Here is the successor to the 2010 USA17 BMW ORACLE Racing Team boat, winner of the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia Spain. The new boat is the USA17 ORACLE Racing Team AC72 and it, along with its major competitors, employs hydrofoil wings to lift the boat out of the water to increase boat speed.
This graphic illustrates the difference in the size of the two USA17 boats. On the left is the 2010 boat which is substantially larger than the 2013 boat on the right.
The chatter right now is that Team USA will have their hands full competing with whichever challenger emerges from the Louis Vuitton series, especially New Zealand. The problem with USA17 is it tends to nose down while hydroplaning reducing its speed. Team ORACLE is currently building a second boat and it is expected to resolve the technical problems seen in the first boat. We'll see!
Team USA will defend the Cup in San Francisco with the 34th Americas' Cup finals staring September 7, 2013.
UPDATE: April 26, 2013
Boat 2 is ready! Look how steady and solid she looks! It looks like they solved the issue of the bow dipping. The rear transverse beam is much heavier on this boat than the one on Boat 1 (perhaps to balance her out some?) Love the new paint job also. Check out the new video of her maiden voyage:
UPDATE:
Team USA comes from behind to win the 34th America's Cup! Unbelievable! The time out was critical. They never gave up, and the shore team put in countless hours in the shed improving the boat speed. Congratulations USA17 ORACLE Racing Team!
This is the boat that won the 33rd America's Cup in 2010. It's a 90' x 90' Trimaran designed, manufactured, and raced by BMW ORACLE Racing and has an amazing 185' tall rigid main sail (wing).
I've been a fan of the America's Cup since the days of Dennis Conner and the 12 meter boats, but I had never seen anything like this. This boat is big! Its also fast. It can easily reach 20 knots of boat speed upwind. I love the graphics on the boat, especially the white noses followed by the black hulls.
Team USA will defend the Cup in San Francisco with the 34th Americas' Cup finals staring September 7, 2013.
The following pictures are of the boat with a more conventional main sail and missing the distinctive "batwing" rear shroud.
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrid
This is the car that dominated the endurance racing series in 2012 and is well on its way to continuing its winning ways in 2013. Major wins in 2012 included the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 6 Hours of Silverstone, the 6 Hours of Bahrain, and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
R18 e-tron Quattros took the top two positions at the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 16, 2013. The 6 Hours of Silverstone is coming up on April 14, 2013 in the UK (Update: Audi R18 e-tron Quattros took the top two spots on the podium at Silverstone 2013) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans is on June 22 - 23, 2013. Team Audi is the acknowledged favorite going into these events, but of course in racing, anything can happen.
Powered by a 3.7 liter V6 TDI diesel engine, with a partially electrified hybrid drive utilizing a carbon fiber flywheel energy recovery and storage system, the car is a tour de force of automotive engineering and design.
A brief comment about the computer animation video above: I think the quality of the model is just fantastic! I like the way they abstracted the Le Mans race course to simplify the background and put the focus on the car itself. Given the detail of the computer rendering, I wonder if they had built up a complete 3-D computer model of the car, including all the internal components. I would be interested to see that if they did.
Here is a clip of the car testing at Monza, Italy - April 2013. This is the latest 2013 "Long-tail" version that will be raced at Le Mans in June. Love the sound of this thing!
Technical data Audi R18 e-tron quattro (2012)
Version: February 2012
Vehicle
Vehicle type
Le Mans Prototype (LMP1)
Monocoque
Carbon-fiber composite with aluminum honeycomb, tested according to the strict FIA crash and safety standards
Battery
Lithium ion batteries
Engine
Engine
Turbocharged 120° V6, 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC, 1 Garrett turbocharger, mandatory intake air restrictor of 1 x 45.8 mm diameter and turbo boost pressure limited to 2.8 bar absolute, diesel direct injection TDI Fully stressed aluminum cylinder block, diesel particle filter
Engine management
Bosch MS24
Engine lubrication
Dry sump, Castrol
Displacement
3.700 cc
Power
Over 375 kW / 510 hp
Torque
Over 850 Nm
Hybrid system
Type of accumulator
Electric flywheel accumulator, max 500 KJ
Motor Generator Unit (MGU)
MGU on the front axle, water cooled with integrated power electronics, 2 x 75 kW
Drive / transmission
Type of drive
Rear wheel drive, traction control (ASR), four-wheel drive e-tron quattro from 120 km/h*
Clutch
Carbon clutch
Gearbox
Sequential, electrically activated 6-speed racing gearbox
Differential
Limited-slip rear differential
Gearbox housing
Carbon-fiber composite with titanium inserts
Driveshafts
Constant velocity sliding tripod universal joints
Suspension / steering / brakes
Steering
Electrical assisted rack and pinion steering
Suspension
Front and rear double wishbone independent suspension, front pushrod system and rear pull rod system with adjustable dampers
Brakes
Hydraulic dual circuit brake system, monobloc light alloy brake calipers, ventilated carbon disc brakes front and rear, infinitely manually adjustable front and rear brake balance,
The 1930 Villa Tugendhat designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe has been recently restored and brought back to its original condition. Located in Brno, Czech Republic, the house is a classic example of modern residential architecture.
The Scottsdale Arizona Design Within Reach Studio is hosting an event showcasing Arizona furniture designers. They have accepted my Layers Furniture Tall Bookcase to be in the exhibition and a panel of judges will vote for their favorite piece at the opening reception. Exciting!
Layers Furniture is a line of furniture I designed and fabricated between 2004 and 2007. Layers Furniture utilizes low VOC multi-ply birch plywood, pre-finished on both sides with a durable phenolic resin film. The parts are cut using a CNC router, and held together with integral slots and notches.
The opening reception is at the Scottsdale Design Within Reach Studio on Thursday, August 30, 2012 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The pieces will be on display at the Studio through September 1, 2012.
The Studio is located at 4821 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale AZ 85251.
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" successfully landed on the surface of Mars on August 6, 2012 at 05:14:39 UTC.
The landing was the culmination of an 8 1/2 month journey from Earth that started with the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory from Cape Canaveral, Florida on November 26, 2011. The following images (mostly artists renditions) illustrate what an incredible engineering feat this was.
When I first saw descriptions of the proposed Sky Crane maneuver, I couldn't believe they would propose something so inherently risky. But after reading accounts of the design process, I began to understand how the engineers arrived at this solution. Because of the large size of the rover (and other factors), this was the best option. An amazing fact about the Sky Crane maneuver is that they never physically tested it on Earth. When Curiosity was lowered to the surface of Mars on August 6, 2012, that was the first time it had ever been done!
Launch of Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" on November 26, 2011
Curiosity approaches Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity
descended to the surface.
Mars Science Laboratory suspended below its parachute on
descent to surface.
Rover and Descent Stage visible inside Backshell.
Rover and Descent Stage with trusters operating
nearing surface.
Looks like something out of Star Wars!
Rover being lowered to surface from Descent Stage during
Sky Crane maneuver.
Curiosity touching down.
Curiosity on surface of Mars in Gale Crater.
Curiosity at work.
Photo taken from Curiosity on August 7, 2012 showing
Mt. Sharp looming in the distance. Higher resolution images to follow!
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