Re: hybred muscle / electric commuting -- a modest proposal

[[email protected] (David Polewka)]

Kent Paul Dolan wrote:

> Commuter travel involves much starting and stopping,
> creating energy waste and adding effort when the
> commute is human powered. Hybred combustion /
> electric technology is already doubling the energy
> efficiency of motorized transportation.

How about a small sail, base attached to seat peg
and mast to shoulder harness, with suitable trimming
mechanism? The wind can be your friend! (maybe it
would work better with a trike, or bike w/ outriggers)
How about swivel-mounted fans with windsocks, retro-
fitted to generate electricity, to assist pedaling
on the uphill grades?!?


>Because so
> much larger a fraction of the weight of a human
> powered vehicle is "payload", that is, the
> passenger, hybred muscle / electric technology
> should be able to do even better in terms of
> efficiency gains, for wheeled human powered
> transport. This technology would give a "fast take
> off" capability from stop lights, reducing the
> burden on the human component of bringing the
> vehicle up to speed.
>
> For the same base starting / stopping reason,
> "bicycle" is probably not the correct answer, a
> "tricycle" is a better choice for the standing still
> parts of the commute. Even a "quadricycle", with one
> wheel forward, one wheel aft, and two wheels
> mid-frame, would be worth consideration, and would
> allow for much longer frames for various uses.
> During these wheels-idle parts of the commute,
> appropriate power diversion technology would allow
> the human "motor" to continue running, pumping power
> into electrical storage instead of into the wheels.
>
> Gear shifting of typical chain driven bicycle power
> train designs is a weakness in the design, a
> complicating turn-off to the average commuter
> considering bicycle technology, and a constant
> source of failures. Better options are already in
> place, just not widely used.
>
> Hydraulic drive, where the pedals turn a hydraulic
> pump, and the pressurized oil travels by pipe to a
> motor for each wheel, is one possibility already in
> use, and the "gear ratio" is provided by changing
> smoothly the amount of oil pumped by each stroke of
> the pedals.
>
> There are also many other "gearless" designs, for
> example one involving "gearless" opposite pointed
> cones with a belt drive slid to various settings to
> alter the "gear ratio" between pedal rotation and
> wheel rotation.
>
> The advantage of all these designs is that the
> complex and counter-intuitive double geared shifting
> mechanism of today's high performance bicycle is
> replaced by a simple smooth slider control between
> "low gear" and "high gear"; an "automatic
> transmission" that gears down automtically as the
> human "motor" exerts additional effort is also
> possible and known technology.
>
> For a hybred muscle / electric vehicle, however,
> probably the first solution considered would be a
> generator / motor / battery combination, where
> pedaling turned an electric generator that sent
> power via conductive wires to motorized wheels or to
> an electrical power storage device, or both. The
> opportunity to build truly light weight motors and
> generators, with resin composite housings,
> conductive plastic wiring, and lightweight magnets,
> if met, would make this an attractive choice.
>
> For a multiple passenger hybred muscle / electric
> vehicle, separate pedaling stations could feed power
> to a common "pool" for distribution to the wheels or
> energy storage device, in the cases where no single
> rigid power transmission mechanism was part of the
> design. Electrical and hydraulic transmission both
> meet this need.
>
> Braking should change as well, just as in the hybred
> motor vehicle, to recover all possible kinetic
> energy into the electrical storage component. This
> implies that the wheel motors should also work as
> generators at the throw of a braking switch.
>
> Solar energy might be a possible adjunct source of
> power, by coating the exterior of the vehicle with
> an integral solar-electric film. If not too heavy,
> and not too expensive, almost any level of
> conversion efficiency would be helpful, and the
> vehicles, when parked, would continue to trickle
> energy to the electrical power storage.
>
> Electrical power storage in hybred motor / electric
> vehicles are usually batteries. However, for hybred
> muscle / electric vehicles, because the power
> demands are much lower, capacitor storage should
> also be considered on a weight / efficiency /
> lifespan basis. Batteries tend to wear out and work
> less efficiently at a known rate over time and
> number of charge / discharge cycles, capacitors in
> contrast either continue to work at original
> efficiency, or fail abruptly.
>
> Details of steering, lighting, extremely lightweight
> safety components, entertainment components,
> communication components, navigation components,
> entry to and exit from the vehicle, a reverse gear,
> side and rear viewing, are all needed to bring this
> proposal to a finished state, but beyond the present
> writer's capabilities and ambition to provide.
>
> One definite design goal, though, is that the
> vehicle operator should be able easily to lift the
> entire vehicle in two hands to waist height. That
> puts a stringent limit on either how much "stuff" is
> in the vehicle, or on what weight each component of
> the vehicle is allowed to contribute to the overall
> weight.
>
> Manufacture:
>
> While a wholly new startup _could_ manufacture such
> a mass market vehicle, there is an obvious current
> alternative source of combined vehicle design
> expertise, vehicle manufacturing expertise, and
> existing vehicle distribution channels in the
> American automobile industry. Fallen on hard times,
> this industry might be open to a new focus for
> profitable manufacturing. The ideological mindset
> problem of hybred muscle / electric vehicles being
> in competition with their own motor vehicle products
> would have to be overcome, but with bankruptcy or
> being acquired from abroad other looming
> alternatives for these corporations, sufficient
> motivation for change might exist even today.
>
> Going forward:
>
> Either a current vehicle manufactureer needs to pick
> up this proposal and pedal with it, or a grass roots
> effort needs to be organized to bring high
> technology cycling down to mass market prices.
> The current author is allergic to entrepneurship in
> all forms, so one need is clear.
>
> Volunteers?
>
> FWIW
>
> xanthian.
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

 

[Mark M.]

