Monthly Archives: July 2021

US watchdog rejects Blue Origin’s protest of NASA lunar lander contract

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The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has dismissed protests from Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics over NASA’s decision to hand out a single $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX as part of its Human Landing System program. On Friday, the watchdog said NASA’s “evaluation of all three proposals was reasonable and consistent with applicable procurement law, regulation, and the announcement’s terms.”

When Blue Origin first challenged the lunar lander contract in April, the company claimed the selection process was “fundamentally unfair” because it didn’t get a chance to revise its bid. To that point, NASA could afford to give SpaceX the contract because the company agreed to modify its payment schedule. Blue Origin also took issue with the fact that the space agency selected a single contractor for the project when the initial announcement had called for two manufacturers to be involved.

In reviewing NASA’s decision, the GAO says the space agency “did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award.” It notes NASA gave itself the flexibility to hand out a single contract, multiple awards or none at all when it first announced the Human Landing System program. 

What’s more, the GAO concluded there “was no requirement for NASA to engage in discussions, amend, or cancel the announcement” due to the amount of funding it had available for the project. Notably, the GAO also points in its press release that its role is not to judge the relative merits of a contract decision. Both Blue Origin and Dynetics had argued that NASA chose the most “high risk option available” since SpaceX’s bid involved its Starship rocket, which at that point in the procurement process had yet to land in one piece.

"We stand firm in our belief that there were fundamental issues with NASA’s decision, but the GAO wasn’t able to address them due to their limited jurisdiction. We’ll continue to advocate for two immediate providers as we believe it is the right solution," a spokesperson for Blue Origin said following the decision. "We’ve been encouraged by actions in Congress to add a second provider and appropriate additional resources to NASA's pursuit to return Americans to the Moon. We’re also very encouraged by Administrator Nelson’s comments over the past week that reaffirm NASA’s original intent to provide simultaneous competition. The Human Landing System program needs to have competition now instead of later — that's the best solution for NASA and the best solution for our country.”

The decision comes mere days after Blue Origin founder and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered to waive $2 billion in payments from NASA in return for a lunar lander contract. Following Blue Origin’s protest, NASA told SpaceX to stop work on the Human Landing System while the GAO sorted out the challenge. Today's decision allows the project and the Artemis program more broadly to move forward unless Blue Origin asks the US Court of Federal Claims to examine the case. 

Update 2:28PM ET: Added comment from Blue Origin. 

US watchdog rejects Blue Origin’s protest of NASA lunar lander contract

Posted on by

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has dismissed protests from Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics over NASA’s decision to hand out a single $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX as part of its Human Landing System program. On Friday, the watchdog said NASA’s “evaluation of all three proposals was reasonable and consistent with applicable procurement law, regulation, and the announcement’s terms.”

When Blue Origin first challenged the lunar lander contract in April, the company claimed the selection process was “fundamentally unfair” because it didn’t get a chance to revise its bid. To that point, NASA could afford to give SpaceX the contract because the company agreed to modify its payment schedule. Blue Origin also took issue with the fact that the space agency selected a single contractor for the project when the initial announcement had called for two manufacturers to be involved.

In reviewing NASA’s decision, the GAO says the space agency “did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award.” It notes NASA gave itself the flexibility to hand out a single contract, multiple awards or none at all when it first announced the Human Landing System program. 

What’s more, the GAO concluded there “was no requirement for NASA to engage in discussions, amend, or cancel the announcement” due to the amount of funding it had available for the project. Notably, the GAO also points in its press release that its role is not to judge the relative merits of a contract decision. Both Blue Origin and Dynetics had argued that NASA chose the most “high risk option available” since SpaceX’s bid involved its Starship rocket, which at that point in the procurement process had yet to land in one piece.

"We stand firm in our belief that there were fundamental issues with NASA’s decision, but the GAO wasn’t able to address them due to their limited jurisdiction. We’ll continue to advocate for two immediate providers as we believe it is the right solution," a spokesperson for Blue Origin said following the decision. "We’ve been encouraged by actions in Congress to add a second provider and appropriate additional resources to NASA's pursuit to return Americans to the Moon. We’re also very encouraged by Administrator Nelson’s comments over the past week that reaffirm NASA’s original intent to provide simultaneous competition. The Human Landing System program needs to have competition now instead of later — that's the best solution for NASA and the best solution for our country.”

