In Part 1, I covered how FAA regulation has evolved for commercial drone activity, and how challenges have improved it over time. The latest thing was a greatly improved way of staying current on sUAS/Drone operating rules: online training for renewing (the FAA calls this “currency,” or staying current). This … [continued]
I’ve experimented with a great number of small, portable solar panels and a variety of sizes meant for permanent installation. When you monitor the voltage and amps coming from a panel, sometimes you’ll see it vastly underperforming compared to its maximum output rating. But if there isn’t a cloud in … [continued]
When quadcopters with cameras vastly improved in the late 2000s and early 2010s, US regulators and many other governments around the world got caught with their shorts down. Smartphones drove the cost of sensors and connectivity components down, and then cheaper sensors, better wireless transmission technology, and mobile devices that … [continued]
Car enthusiasts used to say, “There’s no replacement for displacement.” Need more power? Get a bigger engine! More cylinders, bigger cylinders, longer stroke — whatever it takes. Some of the wilder enthusiasts messed around with superchargers and turbochargers, but that stuff was expensive and sometimes flaky. However, the world has … [continued]
As I’ve pointed out before, folding e-bikes are a bit of a compromise, but the level of compromise varies. The tiniest of e-bikes are more like a scooter with pedals, with barely the capacity for one rider and maybe some of their stuff (in a backpack). The small wheels don’t … [continued]
In a previous article, I reviewed the Fanttik X8 APEX power bank and air compressor. It’s a great little air compressor, and I almost always keep it in my toolbag on bike rides since Fanttik sent it to me. If I need to patch or replace a tube, having a … [continued]
A few weeks ago, Holley’s MotorLife blog covered an electric vehicle doing something we typically associate with combustion: dragsters. What Fans Love About Top Fuel Dragsters While most normal drag racing cars start their life as a factory car of some kind and then duke it out against the competition … [continued]
When the F-150 Lightning was revealed, Ford made promises about how much power and torque the truck would have, how much payload you could carry, and a number of other things. The reveal was during the pandemic, and Ford wasn’t able to have the normal launch party it usually has, … [continued]
In a previous series of articles, I explained that Taiwan-based Foxconn (aka Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. or 鴻海精密工業股份有限公司) is going to be a serious player in the EV industry, but that you probably won’t hear much about it. Why? Because it is going to be the “stealth bomber” … [continued]
I’ve often wished there was something between common rideshare kick scooters, like something you’d rent from Lime or Bird, and larger forms of micromobility, like an e-bike or a motorcycle/scooter. It’s hard to take most e-bikes and carry them into an office or classroom, and the small kick scooters just … [continued]
