From the days of our schooling we have been listening that there are two types of sources of energy, Renewable and non-renewable and unfortunately the energy sources we need are the non renewable ones..So keeping this in mind the automobile makers are coming up with newer technologies to improve the efficiency as well as to decrease the harmful burnt gases and as a result we got Fuel Efficient (Hybrid, Electric) Vehicles...
The term Driver Information System is getting popular day by day as cars are advancing and so is the technology. The analog systems are being replaced by digital ones and at much cheaper cost. Driver Information System(DIS) is the system installed in a car which gathers all the necessary information useful to a driver from various sensory equipment and display them all together in a single display behind the steering wheel(in some cases somewhere on the dashboard. Have a look at the various information it provide..
A driver information system (DIS) in AUDI.
What DIS Shows ???
Information shown in most of the DIS:
Indicates if any door of the car is open or not properly closed.
Indicators for any Battery, Fuel, Steering or Engine issues.
Outside Temperature and Current Time.
Distance traveled for a trip or Total Distance the car has traveled.
Winter season is on and here is a useful automotive thing that makes your driving very comfortable in this cool weather...As many of you must have noticed that when there's chilling atmosphere outside and you enter your car, you find the seats very uncomfortable to sit as they are too cool to sit on..but the car manufacturers have this unique thing to make you happy....I am talking about Heated Seats...I'll discuss what is Heated Seats and how they work??
Heated Seats button in a car
Heated Seats:
Heated seats is the optional set of seats which are configured to heat up with a press of a button. These days it is common features of costly luxury cars. The seats are stuffed with electronic circuitry which develops heat and makes them hot enough to make your driving comfortable. The whole functioning is done with the help of a button present in the car. Many car owners opt for external heated configuration in the form of seat covers or customize their seats with some outside vendors. Now take a look on how it functions..
How Heated Seats Work ??
The functioning of Heated seats is done with the help of following materials:
Relay
Heating element
Thermostat
Connecting Wires
Inside of a Heated seat (Wired Network is heating Element)
The basic logic behind the heating mechanism is very simple. If you remember anything about current and resistance in physics then it is very easy for you. A current is passed through the heating element and heating element generates heat to make the seats warm. When a person switches on the button, the relay allows the current to flow through the heating element(which can be a wire and acts as resistance). As the current passes through the heating element, it resists the current from flowing through it which in turn generates heat and that what we need. This heat makes the seats hot and comfortable for winters. But there has to be some limit for the temperature as it may burn the fabric, for this reason the whole setup is connected to a thermostat which reads the temperature of heating element and disconnect the current supply as soon it reaches a preset limit. After sometime when the temperature of the seat lowers, the thermostat allows the current to flow through the circuit and that how temperature is maintained.
Few systems have setting for different ranges of temperature to suit your needs.
Pros and Cons:
As this is boon for all the drivers who wish for cozy seats in this winter season but since it is electrical configuration that's why it's bit risky. Although the car manufacturers make sure the the systems are fault proof and reliable for longer runs.
Share your views and suggestions..Hope you liked it!! Happy Reading!!
Today I am writing off after a week long gap because I was busy celebrating Diwali :)..I got a question from one of my friend about Automobile Tuning on my facebook page..So here I am with the information. I will tell about what this term means "Automobile Tuning" means. So lets start up with what is Automobile Tuning..
Automobile Engine tuning
What is Automobile Tuning:
Automobile tuning is nothing but a term given to the process of optimizing your automobile to give the best on road. It includes checking up the vital functioning of main components and changing up the ones worn out but the process doesn't end here. The whole tuning process is divided into three major sections as per the work involved in it. If you ever visited a car/bike workshop with an intention of getting it serviced, then you must be knowing that tuning is a part of your servicing. After servicing the workshop returns your vehicle with the performance it is made for. Now take a look at the types of Automobile Tuning.
Types of Tuning:
Well there are uncountable people living on earth and everyone may have a different perception about types of tuning but as far as I am concerned, I categorize them into three:
Engine Tuning
ECU Tuning
Performance Tuning
Now the engine and performance is known word but what's ECU?? Don't you worry I will take this up a bit later, first lets see what happens in Engine Tuning..
Engine Tuning:
Engine tuning involves the very basic things but important things to check primarily. I will tell them in bullet points with specifying why it's done, here are these:
Replace Engine oil : As due to regular usage the viscosity of engine oil decreases which in turn will increase friction in engine.
Replace Air Filter : The dust and other particles keeps settling on the filter part which needs to be replaced.
