Engineering

I have seen on youtube a serial of videos about Revived or Revitalized Batteries., but I don´t know so much about it. Here you have the video Anyone can explain better how works this technology?

Hi, I kind of understand what Environmental Engineering is but not really. Besides being a weather man, what does a meteorology do? What is and what does Air Quality Meteorologists do? What does a Nuclear Engineering do? I understand they use Math in their own way so out of them 3 degrees what has the most Math? I also understand that Penn State has and many of campuses through PA. It's hard to get into main campus I hear. Possibly in 6 months or less (just a guess) might move to Philadelphia, PA. So what is Penn State good for them 3 majors I listed? If a college is out of PA it can NOT at all be about 3 hours or more. If anything possibly like 1…

This has always been a sore subject with me, mostly because I'm torn right down the middle: Which is more important, new technology or patent rights? Many huge companies purchase patents on new technology only because it would hurt their business selling the old technology. They buy the rights only to shelve the ideas, never intending to make it available to the public. I just purchased one of James Dyson's clever bagless vacuum cleaners. According to Dyson's biography, his ideas were turned away by the major manufacturers because it threatened the US$500M vacuum cleaner *bag* market. If the Japanese hadn't loved his wonderfully engineered machine Dyson would…

Hey everyone (hope this is the right area for the post) I notice a lot of people here have experience with patents, and I could really use some advice: I came up with a very simple lawn sprinkler system that I think could be a national best seller. It is very cheap to produce, very simple, and has features that put it in its own category - my partners don't want me to go into many details, but I bet I could sell any company on it. The problem: no idea about patents, marketing patents, or what to do. Plus I am self-employed (ie basically broke). The ideal solution would be a specialized company I could consult with (is that done with a NDA?) at a pre-p…

Hello, I am a student and current member of a College Enviromental club. Well I have just seen the wrek that was once the clubs electric vehicle. It was made to participate in a race with the local high schools. It looks like we may have to rebuild the thing, so I would like to ask for some advice and possilbe academic resouces to help re-design this disapointing tangle pipe and wires.

A US crash test of mid-sized auto vans gave high marks to some Japaneses product. Dismayingly, very low marks went to the Hummer!

Oh man, I finally saw this Modern Marvels where they show what the Greeks were truly capable of. This thing was huge. 65 feet square 130 feet high 180 tons 8 wheels, 3 ft. wide, 12 ft. high, and iron plated Iron plating over 3 entire sides of the structure 3,400 people required to operate it circa 304 BC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helepolis http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/Helepolis.htm

Would it be possible to basically make an energy production system for say civil use that runs for a certain period of time with a guaranteed performance utilizing a linear combinations of energy production. For instance the first step might be an extremely low powered one, and each step basically initiates the next until you reach a cyclic point from which constant energy for civil consumption is generated. I know it might make it sound like you need better and better efficiency but that should always be I think a priority anyway in design. I was thinking aggregation of such a system could allow for easier maintenance, and of course changes to such technology. Its n…

Are there any piston/cylinder designs that do not use/need oil or other lubricants to operate? I'm not thinking of internal combustion engines, more like gas compressors, say up to 20 BAR at 2000RPM... that kind of deal; no model plane plastic engines or anything like that.

How can I calculate the force with which freezing water, caught with no expansion exit, wrecks water pipes and fixtures not well designed for such temps and pressures?

I have an idea on how to create a capacitor with as much capacitance, or as little capacitance as I want. This means I could possibly make an antenna that could go up to whatever frequency I want. But, I want to know, if I increase the frequency of my antenna by using an ultra low capacitance capacitor, if the frequency is high enough will I suffer from progressive loss in efficiency? Will the resistance of a high frequency current, the electrical impedance apply in this case? My professor said that they have problems with microwave ovens, and their frequencies are in the Mhz region. But I have heard of infrared antennas existing and being used in co…

Technologically, we have developed various engineering structural materials that excel in strength properties; nano materials, whiskers, tungsten and boron fibers, super cermets, carbon fibers ... et.all. We boast of nano-materials and whiskers that could have tensile strengths and moduli of over a million and fifty million MPa respectively. But strangely, many of our day-to-day engineered materials needs are yet to be answered. The matter is further complicated in the present "globalized" economy - what is accepted in an advanced nation such as the US may have no meaning in countries such as Zaire, Chad, Afghanistan, Bangladesh ... etc. Yet, these under-developed nations…

I need to machine an arbor for a gear-cutting tool. It will look something like this, but small -- the head diameter will be around 10mm. The cutting tip will protrude beyond the head's diameter by a variable amount, and only on one side, so the stress won't be radially balanced. It will be used to machine soft metals -- like brass and aluminum. I have rod stock of the appropriate size in both aluminum and brass. Which would be a better material to a) tolerate the torsional stress, and b) keep the threads for the set-screws intact for longer?

