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Category: MechStuff

NASA’s next Mars rover mission – 2020

5
October 1, 2015

After an overwhelming success of Mars rover mission 2012, NASA’s next nuclear powered Mars rover is planned to launch in 2020. Scientists say that – it is gonna be way smarter & efficient than Curiosity, which is currently exploring the red planet.

Curiosity rover
I mean seriously, this thing is the GOD of robots… just look at it & it’s complexities!

Curiosity had an awesome design, heck lot of instruments, also its launch & entry into atmosphere of Mars & its landing – all went perfect as planned.

The rover 2020 mission is planned to explore a selected site which is geologically diverse & gives signs of having a past life. This rover will collect samples of soil & rock and drop them at a selected point. Later those samples will be scooped up another mission to deliver the specimens collected back to Earth.
The development of this mission is a combination of the “old” and the “new,” said Gentry Lee, chief engineer for Solar System Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.
Mission engineers said that the rover is going to get a new refined design.

Curiosity has been battling wear & tear on its wheels.

Wheels of Curiosity
Damage caused to the wheels of Curiosity ! (source:- mars.nasa.gov)

The 2020 rover wheels are going to become heavier along with the rover’s body becoming a little longer. That may change the rover’s mobility system.

“We are really looking at ways to make this large heritage, build-to-print rover drive faster and do more science on the surface of Mars” said Jennifer Trosper, JPL’s mission manager on Mars 2020.

The future rover would have machines which will increase the speed of it even on rough terrains, Trosper said.

NASA-Mars-2020-Rover-instrument-selection-PIA18405
Instruments selected for the rover 2020 mission are also assembled on Curiosity. (source:- NASA)

The mechanical design & additional instruments would make mission efficiency jump from Curiosity’s roughly 55% to 80% !!
Eagerly waiting for _______ !

The Mars Space Laboratory mission rover names –
1st was SOJOURNER;
2nd was OPPORTUNITY & it’s twin SPIRIT;
3rd was CURIOSITY;
all giving a positive inspirational, motivational feeling !

What do you think would be 2020 rover’s name ? Share with us in the comment section below…

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News, RobotStuff 2020 mission, Curiosity, future, Mars, NASA, rocket, rovers

Why are brake lights red ?

5
September 23, 2015

Why only red ? Why not blue, orange, purple, pink or any other colour ?
In case, if you think that red was the favorite colour of the one who had this idea (humour me) then you’re… WRONG !
Seriously, when I came to know about it, I realised that – Yes, everything has a reason ! & the brake lights having red colour has a reason too ! more “Why are brake lights red ?”

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MechStuff brake lights, braking, light, lights, physics, refraction, traffic signals, trains

How do elevators or lifts work ?

September 13, 2015

Seriously, what would have happen if there were no elevators & if people were to walk up &  down a 50 or 100 storey building everyday in cities like NY ! I can’t even imagine the fatigue.

Well, keeping our thought aside, let us see how do elevators work ? more “How do elevators or lifts work ?”

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How Stuff Works counterweight, electronic systems, elevators, lifts, machine, mechanism, safety, working

What happens when an aircraft travels more than the speed of sound ?

1
September 10, 2015

Does everything remain normal ? I guess NO.
Fighter jets are specially designed for that – powerful weapons, missiles & high speed. So here we will talk about what happens when an aircraft travels more than the speed of sound or breaks the sound barrier ! more “What happens when an aircraft travels more than the speed of sound ?”

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MechStuff aircraft, high speed, jets, mach number, shock wave, sonic boom, sound barrier, supersonic, vapor cone

Amazing Archimedean screw !

6
September 6, 2015



The name itself gives us an idea that it is invented by Archimedes.
Now this man – Archimedes, was an Ancient Greek mathematician, engineer, inventor, physicist, & an astronomer(such a smartass). We are living in 21st century & still we are not able to think stuff like this on our own & this man did it in the 3rd century BC !!!!!




We already discussed one of his works – buoyancy & we saw how do ships float ?
So the Archimedean screw OR screw pump is just a simple machine consisting a cylinder & a helical surface on the inside part of cylinder. Basically, it was designed to work like a pump & it worked without any of our presently available motors which we use to run todays pumps. The screw was used mostly for draining water out of mines or other areas of low lying water.

Archimedes-screw_one-screw-threads_with-ball_3D-view_animated_small
Animation of the Archimedean screw. Let us assume that the ball is a water molecule.

 

Construction :-
The screw pump consists of a screw or a helical structure inside a hollow pipe. The screw is turned through a handle which is outside the cylinder. As the shaft turns, the bottom end scoops up a volume of water. The water then gets pushed out up by the rotating helicoid until it pours out from the top of the tube & done just so simple.

Applications OR Uses :-
Why it was made ? – the first purpose was to transfer the water from low lying region to other parts of
the city. Along with transferring water to irrigation ditches, the device was also used for draining land that was underneath the sea in the Netherlands and other places in the creation of polders.

A screw conveyor :-
It is an Archimedean screw contained in a tube & turned by a motor so as to deliver material from one end to other end. It is particularly used for transporting granular materials such as plastic granules used in injection molding and cereal grains.

Conveyer Screw
Conveyor Screw (source :- ibis-int.co.uk)

 Screw turbine :-
If water is poured into the top of Archimedes’s screw, it forces the screw to rotate. The rotating shaft can then be used to drive an electric generator.

Worm gear :-

Worm_Gear

This is actually not an application of the Archimedean screw but yea it might be an inspiration to the one who designed & invented the worm-gear mechanism.It is awesome & I really love it. Remove the outer cylinder of the Archimedes’s screw, mesh a gear of proper tooth thickness with the screw & we are done. Here the screw thing is called worm. Now the reason I love it is because the worm will definitely drive the gear but the gear may or may not drive the worm depending on the design of worm.




(It’s like if you close your door/gate of your house with help of worm gear mechanism, only you would be able to open & close it from inside because only you would be able to rotate the worm. Don’t ever worry about burglars unless & until the gate/door is big enough & not made of wood ! 😛 )

All hail great polymath – ARCHIMEDES !

 

source & animations source :- wikipedia.org

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How Stuff Works, MechStuff Archimedes, conveyor, gear, mechanism, screw, spiral design, turbine

Why does a spinning ball follows a curve path during flight ?

1
September 3, 2015

You must have noticed this while watching a football match that a spinning ball follows a curve path during flight ! So why does this happen ? Lets find out… more “Why does a spinning ball follows a curve path during flight ?”

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How Stuff Works curved flight, curving, diagram, fluid mechanics, football, magnus force, physics, spinning ball, sports mechanics, table tennis, turning

How does a submarine work ?

August 27, 2015

What is submarine & why do we need it ?

Imagine you are on-board a ship & what would be the worst thing that would happen to you ? – the water flooding inside the ship making it sink to the seabed…damn…! So we need something which ensures either it doesn’t sink OR even after sinking, all be safe.
So in simple words – a Submarine is a vehicle which allows us to travel on water as well as deep inside the seas & oceans.
Also a submarine is used in military for protection purposes. more “How does a submarine work ?”

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How Stuff Works archimedes principle, engines, floating, missile, navigation, pdf, ships, sinking, steering, Submarine, turning, working

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About MechStuff :-

MECHANISMS keep me ALIVE !
MechStuff is a blog for people who have passion for learning mechanics, mechanical principles, mechanisms & science behind machines/vehicles. In other words, it is for them who get an adrenaline rush when they hear the sounds of super sport cars, jet engines, locomotives & what not !!! :D

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