A Street For Every Date

January 8, 2025 by Jenny List 5 Comments

Different cultures have their own conventions for naming locations, for example in the United Kingdom there are plenty of places named for monarchs, while in many other countries there are not. An aspect of this fascinated [Ben Ashforth], who decided to find all the streets in Europe named after auspicious dates, and then visit enough to make a calendar. He gave a lightning talk about it at last year’s EMF Camp, which we’ve embedded below.

Starting with an aborted attempt to query Google Maps, he then moved on to the OpenStreetMap database. From there he was able to construct a list of date-related street name across the whole of Europe, and reveal a few surprising things about their distribution. He came up with a routing algorithm to devise the best progression in which to see them, and with a few tweaks to account for roads whose names had changed, arrived at an epic-but-efficient traversal of the continent. The result is a full year’s calendar of street names, which you can download from his website.

Being used to significant Interrail travel where this is written, we approve of an algorithmically generated Euro trip. We’re indebted to [Barney Livingstone] for the tip, and we agree with him that 150 slides in a 5 minute talk is impressive indeed.

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Turning A Lada Into An EV With 50 Cordless Drills, Because Why Not?

January 1, 2025 by Donald Papp 47 Comments

[Garage 54] is no stranger to vehicle-related projects of the “because why not?” variety, and their latest is using 50 cordless drills combined into a monstrous mega-motor to turn a gutted (and extended) Lada into an electric vehicle (EV).

Doing this leans on some of [Garage 54]’s earlier projects, such as replacing the aforementioned Lada’s engine block with a frame containing sixteen chainsaws. That means they don’t need to start completely from scratch, and have a frame design that can drop into the vehicle once the “engine” is constructed.

Fifty cordless drills won’t set any efficiency records for EV engines, but it’s got a certain style.

Here’s what’s in the new engine: each of the drills has its chuck replaced with an aluminum pulley, and belts connect each group of drills to an output shaft. Ideally, every drill motor would run at the same time and at exactly the same speed, but one works with what they have. [Garage 54] originally worked to synchronize the drills by interfacing to each drill’s motor control board, but eventually opted to simply bypass all controls and power each drill’s motor directly from the batteries. Initial tests are done by touching bare cable ends with a turned-away face and squinted eyes, but we expect “Just A Big Switch” to end up in the final assembly.

It looks wild and we can think of more than a few inefficiencies present in a system like this, but the output shaft does turn and torque is being transferred, so the next step is interfacing to the car’s factory gearbox.

If it powers the car in any meaningful way, that Lada might very well become the world’s most gloriously hacked-together EV. And hey, if the power output of the EV motor is disappointing, you can just make your own.

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38C3: Lawsuits Are Temporary; Glory Is Forever

December 29, 2024 by Elliot Williams 35 Comments

One of the blockbuster talks at last year’s Chaos Communications Congress covered how a group of hackers discovered code that allegedly bricked public trains in Poland when they went into service at a competitor’s workshop. This year, the same group is back with tales of success, lawsuits, and appearances in the Polish Parliament. You’re not going to believe this, but it’s hilarious.

The short version of the story is that [Mr. Tick], [q3k], and [Redford] became minor stars in Poland, have caused criminal investigations to begin against the train company, and even made the front page of the New York Times. Newag, the train manufacturer in question has opened several lawsuits against them. The lawsuit alleges the team is infringing on a Newag copyright — by publishing the code that locked the trains, no less! If that’s not enough, Newag goes on to claim that the white hat hackers are defaming the company.

What we found fantastically refreshing was how the three take all of this in stride, as the ridiculous but incredibly inconvenient consequences of daring to tell the truth. Along the way they’ve used their platform to speak out for open-sourcing publicly funded code, and the right to repair — not just for consumers but also for large rail companies. They are truly fighting the good fight here, and it’s inspirational to see that they’re doing so with humor and dignity.

If you missed their initial, more technical, talk last year, go check it out. And if you ever find yourself in their shoes, don’t be afraid to do the right thing. Just get a good lawyer.

Battery-Electric Ships: Coming Soon To A Harbor Near You?

December 26, 2024 by Maya Posch 76 Comments

When ships moved from muscle- and wind power to burning coal and other fossil fuels for their propulsion, they also became significantly faster and larger. Today’s cargo ships and ferries have become the backbone of modern civilization, along with a range of boat types. Even though tugs and smaller pleasure vessels are a far cry from a multi-thousand ton cargo or cruise ship, one would be hard-pressed to convert these boats back to a pure muscle or wind-based version. In short, we won’t be going back to the Age of Sail, but at the same time the fossil fuel-burning engines in these boats and ship come with their own range of issues.