The decision comes mere days after Blue Origin founder and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offered to waive $2 billion in payments from NASA in return for a lunar lander contract. Following Blue Origin’s protest, NASA told SpaceX to stop work on the Human Landing System while the GAO sorted out the challenge. Today's decision allows the project and the Artemis program more broadly to move forward unless Blue Origin asks the US Court of Federal Claims to examine the case. 

Update 2:28PM ET: Added comment from Blue Origin. 

This concrete restaurant merges brutalist architecture with a vertical garden design for an inviting green vibe!

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Walking into the Loop Design Studio’s Playground Restaurant, patrons will feel transported to some whimsical greenhouse somewhere in the middle of their concrete city.

When a new restaurant opens up, it has the potential to change the entire vibe of your neighborhood. Restaurants have to make sense of the neighborhood they come into and contribute something new to it. The new Playground Restaurant in the commercial hub of Chandigarh, India tries to do just that by incorporating familiar brutalist and modernist interior design elements and blending those with blooming plant life to give the recognizable concrete look playful, green energy.

A cinder block wall forms an irregular building pattern and merges a concrete look with a vertical garden of potted plants. Overhead, a translucent glass ceiling disperses soft light, and the surrounding walls, plotted with concrete planters and greenery, aerate the restaurant’s open-air space. While markings of the city’s modernist origins appear throughout the restaurant, those are juxtaposed with key biophilic design elements.

The industrial ceiling is softened with vintage hanging lamps and surrounding greenery. Even the walls, made from protruding cinder blocks, are bustling with vines and plant life. The cinder blocks assemble an irregular pattern, stacked on top of one another at varied orientations. Loop Design Studio filled the blocks’ exposed cores with vintage glass Edison light bulbs that emanate warm, golden light and the blocks that jut out from the wall with potted plants.

The wall between Playground Restuarant’s cinder block walls is lined with audio cassette tapes. A woodfire oven sets the stage for the restaurant’s elevated, cozier corner that features terracotta flooring with polished cobalt blue tiles.

Rustic, mismatched wooden tables fill the interior of the Playground, enhancing its cozy appeal. Flanking both sides of a wall lined with audio cassette tapes, the cinder block walls create a sort of shelf system which Loop Design Studio filled up with warm lighting fixtures and plenty of different potted plants, like dracaena and evergreen vines.

The restaurant’s lounge area features webbed woodwork and brass accents to evoke a darker, more romantic mood. By tapping into Chandigarh’s brutalist cityscape while embracing the natural playfulness of biophilic design, Loop Design Studio established a restaurant that feels familiar and sheds new light on the city’s ingrained concrete personality.

Designer: Loop Design Studio

This toe tickling navigation system will help the visually impaired walk tall

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Following the death of a sight-impaired relative, Wataru Chino had no choice but to take action. In response to the tragedy, the Honda EV engineer developed an in-shoe navigation system, dubbed Ashirase (both the name of the product and the name of the company) that allows low-sighted people to use their feet to navigate, rather than cell phones or other visual aids. The tactile navigation system has earned the financial backing of Honda’s Ignition startup incubator program and continues to gain traction.

The Ashirase system is two-part, consisting of the dedicated Ashirase navigation app running on the user’s smartphone and a silicone shoe insert cradling a combination motion sensor-electronic compass. Once the user programs their walking destination into the app, the shoe inserts will vibrate in various patterns and tempos — “walk forward” causes vibrations under the balls of the feet, “turn left” rubs the appropriate side of both feet and the speed at which the inserts vibrate indicate proximity to the turn or obstacle.

The idea behind the system is to allow users to remain more aware of their surroundings while they walk, using their feet to navigate rather than repeatedly stopping to consult their smartphones or passersby for directions.

Ashirase
Ashirase

Currently the insert prototypes can only be used in low top sneakers and dress shoes but Chino already has plans to expand the footwear selection. “We are thinking about [new footwear styles], and the idea is twofold at this moment,” Chino told Engadget through an interpreter. “One is to try to change, modifying the [electronic] device so that the shape can be fitted to other types of shoes.”

