Hi folks, Harry from Michigan emailing. Since computers are mentioned in the proposal below, I thought I'd submit it to the list. I'm working on this nationally with both disabled and non-disabled folks. If the list owners don't feel that this post is appropriate, then that's ok too. I just thought I'd submit it to the list since it will be affecting us directly. Harry automated vehicle proposal My proposal consists of a conversion kit that would be connected to any vehicle, by being bolted into the chasse. This kit would consist of the following 1. gps 2. a digital map 3. cameras 4. a doppler radar colision avoidance system, augmented with lazer radar to detect distances of vehicles in front of the vehicle 5. automatic cruze controll systems which will maintain proper spacing between vehicles 6. forward, reerend, and lane change colision technology 7. an automatic breaking system 8. Side impact sensers which will cover blind spots to the sides of the vehicle, whether in the front of or in the back of the vehicle. 9. break, steer, and throttle-by-wire, (also known as drive by wire), which will utilize steering, throttle, and break actuators keeping the vehicle from exceeding the speed limit, and also keeping the vehicle in the correct lane. 10. magnetic sensors to detect the vehicles ladderal deviation relative to roadway magnetic markers installed on roadways, buried at 4 foot intervals along the lane center line and detected by magnetometers. 11. an antenna to receive the radio wave controll point marker information 12. an automatic steering actuator 13. a lane marker detecter 14. a steering guidance system which automatically controlls the steering of the vehicle 15. magnetometers located under the bumpers of the vehicle 16. forward scanning Lazer sensers that seek out obstacles in front of the vehicle. 17. this vehicle would use a small linear motor for magnetic levitation on the guideway which is now known as the expressway. 18. For city use, the vehicle would use a hydragin engine or an electronic motor. 19. instead of expressways, guideways which are tracks that run along each expressway would be built, but they'd only would be accessable for vehicles which are designed to work on tracks, and also on city streets. 20. Rows of electrical magnets will provide guidance on the guideway, with magnetic levitation to keep the vehicle from touching the guideway. 21. the vehicle would drive itself on the guideways as well as on the city streets, side streets, parking lots, and residential driveways 22. If the power to the guideway goes out, the wheels will support the vehicle, and the vehicle will be guided and coast straight ahead 23. If power goes out on 1 section of the guideway, or if the section is shut down for maintenance, that section will be instantly and automatically isolated, and other guideway traffic will be turned away from that section. 24. Automatic mag lev entrance and exit ramps will be vital features of the system. Vehicles wishing to enter the guideway will be automatically excellerated to the full 350 mile per hour speed and then slipped into line. Vehicles wishing to exit from the high speed car stream are slipped out of line, smoothly desellerated, and guided back to the streets of the city, where more automation takes charge of the vehicle, and the vehicle continues, being guided by roadway sensors, or roadway magnetic markers taking charge of the vehicle. 25. If a guideway computer should fail, a backup computer will instantly automatically take over. 26. hackers won't be able to vandalize the system, because the system will be independant of the internet. 27. Before the system will permit a vehicle on to the guideway entrance ramp, the driver or someone inside the vehicle will need to either punch in on a keyboard or say a guideway exit number where the vehicle needs to exit at. This exit choice can be changed while in route if the change is made soon enough. After the exit number is keyed or spoken, the computer will speak a message suchas, "If you wish to leave the guideway at exit number 473 either say yes or press y, or say no or press n. Then the system will determine the best and fastest route to get there, that's if your trip involves more than 1 guideway of the national guideway network, and it'll route your vehicle from 1 guideway to the next. 28. The guideway will be payed for by billing the users automatically. A bar code reader and an integrated circuit chip in the vehicle will identify the vehicle and its owner to the system as the vehicle enters the guideway entrance ramp. the typed or spoken exit number will tell the computer how long the trip will be, and when to bill the user. 29. All vehicles will be forced to under go a safety test, and participate in a vehicle maintenance program. If the computer finds anything wrong in the code of the entering vehicle to the guideway, suchas an out of date safety check, or an over due guideway bill, the system will divert the vehicle back on to the street, rather than letting the trip continue in an unsafe or unpaid vehicle. 30. The vehicles will look the way we want them to look, made by our favorite auto companies, and the styling can change yearly, just like they do today. 31. there will also be taxis, light trucks on the guideways that run the same way. 32. the name of the system will be called the national high and low speed mag lev transportation system, also called (hilomag) for short 33. These guideways will be available 24 hours per day. When sections are closed for maintenance, the system will route traffic to detours. 34. This system will opperate throughout the entire US, than expand into Canada and Mexico. 35. the system will run the same speed everywhere, 350 highway, 60 city. 36. no vehicle will go to fast or too slow. 37. these vehicles would be the owners, parked at their residence, just like they are today. 