Difference between revisions of "Talk:Automated transport systems"

Revision as of 18:47, 28 April 2010

Most people would think twice about flying on airliners knowing that 2885 jumbos crash each year killing all <<there is no way this is true. The number is between zero and one. (severe injuries: 36,000 jumbos crash landing) — this is reality of road transport. Likelihood of being killed on the road is something like 1 in 200 (need to find ref).

• Trains
  • Light rail
  • Personal rapid transit. Inherently automated. Energy efficient. Ideal for cities, but not for longer-distance. Could integrate with VacMagLev system, in the same way urban rail systems now integrate with national rail. PRT simulator [1] being designed by the guy who runs Robotica Exotica
  • Maglev
    • Vacuum maglev system (DONE)
      • Gravity vacuum maglev (almost no energy required)
• Driverless road vehicles. There is a competition to be held July-October 2010 in which 4 unmanned cars will drive from Italy to China delivering goods [2].
• Electric vehicles. The winner of the 2009 Buckminster Fuller challenge was a system of small electric cars and scooters which would be docked at points around a city (where they could charge). You swipe a card and one of the vehicles unlocks and you drive it and drop it off at another dock. (Similar to the schemes that exist with bicycles in many cities.) There are plans to bring this in for several cities [3].
• Aircraft
  • Personal aircraft
  • Sub-orbital passenger craft
  • Autonomous helicopters already exist like this mini-helicopter designed at MIT. Think of the possibilities of little helicopters to deliver packages; like an automated FedEx. Hummingbird Unmanned Rotorcraft is autonomous and has a much better fuel-efficiency than any other helicopter and also goes at a higher altitude, which would be better for solar power. Other unmanned helicopters include the RQ-7 Shadow. Bell Eagle Eye is an unmanned tilt-rotor vehicle.
  • Spacecraft etc.
• Airships (DONE)
• Ships. 90% of international cargo is moved by ship (wikipedia)
  • Unmanned freighters. There exists a ship big enough to carry ten thousand cars that runs on a combo of wave, wind and solar energy [4]. This cost $110 million to build; but what are the fuel costs of an ordinary ship? Shipping can be made more efficient by very light, very strong materials. Catamarans are more hydrodynamic. As for automation, there are plenty of small unmanned military boats (USVs in military-speak). Sail-power is making a comeback, and sails can now be computer-controlled to automatically find the best winds. SkySails are a bit like kitesurfing - a sail/kite type thing floats above the ship, towing it along. It is high enough to catch faster winds that normal sails could. Provides 10-35% of the energy a ship needs [5]

• Free flight

Financial cost of road traffic accidents estimated at over $120 billion in the US and over $193 billion in the Europe Union. (Found in slideshow from Delphi Automotive Integrated Safety Systems - need to find source).

Non-automated, but desirable vehicles for another section:

• Electric / fuel cell
• Human powered - International Human-Powered Vehicle Association is a dynamic organization of hobbyists designing and testing human powered land, air and water vehicles and even submarines. Some of the stuff there is pretty amazing: somebody flew 74 miles in a pedal-powered plane, somebody else broke 82mph in a recumbent bicycle. What's more, the community of people doing this are very much in favour of free and open design. Human powered vehicles will probably remain something people do mostly for fun, rather than as part of an economic infrastructure.

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/skycat/