Possible 'certified' cable supplier.

Possible 'certified' cable supplier.

 

http://www.icc.it/en/prodotto/SIHF-PVC-VDE/

 

Rick Briggs | Design Engineer | FPG
p: +64 6 843 3249 ext 782 I f: +64 6 843 2466 I www.fpgworld.com
Au: 1800 041 649 I Asia: 0086 21 3351 3390 | | NZ: 0800 367 374 | UK: 0044 845 485 9300 

 

New FPG Cabinet?

 

The new 'Green' cabinet concept...

 

 

The Green Wheel

The Green Wheel Indoor Gardening Concept by DesignLibero

by Omkar · August 29, 2012

The Green Wheel is a futuristic indoor gardening concept created by Milan-based studio DesignLibero. The rotary gardening concept is based on NASA’s hydroponic system that was originally designed for use in space craft and space station. The plants are rooted in a circular bed, like a mini ferris wheel, around an LED light placed in the middle of the device. A water reservoir placed at the base nourishes the plants. The plant bed completes rotating one full circle once an hour. The eco-friendly device allows you to grow variety of agricultural products. The circular design provides larger growing area compared to normal planters of the same size.

Via: Tekonade

 

Behind the Design: The OmieBox Hot/Cold Lunch Box

Good overview of a well thought out idea and design process.

http://www.solidsmack.com/design/behind-design-omiebox-hotcold-lunch-box/

How to Make a Mini Lathe

“I started out building anything I could find the materials for as a boy and teen. As I got older I began to make tools and innovations that could be used for my piano business. Since pianos are about 85% wood I have been fortunate enough to combine my hobby with my job.”
-Jack Houweling

Make string from used plastic bottles

http://www.core77.com/blog/materials/the_most_creative_recycling_weve_seen_yet_turn_plastic_bottles_into_string_27206.asp

Project Livewire: Harley-Davidson unveils its first electric motorcycle!

http://www.treehugger.com/cars/project-livewire-harley-davidson-unveils-its-first-electric-motorcycle-videos.html

How to use 3D printing to turn your house into an urban crib

http://www.cgtrader.com/blog/how-to-use-3d-printing-to-turn-your-house-into-an-urban-crib

Solar powered 3D printer

Printing solid objects – a leap towards the future

 
Printing solid objects at home seems like sci-fi, but a university project supported by the Environmental Choice eco-label is showing how to create solid objects at the click of a mouse.

The concept of using some kind of moulding device to create a three-dimensional object is not new. This "rapid prototyping" is used by designers to make models, but an exhibition that opened this week at the Victoria University of Wellington School of Design (in Vivian Street) goes several steps further in philosophy and sustainability.

Class teams had just over four weeks to initiate, design, build and programme a range of "prototypers", three-dimensional printers that actually create solid objects, using techniques such as building up cells, shapes or layers. However it was a graceful, glassy machine called Equinox that attracted the environmental label's attention.

When design student Emma Church approached Environmental Choice, the future-focussed, government-backed ecolabel eagerly joined in sponsoring her project: a 3D printer powered by the sun, and using recycled Resene paint as its sculpting material. The process also involved the skills of a local laser cutting firm Ponoko.
 
Senior lecturer Ross Stevens says that personal 3D object printers could be seen as a return from mass, globally standardised production to individual crafting of objects locally. 'We've even moved mass production out of countries to places like China. What they are suggesting with this kind of technology is that we will get local bureaus making "prints" and that has less environmental impact. Long-term we will get these printers into our houses, then again the user becomes the maker, through a much different loop than the one you would expect, all fully augmented with technology. You turn a liquid into an object at the point of use, and ideally you recycle it."
 
The VUW students, says Ross, have to overcome the challenge of unreasonable aims with unreasonable budgets in an unreasonable timeframe – through teamwork, "and they've yet to fail!" Almost the biggest outcome, he says, is when students are able to take their visions and catch the support of outside forward-looking organisations such as Environmental Choice.
 
"This creative concept, focussing the sun to dry layers of retrieved paint to build a physical object, demonstrates the values of leading-edge, responsible design," says Environmental Choice general manager Robin Taylor. "It re-uses recycled paint in a solar-driven process, and the objects created can be further recycled. It embodies the sustainable approach that has so far motivated almost one thousand products to complete Environmental Choice certification as absolutely proven, environmentally better products. In addition to showing environmentally responsible ingenuity the Equinox team have also created a machine of undeniable, quiet gyroscopic beauty."
 
Initially each of the 26 students presented a design during a class competition to select the top 3 ideas that they continued to build as teams. In the best democratic tradition, the lecturer had just one vote, as does each of the students. "Equinox was voted one of the top 3," says Ross Stevens, "which just shows you how the students value it being green."
 

 Pictured: Emma Church (right) contacted Environmental Choice for sponsorship and this beautiful
"rapid prototyper" was the result of a month of tireless effort from the Equinox team.

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Colin Rose | Design Engineer | FPG
p: +64 6 843 3249 I f: +64 6 843 2466 I www.fpgworld.com
Au: 1800 041 649 I Asia: 0086 21 3351 3390 | NZ: 0800 367 374 | UK: 0044 845 485 9300

 

The most efficent wind turbine

 

The Archimedes is a new windmill design meant to power small homes and apartments. With an 80 percent efficiency ratio, will this solve the world’s energy problems?

 

Renewable energy is not necessarily free, as it does come with some costs, in terms of money spent for equipment, and other environmental costs. For example, windmills do not operate at 100 percent efficiency, because the windmill structure itself blocks the movement of the wind, and the moving parts are subject to aerodynamic drag and friction. In theory, a windmill can generate up to 59 percent maximum efficiency, which goes down through time due to wear and tear.

And then there’s the turbine noise, which may not be ideal in a residential setting.

A new windmill design loosely based on Archimedes’s screw principle, aims to change this, however. A Dutch startup aptly named The Archimedes has re-worked the concept of the windmill to move away from the traditional concept of using the pressure differential between the front and rear of the device to move the rotors.

The Liam F1 Urban Wind Turbine, modeled after a Nautilus shell, measures about 1.5 meters wide and weighs 75 Kg — an ideal size for installation in a residential setting. The turbine is rated to achieve an efficiency “80 percent of the maximum that is theoretically feasible.”

 

 

According to the creators, the device is designed to provide enough electricity to power an apartment or small home. “The Liam F1 generates an average of 1,500 kilowatt-hours of energy [per year] at a wind-speed of 5 m/s [16.4 ft/s], which resembles half of the power consumption of a common household.” The Liam can even adjust to wind direction, which enables it to maximize power generation even with changing conditions.

The Liam is priced at Eur 3,999 or about US$ 5,450 and will start retailing by July 1st. The Archimedes says it has sold 7,000 units in 14 countries so far. The company says it has undertaken field tests for efficiency and power generation “over 50 times,” in which it has achieved its rated output and efficiency.

At this price and projected efficiency, will The Archimedes’ Liam help address the need for better renewable energy sources?