Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Photo: Hakan Gürsu

As last week’s Tesla/NYT saga showed that the major pain of owning an electric vehicle is finding a place to refuel when on the road. A Turkish designer has an aesthetically pleasing solution in the form of a new public parking system that nestles electric cars underneath a blanket of photovoltaic cells.

Industrial designer Hakan Gürsu calls his creation the V-Tent, a collapsible canopy that shields parked cars from weather while soaking in the sun’s rays to charge the vehicle and power nearby street lights (so, you know, you can find the chargers).

Gürsu’s design works like this: The driver pulls their EV underneath a set of vertically actuated metal arms. Once the driver is out of the car, the canopy unfolds to cover the car (check this quick video for a demo). When not occupied, the arms fold upwards, reeling in the flexible solar panels into a tidy bar.

The setup is also a designed as a way to reimagine parking meters. After setting how long they plan to park, drivers pay with a credit card and the charging begins. A red light on the column means it’s topping off the cells, while a green light indicates the battery is full. And naturally, drivers will be able check the status of the charge through a smartphone app.

Because the vehicle is covered, the design team says the V-tent will even prolong the life of automobiles by shielding them from the sun, and the panels contain small perforations between its layers to keep the whole structure from overheating. But for now, it’s just a concept.

The team that proved it’s possible to travel downwind faster than the wind has done it again, this time modifying their cart to go upwind at more than twice the speed of the circulating air.

Last time around, the Blackbird cart raced downwind at 2.86 times the speed of the wind. Earlier this month, Rick Cavallaro and the Blackbird team braved 104 degree heat at the New Jerusalem airport in Tracy, California, clocking in a top speed 2.01 times faster than the wind speed when headed upwind – which could end up being a new record.

It’s an impressive feat, but not as controversial as the downwind run. Where the prospect of traveling downwind faster than the wind once inspired thousands of internet arguments and heated debates in physics classrooms, an upwind sail just isn’t as provocative. In fact, there’s already a racing series in the Netherlands devoted to upwind land surfing.

“For some folks, the idea that it can advance directly into the wind at all has been counter-intuitive,” said Cavallaro, an aerodynamicist, kitesurfer and paraglider. While it may seem like a wind-powered vehicle heading directly into the wind could end up traveling faster and faster in an endless feedback loop, that isn’t the case. “There’s at least an element of truth to this, but as with the downwind cart, frictional losses still win out at a certain speed,” Cavallaro said.

The principle behind the upwind-configured Blackbird should be familiar to anyone with knowledge of sailing, except the Blackbird prefers runways and dry riverbeds. It uses two large “sails” – turbine blades – that spin around a common axis, moving forward as the cart sails into the wind and moving cross-wind as the blades turn around the axis.

“This combination of upwind and cross-wind motion is identical to that of a sail on a boat on an upwind tack,” Cavallaro said. “Where the sailboat has a keel to constrain the motion of the sail in the correct direction, we have a transmission and wheels that perform the same job.”

Cavallaro made most of the modifications to the Blackbird on his own, with the occasional help of some kitesurfing friends. First, he created blades with a different pitch. Configured for a downwind run, the Blackbird’s wheels were set up to turn the propeller, which in turn moved the vehicle forward. He had to reverse the setup for an upwind run, where turbine blades power the vehicle. We imagine that he listened to Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” and “Ride Like the Wind” on repeat while working.

Aside from the blade pitch, Cavallaro also had to take into account the Blackbird’s unique design: To keep the turbine’s torque from flipping the vehicle over, one of its axles is longer than the other, so the Blackbird’s chain drive had to be reconfigured in order to fit the asymmetrical axle setup.

Now that he has upwind and downwind runs under his belt, Cavallaro is looking forward to advances that other aerodynamic enthusiasts make. “I would like to see both our upwind and downwind records broken – regularly,” he said.

Photo: Rick Cavallaro

Photo: General Dynamics Land Systems

Say you need to quickly get elite fighters into and out of hostile territory for critical missions. What type of vehicle do you design for the task? If you’re General Dynamics Land Systems – and trying to secure a contract to supply the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) with a vehicle that meets its demand for “transportability, mobility, modularity and technology” – it would look like the Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV 1.1).

General Dynamics Land Systems submitted a proposal for the program and delivered the sample vehicle to USSOCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on May 30. According to General Dynamics Land Systems, the GMV 1.1 meets the four criteria mentioned above by fitting inside fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, rolling off air transport ready to fight in less than minute, performing on- and off-road, and adapting to existing Pentagon technologies. And it can also be accessorized with additional armor.

