Samsung is the fastest-moving company in the electric car development scrum when it comes to patents, according to a Forbes study that found the electronics company had filed 3,094 auto patents total. (That’s compared to 101 for Tesla.) Samsung appears to be focused on battery and fuel cell technology. In other news, Tesla batteries may […]
Could Self-Driving Cars Make Drivers Less Alert?
Automated cars, whether self-driving or assisting a driver, are supposed to make the roads safer by removing the possibility of human error. However, one New York Times writer said after testing out a Mercedes-Benz S550 equipped with some of the same driver assistance features as other high-end cars from Cadillac and Tesla, it may not […]
Connected Cars Could Spot Potholes
This roundup covers connected cars, including Jaguars that scan the road in front of them for potholes, a connected car startup that raised millions in Series A funding, and protecting personal data in the age of the connected car. Jaguar is studying ways to let connected cars record information about pot holes and send it […]
Johnson Controls May Ditch Automotive Seat Division
Johnson Controls Inc. may be making some changes to the division that makes seats for automotive companies like Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagon. The parent company has been taking strides to move into different industries, which has "limited the automotive experience’s ability to make strategic growth investments," said CEO Alex Molinaroli. Automotive seating generated about […]
Tesla May Remove Battery Swap Option
Elon Musk said that the Tesla Model S battery swap program, in which owners can switch depleted battery packs for new ones in just 90 seconds, may itself be running out of juice. This comes from observations at a single Supercharger station between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the first to offer battery swap. “People […]
Mercedes-Benz Shows Off Home Batteries
Today, Daimler announced some more details about Mercedes-Benz’s answer to Tesla’s home battery. Pre-registration is now open for the Mercedes-branded home batteries. Like Tesla’s, these batteries are built on the same technology as electric car batteries. Eight Daimler battery modules of 2.5kWh can be assembled together for a full capacity of 20kWh. They will be […]
DIY ‘Laser Shotgun’ Burns Through Plastic
YouTuber and student Drake Anthony has crafted a dangerous 40 watt “laser shotgun” capable of melting through paper and wood. Military lasers can reach tens of kilowatts, but this is still an impressive DIY project, and one that even spooked Anthony: “I just built something so crazy that even I’m afraid to use it.” The […]
South Korean Team Kaist Wins Robotics Challenge
The South Korean robotics team Team Kaist, with their robot DRC-Hubo, took home the gold and a $2 million prize at the DARPA Robotics Challenge, held last weekend in California. There was much hauling, climbing and falling over at the competition, which tasked the robots with completing eight tasks related to clearing and repairing a […]
Built-In Breathalyzer Tested by Traffic Safety Board
The idea of locking a driver out of their car if they’ve been drinking has been around for several years, but now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has produced a test vehicle that displays two different methods to keep drunk drivers off the road. One, a breath test, detects traces of alcohol even when […]
U.S. Army Considers Use of Bug-Sized Drone
The Black Hornet is a tiny, 18-gram drone undergoing testing by the U. S. Army, and it’s already been used by British troops in Afghanistan to scout and look for snipers. This bug-sized drone carries a visual and thermal camera, and flies with rotors, like a tiny helicopter. It can be controlled one-handed with a […]