The Evolution Of Earth's Unstoppablle Land Vehicles | Power: Engineering Energy And Speed | Spark

the automobile has changed the world we live in colossal networks of roads have reshaped the land carving paths between cities and towns themselves built around the needs of cars but land-going vehicles are not confined to tarmac and the true freedom and mobility afforded by automobiles is in their ability to take us beyond in this episode we venture from the rough and ready revolution of the military jeep to the smart tech driven future promised by the bmw motorrad and from the heavy duty powerhouse of the caterpillar series 7 to the flying cars turning science fiction into science fact this is the story of land power when it comes to all-terrain vehicles this one truly lives up to the name taking inspiration from the legendary mountaineering sherpas of the himalayas the russian-built sherp atv takes on just about anything nature can throw at it i have never seen anything like it in my life it's just amazing and that's technology like comes so far in that type of vehicle these days and so they can build they can build an atv that can go anywhere basically i'm just gobsmacked by what they can do now extremely maneuverable the sherp's lever steering mechanism controls the speed of its oversized wheels on both sides of the vehicle allowing for skid steering and turning in place the patented tyres also let the sherp do this the buoyancy of its tyres and their paddle-like tread allow this mini monster truck to swim at an impressive six kilometers per hour jumping in and out of the water with ease this amphibious car is all but [Music] unstoppable running on ultra low pressure the tubeless tyres mould around obstacles allowing the sherp to climb obstructions over two feet tall and self-inflatable they can be adjusted for optimum performance over varying terrain sitting proud of the vehicle the custom tyres are so large that in top of the line models they house additional fuel tanks drawing just 44 horsepower from its japanese kabuto 1.5 litre turbo diesel engine the sherp maxes out at around 45 kilometers per hour commanding the land less through engine power and more through sheer ruggedness of design with a durable polymer coating for extra toughness and a smooth protective underbody the sherp is built to withstand a tremendous amount of punishment should a problem occur ease of maintenance has been factored into the design with the transmission simply bolted onto the tub-like steel frame the company also boasts of the vehicle's high survivability claiming it can continue driving on just two wheels a go anywhere car without equal the sherp was built to serve workers in the most demanding environments on the planet nonetheless with its adult-sized tonka truck appearance a sense of fun here is inescapable perhaps unsurprising given that the fun and freedom of recreational off-roading has its origins in some very no-nonsense vehicles [Music] vehicles like the unimog few automobiles can boast the enduring success and celebrated versatility of the unimog even fewer can claim to have emerged from such bleak circumstances entering production in 1947 the first of these universal motor vehicles featured all-wheel drive and a flexible frame integrated with the suspension aspects that were unique at the time unbelievable climbing the the angles you can get them at is just amazing amazing off-road abilities big high once again high center of gravity but great for troops carrying heavy loads that type of thing carrying power takeoff points and machinery mounts the early unimogs were put to use operating saws in forests or harvesters in fields in the 1950s with mercedes-benz taking over manufacture and industrial restrictions on germany easing the unimog expanded beyond the farm adding more powerful engines and more sophisticated technology including different attachment systems for a wider range of jobs the unimog's potential was realised as a vehicle that could not only go anywhere but could do anything and the evolution has continued to this day adaptable to an endless array of purpose-specific customization unimogs have been put to use in industry military emergency services and recreation a combination of car truck and tractor the unimog has proved itself as the ultimate all-rounder and an indestructible living legend hailed as the godfather of modern-day four-wheel drives the us army's jeep was designed for a very specific wartime purpose but went on to have a much wider influence in times of peace way back then they were pretty ordinary pretty rough to ride in not the sort of thing you'd want to be taking your family around him the first of its kind this tough and agile go anywhere vehicle laid out the essential blueprint that lightweight 4x4s would follow for years to come the origins of the term jeep remain unclear but the development of this iconic vehicle stemmed from the vision of the us army and the coerced collaboration of several car companies anticipating entry into the second world war the us military knew it needed to modernize putting out hundreds of tenders for equipment and machines one such tender called for a command reconnaissance vehicle the vehicle that would become the jeep with the army setting exceedingly strict demands for power performance weight and size none of the original prototypes they were presented with made the grade but three companies came close ford willys and bantam and through the grudging possibly illegal sharing of their designs the combination of all three companies efforts resulted in the jeep core to the jeep's design is