Why does the ATI vehicle hang from a big pipe? The vehicle is suspended from a cylindrical GuideRail that allows it to roll or bank like an aircraft while traversing curves. This affords ride comfort to the passengers while they are seated and provides for their safety when moving about the cabin. The completely elevated system creates no grade crossings. Grade crossings are the most hazardous aspect of high-speed passenger transportation systems. Elevated passenger terminals allow easy sighting within urban and small town/village environments. The GuideRail is suspended from overarching structures resembling large light poles shaped like an inverted ‘J’. These are mounted on concrete foundations constructed below ground level. What kind of scar will you place on the landscape? We do not see a scar when we visualize our system winding through an urban environment, traversing the open planes, or following an interstate highway and then climbing the Continental Divide. From a distance, the GuideRail appears as a cylindrical ribbon supported by slim support structures. The support structures will be constructed using ‘weathering steel’ that requires no paint and takes on a soft earth-tone hue that in effect is neutral to the eye. Up close, the GuideRail is up and out of the way and casts a narrow shadow. The diameter of the vertical support structure at it’s base is about the length of a subcompact passenger vehicle and is mounted on a concrete foundation that will be below grade in urban and village environments. Along highways, a portion of the foundation will be above grade to provide crash protection to the base of the vertical member. The primary support for a single GuideRail will be a tall slender overarching structure that resembles an inverted ‘J’. When two GuideRails are adjacent, they will be supported by a single structure resembling two inverted ‘J’s back to back. There is no requirement for inbound and outbound GuideRails to be sighted adjacent to each other while adjacent GuideRails are not required to be aligned horizontally. Vertical separation allows GuideRails to be sighted in narrow canyons and readily positioned in urban corridors defined by office buildings and other Hi-Rise structures. Various support structure configurations and suspension bridge designs have been identified for GuideRail construction across rivers, gullies/canyons, depressions and environmentally sensitive wetlands. GuideRail construction time is primarily dependent on construction of the concrete foundation bases that mount the vertical GuideRail supports. This includes site preparation, form construction, and concrete poring schedules and cure times. As the cement progressively cures, erection of vertical supports and hanging of rail sections will proceed. When cited adjacent to roads or railways that provide easy access,
construction of multiple foundations will proceed simultaneously.
When cited cross-country or in sensitive environmental areas, completed
foundations will be used as support bases for cranes and other
lift devices to construct successive foundation bases. This equipment
moves forward as the railhead progresses and negates the need to
clear-cut a construction road along the GuideRail path. Also, the
system does not require an access road beneath the GuideRail because
personnel in service vehicles will perform maintenance on the rail
and its associated equipment, including the recovery of a disabled
vehicle. In the broadest terms, a three-year build schedule is envisioned. First year to survey the route and select and finalize individual foundation requirements and designs. Second year to construct the foundations, erect GuideRails, and provision them with sensors and communications equipment. Third year to test the ATI system with the first production lot of vehicles and complete the certification process for public transportation systems. In practice, logistics and funding will dictate project scheduling. It should be noted that a fully funded one-year construction cycle would cost less than an incrementally funded multi-year schedule. How fast can it go? The current design will be certified by state and federal agencies for passenger operations to 150 MPH. The system is capable of averaging well in excess of that speed along non-demanding routes. In practice, the terrain followed by the GuideRail will strongly influence operating speeds on any given route. Models are in the planning stage that will exceed 250 MPH. Our business goal is to provide reliable 300 MPH passenger and freight service across many segments of the United States and compete directly with regional passenger jet service. The ATI system provides a superior alternative to European style high–speed rail. How steep can it climb? The vehicle is configured to climb grades in excess of 15% and negotiate switchbacks along the GuideRail route. This capability allows the vehicle to traverse the North American Continental Divide at a number of locations without tunneling. The combination of motorized traction wheels and Ducted Thrust Fans provides the power to move a fully loaded vehicle along rather steep grades even when less than ideal traction conditions are present. This capability provides unparalleled options in GuideRail path sighting and the resulting costs of construction. It has been estimated that a bi-directional tunnel through the Continental Divide for an interstate highway routed high-speed rail system would cost $1 Billion for the tunnel and its approaches. The ATI system does not require this type of construction expenditure. Can it run in bad weather? The vehicle will continue to operate in all but the most severe weather conditions. Rainfall by itself offers no hazard to the ATI vehicle. Rain cannot collect or puddle on the GuideRail and has minimal effect on the operation of the thrust fans. Snowfall and freezing rain have minimal impact on vehicle operations because the Sun/Snow shield protects the GuideRail from falling precipitation. The leading and top surfaces of the vehicle will be equipped with internal de-icing heaters designed to keep the vehicle clean while in operation. These de-icers will also keep parked vehicles free of heavy snow/ice accumulation. Blowing snow and snow/rain blown onto the GuideRail running surface
