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Fuels & Lubes International Quarter Three 2015
are “the continuing need to increase fuel efficiency,
secondly, the green movement to conserve and preserve
the environment and finally, the continuing drive to
differentiate automobiles by increasing features. These
days, features are largely electronics driven, from
back-up cameras to crash avoidance systems.” However
shrinking down component parts is easier said than
done. Badovinac explained, “The degree of difficulty
associated with designing new
miniature parts is significantly
higher than simply taking a
previously designed, proven and
used part and quickly rolling it
into the next new system that
comes along.” Within a vehicle,
there are two domains in which
nano and pico technology
can have a profound impact.
Obviously miniaturisation
impacts every part of a car, but
the scale at which mechanical
parts can be shrunk down is
many times larger than either
car batteries or the associated
onboard computers.
According to the Institute
of Physics, a modern car has
more computing power than the
supercomputers NASA used to
send astronauts to the moon.
Why does a car need so much computing power? There
are two real market factors at play. First among them
are the modern emission laws, which require precise
control over how much pollution a car can emit. Onboard
computers offer control over air/fuel mixtures to be
regulated through catalytic converters to minimise
emissions. The second factor is much broader in scope—
smaller computers allow for manufacturers to produce
cars jam-packed with a multitude of features. Modern
cars can now: warn drivers of imminent collisions,
display real-time speed limits, assist with parking, warn
drivers if they swerve, and project a Heads-Up Display on
the windshield to provide information about the car.
Another fascinating development in the automotive
industry can be found in a concept car developed by
Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Nanospyder embodies
the possibilities surrounding tiny technology and
cars as it boasted, “Hydrogen fuel cells, solar power,
wheel-mounted electric motors and inflatable organic
body panels combine to form the unusual shape of the
two-seater concept.” According to the Santa Monica
design team, “The Nanospyder would be formed out of a
latticework of billions of tiny programmable nano devices
measuring less than half a millimeter in diameter. Each
of these tiny devices can be programmed to be as strong
or as weak as required, meaning active crumple zones
can be created.”
POWERFUL IMPETUS
Similarly, miniaturisation has been a powerful impetus
throughout one of the world’s most popular sectors—
consumer electronics. Cell phones, laptops and tablets
embody the ever-growing trend of miniaturisation. If the
average modern car has more computing power than
it took to get man on the moon
then high-end smartphones
are well beyond even that. The
miniaturization of technology in
cell phones is well documented
with regards to computing and
processing, but one exciting
application of nanotechnology
lies closer to the surface. One
such application is a product
called Liquipel, a super-
hydrophobic coating that bonds
to all internal and external
components of a device on the
molecular level. According to the
eponymous company, Liquipel
is 1,000 times thinner than a
human hair and the waterproof
coating will not alter the look or
feel of cell phones and tablets.
SELF-DRIVING CARS
But perhaps most impressive amongst all the
modern car’s tricks and features is the ability for a
car to drive itself. Google, amongst its many other
accomplishments, has been one of the pioneers in the
technology behind self-driving cars. But how does a
car drive itself? The answer is an extremely advanced
computer combined with very accurate software.
Andrew Chatham, the Google self-driving car team’s
mapping lead, explained, “Rather than having to figure
out what the world looks like and what it means from
scratch every time we turn on the software, we tell
it what the world is expected to look like when it is
empty. And then the job of the software is to figure out
how the world is different from that expectation. This
makes the problem a lot simpler.” Although the tiny-
but-powerful onboard computers perform a great deal
of the workload, some information is also handed
off to an array of remote computers hosted by the
tech giant. The car itself can recognise features like
curbs, sidewalks, other cars, traffic lights and even
roadwork and detours. Most impressively though, is
the car’s safety record. To date, the only accidents
involving self-driving cars were due to human error
on the part of other drivers.
Traditionally, it has been
believed that once an engine
begins to showwear, it is
almost too late for an oil
change tomake a difference.
But thismight not be true in
the near future.
从传统上看，一般认为当发
动机出现磨损，换油已不能
起什么作用。但在不远的将
来，可能不是这样。
