Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Building Shaker Quake Machine
How will a tall building react to earthquake-like stresses? Computer modeling has helped until now. However, there is nothing like a good, real-world test. Engineers from the San Diego Supercomputer Center have combined the best of both worlds by putting up a full-size 275 ton building on a shake table.
(The real-world building)
Not just any shake table - the world's largest outdoor Large High Performance (LHP) shake table developed for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) project.
The building was equipped with hundreds of sensors to yield precision data on how the building flexed during simulated quakes. It turned out that listening to audio and sensor data provided the key to comparing the film footage of the real building, and the pictures of the simulated building structure.
"By recreating the shake table experiment in movies in a virtual environment based on the observed data, this lets engineers explore all the way from viewing the 'big picture' of the entire building from a 360-degree viewpoint to zooming in close to see what happened to a specific support," said SDSC visualization scientist Amit Chourasia. "Integrating these disparate data elements into a visual model can lead to critical new insights."
(The computer model of the building under stress)
The simulations show how the specific parts of the building are moving. Comparing the real-world data with the computer model helps them improve their model; this improves the accuracy of the model when simulating the effects of stronger quakes.
Is it possible to build a structure that moves and adjusts to quake-induced stresses, one that intelligently analyzes the movements and counteracts them? Not yet. But in the imagination of Vernor Vinge, author of Rainbows End, an excellent 2006 novel, there is a way - he calls it house-of-cards construction:
You could feel the wall sway gently back and forth as the building kept its balance. That sort of thing made his ma real nervous. "One second of system failure and everything will fall apart!" she had complained...
(Read more about house-of-cards construction)
Read about a new technique that might be a first step to a real-world self-healing house. Find out more about the shake table experiments here and here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/17/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice' - Edmond Hamilton, 1940.
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.' - Raymond F. Jones, 1945.
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...' - Robert Heinlein, 1942
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
