Posted 6/07/2005 05:09:00 PM by Douglas

Interesting article on the end of mechanical engineering. It's obvious to anyone that's not living in a cave that electronics are the way of the future, but there are still a lot of gear driven heat engines, not to mention a steam fired power plant that's generating all that densely packed electricity.

This will set the stage for the last big step-the one already taken in monster trucks: Silicon and electric power will knock out the entire gearbox, driveshaft, differential, and related hardware; electric drives power the motors that turn the wheels. Power chips now make it possible to build high-power motors the size of a coffee can, and prices are dropping fast. When such motors finally begin driving the wheels, the entire output of the engine will have to be converted immediately into electricity before it is distributed, used, or stored throughout the car. It will take heavy-duty wiring and substantial silicon drives and electric motors to propel a hybrid-electric sport utility vehicle down a highway at 70 mph-but they'll be far smaller than the steel structures in today's powertrain. Cars will shed many hundreds of pounds, and every key aspect of performance will improve considerably.

For those of you out there are bit skeptical about "brake-by-wire" on your 18-wheeler, how 'bout "drive-by-wire" on all wheels? The prospect of an electronically actuated solenoid opening and closing the valves in an internal combustion engine sounds like a huge recipe for disaster, but apparently, it's not that far away.

I guess the most alarming aspect of this shift is the 42 volt car system. That's going to cause some huge sparks when you try to jump start your buddy's '87 Sentra.

This sentence really sums up the whole article:

In this scenario, mechanical engineering ultimately surrenders its last major under-the-hood citadel to chemical engineers.

Well, we had a good run. . .