operation of a generation system that utilizes a linear crankless internal combustion engine in conjunction with a linear alternator. This system directly utilizes the linear motion of the piston to drive the alternator rather than first converting to rotary motion. The result is a more compact, reliable, and efficient unit as the system has only one moving part, making the system ideal for use in series hybrid electric vehicles. This paper describes the overall system design as well as the subsystems including the engine and alternator. A dynamic simulation is then presented which utilizes the model developed to determine the output characteristics of the system. The prototype system was successfully tested, and experimental results are also included
Bookmark and Share
posted by u2r2h at Friday, September 19, 2008 2 comments

Saturday, September 13, 2008

u2r2h world ranking current account

USA, England, Australia, Canada are net bloodsuckers to the world?

Germany has been the world's largest exporter of goods since 2003 and sold almost 1 trillion euros worth abroad last year. www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7784395

This is a list of countries and territories by current account balance, in millions of U.S. dollars

Rank Country Current account balance
(million US$)
1 Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China 372,000
2 Flag of Japan Japan 201,300
3 Flag of Germany Germany 185,100
4 Flag of Russia Russia 93,035
5 Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 88,890
6 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 67,890
7 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 59,280
8 Flag of Norway Norway 55,820
9 Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 51,490
10 Flag of Singapore Singapore 41,390
11 Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 36,110
12 Flag of Algeria Algeria 31,500
13 Flag of Sweden Sweden 30,190
14 Flag of Canada Canada 28,460
15 Flag of Malaysia Malaysia 25,930
16 Flag of the Republic of China Republic of China 23,800
17 Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong 19,870
18 Flag of Iran Iran 19,000
19 Flag of Finland Finland 17,120
20 Flag of Venezuela Venezuela 17,020
21 Flag of Nigeria Nigeria 14,610
22 Flag of Angola Angola 13,640
23 Flag of Austria Austria 12,610
24 Flag of Libya Libya 11,710
25 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg 11,300
26 Flag of Argentina Argentina 11,154
27 Flag of Belgium Belgium 11,040
28 Flag of Indonesia Indonesia 10,210
29 Flag of Brazil Brazil 10,200
30 Flag of the Philippines Philippines 9,040
31 Flag of Thailand Thailand 8,619
32 Flag of Chile Chile 8,184
33 Flag of Iraq Iraq 7,802
34 Flag of Qatar Qatar 7,733
35 Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan 7,535
36 Flag of Israel Israel 5,941
37 Flag of Denmark Denmark 4,699
38 Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 4,288
39 Flag of Oman Oman 3,785
40 Flag of South Korea South Korea 3,700
41 Flag of Egypt Egypt 3,115
42 Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 3,045
43 Flag of Botswana Botswana 2,231
44 Flag of Peru Peru 2,045
45 Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 2,009
46 Flag of Burma Burma 1,676
47 Flag of Gabon Gabon 1,626
48 Flag of Bolivia Bolivia 1,325
49 Flag of the Republic of the Congo Congo 1,094
50 Flag of Namibia Namibia 1,065
51 Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire 1,056
52 Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan 689.3
53 Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh 683
54 Flag of Morocco Morocco 433.9
55 Flag of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 314
56 Flag of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea 250
57 Flag of Yemen Yemen 178
58 Flag of Zambia Zambia 150
59 Flag of the British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands 134.3
60 Flag of the Cook Islands Cook Islands 26.67
61 Flag of Palau Palau 15.09
62 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Republic of Macedonia 5
63 Flag of Tuvalu Tuvalu 2.323
64 Flag of Samoa Samoa -2.428
65 Flag of Tonga Tonga -4.321
66 Flag of the Comoros Comoros -17