a separate chassis carried on leaf springs over live beam axles allowing power transfer to all four wheels while the solid beam axle prevents independent movement of the wheels meaning that the motion of one affects the other their mechanical simplicity provides a crucial off-road advantage durability and durable is exactly what the jeep proved to be fulfilling its envisioned second world war role as a reconnaissance vehicle and doing just about everything else the army asked of it versions of the jeep remained in service until the early 1980s and the jeep had a lasting appeal in peacetime too beginning the world's love affair with recreational off-roading world renowned for its reliability is the land rover in this british factory the land rover is manufactured this is the off-roader that bridged the gap from the military to the civilian world with its origins in agriculture like the unimog and bearing more than a passing resemblance to the jeep the series one land rover went from humble origins to open up the planet like no other vehicle the british rover company had built its reputation on luxury cars but in post-war england such vehicles were hardly in demand to remain in business in a time of austerity a short-term solution was needed and while driving his war surplus jeep on his rural property rover's chief engineer morris wilkes hit upon the idea of designing a civilian version of the wartime workhorse within months his idea was approved and the first series of the land rover was rushed into production with two ranges of gear too high and too low the original land rovers used a transfer box to make maximum use of engine torque generally the biggest difference between four-wheel driving engines and high-performance car engines is that a affordable driving engine is centered around torque and reliability where that four-wheel drive is not going to be necessarily going very fast but it needs to have a lot of strength essentially to get up steep cliffs or over boulders and it also needs to not break down when you're in the middle of the desert with an immensely strong box section steel chassis and waterproof wiring these vehicles willingly went anywhere and kept on going despite its minimal comfort levels this simple and robust 4x4 found its place not just with rural buyers but with the new breed of off-road adventurer and with ready markets across the british commonwealth and former empires land rovers exported to africa the middle east and australia giving access to uncharted and inhospitable parts of the world like no vehicle before the demands of both civilian and military drivers for enhanced off-road performance culminated in a car that's served in both worlds the high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle better known as the humvee it's an suv it is huge it fits right in in america because everything is big in america it would literally cast a shadow over the rest of the traffic in the late 1970s the us army was again looking to upgrade and began seeking a light tactical 4x4 to replace its aging fleet of jeeps the vehicle needed to have the latest in off-roading capability and be versatile enough to fulfill the jack-of-all-trades role that had so aptly been served by the jeep of the three companies that presented prototypes am general's humvee won out and ended service in 1984. first entering combat in the u.s invasion of panama in 1989 it was the humvee's widespread use in the gulf war of 1991 that saw it enter civilian consciousness [Music] with its wide set machismo the vehicle's most prominent admirer was former terminator and future california governor arnold schwarzenegger so dismayed with am general's refusal to sell its military vehicle to a civilian he lobbied the company to produce a civilian version and in 1992 it was schwarzenegger who became the first owner of a civilian humvee known as the hummer larger and with a much wider track than a jeep the humvee maintained the jeep's low profile but managed to nearly double its ground clearance by raising the drive shafts and fitting the axles towards the top of the wheel rather than in the center well it is huge to start with it's got a lot of ground clearance so it can get over boulders and a really solid four-wheel drive system that allows it to plow through the bush and when mud tracks anywhere it wants to go with torque biasing differentials at the front and rear each output shaft to the wheels is able to rotate at different speeds so when a decrease in torque is detected in a wheel slipping over loose terrain increased torque is transferred to the opposite wheel boosting power on one side of the car to compensate for a loss of traction on the other while its off-road prowess is beyond question the hummer's excessive size and poor fuel economy has made its transition to civilian life a controversial one also controversial when introduced in 1980 bmw's r80 gs went on to inspire a new style of motorcycle for a new style of riding adventure touring when first released this motorcycle bucked the trend towards specialized machines by aiming for a crossover skill set at the time few thought a two-wheeler was able to incorporate off-road capability with on-road performance today after more than 30 years on the market the ongoing popularity of the gs series has silenced its initial detractors among a host of design innovations the gs helped pioneer a new style of motorbike suspension you've got long suspension travel you've also got a 21 inch front wheel that also helps to absorb bumps particularly if you're on the off-road surfaces tough and surprisingly smooth the gs