Replace Oil Filter : The worn out tiny particles from the engine gets clogged into the oil filter and may block the flow of oil inside.
Replace Spark Plugs: This part of your vehicle is necessary for igniting the engine and needs to be checks for any fault.
Replacing Timing Belt
Replace Belts: Belts are responsible for transferring power from engine to the axle and these need to be replaced periodically.
Fill Up Coolant: It keeps flowing to keep the engine cool and thus gets evaporated by a certain amount and hence needs to be filled back periodically.
Battery Check-Up: Adding distilled water into the battery and cleaning up the terminals.
Re-Fastening the Bolts: Due to engine vibrations the bolts get loose so a check is necessary.
And many more...
ECU Tuning:
First let me tell you whats ECU..it is Engine Control unit which takes care of all the specific tasks in engine. Although ECU thing is not very new but old automobiles were ECU free as the controls were analog not digital. But now every automobile has it be it a Car or a Bike.
ECU of a Car
ECU does so many tasks like Control of Air/Fuel Mixture, Ignition Timing, Variable Valve Timing and many more stuffs..These ECU's are coded by the companies with specific timings and settings to obtain a controlled output from the engine.
Few automobiles have programmable ECU's which can be programmed for various settings to achieve different performances. The company which manufactures ECU's also provides workshop guys a device that they can use for programming ECU's. Although these tasks are done only by experts as a minor change in setting can result in a major change.
Performance Tuning:
This type is tuning is exclusive as it is done as per the specific tasks to be done by the automobiles. This tuning makes sure that your machine gives its best performance even better than the company specified it to give. Suppose a bike is used for Motorsports then its obvious that all the major components should be able to withstand extra heat that would be burdened over them during high performance or for example take case of rally sport where the suspension used needs to be replaced with better sustainability which would have not been used otherwise. Performance tuning is not a regular process for regular automobiles but its done only where it is needed. Beside changing up the component, the timing and ratios are of great importance.
That's all I have to tell about the Automobile Tuning...share your views or suggestions with me..
This post of mine is about a technology that is a part of the higher end segment of automobiles, the technology is Keyless Entry which is realized with the help of Smart Key. Although this feature is mainly present in the costlier versions of automobiles but few car makers are introducing this feature in their lower segments. In this post we will discuss about what is keyless entry, how its done and what are its advantages.
What is Keyless Entry:
As the name suggests this technology gives the convenience to the car owners to move into their cars without actually inserting the key into it. Some of you might be thinking that i am talking about the central locking system that is present in the car, but you are wrong. Yes, keyless entry systems have remote just like the regular central locking remotes but here the difference is that the remote doesn't have a key attached to it. Now that's the reason why the technology is called keyless entry as there is no key present.
These days the remote present in these cars are called smart key as the remote is smart enough to recognize you and allow you to enter inside the car and do what you want. If you wonder that if there is no key then how the engine is going to start. For this read the next section Push Start /Stop button.
Keyless entry : A smart key from Nissan's Car
Push Start/Stop button:
For a keyless entry to be literally keyless the car should be equipped with such a technology that allows the owner of the car to start the engine without the key, for this the solution is push start/stop button.
Its a normal button present below the steering wheel near by the position where actually ignition keys are inserted. The sole purpose of this button is to start the engine if user presses it once and to turn off the engine when the user press it again. Its like a toggle switch with on/off functionality and thus eliminating the need of key to start. Shown below is a push start stop button present in the cars. In india the car which first introduced Push start stop function is Nissan's Micra.
Keyless Entry : Push Start Stop Button
How it works:
The keyless entry systems depend upon infrared signals to function. These signals are sent by the smart key (actually the remote) to the infrared receiver present in the car which receives the signals and check the signals if they are from the right smart key. The signals sent are encrypted so that nobody can tweak the signals in case of stealing. When the owner reaches near the car, the receiver matches the signals and unlock the car. The range of keyless entry is restricted to few inches and that's why the car unlocks only when the user is close enough to enter the car and preventing the car unlocking unnecessarily.
Now lets see how the Push Start Stop Button works. The button has a spark triggering mechanism which gets activated when the button is pushed for start. The spark burns the fuel and engine starts but there is a catch. The Start-stop button doesn't work without getting the signals from the smart key. Nobody can start engine just by sitting inside the car. The car checks the infrared signals and then only starts the engine thus increasing the security strength of the technology. The smart key sends a different code every time to improve security and integration.
It's Advantages:
You can enter and start driving without looking for key in your pocket.
The car cant be started without having the Smart Key and due to coded signals the security is add-on.
