Category: Transportation

eTUKTUK

The eTUKTUK project is a small vehicle that is a mobile telecentre that operates in rural Sri Lanka. It is equipped with a battery powered computer, printer, camera, telephone and scanner.

From the India Times:

“It is a project of the Kothmale FM Community Radio Station, located in Mawathura, which is about 25 km southwest of Kandy. Mawathura is primarily a rural region with tea and rice being the dominant plantation crops.

Since 1999, Kothmale Community Radio has been serving as an interface between rural communities in the central hill region of Sri Lanka and new communication technologies.”

Electric Skin and Transforming Tires for Cars

A really neat technology has been demonstrated in a creative way in the struggle to use gas more efficiently in cars. The Mazda RX-9 is the most futuristic car I’ve seen in awhile. Specialized, “slick skin,” plastic body panels get an electric charge as air rushes by it, which in turn provides power to the electric motor.

The same car with slick skin also has slick wheels. The tires” feature Electroactive Polymers (E.A.P.) that with varying levels of voltage from the vehicle’s electrical system can actually change the shape and depth of their tread pattern. The rubber donuts can go from flat and smooth to knobby and grippy, or even ride high on their centers for ultra-low rolling resistance. “

Auto Catch-Up

Two good vehicular announcements:

A 3-wheeled machine has been demonstrated in Bath, England. “The prototype Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) car is one metre wide and less polluting than normal vehicles.” It tilts into the turns and has a top speed of 100 km/h , a novel invention indeed.

And at the Geneva Auto Show a company debuted a very efficient automobile, the Loremo. “The combination of light weight and tunnel tested aerodynamics allow this car to travel 157 miles per gallon of gasoline or 1.5 l per 100km!”