was a revelation for two-wheel touring enthusiasts and more like the early four-wheel drives that preceded it it was the versatility of the gs that saw it exceed expectations the first successful production bike to provide off-road guts on-road speed and everyday practicality the gs reinvigorated motorcycle design taking bikes back to their roots as the original go anywhere vehicles and this is wendy lindstrom from oakland battling his way up that terrific 76 grade come on you wendy and he makes it in eight and three fifth seconds smaller and lighter with a greater power to weight ratio from their very inception motorbikes had the go anywhere advantage over cars like their four wheeled counterparts the motorbike cannot be traced back to a single idea or invention instead they represent the combined and ongoing work of engineers and inventors around the world but there is one revelation that made mass production possible the ddon bhutan engine i wonder what would happen if this one i let go fall off i guess invented in 1895 by french engineers jules albert de bion and georges bhutan the single cylinder four-stroke engine generated half a horsepower a remarkable achievement for the time compact lightweight and high revving the ddon bhutan engine set a benchmark that motorcycle manufacturers the world over would copy and build upon with the onset of the first world war in 1914 cars were not yet able to provide dependable off-road transport and it was the motorcycle that filled the gap phasing out the horse motorcycles were used extensively by both sides of the conflict to gather reconnaissance deliver communications and even engage in combat following the second world war many veterans particularly in america gravitated towards motorbikes as a substitute for the thrills and danger of wartime action finding camaraderie and outlaw motorbike gangs and there was one bike that transitioned from an admirable service in the military to an image of rebellion on the road few vehicles of any kind can boast of an iconic status quite like the harley-davidson celebrated in pop culture and supported by the company's own clever marketing these bikes carry with them an aura of bad boy mystique american individualism and of course power barely a decade old when the first world war began the conflict had a defining impact on the harley-davidson company dedicating itself to the production of military motorbikes when hostilities ended in 1918 more than half of the us army's estimated 20 000 bikes were harley-davidson's this translated to a market of return soldiers already familiar with and fond of the brand and by 1920 harley-davidson had grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer instantly recognizable by the unique throaty rumbling of their engines harley-davidson have largely remained true to a basic engine formula centered around an air-cooled v-twin engine with its cylinders set at a 45 degree angle with their long piston stroke harley engines are low revving and provide plenty of torque harley-davidsons make a very distinctive sound due to their v-twin engine layout where there are two cylinders aligned in a v configuration that give a very lumpy sound as the two combustion events happen close to each other and then there is a break before they happen again so rather than having the power coming down like this sounding nice and even they go bang bang bang bang bang bang part of the feel and part of the rawness of that that engine is what you feel and that is what makes people either really not like them or like them a lot because of their big engines harleys tend to be big bikes and this made them ripe for customization starting in california in the late 1950s the desire for faster bikes resulted in the chopper stripping motorcycles of all unnecessary parts diy enthusiasts took to chopping up factory frames and welding them back together to produce lower and lighter vehicles capable of greater speed the characteristic stretching out the front rakes may have sacrificed the bike's low speed handling but provided truer steering when traveling at speed harley-davidson's provided the basis for some of the most recognizable choppers and the craze had its influence on the style of bike the company went on to produce but whether riding a factory-built harley-davidson or a customized chopper the anti-authoritarian image remained the same debuting in 1970 as the xs1 the yamaha xs-650 while japanese bikes had largely focused on more utilitarian offerings than western manufacturers the 650 was a stylish departure from this tradition and sought to take on the western firms at their own game it also marked yamaha's entry into producing four-stroke engines while the yamaha motor company had staked a reputation on two-stroke engines in 1970 the took the risk branching out in an effort to match the four-stroke offerings of its competitors in full-stroke engine you have valves that controls precisely the amount of air going in and gas is coming out so to produce more power even in motorbikes you do need four stroke engines and yamaha's engineers were up to the challenge having collaborated on the high performance toyota 200 gt car their four-stroke credentials were proven and it was a scaled-down version of the toyota's engine that made it into the 650 affordable reliable and enjoyable the xs-650 was a groundbreaking bike for yamaha spawning a 13-year production run and a particularly devoted following among flat track races and it was racing that proved the technical triumph of japanese bikes to the world from the early 1960s the big four japanese manufacturers honda