by passing vehicles could accumulate, freeze, and create traction
problems. When required, the GuideRail running surface will be
electrically heated. Snow/ice scrappers are located on the vehicle
suspension system to remove normal accumulations from the GuideRail
while specially equipped Service-Vehicles will remove any potentially
disrupting snow/ice accumulations with mechanical devices, radiant
heaters, and hot-air blowers. Sighting of the route, placement of support foundations, and use of special foundation designs will prevent snow avalanches from placing the system in danger or disrupting service. There is no need for construction of snow-sheds or halting service for snow removal with the ATI system. Of special note, the ATI GuideRail path can cross roadways, streams, and rivers for the sole purpose of maintaining a hazard free travel corridor relative to snow avalanche and rockslide zones. Flooding for the most part will not effect operations. The GuideRail will be constructed to keep the vehicle above any possible high water level while support bases will be sighted clear of undercutting and eroding flood waters. High water surrounding the support structures will not effect vehicle operations. High water would probably effect passenger access to terminals and disrupt passenger flow but it would not effect system schedules. Gusting high winds, especially strong cross winds, will cause degradation in vehicle operations. The amount of degradation is relative to the wind speeds encountered. Disruptive wind conditions are dealt with in several ways. The vehicle is equipped with integrated aerodynamic control surfaces that maintain roll, pitch, and yaw attitude. These control surfaces are capable of controlling vehicle attitude when gusting wind conditions would normally prevent most private aircraft from takeoff and landing operations. The control surfaces are managed by an attitude control system that receives sensor input to effect required attitude adjustments. These sensors are located within the vehicle to sense attitude and motion, on the vehicle exterior to sense wind direction and pressure, and on the supporting pylons to sense wind conditions ahead and to the rear of the vehicle. The control system also receives this same data from other vehicles on the route. With this real-time sensor data and a record of the conditions of the last several minutes, the control system will use predictive analysis and real-time processing to maintain vehicle attitude. When predicted, sensed, or computer analyzed wind conditions exceed the margin of safety, vehicle speed will be reduced as needed to maintain safe vehicle operations. Tornado and hurricane conditions will cause vehicle operations to be halted until conditions improve and the GuideRail can be inspected and certified for safe use. Environmental sensors and real-time video on the support pylons assist in this effort. Will it be like a roller coaster ride? GuideRail paths will be selected to minimize centrifugal forces encountered in curves. As the vehicle traverses through a curve, it rolls by an amount proportional to the radius of the curve and the speed of the vehicle. This converts sideways motion generated by centrifugal force to a downward force. Vehicle speed is adjusted to attain the most efficient travel speed while maintaining an acceptable level of downward force experienced by passengers. Passengers never experience sideways motions or excessive downward force. How many passengers can it carry? As presently configured for economy seating, the vehicle carries 114 passengers along with their carry-on baggage. Carry-on storage is beneath the seats and in overhead compartments above the center seating section. Additional carry-on storage at the rear of the vehicle is provided for outsize baggage such as skis, bicycles and hiking/camping equipment. The area below the passenger deck accommodates checked baggage and freight including items such as kayaks up to 18 feet long. Business style seating at the front of the cabin is available for ambulatory medical passengers and those requiring special accommodations due to wheel chair use and other equipment. The vehicle will normally be configured with 12 rows of 3+3+3 Economy-Plus seating and 1 row of 2+2+2 Business style special-care seating for a total of 108 + 6 or 114 passengers. Jump seats are provided for Travel Attendants. Additional vehicle configurations of 2+3+2 mixed Business/Economy seating and Business seating of 2+2+2 provides less passenger capacity. In a sightseeing configuration, the vehicle will have seats positioned so that passengers face the windows and can be rotated to create clustered seating arrangements and lounge-seating configurations. Vehicles configured in this manner will