“Otherwise,” he continued, “what we can do is to change the yellow parts of this device so that it fits other types of shoes” noting that the white “puck”part can be disconnected from the flexible yellow insert that sits around the wearer’s foot and houses the various vibrating navigation gyroscopes. The system has a reported week-long battery life when using the system to navigate an average of three hours a day. Initially, the insert will be offered in generic small, medium and large sizes in Japan but he plans to offer more personalized fittings once the product hits market.

The navigation system is currently a bit limited, based on the Google Maps API rather than an HD map source, in that it will work so long as a navigation data signal is available. That means that the system may not initially work in indoor areas like malls or hotels — though hiking trails, parks and other public lands should be no problem.

Chino and his team are reportedly looking into incorporating either a Personal Dead-reckoning (PDR) system, Wi-Fi-based positioning or IoT navigation capability to help users make their ways through indoor public spaces at a later date. The team also reportedly plans to add public transportation options to the program in the future.

The company plans to release a beta version of the Ashirase system in Japan in October or November of this year. Users will be given free use of the insert and app for one week before being asked for feedback. Following the public beta, Ashirase executives expect the commercialized product to be ready by October 2022 and include a 2,000 - 3,000 yen ($18 - $27) monthly subscription.

Before that can happen, however, the startup is seeking some 200 million yen in additional funding — not including the 70 million yen in equity the Ignition program already provided — in order to scale up to full production.

This toe tickling navigation system will help the visually impaired walk tall

Posted on by

Following the death of a sight-impaired relative, Wataru Chino had no choice but to take action. In response to the tragedy, the Honda EV engineer developed an in-shoe navigation system, dubbed Ashirase (both the name of the product and the name of the company) that allows low-sighted people to use their feet to navigate, rather than cell phones or other visual aids. The tactile navigation system has earned the financial backing of Honda’s Ignition startup incubator program and continues to gain traction.

The Ashirase system is two-part, consisting of the dedicated Ashirase navigation app running on the user’s smartphone and a silicone shoe insert cradling a combination motion sensor-electronic compass. Once the user programs their walking destination into the app, the shoe inserts will vibrate in various patterns and tempos — “walk forward” causes vibrations under the balls of the feet, “turn left” rubs the appropriate side of both feet and the speed at which the inserts vibrate indicate proximity to the turn or obstacle.

The idea behind the system is to allow users to remain more aware of their surroundings while they walk, using their feet to navigate rather than repeatedly stopping to consult their smartphones or passersby for directions.

Ashirase
Ashirase

Currently the insert prototypes can only be used in low top sneakers and dress shoes but Chino already has plans to expand the footwear selection. “We are thinking about [new footwear styles], and the idea is twofold at this moment,” Chino told Engadget through an interpreter. “One is to try to change, modifying the [electronic] device so that the shape can be fitted to other types of shoes.”

“Otherwise,” he continued, “what we can do is to change the yellow parts of this device so that it fits other types of shoes” noting that the white “puck”part can be disconnected from the flexible yellow insert that sits around the wearer’s foot and houses the various vibrating navigation gyroscopes. The system has a reported week-long battery life when using the system to navigate an average of three hours a day. Initially, the insert will be offered in generic small, medium and large sizes in Japan but he plans to offer more personalized fittings once the product hits market.

The navigation system is currently a bit limited, based on the Google Maps API rather than an HD map source, in that it will work so long as a navigation data signal is available. That means that the system may not initially work in indoor areas like malls or hotels — though hiking trails, parks and other public lands should be no problem.

Chino and his team are reportedly looking into incorporating either a Personal Dead-reckoning (PDR) system, Wi-Fi-based positioning or IoT navigation capability to help users make their ways through indoor public spaces at a later date. The team also reportedly plans to add public transportation options to the program in the future.

The company plans to release a beta version of the Ashirase system in Japan in October or November of this year. Users will be given free use of the insert and app for one week before being asked for feedback. Following the public beta, Ashirase executives expect the commercialized product to be ready by October 2022 and include a 2,000 - 3,000 yen ($18 - $27) monthly subscription.

Before that can happen, however, the startup is seeking some 200 million yen in additional funding — not including the 70 million yen in equity the Ignition program already provided — in order to scale up to full production.

Spotify’s Noteable Releases playlist showcases the songwriters behind popular music

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For the better part of its recent history, Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists have been the company’s go-to way to help people discover new music. In the span of a week, it has added two additional discovery tools. The first, What’s New, is a panel that highlights new releases from your favorite artists and podcasts. The second, which the company detailed today, is a curated playlist, but one that’s aimed at those who want to know more about the music industry.