kawasaki suzuki and yamaha became the dominant force on the racing circuit with bikes offering more power and better performance than their american and european rivals after the second world war japanese engineers were banned from from producing aircraft they went to the automotive industry and that's where the japanese basically started producing motorcycles success on the track translated into success on the sales floor with factory bred races available to a power obsessed public at a competitive price but for all the thrills of enhanced acceleration and knee-dragging cornering on the road the true go anywhere nature of motorbikes is seen when they leave the ground altogether freestyle motocross does not compete with speed instead focusing on the daredevil skills of riders as they seek to outdo each other in gravity-defying stunts emerging from off-road dirt bike racing today this high-flying high adrenaline spectacle is one of the most popular extreme sports in the world the power they produce in such a life small capacity and then the amount of travel the suspension has would probably be the two main key components that set those bikes apart from other bikes in the industry not requiring the fine engine tuning of racing vehicles the bikes here are essentially ridden as stock so long as the riders can grab a handful of throttle for rapid acceleration over a short distance the rest is up to their own ability and courage lightweight dirt bikes running on small to medium displacement two-stroke engines are favored and again it is the offerings of the japanese manufacturers that are most prevalent modifications are minimal removing seat foam to give a wider range of motion or adding a steering stabilizer to keep the front wheel straight when letting go of the handlebars other than that the bikes with their strong suspension and high traction tyres are largely factory standard meaning that just about anyone provided they have a suitable launching point and no fear of heights can take these versatile two-wheelers off-road and into the air unveiled as a part of bmw's vision for the next 100 years the motorad is the motorbike of the future a future where helmets and leather are a thing of the past with self-balancing wheels and gyroscopes serving to keep the bike upright even at a complete standstill the stability of this concept vehicle is set to eliminate the need for safety gear as well as a kickstand and with a degree of autonomy in its driver assisting technology a late reaction from the rider will see the bike take over to balance itself out essentially making it an anti-crash motorbike a visor replaces both the helmet and the instrument cluster with its integrated screen providing a heads-up display controlled by the rider's eyes and simple finger gestures these data goggles collect information from the environment and feed back as little or as much detail as the rider desires when riding the boxer engine extends out from the sides of the bike improving aerodynamics and weather protection and it's promised to be emission free but perhaps the bike's most revolutionary aspect is its carbon fiber flex frame changing shape in response to the movement of the handlebars and relaxing or stiffening depending on speed the flexible structure allows maneuverability without bearings and joints integrating form and function the motorad is steering the future of motorbikes in a new direction in the here and now for many work vehicles to have go anywhere freedom and functionality size matters this is the caterpillar series 7. serving in mining and heavy duty construction these ultra-class trucks are among the biggest ever built with earth-moving machinery growing larger and more efficient hauling vehicles are needed to keep pace in 1997 caterpillar with the then latest computer-aided design technology engineered the original series 7 vehicles to offer the greatest payload capacity of any mechanical drive hall trucks the 797f truck is an amazing vehicle and only approaching to this vehicle in a mine side you can have a clear idea of its huge dimensions it is a 15 meters long almost like a coach bus and it's a 9.5 meters wide and 6.5 meters high nearly 8 meters tall and 10 meters wide the latest series 7 weighs a staggering 623 690 kilograms and that's while empty with a suitably enormous pillar-like hydraulic suspension system the real heavy lifting is done by the six specially designed michelin radial tyres each weighing over five tons all this powered by a turbocharged 20-cylinder 4000 horsepower engine the 797f was developed because the machines that are used in a mine sign to dig and to load the material are becoming bigger and bigger they can load up to 100 tons of material in just one single school owing to the caterpillar's exceptional size and weight they cannot be driven on public roads delivered to site in pieces on the back of 12 semi-trailers assembly requires a team of seven caterpillar mechanics working around the clock for 20 days one of the most exciting things about this truck is to climb the ladder in front of it and when you reach the cab the view that you have from this level that is like staying two stores off the ground is amazing a huge truck with a huge role to play the series 7 range works in the service of even bigger vehicles vehicles like this the bagger 288 these mammoth excavating plants combine the efficiency of conveyors with the utility of bucket excavation in a single gigantic earth-moving machine with relatively few continuously moving parts the bag at 288 can move the equivalent of 30 football pitches in the space of an hour a