h a l f b a k e r y
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As our roads become more crowded; the cost of automotive fuel spirals upwards; petroleum resources are depleted; our commute times increase and our cars become bigger, compounding all of these problems... What's the solution? It occurs to me that there is a more efficient way to travel, whilst enjoying
the freedom afforded by driving our individual motor vehicles to our chosen destinations.
Ferris Cars is a mass transportation system, that allows you to opt into a commute group, or long distance travel group.
A giant contraption, that holds, say, 30 cars, like Ferris wheel gondolas, rolls along the road. Your Ferris Cars transponder "docks" with the wheel, matching speeds and spacings, to slot you into an empty spot on the wheel.
Once aligned, the wheel rolls over and past each side of your car, scooping it into a sling and clamping it into the system, with braces fitted directly to the drive wheels on each car.
You leave your motor running, to provide motive power for the system, but everyone saves fuel as its computer systems only take what is needed for climbs and acceleration. Momentum saves everyone a substantial amount of fuel, on a long trip.
When you want to get off, it disengages the clamps and deposits your car on the road as you reach the bottom of the loop, leaving you to accelerate away to your destination.
Best of all, you get to swing up over the top, with every rolling revolution of the wheel, while you're on board. WHEEEEEEE!
No, it doesn't fit into underground carparks.
Ferris Wheel on a Roll
Ferris_20Wheel_20on_20a_20Roll
Like this with cars? [st3f, May 17 2005]
How to handle the intersections
Wheeeeegenerative_20Brakes
shameless plug [sophocles, May 19 2005]
[link]
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Before you ask... no, I don't know how you'd change a tyre on it, if it got a flat. |
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Boy that'd really suck to be the last car on there, 100 miles from home. |
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Turning corners might be a challenge with all that angular momentum to cope with. You'd need a way to tip the wheel to the right to make it turn to the right. Perhaps rocket thrusters cunningly designed to fire when at the top of the wheel? |
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Perhaps it wouldn't need rocket thrusters. If it was able to "parallelogram" slightly then it could turn left or right. |
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As for being the last car... you can always opt out, allowing the machine to use its own power. |
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Sounds like fun, but maybe too much
work involved to make it worth it. And
besides, I'm afraid of Ferris wheels. |
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Be sure to take along airsick bags. |
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//too much work involved to make it worth it// and that's a bad thing? |
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Maybe the steering could be achieved by having an outer "tire" split down the middle, with the two sides able to turn faster/slower relative to each other, combined with a lean, as necessary so it won't fall over. You might be able to power it by acivating the nature of the differential in each car: stop one side's drive wheels in a staccato fashion, putting a little extra rotation the other side momentarily. I dunno. |
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Too much work? This is the halfbakery, my friend, where work is never free but funding is boundless. |
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A good control system, probably hydraulic, involving Ferguson differentials would do the trick for steering. |
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[RayS], airsick bags? I don't know anyone who gets sick on Ferris wheels. Why would this make you sick? |
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This ride gets a bit unnerving every time the concrete truck is overhead. |
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Routes are planned, so as to avoid them. |
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Yes, the concrete cloverleaf is now America's national flower, but there are always alternate routes. |
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Get this thing going and it could roll over most overpasses. |
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[+]If it ever needed to stop, you could use regenerative braking by adding a big flywheel on the same axis. Similar to those tacky rotating hubcaps on cars w/ too much bling-bling. |
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Or, for even more fun, you could combine this with wheeeeegenerative brakes (link to shameless promotion). |
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Hmm, stopping wasn't something I imagined they'd have to do. |
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