provide premium travel accommodations. How would you evacuate a vehicle? Evacuating passengers from a vehicle is a course of last resort. The functional redundancy that is inherent to the ATI vehicle and overall system designs reduces the possibility of a vehicle evacuation to an extremely low probability. That being said, passenger safety and wellbeing has been of paramount importance within the ATI system design process. Every effort will be made to retrieve or repair a vehicle before passengers are evacuated. In the event that evacuation becomes mandatory, the rear cargo-loading ramp will be lowered and the following passenger vehicle will attach. Passengers will then move across the ramp to the emergency crew evacuation hatch located forward of the rescue vehicle’s windshield. As an alternate method of evacuation, a rescue vehicle will travel in reverse to the rear of the disabled vehicle. The cargo ramps will be lowered and extended so passengers can be moved from the disabled vehicle to the rescue vehicle. This procedure utilizes the system’s inter-vehicle cargo transfer capability to move passengers from one vehicle to another. As a fail-safe measure, on-board safety equipment will allow passengers to be lowered to ground level from the rear cargo-loading ramp. It must be noted that the terrain below many GuideRail routes will not be conducive to access by land based rescue vehicles, that most passengers will not be capable of ‘walking out’, and passenger retrieval will most likely require helicopter lift capability. What passenger accommodations are provided? Along with comfortable seating and good legroom, there are two wide isles and four large passenger access doors, two on each side of the vehicle. Wide viewing windows extend from the waist-high sitting position to well into the curved roof area. Restrooms and galleys are located at the front and rear of the passenger cabin. Wide-screen monitors on the cabin front wall present a panoramic
display of the view ahead along with travel status information
while monitors on the rear wall provide a rear view. Local broadcast
and satellite radio and TV will be piped to the seats. Personal
cell and satellite phone service will be maintained within the
vehicle and usable while in transit. The ATI system owner/operator
will determine the suitability of serving beverages and food. Emergency medical equipment in the form of defibrillators, oxygen, wheel chairs, and litters are stored onboard and can be used under supervision of the trained Travel Attendants. What kind of fuel do you use? The vehicle is powered by clean and efficient electric power distributed within the GuideRail. This electricity is sourced by power substations operated by the system’s owner/operator. The substations are fed by the local commercial electric power utility and implement standby power generators. Commercial utilities distribute electric power generated from hydro dams, nuclear energy, natural gas, coal, and bunker oil and supplement their power sources with solar, wind, and bio-fuel generated electricity. Why do you have so many wheels and electric motors? There are many reasons. One is that we use several smaller wheels instead of fewer larger wheels in order to distribute the vehicle load across the GuideRail. Each wheel receives a motor and brake to maintain motive and braking traction at each tire. Another reason is that multiple tires afford higher traction than fewer tires and provide redundancy so that the loss of one or a few powered and load-bearing wheels does not disable the vehicle. There are two electric motors within each of the four Ducted Trust Fan Assemblies. Each assembly has two fans each driven by a dedicated electric motor. Here again, two smaller motors are used instead of one larger motor for redundancy purposes with the added benefit that the fans counter-rotate without using a gearbox. Counter-rotation neutralizes the generation of ‘motor-torque’ and the resulting vehicle twisting action. The thrust fans can be operated at different speeds and prop pitch for optimum power efficiency and can be adjusted individually for synchronization to prevent generation of sympathetic-vibrations and the resulting noise. The electrically powered Ducted Thrust Fan Assemblies, working in concert with multiple sets of rubber tired Traction Wheels, provide the performance factor that differentiates the ATI system from other land based transportation systems. The vehicle operates via traction wheels in urban and residential areas and brings the thrust fans progressively into use as the environment allows and operating conditions dictate. The traction wheel electric motors are purpose built to provide high shaft torque and power efficiency at low through mid RPMs while the electric fan motors are purpose built to provide optimum efficiencies at higher RPMs. Within the immediate area of passenger terminals and populated areas, the thrust fans do not operate. As the vehicle begins to clear these areas, the fans are progressively brought to their operating RPM while the props are kept feathered producing no thrust and no prop-wash. Once clear of any restricted area, prop pitch is adjusted to produce thrust and share the transport load with the traction wheels. As vehicle speed is increased, the thrust fans become the dominant motive force. While operating in this mode, prop pitch can be adjusted quickly
to provide additional motive force when climbing elevation grades
or provide reverse thrust braking action when descending grades.