mobile strip mining machine the vaga 288 is truly mountainous a handy attribute when your job is literally moving mountains taking five years to design and manufacture and another five to assemble upon completion in 1978 the bagger took the record as the heaviest land vehicle in the world after 23 years of service at germany's hambach coal mine the giant excavator had exhausted supply and needed to make the move to a new mine some 22 kilometers away traveling at a leisurely 10 meters per minute this equated to a three-week journey sitting atop three rows of four caterpillar track assemblies each 3.8 meters wide the weight of this epic excavator is incredibly well distributed nonetheless special grass was sown ahead of the bagger's journey to prevent it from sinking today the vaga continues work at its new home where its coal moving efforts help produce 15 of germany's annual power supply already common in big industrial machines driverless technology is poised to make it onto the highways promising to enhance safety and efficiency in some of the largest street legal vehicles mercedes-benz is accelerating the transition with its future truck 2025. you have virtually all of the automotive manufacturers now striving to introduce greater and greater levels of autonomy over the next decades with eyes in the form of radar sensors future truck makes real-time decisions based on its immediate vicinity and with data gathered from other connected vehicles and satellites it makes accurate predictions along its entire route the car might still want you to be available to take control of the car if it runs into a situation that it doesn't know how to deal with then from there we go to mind off driving where you can for the first time really sit back and not worry about it when the car takes over you're not expected to be available anymore on the highway the system operates much like autopilot on a plane taking over the controls for the monotonous hours of long-haul transport with the human driver free to relax or perform other tasks when the truck leaves the highway the driver is back behind the wheel steering the future truck to its final destination before autonomous technology changed the way we thought about driving [Music] this vehicle had been there and done that that popular little car the mini is in the news again the mini is a tiny car with a towering legacy and after the ford model t this ultra compact economy vehicle is regarded as the second most revolutionary car of all time produced by the british motor corporation and its successes this icon of 1960s pop culture was lent an enduring appeal thanks to its uncanny knack of going or fitting in surprising places built in response to the fuel rationing imposed by the 1956 suez crisis which saw europe cut off from its middle eastern oil supply the mini has transcended its purpose-built origins with the designs so endearing it has barely changed from across 40 years of production the key to mini's mould breaking success was its transverse engine layout while previous cars with sideways-mounted engines had been limited to small two-stroke motors mini designer alec isagonis saw room for improvement incorporating the original mini's transmission into the engine's oil sump freed up the extra space needed to fit a bigger more powerful four-cylinder engine above the front wheels and by utilizing front wheel drive there was no need for a drive shaft allowing eighty percent of the car's flat floor plan to be used for passengers and luggage this layout brought a surprising amount of room and a respectable amount of power to an otherwise unassuming vehicle influencing a generation of car makers since the mini almost all small front-wheel drives use a version of issagonis's configuration with its 10 inch wheels placed on each corner of the car in a bulldog stance and with a suspension system of compact rubber cones rather than conventional springs the low set front wheel driving mini handled like a while isagonus was initially reluctant to depart from the mini's image as in every man's car he came to collaborate with race car builder john cooper the result was the first mini cooper with a souped-up racing tuned engine putting big power into the little car the mini cooper claimed three victories at the monte carlo rally helping cement the vehicle's reputation as a game changer production of the original mini continued into the year 2000 but its legacy still lives on bmw took over the mini mark and to this day are producing cars inspired by isagonis's design a design that changed the way people thought and perhaps more importantly felt about small cars big or small in the quest to go anywhere sometimes wheels just aren't enough with its origins traced back to the mid-19th century the continuous track has enhanced the off-road capability of wheels by increasing traction and decreasing ground pressure contacting the ground only with their bottom portion wheels concentrate their grip and their weight on a relatively small surface area limiting traction and increasing the risk of sinking contacting a far larger surface area the continuous track distributes a vehicle's load across the entirety of that area improving grip and allowing travel over more unreliable surfaces employed in heavy off-road machinery such as the bagger 288 the continuous tracks most famous application is in tanks and when it comes to tanks there are few more famous than this the m1 abrams developed during the cold war the m1 abrams is today the principal battle tank not only of the us army and marine corps but the armies of australia and much of the