Driving a vehicle with one hand

During the 13th EAEC European Automotive Congress, the Institute of Biomechanics of Valencia (IBV) has presented a prototype vehicle driving control that eliminates the traditional concept of a steering wheel and replaces it with an easy-to-use device for a great number of people.

The prototype allows the driver to control and guide a vehicle, accelerate, change gears and brake with one hand and arm. To reach this design, researchers at the IBV, led by José Solaz, discussed the needs of people with reduced mobility or certain muscle weakness that prevents them from managing a traditional steering wheel.

Also according Solaz, 'when designing a new system we wanted to eliminate from our concept mechanical technology and apply technology based on electronics because it offers more versatile solutions.' After analysing all the available options on the market such as 'concept cars' or electric vehicles, the design finally submitted by the IBV is an ergonomic device, handy for a large number of drivers and has been improved by adding motors that provide the driver the same sensations as those of a traditional wheel.

José Solaz highlighted 'the ergonomics of the prototype and the fact that it takes into account the thresholds of strength and coordination capacity of users.' To Solaz 'these aspects are essential for an innovative concept that has to be perceived as convenient, easy to use and as safe as traditional controls.'

Another feature of the new device is that a system has been added to mimic the traditional perceptions of driving so that drivers can obtain the same information that the mechanical transmission of a vehicle provides. And besides, this is an inclusive design 'as the control is intended to be a future vehicle control device for a wide range of ages. People with lower limb disabilities are one of the most benefited groups, but the design of this prototype is suitable for all types of people.'

Space shuttle's rudder could cut aircraft noise

Airliners could be made quieter as they come in to land if designers took a crinkly leaf out of the space shuttle's book, Airbus suggests.

In a US patent filed last week, Airbus notes that the space shuttle's rudder – the hinged steering surface on the rear of the tail fin – splits to present two large surfaces to the airstream, helping to brake the craft as it glides back to Earth

Airbus engineer Klaus Bender in Hamburg, Germany, says such a "spreading rudder" could slow airliners down too, reducing the need to deploy the noisy, flat air brakes on top of the wing, which howl like the reed in a clarinet.

Airbus is not cheekily trying to patent the space shuttle's rudder. Its claimed innovation is a way to make the spread rudder work without making more of a racket than the air brakes.

Serrated edge
The idea is to carve serrations into the rudder's trailing edge to help break up the noise-producing vortex that would otherwise be generated there.

As well as increasing braking drag in a novel, low-noise way, the idea avoids the loos of lift that occurs when ordinary air brakes are deployed. With more lift from the wings, less engine power is needed as the aircraft approaches the runway, further reducing the noise.

But does the physics hold up? "It seems plausible," says Trevor Cox, an acoustics engineer at the University of Salford in the UK. When a serrated edge moves through a fluid it produces eddy currents which are more disorganised than those produced by a straight edge. That reduces the pressure difference, "and that in turn creates less noise", Cox says.

The concept of serrated edges is also being studied for wind turbine blades, in the hope that they will produce less noise to annoy nearby residents, Cox says