All posts tagged automotive technology

Automotive Technology: Working with the Roadsters of the Future

For many people, their passion is cars. Automobiles are also currently going under an exciting engineering transformation and have been since they were first invented by Henry Ford in the early 1900s. With things like electric powered vehicles and self-driving cars, the automobiles of the future are certain to be much more advanced than what we are driving on the road today. If you want to get in on a career working on the roadsters of the future, below are some tips that can help.

1. Get the Right Degree

There are a lot of automotive degrees you can obtain at technical schools that can certainly get you a steady job working as an auto mechanic. However, if you want to actually design the next generation of cars, you’re going to need to aim a bit higher with your academic aspirations. You’re going to need a good engineering degree.

While becoming an engineer does indeed require a lot of hard work and dedication, you can certainly fit it into your schedule. Obtaining an online masters in engineering management, for example, can be done at home at your own pace.

2. Build Your Own Car

Cars are some of the most complex machines to work on and put together. There are a lot of variables that you have to put together when you are assembling a car. While the fundamentals are still the same, the make and model of the car you are trying to build will have an impact on how everything goes together. It also can vary with any technological upgrades that you would like to make. While education is certainly important, certain kinds of knowledge can only be obtained on your own with your own two hands. If you want to design cars, let alone technologically advanced ones, you’re going to need to understand everything that goes into an automobile from the engine pistons, to the carburetor to the electrical system.

Build your own car from a kit or restore an old piece of rusted junk for sale somewhere. This kind of learning experience is invaluable and will provide you with plenty of practical knowledge you can’t learn in a classroom as there is just some things experience can teach you that classroom education can not.

3. Study Computers

However, to work on the roadsters of the future, you’re going to need to have knowledge beyond how today’s cars are engineered and designed. You’re also going to need expert knowledge of how computer systems operate.

As automobile tech evolves, a car’s computer system will become increasingly advanced. Self-driving cars, for example, require a computer system that can read multiple sensors, link up with GPS navigation and make thousands of decisions per second. To design such a car, you’re going to also need to be an information technology expert.

The automobile industry is currently going through an exciting transition. Things that previously only existed in the realm of science fiction will soon become reality for the next generation of cars. If you want to become part of this technological revolution, you’re going to need the right technical knowledge and skill.

How Automotive Technology is Being Influenced by the Green Initiative

Automotive technology has been constantly evolving since the first car was invented by Henry Ford. Many believe that the automobile has been actively contributing to pollution and other harmful environmental effects that we have been experiencing over the last century. Therefore, in order to help keep up with the times, the automobile has been influenced by environmentalists and environmental changes.

Environmental sustainability is more important than ever, and now even the automotive industry is getting on board with the green initiative! Here are just a few ways that automotive manufacturers have started to go green.

Design

Everyone knows that car producers have been releasing electric vehicles and hybrids to help cut back on the amount of fuel that a car uses and subsequently releases into the atmosphere. The green initiative in the automotive industry goes deeper than that, however. After all, not everyone wants to drive a small electric car. There is also a trend of car manufacturers going green in their methods of producing cars. After all, everyone needs a planet, even someone driving a gas guzzler!

Toyota claims that it is an environmental leader, and their manufacturing process does give some credence to that claim. They have been limiting the amount of resources used during production and claim to have saved 93 million gallons of water from this new practice. Of course, this is only compared to how much water they were using before, but it is still an undeniable progress.

Like anything else, manufacturing a car leaves waste. This can come in a lot of forms, but metal is one of the most common. Car manufacturers have begun to recycle unused steel from their cars, as well as recycling or composting their other wastes. This does a lot of good for the environment before the car is even finished!

Parts

Of course, a car does not have to be designed to run on electricity to be more eco-friendly. Companies like Power Test Inc. have been doing interesting work in the creation of an AC dynamometer which eliminates the need for water to be getting rid of extra power from the engine.

Instead, the excess power is dissipated in an air-cooled resistant load bank, where it can be released harmlessly into the atmosphere or put back into the electrical grid. This saves resources and could be a considerable help to those that don’t want to drive electric cars or hybrids, but still want to help the planet.

There are dozens upon dozens of ways that automotive manufacturers are trying to help the planet. Most if not all car manufacturers now have some kind of hybrid and more energy efficient vehicle that emits less toxins into the air. As an understanding of the importance of green living continues to grow, the demand for more eco-friendly alternatives will continue to grow. Perhaps even to the point where the automobile will no longer be a so called environmental hazard and making the Earth a greener place to live. While the automotive industry does not change for much, it will certainly change for the desires of its consumers.