Idhaya – Engineering & Technology Blog, Industrial & Mechanical Engineering Information

Rapid prototyping is an intensive process of collecting information on requirements and on the adequacy and functionality of fairly new product designs. Model prototyping is an important data resource during the different stages of product development. Model prototyping makes use of various kinds of rapid prototyping techniques to provide the right model types used for different testing procedures. Such techniques may require the use of requirements animation, incremental, and evolutionary prototyping.

1. Requirements Animation- is the method used mainly to demonstrate functionality in test cases that can be easily assessed by users. Software tools are used to produce representational prototype models that are built using animation packages as well as screen painters.

2. Incremental prototyping- enables the development of large prototype system models installed in phases in order to avoid delays between product specification and its final delivery into the consumer market. Once the customer and supplier have agreed on certain core features, the installation of a skeleton system is applied as soon as possible. Important requirements can be checked out as the model is being used, enabling changes to core features while in operation with extra and optional features can be added later.

3. Evolutionary prototyping- considered as the most integral form of prototyping. It acts as a compromise between production methods and with that of model prototyping. Employing this technique, a model prototype is initially constructed that is then evaluated as it evolves continually and becomes a highly improved end product. Many designers believe that more acceptable systems would result if evolutionary prototyping were interconnected with periods of requirements animation or rapid prototyping. Here the tools are the actual facilities resources where the final system will be implemented.

The use of different model prototyping techniques can help do away with the uncertainties about how well a final design may be able to fit into the end user’s needs. The different model prototyping techniques help product designers make the necessary decisions by obtaining information from initial test users about the effective functionality of a certain product prototype.

Model prototyping can also be an effective aid in determining how effective and ideal the features and the overall design can be for proposed users. Model prototyping and the subsequent testing procedures can provide useful representation information that can reveal possible design flaws, effective features as well as useless functions that can either be corrected, enhanced or done away with on the next stages of product development.

Before a product is introduced to the public, the inventor has to draw up a plan and put it in paper. This is exactly what the Wright Brothers did when the first airplane was built and took off into the air.

More than a hundred years later, the airplane has evolved from being a propelled machine into one that is powered with jet engines. Today, there are planes that are used for private and commercial use but those that can travel more than four times the spend of sound are used for military purposes.

There were a lot of changes through the years that made this happen which occurred both in times of war and peace. In fact, the innovations made towards the end of the Second World War paved the way for the jet age.

This is done by reviewing the old equipment such as the V2 rockets and then reinventing it so that a plane can use the same principles in flight over greater distance and height. The aeronautical industry is not the only one that does this because other fields are doing the same thing, which is better known as prototyping.

Prototyping by definition simply means learning from things in the past such as an old design and improving on it. This will cost both time and money in order to perfect the system, which is the reason some car manufacturers only release, a new model every five years.

Some of the things designers and engineers will look at are flaws in the old model. This could be from customer complaints as well as reports from dealers in the field who received the owner’s vehicle and needed a repair. The company may make recalls like what Ford has done over the past few years and the only way to prevent this from happening again is by correcting those mistakes.

When the people think that the errors have been corrected, it is time to test this by making one model and then seeing how well it performs through a racecourse. Sensors, cameras and the input of the test driver will be collected so this can be reviewed for analysis.

If everything goes well and the budget for the new model is reasonable, then the company can begin production. Marketing will just have to think about the name of the new car and the events to launch this, which will surely excite regular clients who have purchased a vehicle or two in the past.

One might think that the steam engine is an outdated technology that had its heyday centuries ago, but in fact steam is once again a hot topic with vehicle manufacturers. Indeed, the next generation of hybrid cars and trucks may incorporate some form of steam power. Honda, for example, has just released details of a new prototype hybrid car that recharges its battery using a steam engine that exploits waste heat from the exhaust pipe.

Typical cars only convert about a quarter of the energy produced during combustion into work, with the rest being lost as heat. Honda has managed to increase this efficiency by 4% to nearly 29% by using some of this lost heat to generate electricity.

Honda’s heat-recovery system is based on the Rankine cycle, which is also used in most steam-driven power plants. First, heat from the car’s catalytic converter is used to boil water. The high-temperature steam (400-500 °C) produced then turns an electric generator, before a condenser finally cools the steam back into water.

