NASA shows off its fly-by-wire Modular Robotic Vehicle

NASA has unveiled the Modular Robotic Vehicle. NASA's Game Changing Development Program Office  describe the vehicle as "a fully electric vehicle well-suited for busy urban environments." But really, the MRV is much more than that. This is thanks largely to its adapted fly-by-wire driving system and four independent wheels called "e-corners" that allow the MRV to drift like a beauty, drive sideways and rotate with a perfect turn radius of zero degrees. Which I might add is the same technology they use on rovers.The MRV would is design to go on  transportation in an urban environment. The top speed is 43 mph with a range of 62 mi. on a single charge of the battery. All four wheels on the MRv could turn 90 degrees. This allow for easy parallel parking. NASA states that the technologies that went into the MRV are likely to play a role in the continuing development of lunar and Mars rovers, as well as future automobile design here on Earth.

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A Pen for People with Parkinson's Disease

British design group Dopa Solutions has created the ARC pen, a writing implement specifically intended for sufferers of Parkinson's disease who have motor control difficulties that affect their handwriting. The ARC pen uses high-frequency vibration motors to facilitate larger and clearer handwriting, and in an initial trial of 14 people with micrographia it was found to improve writing in 86 percent of cases. The motors inside the ARC stimulate the muscles in the hand, reducing the effort that is required to move the pen across paper.

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