The fan motors are operated at a nominal fixed RPM while the resultant
thrust is adjusted by managing the pitch of the props. This is
known as ‘constant speed operation with variable and reversible
prop pitch’. Is there an electrical or magnetic hazard to the passengers or crew? In a word ‘No”. All hi-powered electrical equipment is contained on the exterior of the vehicle’s top or ‘roof’. All rotating magnetic fields are contained within the motors. Low levels of magnetism is present within a few inches of an operating motor’s frame. Passengers and crew are always several feet from operating motors. What happens during a power failure? There are a number of possibilities depending on conditions. If the power loss is for a few seconds, it is probable that passengers will not be aware of the fault. If the power loss is for several seconds, lighting and HVAC may be reduced by varying degrees. If the loss is for a few to several minutes, the power management system will take progressively aggressive corrective actions which may include continuing on at a slow speed to the next passenger terminal or bringing the vehicle to a safe stop on the GuideRail. As described in another FAQ answer, the ATI system power substations receive power from the local electric utility. When that power source is lost, backup power generators located in the substation will power the system. If the backup source fails, storage batteries and super-capacitors on the vehicle allow it to be brought to an orderly and safe halt. Who drives the vehicle? There is no driver or conductor in the classic sense. The vehicle captures the GuideRail with the wheels and suspension system and goes wherever the GuideRail takes it. Management of speed, roll motion and attitude are controlled by embedded and distributed redundant processor systems that receive input data from onboard sensors, sensors in other vehicles and from one or both of the two control centers that have access to all sensors in the system. The vehicle control system analyzes the local operating environment and processes commands received from the control centers. From these inputs, start/stop, direction of travel and speed decisions are made. On the surface, vehicle operations appear to be completely autonomous and under computer control. However, human input is required to enable or authorize critical operations such as opening and closing passenger access doors and the start of vehicle movement in the correct direction and to monitor vehicle speed to insure safe spacing is maintained between all vehicles in service. An onboard Safety and Control Officer will take control of vehicle operations whenever needed and Control Operators located at the control centers can assume control of any vehicle. What determines GuideRail placement? The path of the GuideRail can be selected with
great latitude due to its small footprint and low impact to its
environment. The GuideRail can wind through urban areas bypassing
residential and other sensitive districts to arrive downtown. Elevated
passenger terminals can be sighted along side or within convention
centers, office buildings, and parking garages. Urban renewal is
not required to construct or operate an ATI transportation system. Most GuideRail routing will be along roadway right-of-ways. Sharing of railway right-of-ways allows efficient routing when adequate roadway paths are not available. As previously indicted, an ATI system can cut cross-country with very low impact to the environment. The combination of low environmental impact and ease of routing affords high-speed efficient transportation to rural and small town locations by an ATI system connecting larger population centers. The cost of constructing a spur to service an out of way location provides a reasonable alternative to doing nothing. The vehicle is capable of running down the spur in the forward direction and returning up the spur in reverse. This provides service to a remote location by constructing a single GuideRail that carries traffic in both directions. What do you provide to the community? As a starter, an ATI system provides a cost effective, clean, quiet, and non-obtrusive transportation system that moves people between population centers and outlying areas including small towns and villages in a quick and efficient manner. It will provide primary commute and reverse commute service Monday through Friday and easy access to recreational locations Friday through Monday. It is a functionally elegant transportation system. Passenger vehicles will deliver high value freight several times a day and larger quantities of freight and goods during off-hours to every stop. Cargo configured vehicles will transport large amounts of freight to passenger terminals during off-hours and freight terminals on a scheduled basis. The system is relatively low-cost to construct, operate, and maintain. It has the lowest footprint of any people-moving land transportation system available. The motors, electrical power systems, and control software will be upgraded as the state of the Electro-Motive Technical Art is advanced. The value of an ATI system increases with age. ATI vehicles will maintain operating schedules in adverse weather conditions when road transportation is non-functional. ATI vehicles will still be leaving the ‘big-city’ at 6PM when drifting snow and freezing rain conditions stop all other forms of land transportation including ‘light-rail’. ATI vehicles are capable of delivering and retrieving emergency service personnel including Fire Fighters, Mountain Rescue Teams, and Medical Personnel and their equipment at any point along its route via aerial deployment. When all other forms of transportation have been brought to a halt, an ATI vehicle can still transport an accident victim or critical care medical patient to a location closer to medical care or transport that medical care to the sight of trauma. ATI: A path to the future of high-speed inter-city mass transit.
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