According to Honda, under normal driving conditions, the steam system recovered three times as much electric power as the hybrid’s regenerative braking system. Unfortunately, however, the 4% improvement in overall vehicle efficiency that resulted is not high enough to warrant commercialization, Honda claims.

Honda is not the only manufacturer interested in incorporating waste heat recovery into vehicle design. BMW, for example, is working on a steam-based unit that generates additional mechanical power, rather than electricity. In lab tests, their so-called ‘turbo-steamer’ reduced fuel consumption by as much as 15%.

It may be some time, however, before waste heat recovery reaches the mass market, because typical car drivers would probably not make a big enough saving on fuel to justify the extra several thousand dollars that these systems would presumably add to the price of a vehicle.

But the situation is different for long-haul truckers, who often spend over $100,000 per year on fuel. Indeed, several diesel-engine manufacturers are testing ways of recycling lost heat, with interest being driven by fuel prices and emissions reduction.

The engine maker Cummins Inc is also working on a Rankine-cycle system that uses a low-boiling point organic fluid, which they say performs better than other thermodynamic models, such as the Stirling cycle or the gas turbine.

The Rankine cycle can convert up to 20% of the wasted heat into useful energy, but dealing with the 80% that is not used poses a big challenge. Cummins Inc. plans to have a full working prototype by mid-2009, and hope to make the system available to customers by 2013.

Aeronautical Engineering is focused only on Aircrafts that do not leave the Earth’s atmosphere whereas Astronautical Engineering is focused on Aircrafts that are able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.   Initially this industry was focused on Aeroplanes and flight technology but it has expanded to also run the operation of outer space aircrafts.  Some of the issues that Aerospace Engineers have to deal with include temperature change and control, atmospheric pressure and flight planning.  They deal with these issues by using technologies such as aerodynamics, avionics, propulsion and material science.

Wernher von Braun

Wernher von Braun made a significant impact in the development and advancement of rocket technology in America and Germany.  However, some found his work very controversial because he did some work on a Nazi rocket programme and there was even a song written about him!  Wernher had an interest in space and astronomy from a very early age and his mother supported his interest by buying him a telescope.

Wernher went to the Berlin Institute of Technology where he became a prominent member of the Spaceflight Society.  A few years later he earned a doctorate in physics and received a research grant to work on a rocket test site.

Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineers work to combine both Chemistry and Engineering in an intelligent way in order to closely study the production of chemicals.

Henry Bessemer

Bessemer was an English Engineer born in 1813.  He is best known for his division of the Bessemer process which was used in the manufacture of steel.  This was a very well known process that was implemented worldwide and was very important to the industry at the time.  It resulted in steel dropping significantly in price and being used for a huge variety of things for the first time.  Bessemer invented another very important process, the decarbonisation of cast iron.  He also invented a great deal of other things and coming up with revolutionary ideas was his passion.

Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineering is centred around the study of electricity.  However, what many people don’t realise is that it covers a variety of subjects and industries such as electromagnetism, control systems, telecommunications and power.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was an American businessman who also spent a great deal of his time attempting to come up with new inventions.  Consequently he invented a wide range of useful ideas and devices.  He was most famous for using the principles of mass production to enhance the process of invention.  Thomas Edison came up with so many ideas that he ended up obtaining 1,093 patents for his vast array of inventions.

Inventor “Carl Hefley” states “Our new patented engine uses all types of fuel including gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, corn oil, natural gas, propane, ethanol E-85 and even hydrogen enriched-combinations. Hydrogen is considered the “greenest” of fuels leaving only water in the exhaust, there’s absolutely nothing harmful to effect the environment. The new engine can change to new fuels within seconds!

“But that’s not all” Mr. Hefley goes on. “My new engine uses more oxygen that any other gasoline car engine being produced. The air is almost 21 percent oxygen. Gasoline engines for example can use about 12 times normal oxygen levels by compressing the air. However, conventional engines only use these high amounts of oxygen when running almost wide open (where the most power is produced for the fuel consumed). In reality you only need to run your big car engine wide open on occasion. Closing the throttle just starves the engine from using this highly efficient power booster OXYGEN. The answer is simple, instead of throttling back the engine, our engine simply shrinks in size but still runs almost wide open where the oxygen can continue to boost power. When more power is need, our engine just quickly and smoothly increases its size. This makes for amazing efficiency and economy while still providing all the power that is required.”

