Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Designer Da Feng got us pumped up with his Gym Car concept. Now, he’s penned a design study that uses fake fur for aerodynamic efficiency.

The Flake, Feng’s latest design, is covered in hinged carbon fiber pieces. Each one is connected by carbon nanotubes to tiny solenoids that can make them stand up or lay flat, like an angry cat puffing up its fur. The flakes can act like air brakes, or help in turns by puffing up an opposite side.

“When traveling at speed, the car will contract to its closed position to help control airflow, and when under braking or turning, the flakes will spring open to dynamically adjust downforce,” Feng said. “The open flakes will also allow the car to lean into the corner for better handling.”

What looks like wheels are actually 12 leg-like structures arranged in a circle. As they turn on a wheel hub, the “legs” extend and contract in response to the road surface and vehicle speed. Because the bottom part of the “wheel” flattens at high speeds, turning the circle into a D-shape, Feng calls them D-wheels.

“The D-wheels track ground surfaces and adjust accordingly, making the wheel a part of the suspension system,” he said. Because of the D-wheels’ increased traction, Feng says the Flake could also be a capable off-roader.

Though it’s outlandish, Feng said he’s spoken about the design with an ex-Williams F1 engineer who pronounced it aerodynamically sound and only in need of some minor tweaks.

Still, Feng has no illusions about whether the Flake will ever show up at a dealership near you. “I know there’s a lot of optimism in the idea,” he said. “It isn’t meant to be a practical solution, rather, an inspiration for others.”

Images: Da Feng

German researchers have developed a system that uses infrared, optical 2D and 3D cameras and networked radar sensors to continuously scan runways for debris that can damage or even bring down aircraft.

The researchers say their method is better than other radar-based systems because it can detect metallic and non-metallic objects. It also works in all conditions and is mounted along the runway instead of elevated on masts.

Runway debris can pose a serious threat. Air France Flight 4590 crashed on July 25, 2000 after rolling over a strip of metal that slashed its tire. Chunks of rubber hit the wing of the Concorde, rupturing the fuel tank and sparking a fire. The crash killed 113 people.

“Our technology would have prevented the Concorde tragedy,” Dr. Helmut Essen, of Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques, said in a statement.

To keep runways clear, crews drive along runways looking for debris — a time-consuming procedure. Other radar-based systems can only detect metal objects. Essen said the system developed at Fraunhofer Institute can detect items as small as 2 centimeters. Each sensor (pictured) scans up to 700 meters in all directions.

“Devices installed all along the runway continuously scan the surface,” he said. “They can detect even the smallest of items, such as screws, but the system will only issue a warning if an object remains on the runway for a longer period of time. A windblown plastic bag or a bird resting briefly will not set off the alarm.”

The cameras examine any items detected by the radar, and software developed by the researchers creates a “situational overview” that control tower personnel can review to determine what, if any, threat the debris might present.

Real-world tests of the technology begin this fall at Cologne-Bonn airport.

Photo: Pedro Moura Pinheiro/Flickr. An airliner takes off from a wet runway, its jets blowing water from the tarmac.

Companies do research and development, particularly large ones. This is an investment, one that fails often but is essential to future growth.

The web is R&D in public. So are apps. Not just for tech companies. For any company that is trying to figure out how its customers think and what they want.

We shouldn’t be so quick to excoriate those companies that launch interactive tools that fail. In fact, we should be critical of those that don’t.

In our Writing a Book series, yesterday, we talked about finding time. Today, let’s talk about discipline.

Writing a Book – Discipline

One of the most difficult parts of writing a book has nothing to do with the work, exactly. It has everything to do with sitting still, and putting the words down on paper (and “paper” is so quaint to say in this digital age, but when I interviewed Ryan Blair, he said that he wrote his book longhand on paper). Discipline is probably 80% of what keeps someone from writing a book. But it’s not like you can’t do it. It’s not like you can’t exercise these muscles.

Allies To Discipline

My first advice about discipline: get an accountability buddy. Find someone (or a group of someones), and make it know that you’ve got a goal of writing ___ words a day (or week, or whatever), and that you want them to hound you about it. Be really specific about what helps and what doesn’t. If shame helps, ask them to shame you (frankly, that would cripple me, but hey). If they catch you on Facebook when you should be writing, have them push you back off. Give them your cell and ask them to text you daily. Make them nag the heck out of you. (I learned this from Julien Smith.)