67 Flag of Kiribati Kiribati -19.87
68 Flag of Swaziland Swaziland -26.71
69 Flag of Lesotho Lesotho -28
70 Flag of Vanuatu Vanuatu -28.35
71 Flag of The Gambia Gambia -31.69
72 Flag of the Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia -34.3
73 Flag of Anguilla Anguilla -42.87
74 Flag of Belize Belize -54
75 Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe -58
76 Flag of Paraguay Paraguay -82
77 Flag of Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda -83.4
78 Flag of Uruguay Uruguay -100
79 Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan -102
80 Flag of Burundi Burundi -137.3
81 Flag of the Seychelles Seychelles -141
82 Flag of Chad Chad -144.5
83 Flag of Togo Togo -165.5
84 Flag of Rwanda Rwanda -172.8
85 Flag of Guinea Guinea -175
86 Flag of Malawi Malawi -180
87 Flag of Haiti Haiti -184.8
88 Flag of Cape Verde Cape Verde -218
89 Flag of Guyana Guyana -229.7
90 Flag of Uganda Uganda -241
91 Flag of Armenia Armenia -275.1
92 Flag of Benin Benin -278.8
93 Flag of Eritrea Eritrea -343.1
94 Flag of Laos Laos -355
95 Flag of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -409
96 Flag of Cambodia Cambodia -410
97 Flag of Malta Malta -411
98 Flag of Honduras Honduras -446
99 Flag of Fiji Fiji -465.8
100 Flag of Cameroon Cameroon -501
101 Flag of Mauritius Mauritius -552
102 Flag of Moldova Moldova -569
103 Flag of Ecuador Ecuador -600
104 Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan -677.3
105 Flag of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso -710
106 Flag of Mozambique Mozambique -726
107 Flag of Cuba Cuba -750
108 Flag of Nicaragua Nicaragua -754
109 Flag of Panama Panama -861
110 Flag of Albania Albania -918
111 Flag of El Salvador El Salvador -929
112 Flag of Tunisia Tunisia -935
113 Flag of Kenya Kenya -980
114 Flag of Senegal Senegal -1,034
115 Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka -1,118
116 Flag of Madagascar Madagascar -1,145
117 Flag of Vietnam Vietnam -1,199
118 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus -1,236
119 Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica -1,259
120 Flag of Tanzania Tanzania -1,422
122 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia -1,429
123 Flag of Ghana Ghana -1,470
124 Flag of Jamaica Jamaica -1,573
125 Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia -1,582
126 Flag of Jordan Jordan -1,690
127 Flag of Guatemala Guatemala -1,772
128 Flag of Ethiopia Ethiopia -1,851
129 Flag of the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic -1,993
130 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina -2,021
131 Flag of Syria Syria -2,160
132 Flag of Serbia Serbia -2,451
133 Flag of Belarus Belarus -3,056
134 Flag of Estonia Estonia -3,092
135 Flag of Slovakia Slovakia -3,119
136 Flag of Lebanon Lebanon -3,337
137 Flag of Iceland Iceland -3,384
138 Flag of Croatia Croatia -3,836
139 Flag of Ukraine Ukraine -3,890
140 Flag of Sudan Sudan -4,465
141 Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan -4,643
142 Flag of Colombia Colombia -5,132
143 Flag of Lithuania Lithuania -5,320
144 Flag of Mexico Mexico -5,414
145 Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic -5,701
146 Flag of Latvia Latvia -5,839
147 Flag of Pakistan Pakistan -6,477
148 Flag of Hungary Hungary -6,681
149 Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria -7,189
150 Flag of New Zealand New Zealand -9,973
151 Flag of Ireland Ireland -12,600
152 Flag of South Africa South Africa -16,280
153 Flag of Poland Poland -18,130
154 Flag of India India -18,530
155 Flag of Portugal Portugal -18,530
156 Flag of Romania Romania -20,950
157 Flag of France France -35,940
158 Flag of Turkey Turkey -36,270
159 Flag of Greece Greece -36,400
160 Flag of Australia Australia -50,960
161 Flag of Italy Italy -57,940
162 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom -111,000
163 Flag of Spain Spain -126,300
164 Flag of the United States United States -731,214




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/reprehensor/911/WPO_911_Sep08_graph.jpg
Bookmark and Share
posted by u2r2h at Saturday, September 13, 2008 0 comments