Honda looking at engine heat to power hybrids

The batteries in hybrid cars now get recharged slightly whenever the driver taps the brakes. If research at Honda pans out, heat from the engines could do the same thing.

The Japanese auto giant has released a paper detailing how a Rankine cycle co-generation unit could help recharge the battery in a hybrid and thereby increase gas mileage, according to Green Car Congress. Honda put the Rankine unit in a test car (a Honda Stream) and found that the unit generated more electricity than regenerative braking. However, the unit isn't very efficient so more work will be required before Honda can put one of these in cars.

Waste heat, according to some, is one of the untapped sources of power in the world. Some have proposed harnessing the waste heat from nuclear plants to run water purification systems or produce hydrogen.

The tough part is that it's not easy. Paul Marcoux, vice president of Green Engineering at Cisco Systems, was recently asked if computer companies could harvest heat from processors and hard drives and turn that into power. Probably not, he said. The temperature generally doesn't get hot enough.

In a Rankine unit, a water pump keeps water under high pressure. Heat from the gas engine in a hybrid is then captured, compressed, and used to make steam out of the water. The steam then turns a generator to make electricity, which charges the battery that runs the electric motor.

Hybrids have two motors: One gas, one electric. In conventional hybrids, the electric motor powers the car around town while the gas motor does more of the work on the freeway. General Motors and Tesla Motors are building cars in which the gas motor doesn't drive the car at all, but runs a generator which charges the battery for the electric motor. Conceivably, a Rankine system could be used in either but would probably work better in a conventional hybrid because the gas engine is larger.

Right now, Honda's Rankine unit is only about 13 percent efficient.

Honda is also trying to bring efficient, cleaner, high-mileage diesels to the US.

Via CNET News.com

Rinspeed to debut submersible sQuba in Geneva

Rinspeed, a boutique automotive design company, plans on blowing away the upcoming Geneva auto show with its sQuba concept, a car that swims underwater, drives autonomously on land, and is emission-free. The car, based on a Lotus Elise, uses an electric motor to drive the wheels on land, plus two other motors to drive propellers underwater. According to Rinspeed, it uses a laser system to detect obstacles ahead so that it can drive itself. Rinspeed released video of the sQuba, showing that it really can swim underwater.

Sound familiar? James Bond's Lotus swam underwater in the 1977 movie, The Spy Who Loved Me. Of course, that was movie magic. The sQuba can float on the surface and--when the driver floods the open-top cabin--the car will submerge. Rather than sinking to the bottom, it can travel through the water at depths up to 10m. Along with its rear propellers, it has small water jets on the sides. Yes, the occupants will get wet, but an integrated scuba tank means they can breathe. Rinspeed points out that the interior materials won't be harmed by contact with salt water, although your tuxedo probably won't fare so well.

Look for our coverage of the sQuba and other cars at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show, starting March 4.

Via Crave CNET

EazzzY USB camera

This little concept idea from Korean designer Sungwoo Park harks back to the funky plastic toy cameras that run on ISO film, are dirt cheap and plenty of fun for impulse shoots that test your creativity and imagination. This is nowhere near a Lomo camera, however. It's so stripped-down, there's no buttons save one, a pinhole viewfinder and, gasp, no LCD display.

Try framing a decent group shot with this! That said, this tiny snapper ingeniously utilizes USB connectivity to directly download images, which means there has to be some memory onboard (no specs given) and a battery to power all this. Which also means you can conveniently plug-and-play your efforts on any device with a USB port anytime and hit the Del just as conveniently. Smile, and say Simple Simon.


Via Yanko Design

Nokia unveils "green" handset design

Nokia is going green.

The No. 1 cell phone maker in the world is showing off a conceptual cell phone design at the GSMA Mobile World Congress that is made of entirely renewable and recycled parts. The phone, called "Remade," was unveiled here during a keynote speech given by Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo on Tuesday.

The phone is being developed in Nokia's labs. And yesterday was the first time the thin, silver handset, had been shown publicly.

The device, which has an outer case made of renewable materials rather than petroleum-based plastic, doesn't yet make phone calls. And Nokia has not determined yet if it will actually manufacture the "Remade." But Kallasvuo said it showed what could be done with such materials and also gave insight into how Nokia thinks about its role in the global environment.



» Mobile World Congress 2008 show report

Via CNET News.com

Book-smart mobile phone

The Readius from Polymer Vision is part e-book reader, part mobile phone. Using e-ink technology, reading off its screen feels very much like handling real paper. We caught up with the people from this Netherlands-based company and came off with some impressions of the Readius. Read on for the full lowdown.

» Mobile World Congress 2008 show report

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