Difference between revisions of "Talk:Automated transport systems"

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{{discussion page note}}
 
{{discussion page note}}
  
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=Current situation=
 
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* 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.
 
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(severe injuries: 36,000 jumbos crash landing) {{em}} this is reality of road transport. Likelihood of being killed on the road is something like 1 in 200 (need to find ref). Number one killer of young people [http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr17/en/index.html] and by far the leading cause of accidental death [http://www.notsoboringlife.com/ramblings/top-10-causes-of-accidental-death/].
 
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* 28% of greenhouse gas emissions [http://www.masstech.org/cleanenergy/important/envemissions.htm]
 
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* Land use in cities. Roads cover a huge percentage of urban land. A more space-efficient transport network (like PRT) would allow for more greenery
 
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* According to Wikipedia, within the EU, 44% of goods are transported by roads and 85% of people
 
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=Alternatives=
 
 
*Trains
 
*Trains
 
**Light rail
 
**Light rail
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**Personal rapid transit.
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**[http://www.gizmag.com/unitsky-string-transport-rail-suspended/15300/][http://www.gizmag.com/unitsky-string-transport-rail-suspended/15300/picture/115663/] Trains could be a lot cheaper to build if high-tension cables are used instead of tracks
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**Maglev
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**Gravity vacuum maglev (almost no energy required)
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***Vacuum maglev system (Needs a picture)
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*Human powered - [http://www.ihpva.org 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 and for short commutes, rather than as part of an economic infrastructure.
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****Gravity vacuum maglev (almost no energy required)
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*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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIAC].
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*Electric vehicles. Ultracapacitor technology is getting better. Carbon fiber is 4 times lighter than steel and 5 times stronger. It is 14 times more expensive, but you would make that back in fuel costs coz it's lighter. Carbon fiber is progressively getting cheaper and being used more and more in cars. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkgoNnKCA4s Open-source, carbon fiber, fuel cell car].
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** Possibility of shared vehicles. (Similar to the schemes that exist with bicycles in many cities - DublinBikes etc.) The [http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2009 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. There are plans to bring this in for several cities [http://challenge.bfi.org/application_summary/489#].
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*Aircraft
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**Personal aircraft
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**Sub-orbital passenger craft
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**Autonomous helicopters already exist like [http://gizmodo.com/5383671/mits-autonomous-helicopter-what-if-big-dog-could-fly this] mini-helicopter designed at MIT. Think of the possibilities of little helicopters to deliver packages; like an automated FedEx. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_A160_Hummingbird 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RQ-7_Shadow RQ-7 Shadow]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Eagle_Eye Bell Eagle Eye] is an unmanned tilt-rotor vehicle.
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**Spacecraft etc.
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*Airships (DONE)
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*Ships. 90% of international cargo is moved by ship ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping wikipedia])
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**Unmanned freighters. There exists a ship big enough to carry ten thousand cars that runs on a combo of wave, wind and solar energy [http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Solar-ship-sails-the-ocean-green/2005/03/14/1110649129813.html]. 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 [http://www.skysails.info/index.php?id=472&L=2]
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_flight_%28air_traffic_control%29 Free flight]
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==Cars==
 
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).
 
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).
  
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*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YUjlKA6tVU - Discussion panel with leaders of companies pioneering electric drive
  
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Non-automated, but desirable vehicles for another section:
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===Efficiency===
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Third generation photovoltaics in windows and paint will allow cars to produce their own energy on-the-move. The roof of a car can hold about 1m<sup>2</sup> of solar cells, which might receive a thousand watts a day.
  
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*Electric / fuel cell
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===Driverless cars===
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*Human powered - [http://www.ihpva.org 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. 
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Center for Automotive Research Stanford (CARS) doing a lot of work in this area, including cars that are driven by humans, but have smart systems so they "cannot crash"
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*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80MlnZcXCwo - some details on how autonomous cars actually work
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*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_piO849uRdI Impressive video of an autonomous car doing controlled high-speed parking]
  
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http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/skycat/
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==Aviation==
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*The "Green Flight Challenge incentive" is a prize of $1.65m for electric planes that get 200 passenger-miles per gallon equivalent or better. This is about 4 times more efficient than a typical plane.
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*http://www.synergyaircraft.com
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*The Skylon spaceplane, as well as making speaceflight cheaper, aims to fly from anywhere to anywhere in less than 4 hours.
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*Personal aircraft. These will be needed or areas not served by road or rail. Persona helicopter travel has been the exclusive preserve of the mega-rich, but in an era of open-design + digital manufacturing, there is no reason why this should continue to be the case.
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**{{wp|Flying_car_(aircraft)|Flying cars}}. VTOL would be best.
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**[http://www.gizmag.com/flynano-microlight-aircraft/18411/ FlyNano] is a 70kg personal flying machine with an airspeed of 140km/h. Can be all-electric. Being sold for just €27000, released later in 2011
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**Autonomous helicopters already exist like [http://gizmodo.com/5383671/mits-autonomous-helicopter-what-if-big-dog-could-fly this] mini-helicopter designed at MIT. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_A160_Hummingbird 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RQ-7_Shadow RQ-7 Shadow]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Eagle_Eye Bell Eagle Eye] is an unmanned tilt-rotor vehicle.
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*Sub-orbital passenger craft
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_flight_%28air_traffic_control%29 Free flight]
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*[http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/skycat/ Skycat] - a hybrid airship/hovercraft

Latest revision as of 08:27, 22 May 2012

This 'discussion page' is currently used to hold notes for the development of this website (however it can still be used for discussion)
  • Trains
    • Light rail
    • [1][2] Trains could be a lot cheaper to build if high-tension cables are used instead of tracks
    • Gravity vacuum maglev (almost no energy required)
  • 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 and for short commutes, rather than as part of an economic infrastructure.

Cars

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).

Efficiency

Third generation photovoltaics in windows and paint will allow cars to produce their own energy on-the-move. The roof of a car can hold about 1m2 of solar cells, which might receive a thousand watts a day.

Driverless cars

Center for Automotive Research Stanford (CARS) doing a lot of work in this area, including cars that are driven by humans, but have smart systems so they "cannot crash"

Aviation

  • The "Green Flight Challenge incentive" is a prize of $1.65m for electric planes that get 200 passenger-miles per gallon equivalent or better. This is about 4 times more efficient than a typical plane.
  • http://www.synergyaircraft.com
  • The Skylon spaceplane, as well as making speaceflight cheaper, aims to fly from anywhere to anywhere in less than 4 hours.
  • Personal aircraft. These will be needed or areas not served by road or rail. Persona helicopter travel has been the exclusive preserve of the mega-rich, but in an era of open-design + digital manufacturing, there is no reason why this should continue to be the case.
    • Flying cars 11px-Wikipedia_logo.jpg. VTOL would be best.
    • FlyNano is a 70kg personal flying machine with an airspeed of 140km/h. Can be all-electric. Being sold for just €27000, released later in 2011
    • Autonomous helicopters already exist like this mini-helicopter designed at MIT. 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.
  • Sub-orbital passenger craft
  • Free flight
  • Skycat - a hybrid airship/hovercraft
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