Borg09 Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 This topic has been on many people's minds for years now. The dream of flying a car off the highway to avoid traffic, then lightly touching down at your destination. As this thread seems to indicate, that is still a ways off, though the company that makes the Terrafugia Transition seems to hope it is sooner than we expect. http://slashdot.org/submission/2007837/traffic-jam-ahead-no-problem-take-to-the-skies-in-your-terrafugia For about $279,000 though and sooner than we may think. I still think the vehicle of the future would take off vertically and land anywhere, not just on dedicated runways. But the whole concept brings up 200 other questions on safety and transportation issues.
Ben Banana Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 (edited) I would rather we develop and streamline: Better and more efficient methods of propulsion drive and power (engines etc.) This includes less dependency on petroleum, economical utilization of clean fuels (can you consider hydrogen?) and power storage. The versatility of extremely high-capacity/durable batteries is important for electric vehicles. Vehicle designs optimized for simplified manufacturing and robustness. This decreases price too. Regarding safety and automated navigation: sensor comprehension, local-environment awareness, and highly calculated decisive performance. So in other words, I mean cars that can safely and reliably drive themselves. Its obviously not possible to use satellite information for realizing a ditch dug the recent morning, make any common traffic maneuvers, or whatever requires more than a map (almost everything in real-time and local), so GPS would remain as a mechanism only for macro-route suggestion. But that doesn't shadow any doubts on the technology. I believe it has the potential of becoming incredibly more skillful and safe at driving than most humans. As far as I know, its just a short matter of time and money. There's a lot of promising research already. Even some rudimentary features are already beginning to be commercialized (automatic-parking etc.) Note: As a lover of computer science, I've written about this subject the most. Better (or worse) yet, I just got in an accident yesterday. Thankfully, I'm just bruised with very cut hands (glass!) but the wrangled car told a different story. I'm a new driver, and now all the more paranoid! I just want to see one of these self-driving cars compete in NASCAR, just like the classic AI vs human chess games (where the AI wins, yes!) All more practical and useful than the dream of flying cars. I still think the vehicle of the future would take off vertically and land anywhere, not just on dedicated runways. I've heard of a private vertical-ascension vehicle but the price tag is somewhere between one and four million. I don't remember what it was exactly. Sorry. Edited April 4, 2012 by Ben Bowen
Borg09 Posted April 4, 2012 Author Posted April 4, 2012 I would rather we develop and streamline: Better and more efficient methods of propulsion drive and power (engines etc.) This includes less dependency on petroleum, economical utilization of clean fuels (can you consider hydrogen?) and power storage. The versatility of extremely high-capacity/durable batteries is important for electric vehicles. Vehicle designs optimized for simplified manufacturing and robustness. This decreases price too. Regarding safety and automated navigation: sensor comprehension, local-environment awareness, and highly calculated decisive performance. So in other words, I mean cars that can safely and reliably drive themselves. Its obviously not possible to use satellite information for realizing a ditch dug the recent morning, make any common traffic maneuvers, or whatever requires more than a map (almost everything in real-time and local), so GPS would remain as a mechanism only for macro-route suggestion. But that doesn't shadow any doubts on the technology. I believe it has the potential of becoming incredibly more skillful and safe at driving than most humans. As far as I know, its just a short matter of time and money. There's a lot of promising research already. Even some rudimentary features are already beginning to be commercialized (automatic-parking etc.) Note: As a lover of computer science, I've written about this subject the most. Better (or worse) yet, I just got in an accident yesterday. Thankfully, I'm just bruised with very cut hands (glass!) but the wrangled car told a different story. I'm a new driver, and now all the more paranoid! I just want to see one of these self-driving cars compete in NASCAR, just like the classic AI vs human chess games (where the AI wins, yes!) All more practical and useful than the dream of flying cars. I've heard of a private vertical-ascension vehicle but the price tag is somewhere between one and four million. I don't remember what it was exactly. Sorry. yeah, I agree. More focus needs to be on getting away from fossil fuel dependence, refining electric and hydrogen as well. And certainly Google has demonstrated that in the very near future, automobile automation will be taking on a life of its own, somewhat literally. Movies like the forth coming reboot of Total Recall will entice though, with more cars that resemble those from Back to the Future. Its fun to dream though.
