Tech Archives - Mechtraveller https://mechtraveller.com/category/tech/ Mechanically-minded travel Thu, 12 Nov 2026 10:24:47 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 So, what is an aircraft carrier if you can’t see it? Tactile Objects in Museums. https://mechtraveller.com/2026/11/so-what-is-an-aircraft-carrier-if-you-cant-see-it-tactile-objects-in-museums/ https://mechtraveller.com/2026/11/so-what-is-an-aircraft-carrier-if-you-cant-see-it-tactile-objects-in-museums/#respond Thu, 12 Nov 2026 08:17:19 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=13775 It’s a good question. And one that should be directed at a blind person. The concept is easy enough; it’s a ship with a flat deck that aircraft can land on, or take-off from, but what might it look like in a blind person’s imagination? A few weeks ago I was paying a revisit to […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2026/11/so-what-is-an-aircraft-carrier-if-you-cant-see-it-tactile-objects-in-museums/feed/ 0 Smart bolt monitoring for the Leisure and Amusement Park industry https://mechtraveller.com/2026/09/smart-bolt-monitoring-for-the-leisure-and-amusement-park-industry/ https://mechtraveller.com/2026/09/smart-bolt-monitoring-for-the-leisure-and-amusement-park-industry/#respond Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:36:11 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=13501 I was sent a press release recently from a French company, JPB Système, saying that they will be exhibiting their BOLTRAKK® sensors at September’s IAAPA* Expo Europe trade show in London. Er, okay… But then it got more interesting. It turns out they make 5mm thick sensors, like washers, that fit over a bolt before […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2026/09/smart-bolt-monitoring-for-the-leisure-and-amusement-park-industry/feed/ 0 The UK’s first electric tour boat https://mechtraveller.com/2026/07/the-uks-first-electric-tour-boat/ https://mechtraveller.com/2026/07/the-uks-first-electric-tour-boat/#respond Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:35:26 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=13360 The Silver Raven, which started operating the official 40-minute ‘Tower of London River Tours’ on the Thames in March this year, is the UK’s first electric tour boat. She is one of the new generation of river craft on an increasingly greener artery through London’s heartland. “It’s got to happen,” says her captain, Chris Manktelow. […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2026/07/the-uks-first-electric-tour-boat/feed/ 0 If we are past the winter solstice, why is sunrise getting later? https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/if-we-are-past-the-winter-solstice-why-is-sunrise-getting-later/ https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/if-we-are-past-the-winter-solstice-why-is-sunrise-getting-later/#respond Mon, 29 Dec 2025 18:47:48 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=12572 Ok, I’m sure this has been troubling you, as it has me. I had an alarm set on my phone to mark the winter solstice (3.03pm Sun 21st Dec). Ok, it’s a little geeky, but it meant that when the moment came I could rejoice in the idea that we were heading back to the […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/if-we-are-past-the-winter-solstice-why-is-sunrise-getting-later/feed/ 0 Some New Year Predictions https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/some-new-year-predictions/ https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/some-new-year-predictions/#respond Sun, 28 Dec 2025 16:27:58 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=12566 Happy New Year everyone! What does the New Year hold for us, in the Mechtraveller worlds of engineering and technology? Well, off the top of my head, there are a few anticipated/scheduled events and a couple of predictions… Autonomous cars in London – We know Waymo has been human-driving their cars in recent months, gathering […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/some-new-year-predictions/feed/ 0 What would happen if your preferred Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) shut down? https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/what-would-happen-if-your-preferred-global-navigation-satellite-system-gnss-shut-down/ https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/what-would-happen-if-your-preferred-global-navigation-satellite-system-gnss-shut-down/#respond Sat, 20 Dec 2025 15:36:08 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=12553 This is some interesting engineering. Have you wondered, as you watch your Amazon parcel “just 5 stops away”, what our world would look like if we suddenly lost GPS? It’s not just you, and a squillion delivery drivers. It would effect all transport systems (apart maybe for rail!), and it’s estimated that just a short […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2025/12/what-would-happen-if-your-preferred-global-navigation-satellite-system-gnss-shut-down/feed/ 0 AI Extraordinaire https://mechtraveller.com/2025/11/ai-extraordinaire/ https://mechtraveller.com/2025/11/ai-extraordinaire/#respond Sun, 23 Nov 2025 09:56:39 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=12475 The potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) accelerates by leaps and bounds, in all aspects including creativity. This is not really “cornerstone Mechtraveller” in that it hardly meets the ‘extraordinary engineering, history, industrial heritage, technology… and where you can see it criteria’ for a Mechtraveller post. Nor is it, technologically-speaking, new. So, in that respect, posting […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2025/11/ai-extraordinaire/feed/ 0 1 Million Deliveries by Autonomous Drone https://mechtraveller.com/2024/04/1-million-deliveries-by-autonomous-drone/ https://mechtraveller.com/2024/04/1-million-deliveries-by-autonomous-drone/#respond Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:11:30 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=9938 Zipline, a company specialising in autonomous drone delivery systems, announced on Friday that it had just completed one million paid commercial drone deliveries to customers. The company, headquartered San Francisco, has developed and operates its own autonomous drones which have now flown more than 70 million commercial miles across four continents and delivered more than […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2024/04/1-million-deliveries-by-autonomous-drone/feed/ 0 Hurtigruten Norway Reveals Concept Designs for a Zero-Emission Cruise Ship https://mechtraveller.com/2023/06/hurtigruten-norway-reveals-concept-designs-for-a-zero-emission-cruise-ship/ https://mechtraveller.com/2023/06/hurtigruten-norway-reveals-concept-designs-for-a-zero-emission-cruise-ship/#respond Wed, 07 Jun 2023 16:25:41 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=9037 Under project name Sea Zero, Hurtigruten Norway has unveiled plans for its first zero-emission ship, but we’re not going to be cruising around the fjords on it any time soon. The cruise ferry company, together with a consortium of 12 maritime partners and the research institute SINTEF, has been looking at ways of achieving emission-free […]

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]]> https://mechtraveller.com/2023/06/hurtigruten-norway-reveals-concept-designs-for-a-zero-emission-cruise-ship/feed/ 0 Golden Globe Race 2022 – Sailing ‘Old School’! https://mechtraveller.com/2022/09/golden-globe-race-2022-sailing-old-school/ https://mechtraveller.com/2022/09/golden-globe-race-2022-sailing-old-school/#respond Fri, 16 Sep 2022 17:21:34 +0000 https://mechtraveller.com/?p=7916 Twelve days ago, 16 sailors in small yachts set out from les Sables d’Olonne on the French Atlantic coast to race around the world, non-stop and single-handed in the 3rd edition of the Golden Globe Race. There’s nothing particularly unusual about that. There are a number of crewed round-the-world races these days and the Vendée […]

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