Easy locking and unlocking.
You have less chances of loosing it as you don't take it out.
And yes Style to flaunt :)
This is it for Keyless Entry : Smart Key...Have a look at the other interesting posts on KnowtheAuto.
Stay tuned to KnowtheAuto and for suggestions you can comment or Contact Me. Happy Reading!!!
In this post I will discuss about the Exhaust System which many of you might not be interested in. But since you have started reading this , let me tell you the exhaust system is not that boring. In this post you will get to know why we need an exhaust system and how it functions in an automobile. So first let us know whats basically a Exhaust System...
Whats an Exhaust System:
Firstly, Let's digest the definition and it says that "An Exhaust system is usually piping used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine". The definition is quite understandable and the exhaust system is basically the pipes that you see at the lower back end of a car or in a bike. These pipes can be seen smoking out the hazardous gases from the engine which causes pollution. Now lets see why we need it and is it really necessary.
A Car Exhaust System
Why an Exhaust System:
The question arises to our mind that why we need this whole pipe structure, the gases can be easily passed out from a valve. The answer to this is that the gases that an engine emits out are so hazardous that it can make you sleep forever if inhaled directly, So a proper system is needed for these gases to be made less hazardous. The gases that comes out of the exhaust system are very much safer than the actual ones thanks to this Exhaust system. The other main advantage of these exhaust are that they reduce the noise that compressed engine gases make while coming out. These Exhaust give those gases much space to travel and thus the pressure of gases is reduced and so is the noise level.
How it Works:
A detailed Anatomy of a car exhaust system
Shown above is the detailed anatomy of the exhaust system. I'll start from the top where the flange is mentioned. Flange connects the exhaust system with the main engine from where all the gases are coming out. Coming from there the gases meet the catalytic converter where different chemical reactions occur to convert the highly toxic gases to the less toxic ones. Here the hazardous CO(carbon Mono oxide) gas is converted into less toxic CO2(carbon dioxide)..I'll not go into the chemical equations now. Also here the NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide)gas is broken into Nitrogen and oxygen parts so that the gases which goes into atmosphere are less harmful.Then the gases comes into the middle chamber where the unburnt fuel particles are trapped into the perforated pipes and then in the end there's resonator which reduces the pressure of the gases further and thus reducing the noise caused.
In the end what we get is the gases which are cleaner for environment, although not as clean as they should be but at-least the system makes the gases less dangerous.
This is it about the exhaust system...will come up with some other interesting topic.
Stay tuned to Auto-Gyaan and let me remind you that the blog is open for suggestions. You can comment or Contact Me for any suggestions. Happy Reading!!
In this post of mine the automobile featured is the fighter jets and the topic for you is "How the fighter jets land on aircraft carriers ??? ". These machines are so fascinating that people of all age group love and respect them. Here I will tell you about the mechanism used by which these high speed fighter jets land in the short area runway of aircraft carrier. Before knowing the mechanism involved you guys need to know about three things:
Whats an Aircraft Carrier??
Whats Tail Hook??
Whats Arresting gear??
So first we will discuss What exactly is an Aircraft carrier:
Aircraft carriers are warships that are used as a seagoing carrier ship which acts as an portable airbase for the naval operations. It has a large top over which airbase is made having runway strips and fighter jets parked over. Have a look on the picture to understand:
A typical Aircraft Carrier
What exactly is Tail hook:
Its a landing accessory fitted at the rear end of the fighter jets which comes out at the time of landing. Its a fixed metal part flattened at the rear end to make it a claw like hook. It is mechanically pulled in/out through the aircraft. Have a look at the pic below.
A Tail Hook
What exactly is Arresting Gear:
Arresting gear consist of one or more steel cables (arresting cables) which are stretched from both the end of the runway where the fighter jet is going to land. These cables are controlled by the retractable holders which keep the wires stretchable to a certain limit. See the pic below:
Arresting cables
Why a mechanism is needed:
Although the fighter jets are capable enough to stop by themselves in normal conditions but when there is lack of space like in aircraft carriers, then the use of tail-hook and arresting gear comes into picture. Since the space is less and speed is high, the jets are force fully stopped onto the carrier.
How its done:
When a fighter jet is landing on the carrier the pilot lowers down the Tail-hook of the jet and that tailhook touches the surface of the carrier and comes into contact with the arresting gear. When arresting gear get hold of the tailhook, all the inertia of the jet gets transferred to the cables and the resistance from the cables stop the aircraft at shorter distance.
