h a l f b a k e r yA dish best served not.
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This idea is sort of inspired by the recent eddy-elevator idea. For each of the floors above the ~10th floor of a building, have a life boat big enough to hold everybody normally working on that floor. If there is a fire or another need to evacuate quickly everybody gets an alarm at their desk and
proceeds to the lifeboat. The vehicle itself is parked inside the building talking up the space of only 3-4 cubicles, and facing a window. Once everybody is onboard an electric catapult throws it through the adjacent window, and it parachutes safely to the ground. The parachutes can be gun-launched to ensure complete opening.
See the link for a visualization, and just imagine that minus the space/vacuum/finalfrontier.
The system of workers being assigned to lifeboats in groups is in use on oil rigs in case they begin to explode. Although there they just free fall into the ocean.
Halo Lifepod
http://www.gamasutr...20070502/halo_8.jpg
Yeah I know, in this scenario it was a spaceship not a highrise. [DIYMatt, May 22 2009]
Oil Rig Lifeboats
http://gcaptain.com...feboats-oil-rig.jpg
No parachutes here! [DIYMatt, May 22 2009]
Eddy's predecessor.
Dyson_20sphire_20escape
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 22 2009]
Spare Air
http://www.simplysc...ils.aspx?StockID=13
offers 30 breaths of air. [DIYMatt, May 23 2009]
[link]
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There's not enough falling distance for a chute that big to fully
deploy fast enough to slow the decent to a safe velocity. A lot of
folks are skeptical that even individual personal chutes can deploy
fast enough to prevent a lethal fall from any but the tallest
highrises, and you're talking about a lot of weight. Even if it could
deploy with your 'gun-launched' system, a sufficiently large chute
would be wider than the streets below, resulting in the chute
catching on other buildings. |
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I like how it is thrown through the window as opposed to the window opening first. + |
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I just came up with another idea, but don't feel like making a new topic as it's similar to this one. |
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Instead of trying to escape the fire via lifeboat or giving everybody a parachute, why not give everybody a gas mask (cheaper than a parachute) and rig the building with a Halon fire extinguishing system. If a fire erupts (and is confirmed by the fire dept.) the entire building fills with Halon until the fire goes out. Nobody even has to leave their desk! You could even use existing infrastrucure - hook the sprinkler lines up to the Halon tanks instead of water. |
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Surely we did this after 9/11? |
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Matt, halon displaces oxygen. You'd suffocate everyone. It might
work if my idea for Emergency Compressed Air Bottles/Masks was
implemented jointly with the halon extinguishers. But gas masks
and personal building-escape parachutes were baked to a fucking
cinder immediately following 9 / 11. Robin Williams ridiculed the
gas mask idea, stating that a lot of guys can't even get a condom on
when they want to, let alone a gask mask that has to be fitted
perfectly and has a bunch of straps that have to be adjusted. |
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Seems like an intuitive place for a LTA craft. It expands and gently floats away then gradually leaks causing descent. |
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You have a good point 21. Instead of having SCBA with a mask, give everybody a "Spare Air" tank used by some SCUBA divers. Just stick it in your mouth and breath. OR the building could have a centralized air system and just give everyone a mask with a hose attached. Of course then the central air system would probably catch on fire :O |
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The problem with both base jumping chutes and a breathing apparatus is that they require special training. A large "lifeboat" does not... |
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What if instead of parachutes, the lifeboats rode down zip line cables like the space shuttle pad abort escape system? Their path could be better controlled and there wouldn't be the same height/clearance restrictions of parachutes. |
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Why not just upgrade the catapault system and fire the
podule into the adjacent building? |
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