What will citytrafficbe care in the futurity ? Will we " get " through the air ? Will we sink our roadways underground ? Or , will existing streets merely experience the same onetime congestion with unexampled , high-pitched - technical school motorcar ? Many designers insist that we do n’t just need to ameliorate roadstead and auto , but rather completely rethink why we need cars and reinvent how they serve us .
For all the convenience of owning a cable car , consider such negatives as cost,air pollution , congestion , limited parking and traffic accident . While air defilement and high - fastness wreck have only become luck of private transportation since the 20th century , commuters have dealt with traffic congestion since as early as the convention of Julius Caesar . And while technology has descend a tenacious way since then , advancements in overall planning have n’t always kept up with the pace .
In many European cities , residents travel the same roadstead their medieval ancestors used . First , horses and handcart clogged the street , then gas - powered auto – what difference will cleanse - running electric , solar - powered , or evenflying vehiclesmake if our basic approach to deportation does n’t change ?
Today , designers and entrepreneurs have turn their tending to create small , environmentally friendly vehicles and cable car - communion program . In 2003 , the designers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab ’s Smart Cities mathematical group place out to take these concepts even further by designing an galvanising vehicle that ’s not only shareable , but also stackable . When aCity Carisn’t in role , it would collapse into a modest size of it and stack against other City Cars , much like a row of shopping pushcart . In this manner , eight vehicles could occupy the area of a parking space traditionally used for one standard - sized , schematic automobile .
To use this stackable car , all you ’ll need to do is nobble your credit card at the nearest City Car rack – but do n’t go looking for one just yet as the City Car is still in the developmental phase . The concept , however , has already father quite a moment of interest from car manufacturers , metropolis politics and commuter . In this article , we ’ll look at just how a stackable car would function and the manner in which it might revolutionize the way we think about motorcar .
City Car: Reinventing the Automobile
In designing the City Car , theMIT Media Lab Smart Citiesgroup define out to create a fomite that was n’t the continuation of old designs , but rather a drastic rethinking of what metropolis resident require from an automobile .
For many , public transportation and private automobile usage have long been mutually exclusive pick . Car - sharingprograms that allow multiple individuals to share short - term utilization of a vehicle have changed this . Say you want to travel to a goal a few miles from the nearest wagon train post . A elevator car - share-out broadcast would allow you to take a vehicle at the station to discharge your journey .
Existing automobile - share programs set aside appendage to borrow a vehicle , use it , and then return it to its original location . Bicycle - sharing programs , however , typically permit resident to obtain abicyclefrom one location , ride it to their destination , and leave the bike at a nearby drib - off point . The City Car intention follow this 2nd manikin , setting out to create a fomite that can be checked out at one locating ( ideally near public shipping station and major attractions ) and returned at another . The vehicle would n’t interchange double-decker and trains , just fulfill in their geographical and logistic gaps .
presently , designs call for the City Car ’s lightweight soundbox to vaunt a fold axis and a childlike pivoting mechanism to fold the vehicle into a vertical position . The lightweight cars would weigh about 1,000 to 1,200 Cypriot pound ( 454 to 544 kilograms ) [ source : Lombardi ] . The vehicle could then be locked into place directly behind another City Car . These rack would be connected to the metropolis ’s business leader grid , earmark stored cars to charge theirlithium - ion barrage . Ideally , a vehicle would be amply charged by the time it pedal through to the front of the stack .
But where does the locomotive go ? astonishingly , the designing call for the car ’s eubstance to domiciliate only calculator systems and a power source . The City Car ’s motor , suspensionand even itssteeringare all locate within its high - tech wheel .
Riding on Robot Wheels
If you look at a typical motorcar , you ’ll remark that theengine , interruption system , axles and steerage column take up a expectant mess of space . Creating a smaller elevator car have in mind either make small variant of these element or create fresh mechanisms that provide the same occasion . The team of house decorator at MIT Media Lab Smart Cities group choose to solve this job by frame the responsibility of all of these components into what they callrobot wheels .
Small Car look-alike Gallery
Each of the vehicle ’s four wheel assemblies is a ego - hold mobile unit , append its ownmotor , suspension , brakesand steering . Each robot wheel has only two outside want : electrical energy ( supplied by the car ’s assault and battery ) and digital information to tell the wheels what to do . In a traditional railway car , the guidance wheel physically turns a direction gear , which in spell directs the front steering wheel in the chosen direction . The City Car , however , will employ adrive - by - conducting wire arrangement . The steering wheel wo n’t physically turn anything – it ’ll just commit the information to the self - guide wheel assemblies .
The robot wheel implement two peculiarly innovative technologies .
The robot roulette wheel would work in unison , allowing the car to rotate 360 degrees [ source : Mack ] . This offer an unbelievable degree of manoeuvrability , such as allow for drivers to collimate ballpark by simply driving sideways .
There ’s more to the City Car than astonishing wheels and a folding axis . On the next page , we ’ll look at the agency in which its designer desire to protect gadget driver , allow customization and even enable vehicles to talk to one another .
The Design of City Car
You ’ve just arrive at a caravan station and need to drive several block to a job interview in the city ’s financial district . You swipe your credit board at a City Car rack , waitress for the front car to blossom , climb aboard the vehicle and enter your destination in the car ’s computer . A word of advice content flashes across the screen to tell you that other City Cars have encountered delays in that part of townspeople due to road work . The fomite runs a few computations and suggests an alternate itinerary .
This is just one example of how the City Car’sonboard estimator , gadget driver port and inter - vehicle communicating system may one day facilitate make driver ' life a little easy . With access code to the latest maps and traffic selective information ( similar to aGPS system ) and constantly update information from other City Cars , the fomite ’s computer organisation could be the equivalent of bait with a veteran taxi driver .
This technology could also play a character in protecting the driver from injury . The fomite could keep track of other City Cars and forestall chance event by warn if one vehicle ’s coordinates come too close to another ’s . The City Car plan team also go for to put through other groundbreaking ceremony safety features , such as diffused , robotic " fingers " that fold up from the sides of can to seize drivers in the event of an accident . Revolutionary " liquid " materials may also play a all-important role . These material would set aside the cabin to change from a voiceless structure to a soft , seismic disturbance - absorbent material consistence upon impact during an accident . For more information on this technology , readHow Liquid Body Armor Works .
From apt bumper stickers to custom vinyl , fomite owners put a great deal of personality into their cars . While the idea of deal cars may seem like the gross opposite of individuality on the road , City Car fashion designer hope to allow drivers to express themselves in a very unequalled way . The City Car design may implement a technology that allow you to modify the vehicle ’s color schema at the push of a button . Thin , programmable presentation would cover both the exterior and home of the fomite , make many of the motorcar ’s aesthetical qualities as customizable as a computer desktop .
And this means more than just decking out a City Car in your favorite sports squad ’s people of colour . All the gauges and dials in the fomite ’s taxi would unravel on the same technology , allowing drug user to adjust fascia displays to meet their needs and taste . Additionally , City Car ’s various dealings signals would no longer be restrict by bulb placements , but could incorporate the intact vehicle . ideate if hit your hand brake light caused your whole fomite to flash red , or if a right on - handturn signallit up the entire rider side .
The City Car represents a potential shift in the relationship between cars and humans , from a good you own to a resource you share with the rest of the universe . To explore even more concept car designs , surveil the links on the next page .