The GMV 1.1’s center-mounted engine is designed for optimum weight distribution while being transported by aircraft. “The GMV 1.1 is a mission-ready vehicle and weapon employment is within 60 seconds of deploying from a strategic lift,” Tommy Pruitt, communications director for General Dynamics Land Systems, told Wired.

Photo: General Dynamics Land Systems

The GMV 1.1 also meets the requirement of Special Ops Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconaissance (C4ISR) technology and a computing architecture to “maximize modularity and enable future adaptations for evolving requirements.” General Dynamics Land Systems claims its experience with C4ISR systems on the Abrams tank, the Stryker armored vehicle and other military vehicles makes the GMV 1.1 quickly configurable for a range of special ops missions and environments.

Pruitt noted that add-on armor kits “enhances survivability depending on the operational needs and threat conditions.” He also said that the GMV 1.1’s top speed of about 90 mph and it can carry up to five full-armed fighters.

General Dynamics Land Systems claims the GMV 1.1 underwent extensive two-year testing to validate the vehicle’s design and performance and passed user trials at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and the Nevada Automotive Test Center. It also went through systems reliability trials during a summer in the United Arab Emirates.

USSOCOM plans to acquire up to 1,300 vehicles for special ops missions requiring easy air transportability, weapons capacity and high mobility. Contract award is estimated by January 2013 with production anticipated to begin in 2013 and ending mid-2020.

Photo: General Dynamics Land Systems

The SpaceX mission to berth with the International Space Station has successfully passed the first set of demonstrations with NASA. Dragon completed a series of maneuvers early this morning to adjust its orbit as it prepared for the first flyby of the ISS, passing just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) beneath the station. In addition to the maneuvering, a series of tests was completed to confirm Dragon‘s onboard navigation and communication equipment was working properly before moving closer to the ISS on Friday.

Over the course of several hours all of the demonstrations went well, according to SpaceX’s lead mission director John Couluris, “all Dragon systems checked out, we look good” he said in a press conference following the flyby. “Dragon‘s go for berthing day tomorrow.”

Image: SpaceX

NASA’s ISS flight director Holly Ridings also said the first set of demonstrations was a success, comparing it to the numerous simulations completed by both SpaceX and NASA together. “Today went really very close to how we had trained it,” Ridings said. “There was no major deviation from our pre-flight plan.”

Today’s maneuvers were just the latest in several steps SpaceX has to make to to successfully demonstrate Dragon‘s capabilities as part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) before NASA will allow the company to deliver cargo to the space station.

Dragon as seen with its solar panels deployed from the ISS. Photo: NASA

Within hours of Tuesday morning’s launch, Dragon had successfully deployed its solar panels and opened the doors to its guidance, navigation and control sensors and began testing some of this equipment that will be used as the spacecraft approaches the space station.

On Wednesday, Dragon‘s GPS was shown to be working properly and the vehicle’s COTS UHF Communications Unit (CUCU, pronounced cuckoo) which will be used to communicate with the ISS was powered up and running.

In preparation for the maneuvers close to the ISS, some of Dragon‘s 18 Draco thrusters were demonstrated on Wednesday with both a series of short pulses, and a longer continuous burn simulating the vehicle’s ability to abort from its approach to the station.

A diagram of today’s flyby and the rest of the day’s flight as Dragon makes a loop around the ISS. Image: NASA

All of the activities during the first two days took place as Dragon was chasing the ISS in an effort to be in position for today’s flyby. Before the first maneuver, Dragon was in orbit about 60 kilometers (37 miles) behind and 9.5 kilometers (6 miles) beneath the ISS. At 12:58 a.m. PDT, the Dragon team at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, announced a successful  “height adjustment burn” giving Dragon the vertical push closer to the space station (an orbit further away from the earth).

Forty-five minutes after the height adjustment burn at 1:43 a.m. PDT, Dragon performed a “co-elliptic burn” to effectively allow the capsule to level off at the desired distance beneath the station. Initially the altitude was to be 2.5 kilometers beneath the station, but this was changed to an actual distance of 2.4 kilometers. A few minutes later the crew on board the station sent a command to Dragon that turned on the capsule’s strobe light to confirm the CUCU communication link between the ISS and Dragon.

SpaceX’s John Couluris said Dragon‘s maneuvers around the ISS were successful, and it ended up using 36 kilograms (79 pounds) less propellant during the Draco burns than planned.

Couluris said the extra propellant offers a bit of a cushion if any part of the mission needs to be extended, “if we need to take more time and come back around a second time.”