I asked Mr. Hefley how long it would take to get the new engine in production. He replied, “Not long at all. We have a great advantage since we use many of the well-proven components of conventional engines. No this is not an add-on; this is a completely new patented engine design that just works much better! My new advanced technology is known as variable displacement with variable compression ratio. Many of the top automobile makers have tried to perfect this concept since they know of its advantages. But, we have perfected it and also simplified it. As soon as financing is in place we will move ahead very quickly.”

In looking at Mr. Hefley’s website, I was amazed how clear and precise his 3-D animated engines were displayed. There is one area called The Hefley workshop where the designs were displayed in great detail. As I viewed them, his voice came on explaining them thoroughly. I am sure no other inventor has ever taken the time to illustrate and explain the patented designs so well!

I asked Mr. Hefley about the crossovers and hybrids we hear so much about. He answered. “Our engine works well on small and larger vehicles. Crossovers and hybrids would NOT be required to get amazing economy. However, our engine is easily adapted to work with hybrid and crossover technology.

If you would like to contact Mr. Hefley, try his email below. Be sure to out his website.

Your interest and support will help make this incredible new engine a reality. I can’t wait to start driving my own new energy efficient HEFLEY ENGINE!

Today’s story is perfect inspiration for people who think its too late to change their ways. Who have lost hope in their ability of changing life for better.

Paresh Parikh was born in middle class family . He was bright student and good in maths. He did engineering from good college. During his engineering days he fall in love with a girl (sneha) studying in arts college. The girl belonged to reputed family and her uncle was powerful politician.

Paresh also did fall in habit of alcohol. The occasional drink with friends ,later turned into habit.

His marriage to sneha was full bollywood style where family of girl opposed marriage and paresh ran away with sneha. Sneha’s uncle took this as insult and used all his might to catch the couple. They were caught too but it was too late since they were married by then. Gradually sneha’s family accepted paresh and their marriage.

With marriage comes responsibility but impulsive paresh had formed habit of alcohol. He had become alcoholic and nightmare for sneha began. He was not typical Indian Alcoholic Man . He never abused or beat sneha but he was drunk for most of time. He was time and again sacked from his job. Marriage led to birth of daughter and their financial condition was ever deteriorating.

Sneha took a job and her money was providing with necessities of life. Paresh was hopeless man in last twenties. So much so that sneha had to often lock him to make sure he didn’t drink. But paresh still use to find way to have alcohol. He use to call his supplier and hang his bag from second floor while his supplier use to give his bottle.

Sneha was depressed since her hard earned money was used by paresh for his alcohol. Then something happened which changed paresh forever. Depressed sneha could not take immense pressure of life and fainted in her office. Doctors detected heavy stress and gave ultimatum to paresh to change his habit.

Paresh changed that day. Paresh left alcohol from that day. Without any therapy , without any other help , he simply left alcohol. Perhaps he had realized that his love for alcohol is ruining his wife’s health and future of his daughter.

During those era JAVA was buzz word in market. He borrowed money from his friends and enrolled in java course. He did give sun certification exam and became sun certified programmer. He also joined the same classes as instructor and after six months he joined an upcoming firm as programmer.

He remained in that job for two years . He applied for firm in USA and managed to clear the interview. He went to USA and is in USA since last 8 years.

Paresh was nicknamed as paresh batali (batali means bottle) by his neighbours but now paresh is held in high esteem. He hasn’t come to India since he has gone but he remains in touch with most of his friend except his alcohol supplier!!!!!!!

Paresh’s story is total turn around of a man from being labelled as gone case, hopeless to person who is responsible to take care of his family. Paresh’s story is story of what man can become , no matter how he has been in past.

From Ruined Alcoholic To Successful Software Engineer-Motivational Story Of The Day

If there is a vehicle model that is as famous as the automobile itself, it has to be Ford motors. Its tentacles spread across every part of the world, where it has made a name as one of the global motor vehicle providers that has beaten the test of time in terms of vehicle manufacture and creativity. GMC engines are also one of the most significant names in the motor engine world, the love of automobile engineers and the delight of any lover of a high performing, quality car model.