middle east the race car of the tank world the abrams can approach speeds of 100 kilometers per hour but because of the risks posed to the crew and the vehicle itself an engine governor limits speeds to 72 kilometers per hour on road and 48 kilometers per hour off-road nonetheless the abrams remains one of the fastest main battle tanks in service all the more remarkable for the fact that it's also one of the heaviest so that tank has a gas turbine engine that rather than developing thrust via an exhaust nozzle as we do on aircraft to propel aircraft spins a shaft that via a gearbox drives the the wheels and the tracks of the tank and so what that allows the abrams to do is very very quickly bring on large amounts of motor power to drive that tank that very heavy tank to very very high speeds for tank effectively a jet engine the honeywell agt 1500 offers an increased power to weight ratio over a conventional piston engine and takes up less space running on anything from kerosene to jet fuel the gas turbine is also significantly quieter earning the abrams the nickname whispering death quicker and more maneuverable than other tanks the abrams turbine engine comes with two drawbacks it drinks a lot of fuel and generates a lot of heat there is a heat exchanger system on board the engine of the abrams tank that allows it to recover some of that waste heat for tank it has the additional advantage of course of not rejecting uh exhaust gases at very very high temperature that can be easily detected by the adversary so of course if you can take some of that exhaust heat out you can use it within your your engine within your tank and it also means that the exhaust flow will be that much cooler and therefore you can more easily hide your thermal signature but tanks aren't made to hide they are made to fight and to that end the abrams main weapon is its 120 millimeter m256 smooth 4 cannon blasting high velocity armor piercing and explosive rounds the cannon is guided by a cutting edge fire control system with sensors monitoring the tank's tilt its motion and even the wind the cannon is computer adjusted to keep targets in sight allowing the abrams to fire with accuracy while on the move strong and fast the m1 abrams is an almost unbeatable tank for now in the world of military technology the battle for superiority never stops and new innovations are always waiting in the wings innovations like this at the u.s government's defense advanced research projects agency better known as darpa the search to find new transport systems has led to the rise of the machines machines that borrow from nature [Music] rather than reinventing the wheel darpa and engineering company boston dynamics have turned their attention to the efficient methods of movement developed by animals over 4 billion years of evolution the legged squad support system ls3 is in essence a robotic pack horse let's go back to cowboy days when you had your packles that's all that's the same concept except this thing is a robot that follows you around it can carry a lot of weight and go up and down terrain and do all those sorts of things so you don't have to feed it the motorized quadruped uses a combination of cameras and laser sensors mounted in its head to negotiate rugged terrain all while carrying over 180 kilograms of equipment intended to relieve the weight burden carried by military dismounts ls3 was designed to operate alongside ground troops they look like quite literally look like large dogs or mules four legged and it just follows them around proving itself in field tests ls3 was ultimately shelved due to noise concerns but it provided the launching point for the next generation of animal robot the cheetah while this running robot may not yet match the speeds of the fastest animal on earth it can cover over 12 and a half meters per second making it faster than any human coming along in leaps and bounds animal inspired technology is set to change the way we think of going off-road going off planet more traditional wheeled vehicles have made remarkable achievements so we kind of take advantage of being able to build cars um and vehicles on the earth you know we know friction we know how it stays but the lunar dust is drastically different you know there's a reason we've always had those pictures of you know someone's footprint landing in the moon and that footprint still being there that's because lunar soil is drastically different than earth soil while officially named lunar roving vehicles these cars taken to the moon on the last three apollo missions in the early 1970s will be forever remembered with their affectionate moon buggy nickname weighing a little over 200 kilograms these lightweight compact vehicles were folded into three parts for storage in the cramped apollo lunar modules after assembly on the moon's surface each buggy ran on a series of four electric motors mounted in the aluminium wheels producing a total of one horsepower it was enough to clock up a top speed of 18 kilometers an hour in the low gravity atmosphere designed to give astronauts a wider range to explore and collect samples around their landing site the moon buggy also revitalized a flagging public interest in the apollo missions bringing a sense of fun to the lunar surface today the cutting edge of off-planet off-roading is all business you remain strong [Music] touching down on the red planet in august 2012 this is the curiosity mars rover the fourth unmanned nasa rover sent to mars the curiosity is the biggest and toughest of them all so you have to build special tires special traction um special dust filters because