An audacious and very costly orbiting science experiment set out to verify a subtlety of General Relativity by pushing the boundaries of science and engineering but ended with inconclusive and frustrating results. This is the final part of a four-part series on Gravity Probe B. What is the outcome and lessons of the GP-B experiment? […]
Gravity Probe B, Part 3: Brilliant science, incredible engineering, but mediocre results: Implementation
An audacious and very costly orbiting science experiment set out to verify a subtlety of General Relativity by pushing the boundaries of science and engineering but ended with inconclusive and frustrating results. Gravity Probe B was intended to measure the unmeasurable. Part 1 explored the principle, and Part 2 explored the plan of the experiment […]
Gravity Probe B, Part 2: Brilliant science, incredible engineering, but mediocre results: The plan
An audacious and very costly orbiting science experiment set out to verify a subtlety of General Relativity by pushing the boundaries of science and engineering, but ended with inconclusive and frustrating results. Gravity Probe B was intended to measure the unmeasurable. Part 1 explored the principle. This part explores the plan of the experiment and […]
Gravity Probe B, Part 1: Brilliant science, incredible engineering, but mediocre results: The principle
An audacious and very costly orbiting science experiment set out to verify a subtlety of General Relativity by pushing the boundaries of science and engineering but ended with inconclusive and frustrating results. On April 20, 2004, a Boeing Delta II rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base carried Gravity Probe B into orbit and so […]
Electric locomotives and catenary power systems – Part 4: maintenance and corona
The high-speed all-electric railroad locomotive uses a catenary-wire system and pantograph power-transfer arrangement, which appears to violate good engineering practice and should not work. Still, it does, transferring hundreds of amps via a contact point moving at over 100 miles/hour. Part 3 looked at the pantograph and catenary power system in more detail. This part […]
Electric locomotives and catenary power systems – Part 3: power delivery
The high-speed all-electric railroad locomotive uses a catenary-wire system and pantograph power-transfer arrangement, which appears to violate good engineering practice and should not work. Still, it does, transferring hundreds of amps via a contact point moving at over 100 miles/hour. Part 2 of this article looked at power issues and numbers related to the […]
Electric locomotives and catenary power systems – Part 2: power needs
The high-speed all-electric railroad locomotive uses a catenary-wire system and pantograph power-transfer arrangement, which appears to violate good engineering practice and should not work. Still, it does, transferring hundreds of amps via a contact point moving at over 100 miles/hour. Part 1 looked at the basics of diesel-electric versus all-electric locomotives. This part looks at […]
Electric locomotives and catenary power systems – Part 1: basic functions
The high-speed all-electric railroad locomotive uses a catenary-wire system and pantograph power-transfer arrangement, which appears to violate good engineering practice and should not work. Still, it does, transferring hundreds of amps via a contact point moving at over 100 miles/hour.: There are four ways to power a railroad locomotive: via a steam engine (with a […]
The proving ring – An alternative to dead-weight calibration, Part 2
The proving ring implements a simple principle of physics to provide precise and tangible indication of applied weight ranging up to hundreds of thousands of pounds Part 1 of this article looked at the basic problem of calibrating sensor-based data acquisition and especially the problem of calibration of weight and force. This part looks at […]
LiDAR and Time of Flight, Part 4: Circuitry and advances
LIDAR systems and ToF techniques are critical to providing self-driving cars with a detailed picture of the surrounding and is used in many research applications as well. This is the final part of a four-part series on LIDAR systems and ToF techniques. The high-level block diagram of a LIDAR system inherently glosses over the many […]