Transport technologies

 FLYING CAR

 

 Stuck in a traffic jam and about to be late for work, who hasn't dream of a way to get somewhere by skirting all the unnecessary chaos Hmm, right now, there seems to be no way to avoid traffic congestion. But in less than 10 years, you're likely to forget what that is! Urban Air Mobility experts predict that one-day, your way to work will take minutes instead of hours thanks to air taxi. But the best news is that it may happen way sooner than you thought, around 2023 - 2025! And by 2040, you won't remember the days when you couldn’t get anywhere by air. The surprising truth is that most technologies needed for creating air taxis are already here. Even more, today there are already air taxi prototypes and test vehicles! They look like drones, but way bigger. The engineers of these flying machines state that they're going to be less harmful to the environment than the fuel-powered cars we use today. Flying taxis will move with the help of either hybrid or electric engines, which are said to produce fewer carbon emissions. Besides, the new air vehicles are likely to be quieter, more efficient, and cheaper than modern aircraft. On the other hand, there are still a lot of things to be done. For example, the batteries, which are supposed to power the flying electric cars, must be developed further so that they can last longer. The companies responsible for these new technologies are currently pooling data and developing artificial intelligence that will be able to control air traffic. And it’ll be a challenge, what with thousands of drones, air taxis, and other flying gadgets up in the air. On top of that, flying taxis won't appear before several changes are made. First, this new type of transport has to go through a special certification process. Secondly, hundreds of heliports and helipads must be built all over the world. All these numerous flying taxis will need pilots who’ll have to be trained. Or they’ll have to invent driver less technology. Also, people will need a new safety system that’ll control the airspace and prevent flying cars from crashing into one another. And finally, future passengers will have to believe that flying taxis are safe to use. And even though flying taxis still seem to be a thing from the future, some experts have already tried to estimate an approximate cost of the upcoming trips. For example, you'll have to spend about $43.Do you think that’s a reasonable price for the possibility to avoid rush hour by traveling through the air However, the flying taxi isn't the only change you’re going to see in transportation in the next decade or so. One of the most spectacular innovations might be the Hyperloop.  

 

 This is a futuristic transport system which consists of tubes that shoot pod-like capsules between stations. Due to a special design, the speed of these capsules can reach a whopping 500 to 800 miles per hour. One of the companies that’s developing the Hyperloop has already built a 1-mile-long sub scale track. They say that by the mid-2020s, three brand-new Hyperloops may carry passengers for the first time. And by the year 2050, this way of traveling to your destination will be nothing out of the ordinary. If you're heading somewhere on your own in2025, you'll most likely use a giant, autonomous drone, capable of transporting one passenger. But the most amazing thing is that such drones already exist! For example, one machine created by a Chinese drone company is about 5 ft tall, weighs 440 pounds, and can transport a load of up to220 pounds. It's powered solely by electricity, and currently,the maximum time of a trip is 23 minutes. The passenger drone can fly as high as 11,000ft, and its speed can reach an impressive 62 miles per hour. To get a ride from point A to point B, you just need to enter the locations into a special smartphone app. Then you can relax and let the drone do the rest of the work. You also don't have to waste time looking for a gas station. The drone can fully charge from an electrical outlet in a mere two hours.  Now, even if you have a good old car in 2025,the chances are very high that it’ll be autonomous. That means you won't have to keep your hand son the steering wheel - the car will do all the driving for you. I can’t wait. It's a popular belief that robotic drivers think and react faster than us humans. On top of that, such AI can analyze what's happening in all directions at once. I don't know whether it's true or not. What I know though, is that today, there a real ready quite a few self-driving cars on the roads. They can detect buildings, change speed depending on the situation, look for exit ramps, and interact with other cars. However, some experts say that in 10 years,people will already be past the point of self-driving cars. Instead, you’ll own an inexpensive steel box on magnetic levitation and control it by using an app on your smartphone. On the other hand, there’s a project which suggests creating an entire transport network of pods, which can seat one person at a time,and move along per-described routes. The human operator will control the pod with the help of a touchscreen embedded in the windshield. First, you'll select your destination, and after that, during the trip, you'll be able to read the news, play a video game, or check your e-mail. You won't have to control the pod, and it will show your current location and the route on the screen. And finally, it probably goes without saying that in each pod, there’ll be a wireless hot spot, and you'll be able to use the Internet on all your gadgets. But let's return to cars as you know them today. Instead of owning a car, in 5 or 10 years,you're likely to use fleet-based services. Fewer and fewer vehicles will rest in people's garages, and it’ll change a lot of things for the better. For example, problems with limited parking places or traffic jams will become less acute. Besides, keep in mind that in a couple of years, you probably won't have to drive at all, what with all these self-driving vehicles. That's why new services will be able to accommodate all kinds of needs. Let's say, you'll summon a car with a bed late at night or a car with a desk on your way to work when you need to finish a presentation. But what if you need to travel a much greater distance than the way from your office to your home? Don't worry, sometime around 2040, you'll be able to have a hyper sonic plane ride! These aircraft will fly at incredible heights,and their speed is likely to be 5 times the speed of sound, which will make it about 3,800miles per hour! Traveling from New York to London, in this case, will take less than two hours. For comparison, these days, it takes a conventional airplane 8 hours to fly from one of these cities to the other. Unfortunately, all this hyper-sonic air travel will have a small catch. The price of a ride on such a plane will be exorbitant, hefty, ridiculous – take your pick --at least at first. By the way, you might not recognize a plane from 2045. These flying machines will keep changing for the next several decades. And the chances are high that at some point,windows will start to disappear from airplanes altogether. This way, aircraft will become stronger and better suited for high speeds. But the most amazing prediction about the future of Earth’s transport system is that by 2045, there might be jumbo skyscrapers which will serve as spaceports. The thing is that some buildings in the future may be constructed of carbon-based materials, which will make them super-strong. As a result, the height of skyscrapers could increase up to 20 miles! And the roofs of these mammoth constructions will turn into spaceports.

