Smart City Challenge, space glove, aerocar design

The winner of a national Smart City Challenge, a power glove partnership, a vehicle design that incorporates fuselage features, and a Jeep made of cans were among the items promoted by automakers recently. • The U.S. Department of Transportation has named Columbus, Ohio, as the winner of its Smart City Challenge. The city will receive a grant of up to $40 million from the DOT, with the philanthropic investment company Vulcan Inc. contributing up to $10 million more for electric vehicle infrastructure. Columbus was selected from 78 participating cities for its proposal, which includes an upgraded public transit system, mobility kiosks, smart lighting, and adaptive traffic signals. The Smart City Challenge, introduced in December, asked cities to consider how they would redefine their transportation infrastructure if they had the • opportunity. General Motors has announced a licensing agreement with a Swedish medical technology company to allow a glove designed for astronauts to be used for a number of terrestrial purposes. GM previously partnered with NASA to create the RoboGlove, a force-multiplying battery-powered glove designed to assist astronauts with tasks on the International Space Station. The agreement • with Bioservo Technologies AB will allow the company to develop a new grasp assist device. GM says this upgrade can improve efficiency while reducing fatigue in hand muscles. A patent filed by Toyota in 2014 for a flying vehicle design was recently published. The "shape morphing fuselage" includes a number of flexible framing elements and tensile skin to allow the vehicle to transition between land and air use. The design • includes wings that can fold into the vehicle when it is on the ground and a rear-mounted engine, which includes a propeller. The patent does not necessarily indicate that Toyota is working on this design, since patents are often filed simply to protect an idea, but it does indicate some interest on the automaker's part on aerocar possibilities. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles recently used cans to create a full-scale replica of a 2016 Jeep Wrangler as part of a charitable effort. The automaker used 5,000 cans of nonperishable food to build the sculpture in Vancouver. FCA partnered with Canstruction, a nonprofit organization that creates these sculptures to raise hunger awareness, as well as a group of local students and scouts. The cans will be donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society to provide an estimated 3,500 meals.