you know if you get finely grained dust and it's going to clog up your dust filter you know think of how many problems we have just driving into work every day but then your work is on mars and the destination is you not dying right you know it's there it's such a dramatic scenario that these things have to go through they have to be robust they have to be rigorous and i think we take for advantage the fact that some of the mars rovers have passed a decade while previous mars rovers ran on solar energy curiosity runs on plutonium oxide as the radio isotope decays it gives off heat which curiosity converts to electricity through its thermoelectric generator going nuclear also brings more power and despite being the heaviest of the mars rovers curiosity moves at twice the speed of its predecessors with a powertrain free of moving parts and a fuel source with a 14 year life expectancy this nuclear power plant on wheels is set to keep on keeping on to make sure this is the case curiosity utilizes nasa's rocker bogey suspension system forgoing axles or springs this spider-like assembly of jointed titanium tubes is more robust and better balanced the system allows the rover's six wheels made of aluminium so thin that they flex like rubber to move independently maintaining constant ground contact over even the most difficult terrain this balanced distribution of force provides maximum traction to all wheels at all times initially piloted by remote control from earth curiosity has largely switched to autonomous navigation you've had rovers robotically going on mars for over a decade and i think that's just it's just amazing how well that engineering has come to make that happen because they're not designed for a decade you know nasa designed something for a definitive mission usually anywhere between three months and a year but you know to get year seven year eight year nine year ten it's just amazing how well it works more independent more sure-footed and more powerful than anything before this martian workhorse is the model for future mars missions using the same design platform as curiosity and even a few of its spare parts the unnamed 2020 rover upgrade is less a different model and more a different mission taking the next step from curiosity's search for signs of habitable conditions in mars past the 2020 will go searching for signs of life itself and with a scientific payload that includes an experimental machine for converting the toxic martian air into breathable oxygen this vehicle is set to pave the way for humans to make our first interplanetary journey back on earth the long-held science fiction promise of flying cars is close to becoming reality classed as a rotable airplane the transition is as the description suggests a hybrid car and plane in development since 2006 the transition's three prototype models have all been proven in drive and flight tests and the development company terrafrugia today plans on entering market production by 2020 designed to fit in a standard household garage in drive mode the two-seater carbon fiber vehicle operates via a typical steering wheel and foot pedals and carries other standard car features such as bumpers and airbags with a top speed of 110 kilometers per hour and reasonable fuel economy upon reaching the airport the transition really distinguishes itself within one minute its electromechanical wings fold out and the rotary 100 horsepower engine transitions to drive a pusher propeller provided the driver has a sport pilot license they can take the twin-tailed light aircraft to an altitude of over three kilometers and a cruising speed of over 170 kilometers per hour in the air fuel economy takes a nosedive but the transition is hardly designed to appeal to conservative motorists and with the air allowing commuters to travel straight as the crow flies without speed limits this vehicle of the not-too-distant future is set to create a whole new genre of off-roading [Music] for a flying car that is on sale now consumers with half a million dollars to spare can today order their very own personal air and land vehicle the pal v1 melding aspects of car and helicopter this dutch design rotable aircraft is far harder to categorize driving on three large wheels of its tricycle undercarriage the power v1 is able to lean into turns like a motorbike the pal v1 can be converted in around five minutes to an auto gyro an aircraft that obtains lift from rotor blades and thrust from a propeller with its unique rotax dual propulsion engine now powering the propeller the two-seater can attain its same land speed of 180 kilometers per hour thanks to vehicles like the powell v-1 and the transition the future of land-based transport is no longer limited to the land the quest to go anywhere is an ambition as old as civilization from the dawn of the motorized age cars motorbikes and others that defy labels have sought to provide the power and the wherewithal to take us wherever we needed or wanted to go today we are redefining the concept of go anywhere changing the way we move in order to open up our world in new ways and open up worlds beyond

Channel: Spark

Views: 166,746

Keywords: BMW Motorrad, Caterpillar Series, Spark, advanced vehicles, aerospace technology, amazing, customizable vehicles, driving experience, electric cars, flying cars, futuristic concepts, land reshaping, military Jeep, off-road vehicles, road networks, road safety, transportation systems, travel technology, vehicle mechanics, virtual reality, world

Id: 9z46cJQxdtQ

Length: 49min 33sec (2973 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 19 2020