I had a good conversation with the stock woman at the BiMart electrical section. She was highly knowledgeable and we got down. We both celebrated Christmas light strings of LED's consuming a small fraction. Then she said, I do not like the screw-in flourescents for color quality in my home. I said, wow, interesting, because I like them as being sufficiently yellow to feel good. Thinking back, I adapted a yellow brass fixture which holds two 15 W screwins. I told her I appreciated her opinion and we were cool. What do other people experience in this conversion?

A friend of mine, a dental technician, offered an interesting answer to the question of how people thousands of years ago assembed large stones to construct pyramids. A different friend who did heavy-duty cement work like in boring nuclear test holes years back, said he thought we have a certain limit of weight we can lift with modern cranes and that some of the work building Mayan structures was challenging to that standard. The bright idea (?) is using water floatation, or displacement; Dora thought water was available nearby. Thinking about this, many rocks have specific gravity 3-4 times that of water. A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds, so a 600,000 pound …

I'm trying to build a mousetrap catapult. It would be launching acorns. I was wondering how I can get the acorn to fly as far as possible? Is a shorter arm or longer arm going to throw the acorn further, and what other features, such as rubber bands, can I add onto the catapult to make it more powerful? Thanks.

Kay, this was SUPPOSED to be simple... I am looking for a simple program (you know what? i didn't find anything, so even a non-simple would do at this point) that allows me to draw plans for a cut-out for a 3-D design. You know how you buy boxes *flat* and you assemble them? Well I used to do this by hand, but I want a program to help me out -- I want to create my OWN custom 3-dimentional designs for a 3-D "box"... For that matter, I'd love to create my own "Document Tray" for my desk at my office, with my *own* 3D design, which I will make myself from cardboard. Yah, I can do it by hand, but in our technological era, I should have something to help me ou…

Now i know there have been other posts about the same subject, i have done a search and looked at most of them. If this is not the right spot to be putting this thread it can be moved if needed. Onto the subject. I have been looking around and various coilgun designs and settled on Jeff Hoves design (http://www.jeffhove.com/robots/coilgun.html). I thought it best to start off small, running off just a AA battery and a single Capcitor as shown in the design schmatics. Over time i will slowly get more knowledge into the design and theory behind the project, in which i will increase the voltage and the number of capacitors etc. What tips can all of you give me f…

Can anyone give me a link(s) to get info on robotics? If you're wondering it's for a school project. Any help is appreciated.

Is it possible to control servo system without integral action? Here is the method to control it with modified proportional action only; http://hecoaustralia.fortunecity.com/digital3/ftsc3.htm

I just thought of a design for gauss gun-like contraption that never stops moving. Here's a picture of it. the + - at the bottom is a horse shoe magnet, n means non magnetized material, l is an insulator, and + and - signs are positive and negative polarities. (Sorry the picture is so ugly) + + - - - - + + ll ll n n + -

Hi, Does anyone live in the USA and is familar with EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)? In order to get in and have these types of majors I am going to list below, what is the difference between these majors and what kind of jobs is offered normally? Please reply back ASAP. Environmental Studies Environmental Engineer Environmental Science Chemical Engineering

Can visible light be used to detect F-22 and stealth fighters at long range? Can visible light be used like a radar? Or what about other wavelengths like microwaves or Xrays? Can they be used in radar-like devices?

If a material reflects neutrons perfectly without absorbing them, we could make the reactor much smaller with using such material as reflector. But we haven't had such ideal material so far. Here is an idea for reflecting neutrons more effectively than using usual reflectors. http://hecoaustralia.fortunecity.com/rotative/reactor2.htm

I was wondering if a Miniture ballista without the support made in a bow style structure would work as a bow that can actually launch arrows.