Discipline Comes From Early Victories

If you decide to write 2000 words a day and you’re currently writing 25 words a day, then you’re going to fail quickly. Maybe set the bar a bit lower. Agree to 500 words (less than that and you’re still phoning it in), and set your sights on getting that done a bunch of times in a row. The more you can repeat the success, the more the success treats you well, and makes you strive for even more. Rack up those “wins” with your accountability buddies. Heck, give yourself promises of rewards. Whatever it takes to get the work done, that’s what matters.

Justification Is the Enemy

There are a hundred viable excuses why you can’t get your words in today. You can write them all out in a list, if you’d like. Refer to it often. You woke up late. You slept poorly. You had to pick up the kids, even though it wasn’t your day.

Here’s a hint: the real writers have all those excuses, too. They just do what needs doing.

One of the biggest justifications I’ve heard is that inspiration wasn’t with you. That’s possibly true. But guess what happens? The moment you write, even if you’re writing crap, inspiration will catch up with your process. And besides, if you’ve kept a decent amount of notes, and if you’ve got a reasonably detailed outline, you can work without inspiration. Inspiration is something you get early in the process. Once you’re into the grind, most of the work is just that: work.

Discipline Doesn’t Mind Helpers

If you’re trying to eat healthy, fill your fridge with healthy foods and throw out “bad” foods. It’s not wrong to put up ‘bumpers’ to protect yourself from a lack of discipline. Here’s a hint: if you’re working on the ultimate playlist to write to, that’s not helpful. Yes, maybe some great tune will inspire you, but anything that’s not writing is just that: not writing.

Use whatever helpers you need. Unplug your Internet for a while. Turn off the phone for a while. Shut off the TV. Send the kids to Grandma’s. Whatever you have to do, do it. And use whatever means necessary (mostly legal, but I’m not above other means) to keep your discipline protected. Work hard, and then work hard at preserving the efforts of your work.

At the End Of It All, It’s Still Work

Writing a book isn’t as demanding as roofing. Both, however, are work. Just because writing can happen at a Starbucks, with a delicious iced coffee sitting beside you collecting droplets of moisture, it doesn’t mean that the effort of getting all those words put together in useful ways isn’t work.

Dorothy Parker famously said, “I hate writing. I love having written.”

She’s not wrong.

Tomorrow, let’s talk about structure.

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: oBaz

Quick Pitch: oBaz lets users band together in groups to get discounts on the products and services they want.

Genius Idea: Social haggling.

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Testing the notion that there’s power in numbers is the just-launched Chicago-based startup oBaz. Its promise: To go to bat for consumers who band together in big groups; it haggles with merchants to bring back big discounts.

oBaz, short for online bazaar, is kind of like an inside-out version of the daily deals model popularized by Groupon. Instead of businesses offering up pre-set deep discounts to groups of online denizens, people self-organize on oBaz around the products and service they want, and the startup then tracks down the merchant to negotiate a better price.

oBaz members can express their intent to buy anything they want by starting or joining a product group. “We don’t control what our users put on the site,” says CEO and co-founder Brian Ficho. “We’re just here to haggle.”

Each group has seven days to recruit more folks via Facebook, Twitter or email and reach critical mass. oBaz will then negotiate on their behalf and attempt to secure a discount. Once the deal is shared with the group, members have 24 hours to buy it — though oBaz charges a small fee for the convenience.

oBaz was birthed after Ficho, who would often organize his friends to do things — say a dinner with 20 friends after a Cubs baseball game — realized that businesses might have a keen interest in the buying intent of big groups.

Ficho first pitched the idea to Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell — Groupon co-founders and Lightbank partners — 18 months ago. The oBaz concept took shape under their guidance and officially launched to the public Tuesday, after a six-week alpha period.

The site does have its limitations, especially since oBaz’s team of hagglers can’t guarantee a discount on everything its users want. Apple, for instance, is unlikely to award an oBaz group with deals on iPads or MacBook Airs. Still, Ficho believes that most merchants will happily offer up discounts in exchange for acquiring new customers.

“We’re free customer acquisition for business,” he says. “We’ll find all the customers for you, and let you make them offers for free.”

oBaz has raised seed funding from Lightbank. The startup eventually plans to release mobile applications, but is currently focused on improving its website.

Image courtesy of FernandoPolo, Flickr

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Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.