http://www.archinode.com/Archcar.html
MIT is one
of the best concentrations of human intelligence. I used to have some friends
there.
Now they join their best mechanical designers with the best Architect in curved
shapes to get the best car for the Future.
But inventiveness is a delicate flower that grows well in the wild forests and
not in sophisticated greenhouses.
Joining the best brains in a single project does not usually produce the best
results.
Take this Car for the Future. They start by defining a box to contain two
people seated side by side and another two (Or one) passengers seated just
behind them.
This is a prerrational decision and this is probably where they make their
first mistake.
The definition of what is a vehicle to transport people and things is as old as
the invention of the wheel.
I am pretty sure that from the very beginning in Mesopotamia, people decided
the dimensions of a vehicle, specially the track width.
This is a mysterious number (Track width) that has been kept practically
unchanged since then, deciding the dimensional geometry of Cities and roads
Even MIT guys cannot get free of its spell.
The "Magic" 1.5-1.7 meter, was later translated to railways. And to
everything else.
But in a completely "Rational" design of a land vehicle to transport
people the modern designer must ask himself if the side by side seat layout is
only a human desire or a real necessity.
Needless to say that I prefer to have passengers to my side and not ahead or
behind me. But shall I impose this desire on the designer's mind?.
A large frontal crossection or width is a serious impediment to efficiency not
only by increasing the drag, but even worse, by increasing the surface of
thousands of Kilometers of roads.
A rational design for two people plus luggage should come to a vehicle of
0.65x1.50x2.00 meters. A person seated in this vehicle would have the same
elbow space than in a typical modern car.
This is what I designed and built in 1950 just after leaving Engineering
School.
Spain was still living in the aftermath of the devastation of the Civil War.
There were scarce cars and roads were just a long file of potholes.
I thought that we were in a good position to start a new philosophy of
"Designing for scarcity".
Soon, the facts showed that I was absolutely wrong and that I miscalculated the
frenzy of the common people to acquire goods as large as possible and to waste
energy.
But it seems that time is working in my favor. There are signs that waste of
Prime Materials and Energy should no longer be allowed
The Tiny Car I made had so many engineering problems, that up to date, nobody
has solved all of them.
The worst is that due to its intrinsic narrowness it must lean in the curves.
And to do this in a safe way it needs complex tilting mechanisms.
A group of dedicated engineers and inventors has been lately working hard on
the subject. But, up to date, nobody has evolved a perfect design.
So, as you can see, the Car of the Future would not be the MIT's one but probably
these very narrow vehicles, invented and designed by intelligent individuals,
not rich teams of engineers- architects.
BTW. One of the best conceived of these very narrow vehicles, Narrow Streets
designed by Roy Gardiner of UK has recently lost a great opportunity of being
mass produced in a Spanish factory ( Previously making Land Rovers and Suzukis)
due to rampant political corruption A real pity!.
Being, by historical hazard, a pioneer in this Field, my opinion is that these
new very narrow vehicles should be designed to avoid the sense of being a
depreciation of the automobile.
The automobile is the clear descendant of the carriages of the nobility. (This
is why the present feeling of "My car, my castle". That makes the
drivers so aggresive)
But, in the same way that a modern motorcyclist does not feel any shame in
front of a Ferrari or Rolls (Copying from the ancient Cavalier on horseback).,
people in these new vehicles should not have any sense of inferiority, simply because
they'll be driving something superior in many aspects
PS. Do not mention what to do with heavy trucks!. Simply: They should not be
allowed in the roads. Long range transportation should be by Rail or Sea.
Local delivery: To be studied. For example, delivery tubes and so.
Nevertheless, the study of a mixed traffic of narrow and wide vehicles is very
interesting.
A bad
picture of the Gardiner nArrow Streets
MIT's Car of the Future
Re: MIT's Car of the Future
