NASA and GM Create Cutting Edge Robotic Technology

NASA and General Motors are working together to accelerate development of the next generation of robots and related technologies for use in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Engineers and scientists from NASA and GM worked together through a Space Act Agreement at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to build a new humanoid robot capable of working side by side with people. Using leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies, future robots could assist astronauts during hazardous space missions and help GM build safer cars and plants.

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photo by Josh Ellingson

Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic has been a tradition in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park since 1988. In addition to being San Francisco’s biggest and best annual vintage car gathering, the event also raises thousands of dollars annually for children with developmental disabilities. This year, the San Francisco Parks & Rec department has denied their permit, thus putting the future of the Picnic in jeopardy. There is an online petition to help keep this unique event going and a City Hall meeting planned on Feb. 18th to discuss the situation. You can find out more at the Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic blog.

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Ubachswisbrun/JWT produced a guerilla ad campaign featuring MINI Cooper shipping boxes on the streets of Amsterdam to promote the MINI Amsterdam financing program. I wonder if I could have one shipped using Amazon Prime.

This is similar to a recent Heineken ad campaign featuring Walk-In Fridge boxes.

via Ads of the World & Rocketboom

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guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Filmmaker and musician Julian Smith and friends mic’d up a Jeep Cherokee to produce this original music video. All the sounds you hear were performed live, and originated from the vehicle itself. Could failing American car manufacturers perhaps reinvent themselves as music instrument manufacturers? Can we expect to see a burgeoning market on eBay for vintage vehicles acclaimed for their punchy analog timbres? Is a Nash Rambler the automotive equivalent of a MiniMoog?

Probably not. But “Techno Jeep” is still the best music video you’ll see this month.

UPDATE: Julian now has MP3 of “Techno Jeep” that you can download.

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This woman decided to turn the tables as her car was about to be towed.

via Neatorama

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photos by Chad Davis

The 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance limo that was transformed by Universal Studios into the Ecto-1 Ghostbusters car is now being auctioned off on eBay.

via Mandy Mandy, Current & TechEBlog

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Back in April Thomas Knoll and Whit Scott won a lime green Ford Fiesta in The Fiesta Movement contest (here’s their entry video) that they now driving around for 6 months and documenting their missions as Ford Fiesta Agents.

For their second mission they turned the Fiesta into the Twitter Taxi where people asked them for rides using Twitter. Violet Blue and Ben Metcalfe make an appearance in the Twitter Taxi video, interviewing each other in the back seat.

See Previously: Chuck Cirino Tells Us Why He Really Wants To Win A Ford Fiesta

Thanks to Violet Blue for the tip!

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Upset by a fan letter saying they no longer proper vehicle reviews, the BBC show Top Gear takes a new Ford Fiesta on an extreme road test, which includes being chased by a Corvette through a shopping mall and beach assault with the Royal Marines.

via Daring Fireball

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guest post by Burstein!

photo via 37signals

Santa Monica BMW beats Audi in a game of billboard chess.

I love advertising done well. Nothing, but nothing, lights up my eyes like a good old fashioned snark. While this one is not subversive like the work of Ron English, the BLF or the Public Ad Campaign, it is well done and credit should be given where credit it due.

via Signaltheorist

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guest post by Burstein!

Chuck Squatriglia of Wired’s Autopia took a test drive in the new Aptera. The Aptera is a fully electric car that promises to drive accelerate and handle like a Civic or Yaris and only require a overnight 110v charge for “100 miles with two people, 250 pounds of stuff and the AC going full blast.” Most remarkable is its aesthetic which was specificallly engineered to minimize air resistance and thus increase efficiency. And yes, this car is undergoing crash testing right now and is expected to be available next year.

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guest post by Burstein!

The Australian Design Awards has some beautiful entries, but the Student section has a real winner that proposed a aesthetically pleasing solution for cheap urban transit that allows individuals greater control over their destination than static routes like MUNI or BART. Mr Anton Grimes makes an interesting environmentally based pitch for his design:

With increasing demand on an already over-stretched transport infrastructure it makes sense to shift the way that we move, by taking up less space per individual while in transit. The energy required to move the individual is also greatly reduced by reducing the size and weight of the vehicle. The device also removes direct emissions away from the city and with the addition of environmentally sustainable power generation off-site, the device has the potential to have no net emissions. The product uses primarily Aluminum in both the scooter and the hub. While being more energy intensive than several other possible materials, it provides the most appropriate weight and strength properties to make the parts withstand day to day use or neglect on the street. The parts can be cleanly mechanically separated in order to recover the material for re-use.

