Europium: Technology

Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

2 August 2018

Turing saves the world (again)!

Click HERE to read the NYT article!

2 April 2017

Is 3D printing a revolution?

A 3D home...

Everyone has heard of 3D printing. But are 3D printers just a trend or are they really a technological revolution? How does 3D printing work, and will 3D printers be available in our everyday lives?

The most common 3D printers are of simple design, made up of very few components. The most important part of the machine is called the extruder head. It is a kind of nozzle which warms up the filament of plastic that you want to print with, and drop it by tiny layers (0,1 to 0,4 mm) on the printing bed, which is also warm to prevent the plastic from cooling down too fast and crinkling. The extruder head moves on the x and y axis (the horizontal axis) and the bed moves on the y axis (the vertical axis). This allows the happy owner of a 3D printer to print any small object with a special plastic and lot of patience because it is really hard to have accurate printing for beginners. It sometimes takes a few hours to print even small stuff but patience is the first quality of a good handyman.

Nowadays it is quite easy to get a 3D printer. The ready-to-print models sell for as low as $1000, but you can buy a kit for $300 even though they are quite hard to build and really tough to calibrate, so that option is only for advanced DIY enthusiasts.

3D printers are one of the most amazing revolutions of the 21st century but we haven’t seen anything yet. Some of these 3D printers are being developed to build buildings and houses on a huge scale… Amazing isn’t it? If building construction by 3D printing has long been a fantasy, the high-speed development of this technology will make this dream a reality. Many companies are looking into this project and a Russian firm has even managed to print a 37 m² house! There will be legal constraints however; respecting building regulations will be a much greater challenge than the technical aspect itself. Also, many jobs will disappear in the building sector… Meanwhile, 3D construction companies are looking for partners to support them in their projects; so, engineers, investors and developers, if you want to be part of the revolution, contact them without further delay!

Article by Jean Plassart, Nicolas Barbarin & Nicolas Moyne from Massillon (Clermont-Fd)

29 January 2017

A visionary project: the Hyperloop!

Click HERE to watch a TED talk by Elon Musk!

It is faster and cheaper than taking the plane and you do not have to leave Earth… Embark on Hyperloop, the train of the future straight out of the mind of Elon Musk, the American billionaire!

Elon Musk, born in South Africa in 1971, studied at Queen's University in Canada and at Stanford University in the United States. This wacky character is the real-life Iron Man since he is a jack-of-all-trades scientific genius. Judge for yourself: at twelve, he created his first video game program, and, before the age of thirty, he had created the Zip2 computer software which allows content to published online, as well as bank X and the PayPal online secure payment system. He is also the inventor of the electric cars of his Tesla Motors company and the founder of SpaceX, the space rocket company. He masters every technological domain, and his fortune is estimated at about $ 12.7 billion.

Hyperloop is a revolutionary means of transport: a train that will run at 1220 km per hour, i.e. just under the speed of sound, through a steel tube in which there is no air resistance (i.e. in a vacuum). Imagine a rollercoaster ride of carriages rushing unrestrained in a tube in which the air pressure is the same as in the stratosphere (45 km up in the sky). It is almost like being in space and so energy consumption will be very low. However, it will be necessary to ensure the safety of the passengers; they risk suffocating if the train breaks down inside the tube...

How does Hyperloop run? The train leaves the station on an electric engine. Then, once inside the tube, the train takes in air, compresses it and then pumps it out from behind in order to propel itself forward. It accelerates thanks to a magnetic system powered by solar panels fixed on the tube.

The 750 km separating Paris from Marseille would be swallowed up in only 45 minutes. The TGV takes 3 hours and 20 minutes and a car 7 hours. One could live on the coast, and go to work in the capital! The Hyperloop is ecologically friendly, silent and safe, and its construction cost would be much lower than the cost of the TGV.

Elon Musk is too busy with Tesla and SpaceX and so has called on companies to take up the challenge of building the Hyperloop. For the while, two companies are vying for the project: Hyperloop technologies and Hyperloop transportation technologies. A prototype is planned for this year and the first trains should be running within five years. Maybe you will be among the first passengers!

Article by Jean Plassart, Nicolas Barbarin & Nicolas Moyne from Massillon (Clermont-Fd)