The world of engineering is full of breath-taking innovations. In 2019, a lot of remarkable, simple, and sweet projects have slowly emerged. Some are innovations form engineering university students, while others are a result of many years of research and testing. Here, we have carefully decided to list a few impressive engineering big ideas that we’ve seen this year. We hope that these projects will inspire you to come up with your own
1. A Compressed Air Engine
This is a motor which functions by merely expanding the amount of compressed air in the engine. With this device, you don’t have to build a vehicle cooling system, which means that the production costs will notably decrease. An absence of the cooling system also means that the engine uses warm and cold air. Furthermore, it can be manufactured using a lower strength but light material.
What’s even more impressive about this engine is that vehicles are powered by a compressed air engine stored in a tank. Therefore, instead of burning mixed fuel and air to run the pistons, these cars use the expanded compressed air. Quite impressive, don’t you think?
2. The Bending Roller Manual Machine
This device is used in different processing industries for blending. It’s manufactured using a supportive frame that holds the roller together. You can roll what you intend to bend across it to get your desired results. They also have a bearing to create a smooth flowing motion.
In one of the rollers, there’s a hand-driven spindle wheel so you can use it manually. A chain sprocket device then connects the wheel to the next roller so you can drive it together with the spindle at a similar rate. Lastly, the frame is constructed using a unique mechanism which fits the movable roller directly at the center using an efficient screw mechanism!
3. Hybrid Electrification Flex-Fuel For Heavy Duty Trucks
We can’t continue with our engineering big ideas list without mentioning the hybrid car electrification system that’s transforming the motoring world. Diesel engines have been a subject of enormous concern especially in heavy-duty trucks for their significant air-pollution problems.
Luckily, flex-fuel engines are here to provide a swift and amicable solution. They allow heavy trucks to run on ethanol, methanol, and gasoline or mixtures of all these components. This means that they’ll release lesser greenhouse gases as compared to the pure gasoline engines. In fact, if they use pure ethanol or methanol got from renewable energy sources like municipal trash and agricultural wastes, the gas emission levels could stand at zero.
4. The HVDC Power Supply Designs
Today, they’re a lot of circuits like insect zappers, sensors, and nixie tubes which require high voltage and direct current supplies. That’s why industries have decided to manufacture a good number of these HVDC supplies. Good examples include:
- The voltage quadrupler or doubler
- Boost converter
- Flyback converter
Although some of them have a low current-output capacity with the correct calculations, innovators have finally found a way to make high current capacity and clean HVDC devices. A remarkable example that we’ve found is the ‘MC34063 DC-DC’ boost converter.
Conclusion
These are just some of the engineering big ideas or projects that have hit the headlines in 2019. They are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and the answers to the growing engineering problems of today. Feel free to use them to transform your area of industry or better yet, use them to develop innovative devices!