卑而骄之

Found an interesting story while reading 孙子兵法. This is it:

秦末匈奴冒顿初登君位，当时东胡甚强，派人来要头曼千里马，群臣皆云：“千里马乃国之宝，不可予人。”冒顿曰：“与人为邻，何爱一马乎？”遂与之。不久。东胡又派人来说，要一单于之阏氏（皇后）；群臣大怒，以东胡过狂妄，竟要皇后，击请之。冒顿又曰：“与人为邻，何爱一女子乎？”又予之。又不久，东胡又派人来说：“贵国有荒地千里，希赠吾国。”冒顿即问群臣如何？群臣答曰：“予亦可，不予亦可。”冒顿大怒曰：“土地，乃国家之根本，岂可送与他人？彼云予者，均为我杀之！”冒顿遂愤而上马，下令国中有后至者斩首。急袭东胡，东胡轻敌不备，击灭之；冒顿乘威西击月氏，南并楼烦白羊河南，北侵燕（河北）代（山西北部），将秦蒙恬所夺之匈奴地均收回。此即卑而骄之之法也。

Just now read the post by YST on donations and made some comments. This story may warn those liars and impostors who deceive others for donation!

This saying from 孙膑兵法 is also useful, especially for ‘the president’:

然夫乐兵者亡，而利胜者辱。
- 孙膑兵法：见威王

Supplementary Notes for A-TRV G4

After you read the description of A-TRV G4, you might think that I’m crazy. The power figure and price seems unacceptable. So, as a supplementary note, read on if you can bear with me…

• This is a hard-core off-roader that incorporates high on road performance less the schizophrenic nature of Volvo V70 XC (sorry to/for those who own it) and it’s meant for North American market, as seen from its dimension.
• The engine, if satisfactorily developed, may be used for other high power applications. In fact, this engine was originally proposed to replace the aging Rolls-Royce Merlins and P&W Wasps used in WW2 fighters (now for filming and display, you know…). The engine may also be used to run locomotives and electrical generators. The APU is derived from AC Automotives Hill Commuter.
• AC Electronics MP-800 is originally designed as CPU for mobile applications (hence its initial MP, Mobile Processor) but it is powerful enough to be used in engine management system. Further proposals include the use of Intel and Motorola processors in EMS for greater cost efficiency.
• A hybrid drive system for heavy vehicles is already under development by ZF and Continental Automotive Systems in Germany and utilizes similar concept as EMCR, some may be even more advanced. However, it lacks the steering dependent variable torque system of EMCR.
• Perhaps that withstanding a 1-megaton nuclear attack thing is absurd, but the vehicle may be at least providing the passengers from the most conceivable assaults. After all, as I have noted to my friends before, the vehicle may survive the nuclear attack, but not so for the passengers – they may died of shock…
• Century sprint within a ‘modest’ 2.3 seconds is indeed possible consider the size of the tires that provide lots of grip. However, 2.3 seconds is still too abrupt even just to make the wine cups stand…
• I have made a mistake for the 0-1000 m acceleration – I forgot to consider the deceleration part. So it should be a bit slower.
• And due to some moral reasons the maximum speed of the vehicle should be restrained to 250 kph to make it street legal. Even at such ‘low’ speed it is good enough for a vehicle of this size.

For illustrations of this car and its predecessors, visit my Friendster page (FYI my profile no. is 19753533).

A Brief Description on Specifications of AC Automotives A-TRV G4

The Advanced Configuration Group Automotives Division All-Terrain Roving Vehicle Fourth Generation (A-TRV G4) is a large size luxurious survivable high-performance off-road vehicle. It has a length of 6.00 m (19 ft 8 in), a body width of 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in), a standard unladen height of 2.70 m (8 ft 10 in) with the main spoiler-airbrake fully extended. The vehicle has a long wheelbase of 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in), a front and rear overhang of 0.92 m (3 ft 0 in) and 1.38 m (4 ft 6 in) respectively and a front and rear wheel track of 1.865 m (6 ft 1 in). Minimum ground clearance of the vehicle is 0.30 m (11.8 in) and its operational weight is 2 150 kg (4 740 lb).

