cars

A thought-controlled car, a solar-powered drone and a piece for a lunar vehicle were among more than 70 senior engineering projects on display April 19 at the University of Central Florida Senior Design Day Showcase and 5th Annual Senior Design Symposium on Renewable and Sustainable Energy. The projects are done by the 350 engineering students getting ready to graduate.

OpenXC is an API to your car - by installing a small hardware module to read and translate metrics from a car's internal network, the data becomes accessible from most Android applications using the OpenXC library. You can start making vehicle-aware applications that have better interfaces based on context, can minimize distraction while driving, are integrated with other connected services, and can offer you more insight into your car's operation. Ford Motor Company and Bug Labs joined up to create a standard way of creating aftermarket software and hardware for vehicles.

The Ultimate Kit Guide also includes an essay by MIT research fellow Michael Schrage on how kits drive technological innovation — and have since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Here’s Michael reading an excerpt from this revolution-minded essay, for your podcast-listening enjoyment. And, of course, if you’re looking for gift ideas this holiday season, kits are a great alternative that offers engagement, skill-building, and pride instead of passive consumerism.