In this week’s episode of the Engineering Update starring Editor Kasey Panetta (@kcpanetta), Digital Editor Jason Lomberg (@JasonECNMag), and WDD’s Editor-in-Chief, Janine E. Mooney (@JMooneyWDD):
Smart luggage
The future of travel is here and it’s packaged up quite nicely. No, this is not about a change in airplane seating or Lockheed Martin’s supersonic commercial aircraft, this is something else. Something brilliant if you ask me! Delsey, a French luggage manufacturer, is protoyping a connected smart bag known as Pluggage. The bag links up to an app and offers features like fingerprint access, location tracking, an internal light, and a built-in smartphone charger. Yes, you heard that right. Not sure if your bag is packed too full? A built-in scale may be of assistance and will surely help you cut down on extra fees at the airport.
A space telescope that beats the Hubble
For most people, the images captured by the Hubble telescope are some of the greatest in the world. But what if it was possible to take images that were 1000 times sharper than those taken by Hubble? The University of Colorado Boulder is working an an instrument package called the Aragoscope. The researchers proposal was one of 12 selected by the NASA innovative advanced concept program for first phase funding and other projects include an orbiting device to capture tumbling asteroids and a robotic submarine for Titans Methane lakes.
Making tougher batteries with Kevlar
We usually picture Kevlar as the synthetic fiber used for ballistic vests, combat helmets, and other applications for personal armor. But the same material famed for its ability to stop bullets could also prevent batteries from catching fire and exploding. One of the reasons the batteries caught fire in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is because of a natural weakness in lithium ion batteries. Over time, dendrites form from the lithium atoms and break through the insulating membrane between each electrode.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