However sometimes the tailhook miss out the arresting gear and the this case of failure is know as "Boltered". To prevent the process to be boltered two three arresting gear are placed one after the another so that if the tailhook misses first stretched cable then there's a possibility that it come in contact with the other cables following.
A landing in action
What if the Tailhook gets faulty:
In that case the jet has a bad luck. For this case the the jets are diverted to some nearby runways or if there's some limitations then the aircraft can be halted by erecting net barricades in its path. But this approach is least used as the tailhook and arresting gears are checked prior to the landings. Have a look at the Barricaded Instance.
A barricade for emergency landing
This is it about how fighter jets land on the aircraft carriers..Read other interesting posts on the blog.
Stay tuned to knowtheauto.com and let me remind you that the blog is open for suggestions. You can comment or Contact Me for any suggestions. Happy Reading!!
The tires which don't have a tube in it are called TubeLess tires. The definition is very easy but the technology behind making these wheels has replaced the conventional tube tires. Nowadays almost all the vehicles are equipped with these tires as an standard equipment.
What's the Difference:
A tubeless tire cutout to show you the interiors
The major difference between tube and tubeless tires as I discussed is the Tube which is not present in the tube-less ones as obvious. Another difference is that the tire and the rim makes a non-leaking air compartment and the valve is fitted directly to rim unlike in tube tires where the valve is fitted onto the tube.
Below is the comparison between the tube and tubeless tires.
Comparison among the tires
Advantages:
More resistant to puncture as the construction is robust.
Sustain the air for longer duration.
Doesn't cause instability when the air pressure is low.
Increase efficiency as friction between tire and tube is eliminated.
Easy to remove punctures as there is no need to take out the whole tube to fix it.
How the puncture is fixed:
The tools used for fixing the puncture are reduced in numbers and size as there is no need to take out the whole to fix the puncture. Nowadays fixing a puncture is not a tedious job and even you can fix the puncture with the help of a fixing kit.
Shown below is a puncture fixing kit for tubeless tires which is all you need.
First the tire is checked for any nail or other sharp object then the tire is drilled down at that point with a tool shown below. Then a fixing strip is coated with the adhesive solution and then with the help of the tool, the strip is pierced deep within. That's It!!!
Take out the tool out leaving behind the strip inside the tire and you are ready to go...
Puncture fixing in process
So this is it about the TubeLess Tire....Comment for any query or suggestion.
Stay tuned to knowtheauto.com and the blog is open for suggestions. You can comment or Contact Me for any suggestions. Happy Reading!!
In most of the cases if a vehicle has two tires and one engine than it can be called a MotorCycle. :)
Well there are cases in which the above condition fulfills but is called a Scooter or Moped. So I am ignoring the latter case and concentrating on the case of Motorcycles. This type of vehicle was first introduced by American, Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) with a two-cylinder, steam-engine motorcycle (powered by coal) in 1867. This can be considered the first motorcycle, if you allow your description of a motorcycle to include a steam engine.
First Motor Cycle
That was the history, now I will discuss the types of the motorcycles present in the world these days. Different people and regions have different types in their mind but the broad classification of MotorCycles comprises of three types:
Cruiser Bikes
Off-Road Bikes
Sports Bikes
Regular Bikes
I will discuss these types one by one starting with the cruiser bikes.
Cruiser Bikes:
These bikes were introduced by the Americans in early 20th century. These bikes are mainly distinguished by a large engine , a laid back seat and engines are tuned in such a way that the rider has to shift the gears less. These bikes are used by touring guys who are fond of travelling on there bikes. These bikes are called "Choppers" by few people when thee are custom modified. Here are some pictures of these bikes for reference.
Harley Davidson
Royal Enfield's Bullet
A Chopper
Off-Road Bikes:
The bikes which are not treated as a vehicle to go from one place to another are called Off-Road Bikes. :)
Well these are used for races on the off-road terrain and are also preferred by stunt freaks to show off their skills. These bikes have a robust structure with light weight and comparatively less displacement engine and are also called Dirt Bikes because the terrain they run in is full of dirt and Mud. If you are fan of these bikes then you must have participated in a race or two :) Here are some pictures of these bikes.
Dirt Bike
Dirt Bike in action
Sports Bikes:
The bikes which are made just to show off power, speed and style are called Sports Bikes. These bikes have heavy displacement engine tuned to outperform, and aerodynamics to keep the rider ahead.These bikes are preferred by bike racers as well as by the rich guys to show off. A lot of technology and research goes into making these bikes, so that the bike performs more than its expectations. Here are few pics of the Style Icons.
