California May Ban Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers and Leaf Blowers

News: Power Systems Research

2021-09-26

California May Ban Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers and Leaf Blowers

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

California may soon ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers under a bill the Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Newsom.

Assembly Bill 1346 would direct the California Air Resources Board to phase out the sale of “small off-road engines” by 2024, or as soon as the board finds feasible, whichever is later.

The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, tweeted that the state will spend $30 million “to help gardeners transition to cleaner, greener equipment.”

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Segway’s First Robotic Lawnmower Uses GPS To Stay in Your Yard

Since building a brand on self-balancing personal transportation devices, Segway has expanded its consumer product range to include e-scooters, go-karts and now, autonomous mowers. 

The Segway Navimow is like a Roomba for your lawn, except it’s different than most other robotic vacuums and mowers currently sold in one key way. Reports say that instead of requiring installation of a physical or a virtual boundary, the device uses GPS to stay on “precise position and systematic mowing patterns.” 

Users define the boundary and any no-go areas on a smartphone app, and the Navimow will maintain accuracy down to two centimeters. In the event of a weak GPS signal, the Navimow has sensors to keep it chugging along. The Navimow can move up a 45-degree incline. And because the motor is electric, it emits 54 db of noise—far less than a gas-powered lawn mower.  PSR

Michael Aistrup is Senior Analyst with Power Systems Research

Briggs & Stratton Acquires SimpliPhi Power

Briggs & Stratton has acquired SimpliPhi Power, a battery manufacturer whose technology can be found in many microgrids. Briggs & Stratton plans to speed its growth into the energy storage market through the acquisition.

SimpliPhi manufactures ferrous phosphate batteries, management technology systems and plug-and-play power packs for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

SimpliPhi Power started in the movie business, making battery packs and lights. The company found that using lithium phosphate (LFP) technology battery systems was safer than other systems. SimpliPhi Power also identified a need to make the battery components in different sizes.

Under the acquisition, SimpliPhi will continue to produce and offer its own products through existing distribution channels and partnerships as well as working through Briggs & Stratton’s distribution. PSR

Michael Aistrup is a Senior Analyst at Power Systems Research

2021-09-21

DATAPOINT: 2021 Outboard Motors

Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for global Outboard motor production in North Ameria, Japan, Brazil, China and Thailand. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, senior analyst of global operations, at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06

From Power Systems Research I’m Joe Delmont, editor of PSR PowerTALK.

Today we’ll discuss a data point covering 2021 global production of outboard motors. We’ll be looking at motors production in Brazil, China, Japan, Thailand and the United States.

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2021-09-14

Edge Computing: Powering Greenhouses

John Krzesicki talks with Thomas Bourgeois from Pace Energy and Climate Center in his continuing series “Living on the Edge”. In today’s episode John discusses powering greenhouses and local food production.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 John Krzesicki

Hello, my name is John Krzesicki.

Today it’s my pleasure to host the Power Systems “Living on the Edge” series. The show revealed conversations with industry experts and their insight into the future with intelligent technology. With over 30 years of experience supporting the manufacturing industry, I’ve seen an unbelievable change in technology.

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2021-09-08

Edge Computing: Microgrids

In part 3 of “Living on the Edge” John Krzesicki examines microgrids with his guest Thomas Bourgeois, Deputy Director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:06 John Krzesicki

Hello, my name is John Krzesicki. Today it’s my pleasure to host the Power Systems “Living on the Edge” series. The show we have conversation with industry experts on their insight into the future of intelligent technology.

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2021-08-31

DataPoint: US Crawlers, 2021 Production: 4,100 Units

Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for Crawler production in North America. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, senior analyst of global operations, at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.

4,100 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of crawlers to be produced in North America in 2021.

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Market Share: With combined plant totals of 55% Caterpillar leads in production of crawlers in North America.  In second position is Deere with 31.5%; third, is Case with 10%.  

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2021-08-24

Edge Computing in Smart Cities and Communities

John Krzesicki
John Krzesicki

Business Development Manager

In part 2 of his “Living on the Edge” series, John Krzesicki continues his discussion about edge computing with Carrie Goetz. In this podcast they delve deeper into smart cities/communities.

Transcript

Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.

00:05 John Krzesicki

My name is John Krzesicki.

Today it’s my pleasure to host this Power Systems’ “Living on the Edge” series smart city discussion. The show where we have conversations with industry experts on their insights into the mobility’s future and impact on cities and industries.

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2021-08-22

PM Launches Vehicle Scrappage Policy

Aditya Kondejkar

Vehicles will not just be scrapped by their age, but also if they are found to be unfit in automated testing. The vehicle scrappage policy will bring in investments of around INR 10,000 crore to set up 450-500 Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and 60-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF) across the country.

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PSR Analysis: Under the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization program (VVMP), the government plans to set up between 450-500 automated vehicle fitness testing stations across India on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis involving private firms and state governments. A total of 60-70 vehicle scrapping centers will also be built; these stations will be situated no further than 150-200 kilometers away from any location in India. A total of seven agencies – including Tata Motors – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government today for this project. Tata Motors’ vehicle scrapping center will be set up in Gujarat, will scrap both passenger and commercial vehicles and will have the capacity to recycle up to 36,000 vehicles a year.

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