Ford motors are an infamous American Multinational Corporation that has its base in a suburb of Detroit in Dearborn, Michigan. Founded by Henry Ford and incepted in 1903, the automaker has had more than a century of success in Motor engineering. In its wake of excellence, the company also owns the Mercury Brands, Lincoln as well as the Volvo vehicles from Sweden, as well as a significant but minute stake in the Japanese Mazda and the English Aston Martin.

At currently fourth in the league of the world’s largest automakers, Ford Motors has been the most significant of all Motor Makers across the world in the last hundred years, mostly due to its tenacity to manufacture vehicles in large scale. Within the same league of excellence in motor engineering is GMC, company that has provided the world with some of the most memorable car designs. General Motors has strong divisions that have been elaborate in engine development, such as the GMC trucks that an icon of innovation in the world of automobile engineering. GMC has been in the manufacture of medium duty vehicle models, SUVs and light trucks. GMC engines are also reliable and generally very popular in the world of automobile.

From these two giant vehicle makers, Fordmotorsand General Motors unique GMC engines,there have been many models manufactured while the engines they use depict great talent in this industry. On the other hand, if you have had an engine that has broken down or is giving you problems as a result of obsoleteness, it is time you got a replacement at an affordable cost, almost half the price of a new engine from these giant manufacturers. There is no reason for undergoing such a high cost of replacement with a new engine, while the distinction between a used engine and a new one is simply the price.

For many consumers today, they have realized the importance of the options existing for them from purchasing Ford motors or GMC engines or getting used ones in good shape. Do not find it as confusing while trying to find that car engine fit for your vehicle, since through online resources you can easily have all the answers about engine replacement answered. It hardly matters what Ford or GMC model engine you are searching for today, you are bound to get it online. The deals are also well packaged, providing you with a chance to have a discount and save on money without compromising on the engine quality.

If you want to ensure better longevity to your boat then there are several options available for you. For example you can use better oil and fuel, you can offer timely servicing and over and above other things you can go for changing the damaged parts or even engine as and when required.

Though keeping a check on oil and fuel and timely servicing is very easy to ensure, the real problem emerges when it comes to changing the damaged engine and other parts. Actually the brand new marine engines including marine diesel engines and other parts are very expensive and so it is not possible for most of the people to go for replacing the worn out engines and other parts with the new ones.

If you are also suffering from the same problem and if you want to replace your damaged marine diesel engine that too by paying a very less amount of money then remanufactured marine engines or marine diesel engines can definitely solve your purpose. Unlike past when there was no other option left than to spend a very huge amount on buying new marine engines or to sell the boat at a very great loss now with the advent of remanufactured parts and engines things have totally changed. Now you can find affordable remanufactured marine diesel engines and other parts that are not just best in quality but very cheap in prices also.

There are several online stores available from where you can get the remanufactured marine engines however if you want to go for one such online store that is termed as an extraordinary store for remanufactured marine and automobile engines, then Hiperformer is the name you must opt for.

Hiperformer is termed as the best supplier for OEM products, even and especially custom-made, remanufactured and upgraded marine diesel engines and other auto engines. If you want to know more about this online store, then it is advisable to have a look on some of its most important features. Some of the most important features of Hiperformer include the following:

1. Holds the largest inventory of remanufactured engines: The first and the most important feature of Hiperformer is that it is one such online store that holds the largest inventory of remanufactured engines that help customers find any marine and auto engine they are looking for in no time.

2. Offers custom made products for better performance: It is yet another important feature of Hiperformer that it offers custom made products that are not just as per expectations but are designed to offer best performance to the customers.

3. Best prices: The third most important feature of Hiperformer is that it believes in offering best products at very best prices. To ensure quality engines at very best prices it offers second to none 100,000 miles/ 7 year warranty and low price guarantee that is a sort of assurance to its customers that whatever they get from Hiperformer is not just superior in quality but affordable in prices also. Etc.

The above mentioned are just few features of Hiperformer that are enough to compel you to buy rebuilt marine engines including marine diesel engines from Hiperformer only. So get the best what your boat deserves and enjoy your lovely time!