Suzuki Hayabusa
Kawasaki Ninja
Regular Bikes:
Here comes the most used and popular bike segment - Regular Bikes. These bikes are good enough to ride and roam around but are not performance oriented. These comes with a average engine with regular styling just to suit your pocket and daily needs. As the engine is not too big, they have very good efficiency and have cheaper maintenance as compared to its other counter parts which makes this segment the most loved segment. Here are some pictures of the regular bikes
Honda Shine
.
That was all about the different types of motorcycles. Now the question arises which one you like???
Do write me about your views and suggestions to me.
My Favourite:
Harley Davidson
This is it about the types of motorcycles..Have a look on my post Types of cars.. Stay tuned to knowtheauto.com.. Happy Reading..The blog is open for suggestions.. :)
For those who are thinking that there are two cushions in the above picture, let me tell you that you are somewhat correct but technically these cushions are called AirBags. Airbags are just like comfortable cushions but the only difference is that they are visible only in case of collision and i am sure none of you want to make them visible. A more technical definition of airbag is "It is an occupant restraint system consisting of a flexible fabric envelope or cushion designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision".
What they do:
Airbags are one of the main safety features that most of the car are equipped with these days. At the time of collision these balloon type airbags inflate and provide a safety cushion like structure and prevent the occupant to hit the car's interiors. The time lag between the collision and inflation is fraction of second and thus it provides superb safety to the vehicle's passengers. Many of you must be aware about the use of these airbags but i am sure most of the people don't know the mechanism behind the airbag inflation. Let me tell you what exactly happens behind the scene.
How they do:
The most important unit of the airbag system is the sensors which sense the impact of the collision and when the impact is high as compared to the threshold level, the sensors activate the ignition of gas generator. Sensors sense the impact on various compartments i.e doors, bumper , brakes applied etc. and triggers gas generator after cumulative calculations.
The gas generator is the unit which generates the gas sufficient enough to inflate the airbags. The amount of gas generated differs car to car. Gas generator contains a combustible substance which burns when the 1-3 ampere signal sent by sensors create heat. When the gas generator gets heated the substance in it burns and release gases which flow into the airbags. Although the gas generated in the bags is slightly toxic in nature. Continuous innovation are going on to find a more suitable option for the combustion option.
How many types they have???
These airbags are fitted in different parts of the car in different shapes and sizes.Most commonly there are:
Frontal airbags:
Front Airbags
Side Airbag:
A side airbag
Curtain Airbag:
A curtain airbag
Bike Airbag:
Airbag in a Honda bike
These days when the safety is of utmost importance, airbags are not just part of the luxury variants of the car but most of the companies are including airbags as a standard feature in there cars. That's all for airbags will come up with something new next time.
This is it about the Airbags : The Safety Balloons...
Stay tuned to knowtheauto.com and Please comment for any suggestions or queries...or Contact Me
The king of all automobiles is this machine. It is Named as MT6300AC and it's the largest haul truck in the world with loading capacity of 400 tons. It is capable of moving at a speed of 64 Km/h which is quite impressive for an object of this size. It is powered by Detroit Diesel Engine which gives it 3,750 horsepower (2,800 kW) and this power is utilized in moving the load on this machine.
This enormous truck is used in the mining areas where the supplied load is too much for a small truck. You can understand the size of this truck by looking at this pic below where two large trucks are taking care of this Automobile Godzilla. This machine is so Huge that to reach the controls area of this machine, you have to use staircase that is provided on the front grille.
MT6300AC Specificatons:
Specification
Public Introduction
2008
Nominal Payload Capacity
400 short tons (363 t)
Gross Machine Operating Weight
1,330,000 lb (603,300 kg)
Engine Make & Model
MTU/DDC 20V4000
Engine Arrangement
V-20
Engine Power
3,750 hp (2,796 kW) net
Top Speed (Loaded)
40 mph (64 km/h)
Overall Height to Top of Canopy (Empty)
26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
Overall Height (Body Raised)
44 ft 4 in (13.51 m)
Overall Length
51 ft 1 in (15.57 m)
Overall Width
31 ft 10 in (9.70 m)
Fuel Capacity
1,300 US gal (4,921 l)
Tire Size
59/80R63
At Work:
Bucyrus MT6300AC : Front
Bucyrus MT6300AC : Back
Bucyrus MT6300AC: A men at work
Cost:
$4 million (As big as it is)
Caterpillar's 797 : A competitor of Bucyrus MT6300AC
This is it about the big boy MT6300AC.For more posts stay tuned to knowtheauto.com and Please comment for any suggestion :)
