Underwater Car - the New Generation of Transportation

OK, so the Swiss have invented a car that runs on land and underwater. But did they REALLY have to make it a convertible? It's called the "sQuba," and conjures up memories of James Bond's amphibious Lotus Esprit from "The Spy Who Loved Me."

That fictional vehicle traveled on land and, when chased by bad guys in a helicopter, plunged into the water and became an airtight submarine - complete with "torpedoes" and "depth charges." Company CEO Frank Rinderknecht, a self-professed Bond fan, said he has been waiting 30 years to recreate the car he saw Roger Moore use to drive off of a dock. The sQuba can plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet and has electrical motors to turn the underwater screw. You'll have to break out the wetsuit, however. The car has an open top, meaning that the two passengers are exposed to the elements. For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergencyPassengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.

The sQuba's top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater. Working with engineering specialists, Rinspeed removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear - er, aft - with one providing propulsion on land and the other two driving the screw for underwater driving. Many concept cars introduce important new technology

Anything to improve the efficiency of a vehicle, streamlining or reducing the weight of materials, while maintaining strength ... is put into concept cars first.

Flying Car - the Next Generation of Car

Sitting amidst a sea of cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic on an endless expressway, have you ever daydreamed about your car taking off and flying over the road? Imagine if you could just flip a switch and unshackle yourself from the asphalt!
Traffic jams are the bane of any commuter. Many of us spend an hour or so stuck in traffic every week.

The growing population is partly to blame for our congested roads, but the main problem is that we are not expanding our transportation systems fast enough to meet ever increasing demands. One solution is to create a new type of transportation that doesn't rely on roads, which could one day make traffic jams a 20th century relic. To do this, we must look to the sky.

In the last century, airplanes and mass-produced cars have changed the way we live. Cars, which became affordable for the general population, have allowed us to move farther away from cities, and planes have cut travel time to faraway destinations considerably. At the beginning of a new century, we may see the realization of a century-old dream -- the merging of cars and planes into road able aircraft, or flying cars. You've probably heard promises about flying cars before, and the technology to make them safe and easy to fly may finally be here.
In this article, we will take a look back at some of the attempts to build a flying car, and examine some of the flying vehicles that you may be able to park in your garage in the next decade!

Robot, the Next Generation Of "Human"

Robots are machines that can perform some human tasks or imitate some of the things that a person can do. Robots are mechanical devices that operate automatically. They can perform a wide variety of tasks; jobs that are repetitious and boring, difficult, or too dangerous for people to perform. Industrial robots efficiently complete routine tasks such as drilling, welding, assembly, painting, and packaging. They are used in manufacturing, electronics assembly, and food processing.

The word robot comes from the Czech word 'robota' that means drudgery. The science and technology that deals with robots is called robotics. A typical robot completes its task by following a set of specific instructions that tell it what and how the job is to be completed. These instructions are programmed and stored in the robot's control center, a computer or partial computer. Robots come in different sizes and shapes. Few resemble humans as is frequently depicted in science fiction. Most are stationary machines with a single arm that lifts or moves objects and uses tools.

Engineers have also developed mobile robots with video cameras for sight and electronic sensors for touch. These new generation robots are controlled by both their stored instructions (software programs) and by feedback that they receive from the sensors. Such robots might be used on the ocean floor at depths man is unable to reach and in planetary exploration and other scientific research.