Segmentation is one of the 40 Inventive Principles of Problem Solving.
Ups and downs Elevators typically move in one of two ways; electric motors or hydraulics. Traction elevators Tall buildings typically use an electric drive motor to move a cable attached to the elevator car at one end and a counterweight at the other. The cable is suspended over a pulley which attaches to the motor…
So bridge and tunnel The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel connects the city of Hampton on the Virginia Peninsula with the City of Norfolk. Its 3.5 mile length is divided into two lengths of bridge and a tunnel in the middle. The middle tunnel section is to open up a vital shipping lane which includes traffic from…
Paging Dr. Spaceman Elon Musk isn’t setting out to change the world. He has bigger ambitions. He wants to change the destiny of the human race by making it interplanetary. First step, prove that Mars can be colonized. To that end, Musk’s company SpaceX took a bold step forward with the test flight of its…
Malcolm Gladwell’s TED talk “Choice, Happiness and Spaghetti Sauce” is a quick summary of psychophysicist Howard Moskowitz’s experiments on food and happiness. In his spaghetti experiments in the 1980s, Mowskowitz found that the data clearly divided American’s preferences into three groups, which Gladwell described as “people who like their sauce plain, people who like their sauce…
In an earlier post I speculated about alternatives to ancillary propellant systems for main propellant ullage (ensuring that fuel and oxidizer are available at the pickups in the main tanks). Another alternative has been identified by the Aerospace Club of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering. In this article they describe the use of baffles within the…
Tweel nice Conventional pneumatic tires use air pressure to maintain their shape and resistance to weight and driving forces yet also cushion the vehicle from road imperfections. Principle 29 – Pneumatics and Hydraulics Michelin has developed an airless tire called the Tweel. This is a merging of tire and wheel into an integrated unit. Principle 5…
In this video, Rick Spina, the executive chief engineer of crossovers at GM discusses how his team shaved 300 pounds from the Buick Enclave. Challenge your engineers Put money on it. For example, set a metric that says saving x weight is worth y dollars. That lets engineers pursue strategies that may be more expensive…
Boulevard Fransisco Medina Ascencio Puerta Vallarta’s main road is called the Boulevard Fransisco Medina Ascencio. It runs from the airport through the Hotel Zone and ends before downtown in the south. Northbound and southbound lanes are divided by a strip of grass with palm trees. On either side run four lanes of traffic, which are…
Canada has summer too, eh I talked about how air conditioners worked in a previous post. Living in Canada, if houses have air conditioning they are usually tied into a central forced air heating system. Principle 5 – Merging The same fan, thermostat, and set of ducts and vents can be used for cooling or heating. Principle…
“Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?” Erma Bombeck Miss you already, Puerto Vallarta Carmela and I just returned from a romantic vacation in Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta. While we went all carry-on for the flight from Toronto there, we checked a bag for the return…