 MAGLEV TRAIN

 The trains that have been transporting us for centuries are no longer able to keep up.The vision of Maglev began in the early 20th century with two men: Robert Goddard and Emily Bachelet. Their dream was to develop a transistor that was faster, safer and more reliable. Thus, they turned to Electromagnets. Since then, China Japan and South Korea have all joined the race to develop the fastest Maglev systems. But what exactly is it that allows these trains to move so quickly? In short, the answer lies in electromagnetism; however, there are currently two very different systems of Maglev that provide suspension in two very different ways. The first is called electromagnetic suspension and is used in the current German trans rapid systems. EMS uses the attractive forces between iron core electromagnets and ferromagnetic rails.Electromagnets, that have current flowing through them, are first placed on the underside of the carriage, which creates a magnetic field that is attracted to the stationary ferromagnetic reaction rails that are installed on the underside of the guide way. This attraction results in a distance of just10 millimeters between the stat or and support magnet, which allows the carriage to hover 150 millimeters above the top of the guide way. The train is propelled by the support magnets on the carriage which provide an alternating current that works to create a series of attractive poles and repelling poles,resulting in forward movement. The second system is Electro dynamic suspension and is currently used in prototype Japanese SC maglev trains. Eds relies on the principle of super conductivity, whereby superconducting materials are cooled to extremely low temperatures. The super conducting materials are placed on the side of the train carriage andi nteract with figure eight shaped coils on the side of the guide way. When the coils experience the changing magnetic field of the superconductor's motion (as the train moves) two currents are induced that oppose the change in magnetic field: one below, that creates a reactive magnetic field that opposes the super conducting magnet's pole, and one above that creates a pole that attracts it. Thus, the two forces work together to achieve an approximate levitation of 10 centimeters above the guide way.Propulsion is achieved by a linear synchronous motor, consisting of additional coils in the guide way that provide a three-phase alternating current. The magnetic field created by the superconductor then interacts with this magnetic field to propel it forward. Now that we have explored how Maglev works, it is time to discuss exactly why it is better. The problem with traditional trains is that energy is lost through friction. 

 

 

Maglev trains on the other hand address this problem by eliminating contact with the guide way entirely. Thus, they have longer lifetimes, lower operating costs and are able to travel notably faster and quieter than traditional trains. Furthermore, EMS trains have the added advantage of reduced civilian exposure to magnetic fields when compared with EDS. EDS, on the other hand, is potentially safer, as they do not crash immediately into the guide way in the event of a power outage. However, they do not come without shortcomings. For EMS systems, expensive processing computers are needed to ensure that the carriages do not move too close to the guide way. For EDS systems, the cooling of superconducting magnets creates a significant energy cost that decreases its economic viability. There is no doubt that as our society continues to grow train stations like this will become obsolete. Although the cost of building Maglev trains and its accompanying infrastructure is expensive, the speed, efficiency and safety they provide will ultimately become vital as we look toward an ever faster, ever cheaper future.