ACG52 Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Will flying cars happen? I hope not. Most people have a hard enough time dealing with two dimensions in a car. I shudder to think what would happen if they had to deal with a third. It would truly be a rain of steel.
IsraelUnoone Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 tried to send you message hours ago, anyways, what you are discribing is a airplane is it not? Wheel, steel, turbine engines and can land on highways with the ability to buy at a fraction of the cost listed in popular science magazine. This topic has been on many people's minds for years now. The dream of flying a car off the highway to avoid traffic, then lightly touching down at your destination. As this thread seems to indicate, that is still a ways off, though the company that makes the Terrafugia Transition seems to hope it is sooner than we expect. http://slashdot.org/...your-terrafugia For about $279,000 though and sooner than we may think. I still think the vehicle of the future would take off vertically and land anywhere, not just on dedicated runways. But the whole concept brings up 200 other questions on safety and transportation issues.
pantheory Posted April 13, 2012 Posted April 13, 2012 (edited) I recall designing such a flying car back in the late 1950's and early 60's. It appeared more advanced than operating models today, and it had more advantages such as no wing span since it was based upon contrary rotary blades on the bottom with a protection shield, a four hundred pound load not including fuel, running off of salt water as one fuel component, and the other fuel being a reactant of several possibilities, piston driven, steam jettisoned combustion engine. Could have designed it burning petrol or ethanol fuels but that was too practical and simple for me. Unfortunately neither the idea nor the car ever flew -- since it was only a concept car and I was only a teenager. I still don't see anything on the horizon that will be both legal in cities and/or affordable in the foreseeable future. Edited April 13, 2012 by pantheory
Purephysics Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 The realistic possibility of making a car fly is very possible I think. Even given our current level of tech. Though I'd have to agree with ACG52. Most people seem to struggle with driving properly on the roads, let alone whizzing around in the sky. It would be total destruction on so many levels. Literally. Think about if someone runs into the side of your car on the ground, the friction between your tires and the road slows your progress into the nearby hedge (dependent on impact velocity of course), now the same thing happens in the air with no friction to stop you. You could quite literally find yourself in someones 23rd floor apartment. Traffic management would be a complete nightmare as well, not only would the police and authorities have to worry about people going around obstacles, but also under or over them. I also think the average driver today can barely handle the decisions he/she needs to make in a 2D world at average driving speeds, couple that with having to deal with elevation, obstacles from above and below, as well as from the sides, front, and back. Most people can't successfully judge the width or length of their cars when parking, or moving around on the floor. Often leaving unfeasibly large spaces between them and the next car "just incase my car actually is 40ft long". So how are these people ever going to survive judging how far a car is beneath or above them!? And you can forget about breaking distances.... No. Flying cars - its a bad idea.
The Architekt Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 I think the "younger" generation would love it! COOL! Don't you think????? Will flying cars happen? I hope not. Most people have a hard enough time dealing with two dimensions in a car. I shudder to think what would happen if they had to deal with a third. It would truly be a rain of steel.
doG Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 I think the "younger" generation would love it! COOL! Don't you think????? Not cool. There's too many people on the road now that can't drive and chew gum at the same time. I'd hate to be in the air with them.
Phi for All Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 I don't care if everyone had to have pilot's licenses to drive, flying cars is just a horrible idea. Everyone always imagined being on a highway stuck in traffic and then pushing a button and having your wings pop out so you could jet above everyone else and make it home in no time. No one ever mentioned that EVERYONE would be doing the same thing and there wouldn't be gridlock on the ground, it would all be in the air. One of those ideas that sounds fantastic but is extremely impractical. Gah, do you know how much it costs to get a pilot's training and license these days? I like michel's PAL-V, but I can't see anything like that being used to fly in cities. What a fantastic machine though for the person who lived an hour outside town in a rural area. You could fly from your home until you reached more populated areas, then land and drive the highways into work. I could see communities allowing something like that. I just can't see a couple hundred thousand flying cars all trying to avoid road traffic during rush hour in a big city.
ACG52 Posted July 12, 2012 Posted July 12, 2012 I hope not. People have a hard enough time dealing with two dimensions. Give them three to deal with and we'll have large hunks of metal falling on our heads.
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