Podcast: Sustainable Fashion, Apple Car Insights, Sharper Bionic Eyes

In this episode, we talk about how a research team led by MIT has found a way to create functional textiles from polyethylene, rumors surrounding the Apple car, and EPFL’s newest iteration of a retinal implant.

23 Mar, 2021. 1 minute read

MIT researchers design a new kind of sustainable textile from polyethylene fibers that may help humans adapt to and combat the effects of climate change. Credits:Image: Felice Frankel, Christine Daniloff, MIT

Topic

healthcare

EPISODE NOTES

(0:43) - Sustainable Fashion

An international team composed of 7 different institutions led by Dr. Svetlana Boriskina has achieved a polyethylene textile that is more breathable, moisture wicking, and environmentally friendly than the materials mostly used in the fashion industry.

(7:00) - Apple Car Insights

Apple’s secret car - which was first hinted at in 2014 as Project Titan - seems to be making progress but not without some bumps along the way.

(12:10) - Sharper Bionic Eyes

EPFL has announced a new iteration of their retinal implant which offers a greater resolution and field of view to address some of the limitations of their original design that was trialed in 2013.

About the podcast:

Every day, some of the most innovative universities, companies, and individual technology developers share their knowledge on Wevolver. To ensure we can also provide this knowledge for the growing group of podcast listeners, we started a collaboration with two young engineers, Daniel Scott Mitchell & Farbod Moghaddam who discuss the most interesting content in this podcast series.

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Topic

healthcare

New transmission system makes electric cars more powerful, more efficient and potentially cheaper

TU/e PhD candidate Caiyang Wei has developed a highly efficient automatic transmission system for electric vehicles.

Autonomous Vehicles

- electric vehicles (EVs)

Henk van Appeven

11 Dec, 2020. 1 minute read

The share of electric vehicles on our roads is increasing, ranging from smaller urban vehicles to larger sedans and SUVs. However, e-mobility still faces a number of challenges: whether it concerns vehicles that drive on steep roads, sports cars that need to quickly reach top speeds, or vehicles that need to tow a trailer or caravan. Together with German high-tech multinational Bosch, PhD candidate Caiyang Wei has developed an automatic transmission system for electric cars that ensures an optimal balance between efficiency and power, while potentially lowering the total cost for both manufacturer and user. Wei recently defended his thesis at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).

The electric vehicle (EV) market is currently dominated by so-called single-speed transmissions, which use a fixed transmission to transfer power from the electric motor to the wheels. Although simple in design, fixed transmissions create conflicting requirements for the vehicle. At low speeds, the vehicle has to offer good drive-off performance, resulting in large and heavy designs that have a negative impact on the car’s ability to accelerate efficiently. Large motors and batteries are also bad news for the car’s energy consumption, driving range, and cost.

Continuous And Variable

To solve these problems, a continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a good alternative. CVT is a system widely used in non-electric cars, and allows a vehicle to automatically adjust the RPM (revolutions per minute) and torque of the car’s motor according to its speed, thus ensuring an optimal balance between efficiency and performance.

Together with researchers and engineers at Bosch, a German high-tech multinational, Caiyang Wei has developed and tested a new version of CVT that significantly improves the efficiency and performance of electric cars. The rese

Podcast: Sustainable Fashion, Apple Car Insights, Sharper Bionic Eyes

In this episode, we talk about how a research team led by MIT has found a way to create functional textiles from polyethylene, rumors surrounding the Apple car, and EPFL’s newest iteration of a retinal implant.

EPISODE NOTES

Continuous And Variable

A deep dive into the carbon footprint of alternative fuel vehicles

A material that most liquids wont wet

Stretchable wires move us closer to electronics that mold to your skin

EPISODE NOTES

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