News

New research at the University of Waterloo could lead to the development of batteries that triple the range of electric vehicles.

The breakthrough involves the use of negative electrodes made of lithium metal, a material with the potential to dramatically increase battery storage capacity.

“This will mean cheap, safe, long-lasting batteries that give people much more range in their electric vehicles,” said Quanquan Pang, who led the research while he was a PhD candidate in chemistry at Waterloo.

Researchers from Waterloo Engineering shared the spotlight yesterday as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne officially announced Stratford as the home of a testing zone for the development of self-driving vehicles.

Wynne spoke with Professor Krzysztof Czarnecki and eight student researchers who were on hand with two highly automated cars – the Autonomoose and a similar Lincoln MKZ sedan that is being developed with Renasas Electronics – to show off the technology.

Computer algorithms developed by engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo can accurately determine when drivers are texting or engaged in other distracting activities.

The system uses cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect hand movements that deviate from normal driving behaviour and grades or classifies them in terms of possible safety threats.

Steven Waslander looks forward to his drives becoming a lot easier.

“Driving on highways and in cities is dull, time-consuming, and can be very stressful,” says Waslander, director of the Waterloo Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory (WAVELab). “I would be just as happy gazing out the window while the car does the dirty work for me.”

From Waterloo Engineering News.

A state-of-the-art automotive research and testing facility that was five years in the making officially opened at the University of Waterloo today with a twist on the old ship-christening tradition.

Two Waterloo engineering students have completed an Enterprise Co-op term by creating the first autonomous vehicle to drive on a Canadian road.

Canadian Foundation of Innovation funding of $30 million for the development of an advanced research computing facility will enable Canadian researchers to gain a deeper understanding of how the scientific, social, health and economic worlds connect.

A Waterloo Engineering Team  won the 2015 Electric Mobility Canada Student Competition, an event co-sponsored by AddÉnergie and Electric Mobility Canada. The award came with a $4,500 charging station for Waterloo.

In April, construction crews began stripping down an old laboratory tucked among the engineering buildings on the University of Waterloo campus.

They are creating a research facility with three different labs, or cells, working toward a common objective: smarter, more energy-efficient automobiles, with reduced emissions.