While Dragon continued to close the distance horizontally to the ISS (remaining 2.4 kilometers beneath the station), SpaceX confirmed the capsule’s relative GPS was operational. The relative GPS is what will be used tomorrow as Dragon begins its approach to the station before laser and thermal imaging sensors guide it in the final meters.

View from inside the ISS’ Cupola where astronaut Don Pettit will grasp Dragon with the robotic arm and berth it with the station. Photo: NASA

As Dragon approached the station, the ISS crew announced it could see it with a traditional “tally ho” while cameras onboard both the ISS and Dragon were able to capture the other.

At 4:26 a.m. PDT, Dragon passed directly beneath the ISS at the prescribed 2.4-kilometer distance before continuing in front of the station as part of the large loop it will fly over the next day before beginning its final close approach early Friday morning.

All of the Dragon operations are being controlled by the SpaceX team at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California. The company’s mission control center is located on the factory floor in a glass enclosure allowing employees to watch the entire mission projected onto large screens.

SpaceX’s Couluris says he has been working with NASA on this mission for more than five years. “We’ve been simulating for almost three years,” he said.

During that time, both teams have rehearsed the mission numerous times. “We have conducted almost 20 joint simulations with NASA” Couluris said, “and over 40 simulations internally here at SpaceX over the four shifts of operators we have working.”

Simulations are a mainstay of the aerospace community with everybody from airline pilots to spacecraft operators developing, practicing and refining all aspects of a flight on computers before flying the real thing for the first time.

“We fly by the mantra of, ‘train like you fly and then fly like you train,’” Couluris said, describing the long hours spent rehearsing. A former naval aviator, Couluris added the mantra is working, “so far the mission has been proceeding just like a regular simulation.”

Both Couluris and NASA’s Ridings reiterated the flight-test nature of the mission, adding that many difficult tasks still lie ahead. And despite all of the rehearsals and simulations there is still plenty that can go wrong with the massively complex systems involved, something SpaceX discovered after a small valve forced an abort of the first launch attempt as the rocket engines ignited on the launch pad.

Coverage of the next series of maneuvers will begin broadcast on our Open Space page beginning at 11 p.m. PDT today.

The crew aboard the ISS watches the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday morning. Photo: NASA

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) in Google’s Autonomous Prius. Photo: Courtesy of Alex Padilla

California Senate Bill 1298 passed the State Senate today in a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 37-0, paving the way for safety and performance standards that cover autonomous vehicles operating on the state’s roads and highways.

The bill, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), is on its way to the State Assembly for consideration, and it’s expected to pass within the next month.

“Thousands of Californians tragically die in auto accidents each year,” Padilla said after the bill’s passage. “The vast majority of these collisions are due to human error. Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle can analyze the driving environment more quickly and accurately and can operate the vehicle more safely.”

The legislation isn’t quite as broad as the law recently passed by Nevada to allow autonomous vehicles to test on the state’s roads, but would rather set up a series of safety guidelines and performance standards that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) would use to evaluate the operation of such vehicles in the state.

Further, autonomous vehicles testing in California would have to meet all applicable state and federal safety standards, and work in conjunction with the CHP and the Department of Motor Vehicles to recommend additional requirements. And naturally, a licensed driver would need to be in the vehicle at all times.

The passage of the legislation comes weeks after Arizona, Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma have all announced plans to consider similar legislation in their respective states. And Google, along with the Automobile Club of Southern California, the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, TechNet, and TechAmerica have all supported the California bill.

“Developing and deploying autonomous vehicles will not only save lives, it will create jobs,” Padilla added, going on to say that “California is uniquely positioned to be the global leader in this field.”

The state of Nevada has issued a first license for one of Google’s self-driving cars — provided there are two people inside the car at all times, the Associated Press reports.

Nevada’s DMV has issued the license after conducting demonstrations that the car is safe for testing on public streets.

Google’s self-driving cars use a laser radar on the roof of the vehicle to detect obstacles, pedestrians and other cars. With the help of GPS and a bit of artificial intelligence, the car can drive itself with very little or no intervention from the human sitting inside.

That said, Nevada’s regulations require two people in the test cars: one in the driver’s seat, and other monitoring a computer screen that shows the car’s planned route as well as traffic lights and other potential hazards on the road.

As soon as the “driver” touches the brake or the wheel, he takes control of the vehicle.

We had a chance to test out one of Google’s self-driving cars in March 2011, and the results were good: no glitches, no unwanted close encounters with walls or other obstacles.

However, in August 2011 one of Google’s cars caused an accident on the road.

What are your thoughts on self-driving cars? Are they the future of transportation or an accident waiting to happen? Let us know in the comments.