Personally, I will gladly welcome our Scootery masters so long as it means never having to see this again.

via Treehugger

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guest post by Jackson West

The Rental Car Rally is a race that pits costumed teams in rental cars against each other on a point-to-point race. The last course took teams from New York City to Montreal.  This time the race starts in San Francisco at midnight on May 15th and ends in Yuma 650 miles and 18 hours later.  Originally the destination was Tijuana, but nervous nellies probably cited that whole “Mexican drug war” thing (though considering recent requests by the Governor of Arizona for national guard troops, not sure the dusty border town will be that much safer).  If any team is looking for a navigator, holler at me — I’ve seen Cannonball Run I-III, both versions of Death Race, and all the Smokey and the Bandits.  And I have an EVDO modem.

via Fimoculous

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guest post by Aaron Muszalski

Last Wednesday, a team of “slightly mad” engineers and adventurers left London on an historic journey to Timbuktu, via bio-fuelled flying car. Their invention, the Parajet Skycar, combines a dune-buggy like automobile with a propeller and a parafoil (similar to those used in powered parachutes and by paragliders) and is capable of being flown in the air and driven on the land.

After leaving London and crossing the English Channel, the expedition will pass through France, Spain, Morocco, the Western Sahara and Mali, a 3,600 mile journey in all, 40% of which they expect to travel by air. They hope to reach Timbuktu on February 20.

To see the Skycar in action and meet its creators, check out this article and video from The Guardian.

photo by The Guardian

images via Parajet

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“Evolution of Technology”, is a fantastic ad created by Scholz&Friends Group for the German electronics store Saturn that shows an evolutionary process from dinosaur robots to modern androids.

via AdFreak

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guest post by Violet Blue

Oh, you little cars, how you vex us. Teeny, bite-sized vehicles — cute and efficient, fun to drive, mod-retro-glamorous, and almost as adorable as Hamster on a Piano. We can’t eat look at just one. Fortunately for us, there’s the Microcar Museum, complete with virtual tour and videos. Every day is a big day for little autos online thanks to The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia, where they house the world’s largest collection of microcars defined as, “late 1940’s- pre-1964 range with Engine sizes of 700cc or less (many are 250cc and 50cc) and 2 doors or less.”

World War II came to an end in 1945 and Europe lay in ruins. A shell-shocked population came out of the bomb shelters and faced an unimaginable scene of devastation and ruin.

As if the seemingly endless task of clearing away the rubble wasn’t enough, there were crippling shortages of food, raw materials, electricity and gas. Value and worth were measured in Chesterfield cigarettes.

The population collectively rolled up its sleeves and went to work. The astonishing rebuilding of an entire continent over a period of ten years was accomplished through a unity of spirit and purpose unimaginable today. Bright, talented engineers, many out of the former aircraft industry, put their minds to the problems of mobilizing the population under adverse conditions. It’s said that the true master reveals himself within limitations and so this focusing of energy and talent resulted in an enormous variety of small vehicles; some successful, others less so – but all of them interesting!

The microcar or “bubble car” came to symbolize this period of renewed energy and pulling together.

The bubble car boom lasted only a decade, but the period left a lasting impression even on those who abandoned their Kabinenroller for a “real” car. The cars continue to be found in barns and collections throughout the world but are particularly meaningful to the Europeans, whose lifestyle was, in part, made possible by these tiny cars.

The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum “hopes to bring this brief, colorful flowering of talent and ingenuity to the attention of a new generation of automobile enthusiasts” And to bring back that totally awesome shade of turquoise. Check the info page for in-person admission ($5!) and visiting hours.

images via Microcar Museum

Thanks for the tip, Don C!

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Ironic Sans has created a great modification of the Ford logo which appropriately represents the current situation in the automotive industry.

image via Ironic Sans

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The San Francisco Citizen shot some great photos of the the start of the 10th annual Gumball 3000 2008 Rally today at the top of Nob Hill in San Francisco. 120 cars are participating in the 2008 world tour, traveling 3000 miles in 8 days.

Driving 3000 miles over an intense eight days, incorporating the cultural diversities of East and West civilisations; flying all cars and participants between Continents; witnessing the Mass Games in North Korea, the Olympic Games in Beijing; and partying each night fuelled only by adrenaline, amusement and amity, the 2008 route will undoubtedly be a real once in a lifetime adventure!

photo by The San Francisco Citizen

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On stage at yesterday’s Start Conference in San Francisco Matt Haughey announced the new web service Fuelly. With Fuelly you can track your gas mileage for multiple vehicles and then share and compare that information with your friends. It’s like a social network for your car that helps you save money on gas.

Fuelly was built by Matt and Paul Bausch using code from MetaFilter, the popular link sharing community weblog that Matt started back in 1999.

UPDATE: Check out Fuelly’s awesome Twitter inspired 404 page.

illustration by John Martz

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Here are a couple of videos of the beautiful kinetic sculpture developed by ART+COM which is currently on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.

The mechatronic installation made up of 714 metal balls translates a virtual design process into the space around it. Seemingly weightless and guided solely by the power of the mind, the sculpture moves through a cycle of free abstractions and typical BMW vehicle forms.

Speaking of the BMW Museum, the building is made in the shape of the BMW logo.

via Engadget

photo via BMW Group

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Today The BMW Group Design unveiled their GINA Light Visionary Model concept car, which features a innovative flexible, fabric-like exterior skin.

via 37signals

photo via BMW

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