38. the vehicle would automatically be locked so children couldn't fall out by accident. Get this, 1 hilomag guideway lane equals 40 expressway lanes, and in and around the city, 1 guideway lane will equal 12 freeway lanes. It would take 1686 Grey-hound buses per hour to equal the capacity of 1 200 mph hilomag guideway. It would take 80 trains per hour of 1000 passengers each to equal a 79200 passenger per hour carrying capacity of 1 hilomag guideway going only 350 mph. Here's another thing that's amazing about this system, 1 hilomag guideway has the same capacity of carrying 186 fully loaded 747s per hour. The total time between 2 destinations of 1000 miles appart would be less by hilomag than by jet, and it's much cheaper than a jet. It would work like this. I, the driver, would get in the vehicle and the vehicle would ask me "where do you want to go?" It would already know what address I'd be at because of gps. I would tell it what address I want to go to, and the system would tell me how many steps it would be and how long it'd take to get there. Then the vehicle would start up, or, the driver could start it up manually. Then the vehicle would pull out of the driveway, or pull away from the address because the vehicle would be parked on the street. It would then drive to the address where the driver wants to go. The speed, steering, and breaking would be automatically controlled by the software within the vehicles computer. What are the benefits of such a vehicle? 1. Crashes would be avoided because of radar, sensers, and or cameras on the front and side of the vehicle. 2. This vehicle could drive through fog, blizzards, whiteouts, rain storms, smoke, etc. 3. This vehicle will also give baby boomers independance, because more of them are getting older, and will have sight problems, or have strokes, and won't be able to see, or move hands or feet to drive a car, etc. They don't want to have to buy a new car because of lack of income, so if they could just put a kit on to their current vehicle, (or if someone could put the kit on the vehicle) so the vehicle could drive itself, it'd save them money but still give them their much desired independance. 4. Accidents will be illiminated. 5. The speed limit could be raised to 350 MPH between cities, and 60 MPH in the city, because the vehicle wouldn't be controlled by people but it would be driving itself, therefor, vehicle speed would be perfectly controlled, and breaking to stop at intersections could start 5 to 10 feet or further away from the intersection so the vehicle wouldn't have to stop so suddenly. 6. people could eat, drink, shave, sleep, read, tend to children in the back seat, adjust the radio, talk on a handheld cell phone, find another cd to play, talk with each other inside the vehicle, send faxes, adjust the air conditioning, watch TV, do other office work, etc. instead of trying to do those kind of things and drive at the same time which results in accidents which happens today. 7. no more roadway departure crashes. 8. no more roll over accidents 9. no more rear end crashes 10. no more lane change crashes 11. no more intersection crashes 12. no more head on colisions 13. no more drunk driving accidents because vehicles will drive themselves 14. no more deaths and injuries will occur, because there won't be any more accidents 15. no more suv roll over deaths 16. no more new roads will need to be built, because vehicles will drive themselves and avoid conjestion 17. no more driver distractions 18. no more road rage 19. driver stress would be done away with 20. pollution would hardly exist because the flow of traffic would be continuous and folks would get to their destinations much faster, thus the use of fuel would be reduced. 21. conjestion on roads would no longer exist, cutting travel times at least in half or more 22. no more tail gating 23. no more problems driving with sun glare 24. better utilization of roads 25. improved traffic flow. 26. lower costs for freight hulling 27. no more delays in traffic when going from 1 place to another 28. airport delays will not exist, because people will not be flying as much as they were, accept over seas. 29. people will still have their independance as they have always wanted because that's why they have always bought cars instead of taken public transportation. 30. no protection of passengers from impact will need to be built into these vehicles, because impact from accidents won't occur 31. passengers won't need to wear seat belts any more 32. passenger safety systems inside the vehicle won't be needed, making the vehicle lighter 33. hospitalization, meddical, surgical, and rehabilitation costs due to vehicle accidents will cease 34. law suits over traffic accidents will be no more 35. no passing will occur, since the vehicle will drive itself 36. there will be no need for public transportation, because people will be going door to door. 37. no more using wrental cars within the US. or Canada, because you would be traveling in your own vehicle instead of flying. 38. people living near airports won't have nearly as much airplane noise to deal with, since people won't be flying within the US. and Canada but only over seas. 39. no more problems with slick roads 40. no more blow outs will occur 41. there will be no more careless drivers on the roads 42. These vehicles will give us what we all want, our privacy, compared to public transportation which doesn't give us our privacy. I'm not interested in making any money (not 1 penny) from my proposal, but we need to get moving on this and get this kit into production, and the roads, and guideways ready, cause right now, people are being injured in accidents and even being killed on highways and roads, and the sooner the automated vehicle is on the market, the safer we'll all be. I'd like to thank the following folks and groups for their ideas so far. The folks at Delphi Automotive, Bill Gardner who works at the Mn department of transportation, the folks at California Path at the University of California at Berkeley, and the folks at Toyota, the NCTR the impact of emerging technologies and the web site is www.civeng.unsw.edu.au/IEAustTP/NCTR/ITSNCTRVer2.html, Francis Reynolds, a retired engineer at Bowing who really knows his stuff when it comes to mag lev guideway systems, and who is a pilot himself, so if he says it will do better than a plane, we all need to take notice. If you have any more questions about the kit, or suggestions of other things that I could put in the proposal, just email me and be specific in your suggestions, and let's stay in close touch. my email address is [log in to unmask] take care, Harry Brown, Port Huron, Michigan March 23, 2001 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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