Engineering eye - March 2017

News, rumours and gossip from the world of engineering.

Airbus suffered an embarrassment when its new A400M, which has been plagued by production delays, broke down before it was supposed to take Germany’s defence minister on her first foreign trip in the transport aircraft. A German defence ministry spokesman said oil leaks had been found in one of the plane’s four engines during a routine check after arrival in Lithuania. The Airbus A400M is Europe’s largest defence project at a total cost of 20 billion. It is years behind schedule and Germany’s bill for its stake has risen to €9.6 billion from an initial estimate of €8.1 billion. Perhaps after this most recent debacle the Germans will ask for a refund? 

When is a relay baton not a relay baton? When it is a digital relay baton! Scientists at Lancaster University have developed one either just because they can or, as they claim, to allow friends and others to offer encouragement to weary athletes on charity fundraising runs. As users track their progress via the baton’s sensors, people can click on a “cheer button” which makes the baton vibrate. It also calls out the name of the person cheering so it can be heard by the athlete. So hopefully we will never be forced out into a muddy field to cheer on our loved ones in a race again.  

Amazon Echo, the voice-controlled smart device for the home, has been given a disturbing makeover by an inventor known only as Steve. In a bid to liven up the bland-looking hands-free speaker, Steve gave the Echo a robotic face. Elvia, as Steve calls the robot head, uses the artificial-intelligence assistant’s input into a USB soundcard, with software controlling two mouth servos. The result is amusing and unsettling in equal measure.

If you have any rumours or gossip, email pe@caspianmedia.com