The propulsion system of the vehicle consists of two sections. The main engine employs a spatially efficient 45° X-16 diesel engine, mounted longitudinally along the front-rear axis of the vehicle. The engine displaces 10.179 liter (621 cu in) on a bore of 9.00 cm (3.54 in) and a stroke of 10.00 cm (3.93 in). The engine features a compression ratio of 22.7:1 for optimum combustion. The valvetrain of the engine is of fully electric, rotary intake valve with fractal injection system for fine atomization and distribution of combustion mixture. The exhaust gas was ducted away from the engine through full-bore rotary-type valves. Maximum power and torque of the engine are 2 177 kW (2 920 hp) at 335 rad s-1 (3 200 rpm) and 6 125 Nm (4 516 lb·ft) from 110 rad s-1 (1 050 rpm) to 335 rad s-1 (3 200 rpm). The auxiliary power unit (APU) is used to drive vehicle accessories such as cabin climate-control system and electric generator. It is a conventional inline four cylinder engine with a rating of 185 kW (248 hp) and is mounted transversely.

Various power augmentation systems are used in the propulsion system. The main engine and APU have turbo-supercharger which operate at a maximum boost of 30 lb and 15 lb respectively. The thermo-supercharger effectively removes heat from the engine and used it to do work by means of fluid. The thermo-supercharger drives the vacuum chamber. Vacuum chamber builts up vacuum and is linked to the exhaust system during exhaust stroke, creating a strong suction effect such that the engine is performing work on exhaust stroke. Spool accelerator, which consists of turbines of which combustion mixture are sprayed into and combusted, creating extra force to accelerate the engine to a higher rev range quicker and providing more torque when swift acceleration is needed.

The driveline mainly consists of the transmission, transfer case and differential gear. The transmission is of Chain Drive Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) type with hydraulically-driven retarder. The transmission has four sets of chain-linked infinitely-variable-radius gear to provide a range of ratio from 16.00:1 to 0.125:1. The transfer case further provides two selectable gear ratio of 0.870:1 and 3.269:1 reduction. The center, front and rear differentials feature gearsets similar to those of Chain Drive CVT and each has a fully integrated differential lock. An AC Electronics MP-800 CPU controls the entire propulsion and driveline system through embedded circuits while another similar processor is on constant readiness for takeover in cases of failure while performing quadplex data parity check and backup.

There are three subsystems within the braking system. The contactual braking subsystem consists of advanced carbon ceramics 483-mm (19 in) ventilated disc brakes with liquid nitrogen cryogenic cooling system. These brakes work only during abrupt and high-speed braking. The main brake force is provided by four Electromagnetic Contra-Rotating (EMCR) brakes. The brake are sealed off from the surroundings and share the same cooling system as that of disc brakes. The brakes incorporated a proprietary antilock braking system where the brake can be released up to 600 times per second, greatly reduces the possibility of brake lock-up and overheating during heavy braking. At very high speed, the aerodynamical braking subsystem complements the former subsystems through air drag generated by the airbrake prominently mounted on the top of the roof. The airbrake works doubly as aerofoil to provide optimum downforce or lift so as to stabilize the vehicle cruising at very high velocity.

The vehicle is built from a single-piece carbon-fiber chassis, with no welding or bolt-on of any kind, which greatly increases its strength. The chassis is reinforced by a zirconium-titanium alloy framing that is highly corrosion resistant and is capable of withstanding a 1-megaton nuclear attack 200 m from ground zero. External replaceable kevlar airbags further enhance collision safety as well as protects the vehicle from projectile attack. In addition, there are 128 airbags found within the interior of the main cabin and compartments to ensure the survivability of passengers and components located within the volume. Survivability are further enhanced by the self-containing air filtration, regeneration and pressurizing system. All passengers are seated on Martin-Baker reinforced seat with crash protection system that is fully power adjustable and featuring such comfort features as heating, ventilating and massaging.

The performance of the vehicle is spectacular. The 0-100 kph acceleration can be accomplished within a modest 2.3 seconds so as to prevent the passengers from feeling too uncomfortable. Straight line acceleration of 0-1 000 m from and to rest takes 12.87 seconds. The vehicle can travel up to 1 600 km on a single tank of diesel.