Is Navigation ruled by this 1 Gadget!??

Hey friends, Happy Wednesday!

Answer to the question I posed last week

Last week, we discussed Adaptive Cruise Control and I started a discussion on ways other than using a Radar by which the distance between your car and the one in front of yours is measured. Some vehicles use laser-based systems instead but they do not work really well in bad weather conditions.

Let’s look at how one gadget/tech is used in 6 important scenarios in our everyday lives, this week. I aim to write my newsletter issues in a way one can follow them while traveling on a bus, having a coffee, waiting for food, etc. Let's jump in!

Tweet of the week

I’m sharing a cool fact about gadgets every day on Twitter. And here is one of them for you.

When fluid is at high speed, the surrounding is of lower pressure than the ambient pressure. Due to this pressure difference, more air is drawn in. This phenomenon is called entrainment #science #technology pic.twitter.com/HSGeIsYnVc

— Chendur Singaram (@ChendurSingaram) February 21, 2023

Versatile uses of a Gadget at it's best

Have you ever wondered about the following?

1. How is an aircraft that you take to go back home monitored and tracked?

2. How was the speed of your car measured by the cop who caught you the last time?

3. How are we warned of hazards associated with severe local storms, including hail, tornadoes, and high winds?

4. How do we track satellites and asteroids that are flying toward the earth to collide?

5. What technology do adaptive cruise control, and automatic parking assistance use?

6. What’s the spinning thing on the top of ships as seen in this Gif? And what is it used for?

Source: Wikipedia

Make way for Radar

Well, all the above are achieved by Radar. We went over this briefly last week.

They send out electromagnetic waves similar to wireless computer networks and mobile phones.

1. Transmitting Radio Waves: A radar system generates radio waves with a transmitter, which sends them out into the environment.

2. Reflection: When these radio waves encounter an object in their path, some of the waves are reflected back toward the radar system.

3. Receiving Reflected Waves: The reflected waves are detected by a receiver in the radar system.

4. Calculating Distance: The radar system calculates the distance to the object by measuring the time it takes for the radio waves to travel to the object and back. This is done by measuring the time delay between the transmission of the radio waves and the reception of the reflected waves.

5. Calculating Speed: The radar system can also calculate the speed of an object by measuring the Doppler shift in the frequency of the reflected waves. The Doppler shift is caused by the movement of the object towards or away from the radar system.

So what’s the spinning device on the ship as seen in the Gif?

It’s a marine radar - with each rotation, the beam scans the surrounding surface. Any ships or obstructions reflect waves back to the antenna, displaying on the radar screen.

Question of the week

What are some other use cases of Radar? Reply to this email with your thoughts, and we’ll have a discussion.

Gadget of the week

Waste Management: ‘Waste Shark’ is an autonomous marine vehicle that is designed to navigate small waterways and clear plastics, bio-waste, and other debris from the surface of the water. It can detect if its trash basket is full when the drag force is beyond a threshold. This was featured in CES 2023.

Thank you for reading!

Have a nice rest of the week, and take care!
Until next Wednesday,
Chendur