Even if factors like pollution and carbon emissions are not something which keep you up at night, fuel costs just might, with these and efficiency regulations increasing year over year. Taking a page from alternative propulsions with cars and trucks, the maritime industry has been considering a range of replacements for diesel and steam engines. Here battery-electric propulsion is somewhat of an odd duck, as it does not carry its own fuel and instead requires on-shore recharging stations. Yet if battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) can be made to work on land with accompanying low ‘refueling’ costs, why not ships and boats?

A recent study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) researchers Hee Seung Moon et al. as published in Nature Energy claims that a significant part of US maritime traffic can be electrified this way. Yet as a theoretical model, how close does it hit to the harsh realities imposed by this physical world which we live in?

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Blinded By The Light: The Problem With LED Headlights

December 26, 2024 by Maya Posch 177 Comments

Having a good set of (working) headlights is a crucial feature of any motor vehicle, assuming you want to be able to see the road ahead of you when there’s a lack of sunshine. Headlights are also essential to be noticed by other cars and traffic participants, but if installed improperly they can end up blinding an opposing driver with potentially fatal results. This is a major worry with LED lamps that are increasingly being installed in cars, often replacing the old-style halogen bulbs that have a very different color spectrum and beam patterns, to the dismay of fellow road participants.

This headlight glare can also be simulated in driving simulators, as in a 2019 article by [B.C. Haycock] et al. where the effect is of course diminished because displays can only get so bright. Of note is that it’s not just LED lights themselves, but also taller vehicles and misaligned headlights, all of which makes it important that the angle of your car’s headlights is proper. You want to see the road in front of you, after all, not illuminate every house in the nearest settlement two klicks away.

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Versatile, Yet Grounded: The Rotodyne Revisited

December 16, 2024 by Heidi Ulrich 26 Comments

When it comes to aviation curiosities, few machines captivate the imagination like the Fairey Rotodyne. This British hybrid aircraft was a daring attempt to combine helicopter and fixed-wing efficiency into a single vehicle. A bold experiment in aeronautical design, the Rotodyne promised vertical takeoffs and landings in cramped urban spaces while offering the speed and range of a regional airliner. First flown in 1957, it captured the world’s attention but ultimately failed to realize its potential. Despite featured before, new footage keeps fascinating us. If you have never heard about this jet, keep reading.

The Rotodyne’s innovative design centered around a massive, powered rotor that utilized a unique tip-jet system. Compressed air, mixed with fuel and ignited at the rotor tips, created lift without the need for a tail rotor. The result: a smoother transition between vertical and forward flight modes. Inside, it offered spacious seating for 50 passengers and even had clamshell doors for cargo. Yet its futuristic approach wasn’t without drawbacks—most notably, the thunderous noise produced by its rotor jets, earning complaints from both city planners and residents.

Despite these hurdles, the helicopter-plane crossover demonstrated its versatility, setting a world speed record and performing groundbreaking intercity flights. Airlines and militaries expressed interest, but escalating development costs and noise concerns grounded this ambitious project.

To this day, the Rotodyne remains a symbol of what could have been—a marvel of engineering ahead of its time. Interested in more retro-futuristic aircraft tales? Read our previous story on it, or watch the original footage below and share your thoughts.

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Behold A Geared, Continuously Variable Transmission

December 14, 2024 by Donald Papp 72 Comments

When it comes to transmissions, a geared continuously-variable transmission (CVT) is a bit of a holy grail. CVTs allow smooth on-the-fly adjustment of gear ratios to maintain a target speed or power requirement, but sacrifice transmission efficiency in the process. Geared transmissions are more efficient, but shift gear ratios only in discrete steps. A geared CVT would hit all the bases, but most CVTs are belt drives. What would a geared one even look like? No need to wonder, you can see one for yourself. Don’t miss the two videos embedded below the page break.

The outer ring is the input, the inner ring is the output, and the three little gears with dots take turns transferring power.

The design is called the RatioZero and it’s reminiscent of a planetary gearbox, but with some changes. Here’s how the most visible part works: the outer ring is the input and the inner ring is the output. The three small gears inside the inner ring work a bit like relay runners in that each one takes a turn transferring power before “handing off” to the next. The end result is a smooth, stepless adjustment of gear ratios with the best of both worlds. Toothed gears maximize transmission efficiency while the continuously-variable gear ratio allows maximizing engine efficiency.

There are plenty of animations of how the system works but we think the clearest demonstration comes from [driving 4 answers] with a video of a prototype, which is embedded below. It’s a great video, and the demo begins at 8:54 if you want to skip straight to that part.

One may think of motors and gearboxes are a solved problem since they have been around for so long, but the opportunities to improve are ongoing and numerous. Even EV motors have a lot of room for improvement, chief among them being breaking up with rare earth elements while maintaining performance and efficiency.

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