[email protected] (David Polewka) wrote:
> Kent Paul Dolan wrote:
>
>
>>Commuter travel involves much starting and stopping,
>>creating energy waste and adding effort when the
>>commute is human powered. Hybred combustion /
>>electric technology is already doubling the energy
>>efficiency of motorized transportation.
>
>
> How about a small sail, base attached to seat peg
> and mast to shoulder harness, with suitable trimming
> mechanism? The wind can be your friend! (maybe it
> would work better with a trike, or bike w/ outriggers)
> How about swivel-mounted fans with windsocks, retro-
> fitted to generate electricity, to assist pedaling
> on the uphill grades?!?

How about a commuter train on rails with motive pedals for each
passenger. Each passenger's fare would be offset by the work
contributed to propulsion of the train car. Work is measured by
recording torque x revolutions x time duration. Measurements of these
are taken electronically from each set of pedals. The harder you work,
the less fare you pay.

This power is augmented of course by wind sails, solar panels, and
deceleration energy recovery already mentioned.

MM

 

[Kent Paul Dolan]

Mark M. wrote:

> How about a commuter train

This is a strategy that fails in most venues.

Commuters crave a door to door solution, with no need for
multi-legged (and inevitably slow) trips.

xanthian.

 

[[email protected]]

Kent Paul Dolan writes:

>> How about a commuter train

> This is a strategy that fails in most venues.

> Commuters crave a door to door solution, with no need for
> multi-legged (and inevitably slow) trips.

Make that USA commuters. Most of Europe kissed that idea off years
ago. Take for instance the formerly busiest intersection in Stuttgart
Germany at the transportation hub, the main train station. You can
view this CAM at any hour of the day and see no sign of a traffic jam
on the three streets in contrast to all US cities all day.

http://www.stgt.com/extern/webcamtesion.htm

Meanwhile, the local freeway scene is getting worse exponentially as
more lanes and new routes are added in the SF bay area.

ZH main train station serves over 2000 trains per day and the streets
that were formerly jammed with cars are full of buses, trams, and
pedestrians.

http://www.durchgangsbahnhof.ch/cam1.htm

It can be done.

Jobst Brandt

 

[Kent Paul Dolan]

[email protected] wrote:
> Kent Paul Dolan writes:
>> Commuters crave a door to door solution, with no need for
>> multi-legged (and inevitably slow) trips.

> Meanwhile, the local freeway scene is getting worse exponentially as
> more lanes and new routes are added in the SF bay area.
[...]
> It can be done.

But I think your example only reinforces my point. The SF Bay area
has _excellent_ public transportation, a mix of buses, trains, and a
subway system, yet most commuters prefer door to door solutions.

I, myself, used to commute entirely on public transportation from
Roseville to SF to San Jose; I know the system works, I know it isn't
the choice of most commuters.

Whether the problem is in the US psyche, or in the poor coordination
of various public transportation mechanisms, public transportation is
simply not the usual choice for commuting.

But in a time of killer motor fuel prices, it's worth looking at
private
door to door transportation that is a solution instead of a problem.

FWIW

xanthian.

 

[[email protected]]

Kent Paul Dolan writes:

>>> Commuters crave a door to door solution, with no need for
>>> multi-legged (and inevitably slow) trips.

>> Meanwhile, the local freeway scene is getting worse exponentially as
>> more lanes and new routes are added in the SF bay area.
> [...]
>> It can be done.

> But I think your example only reinforces my point. The SF Bay area
> has _excellent_ public transportation, a mix of buses, trains, and a
> subway system, yet most commuters prefer door to door solutions.

The SF Bay Area has miserable public transportation compared to the
scenes that I mentioned. If you have traveled in central Europe by
public transportation, you may have noticed that all of it is on a
cadence system where busses trams and trains run on a fixed cadence
all day so you don't have to look up when the train comes other than
that it runs x-minutes after the hour, half hour or quarter hour.

All of these are scheduled to arrive at transfer points with all other
means of transportation within a specified transfer time. Once you
are on the system, you needn't worry about schedules because they all
have meeting vehicles. It is like a giant crossword puzzle that
meshes at every junction.

If you pass though the CalTrain station in San Jose, you can only ask,
"Is this IT!" the density of transit being so poor.

> I, myself, used to commute entirely on public transportation from
> Roseville to SF to San Jose; I know the system works, I know it
> isn't the choice of most commuters.

Some of what is there works in itself but once you get away from the
main corridor on the west and east bay you are in transportation
desert, aka freeway jam land.

> Whether the problem is in the US psyche, or in the poor coordination
> of various public transportation mechanisms, public transportation
> is simply not the usual choice for commuting.

> But in a time of killer motor fuel prices, it's worth looking at
> private door to door transportation that is a solution instead of a
> problem.

Not all people have the convenience and athletic ability to ride a
bicycle to work. I have ridden to work almost all of my days from
High School to the present. Comments I have often heard make clear
that this is not everyone's option and I don't propose others do so
unless their situation favors it. I did this while working in Europe
as well as here in California.

The best example of American commutes was the report of a man who
commuted 372 miles per day from near Yosemite to San Jose daily... and
said he loved it.

http://tinyurl.com/j3utp

Jobst Brandt