The U.S. Army hopes to automate one-third of its ground forces by 2015. Autonomous vehicles will carry supplies to troops or perform reconnaissance tasks like the unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Air Force.
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. will jointly invest $720 million in their plants to build a fuel-saving, six-speed, front-wheel drive automatic transmission.
Traditionally, metals have been peened by bombarding the material with tiny metal balls, or "shot," to induce a layer of compressive stress at the surface that prevents metal fatigue and reduces corrosion.