Dubbed "Noteable Releases," the weekly playlist collects new tracks from the world’s leading producers and songwriters. Expect to see contributions from people like frequent Billie Eilish collaborator Finneas O’Connell and Ester Dean, who helped write Katy Perry’s 2010 hit “Firework.” The result is an eclectic playlist that doesn’t stick to any one genre, though pop music is represented strongly for obvious reasons.

The introduction of Noteable Releases follows last year’s rollout of songwriter pages and is another example of the company trying to cater to the broader music industry. You’ll notice at the top of the playlist that Spotify encourages digging into a song’s credits to find out more about the people who worked on it. You can do that by tapping the three dots icon and then “show credits.”

Spotify’s Noteable Releases playlist showcases the songwriters behind popular music

Posted on by

For the better part of its recent history, Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists have been the company’s go-to way to help people discover new music. In the span of a week, it has added two additional discovery tools. The first, What’s New, is a panel that highlights new releases from your favorite artists and podcasts. The second, which the company detailed today, is a curated playlist, but one that’s aimed at those who want to know more about the music industry.

Dubbed "Noteable Releases," the weekly playlist collects new tracks from the world’s leading producers and songwriters. Expect to see contributions from people like frequent Billie Eilish collaborator Finneas O’Connell and Ester Dean, who helped write Katy Perry’s 2010 hit “Firework.” The result is an eclectic playlist that doesn’t stick to any one genre, though pop music is represented strongly for obvious reasons.

The introduction of Noteable Releases follows last year’s rollout of songwriter pages and is another example of the company trying to cater to the broader music industry. You’ll notice at the top of the playlist that Spotify encourages digging into a song’s credits to find out more about the people who worked on it. You can do that by tapping the three dots icon and then “show credits.”

Why Tesla is delaying the Semi EV until 2022

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Following its Q2 earnings call this week, Tesla representatives confirmed previous reports that its commercial EV project, Semi, will be delayed until 2022. The company cites both the ongoing global processor shortage and its own currently-limited battery production capability for the new 4680 style cells as contributing to its decision. 

On the plus side, Tesla executives also confirmed that development of the highly-anticipated Cyber Truck continues apace. What's more,they explained that once production fully ramps up for the Model Y in the new Berlin and Texas plants, Tesla intends to launch production lines to begin the Semi line. For the full story, watch the video above, and for continuing coverage of all things Tesla, stay tuned to Engadget!

Why Tesla is delaying the Semi EV until 2022

Posted on by

Following its Q2 earnings call this week, Tesla representatives confirmed previous reports that its commercial EV project, Semi, will be delayed until 2022. The company cites both the ongoing global processor shortage and its own currently-limited battery production capability for the new 4680 style cells as contributing to its decision. 

On the plus side, Tesla executives also confirmed that development of the highly-anticipated Cyber Truck continues apace. What's more,they explained that once production fully ramps up for the Model Y in the new Berlin and Texas plants, Tesla intends to launch production lines to begin the Semi line. For the full story, watch the video above, and for continuing coverage of all things Tesla, stay tuned to Engadget!

Samsung’s ‘history of electronics’ animated videos seem like great sleep aids

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Samsung wants to teach you about the history of electronics, as long as you can stay awake long enough to sit through the dull lessons. Through its Innovation Museum, the company is releasing five animated videos about inventions that shaped society. If the first episode is anything to go by, they might as well be classified as sleep aids.

The series premiere delves into the history of telecommunications, starting with Morse code and how it paved the way for more recent innovations such as smartphones, 3G, 4G and (would you believe it?) 5G. The tone and narration is Atacama Desert dry, though. Even the name of the series is melatonin-inducing: "The History of the Electronics Industry That Changed the World."

There's no denying the importance of Morse code, including how it's helped save the lives of many who were able to send an SOS message when they were in peril. But Samsung could have presented the story in a much more interesting way. For what it's worth, the episode is educational. But, if you're going to create a video in which "some aspects have been fictionalized," at least make it fun. 

Upcoming installments will cover John Logie Baird's TV, telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, James Harrison's refrigerator and William Shockley and the semiconductor. Perhaps those will be more compelling, but it's hard to imagine anyone excitedly dashing off a telegram to a friend about it.