PRT Full Scale Model

A lightweight, portable, 33' long by 16' high guideway replica. Click on images to enlarge. More details.

Hacienda Biz Park w/ Mayor Hosterman	Pleasanton, CA
Palo Alto: EPRI
		Washington, D.C. Ed Anderson & Forrest
Eugene
	U.C. Berkeley	Eugene

April, 2004

• We now use ADS/N12 10" diameter corrugated pipe for the columns. Much more lightweight (less stiff too) than PVC 10" diameter.

August 2003, on display in Milpitas

• http://www.electric-bikes.com/fsm-milp.htm

April 14-20, 2003, U.C. Berkeley

• FSM survived lots of rain, but the Sonotube was ruined by the end. So, we next went with PVC 10" diameter columns.
• Compliments from various folks

April '03, FSM in Eugene Oregon:

• Typical all-nighters were involved in putting this together: Forrest, his mom, Ed. Dorian also helped, and made some key structural calculations so we know how much weight to put on the base to combat winds of 12 and 18 MPH (200 lbs and 400 lbs).
• Guideway skin is made out of shiny white lycra material. Awesome sewing job by Forrest's mom! This skin requires 33' feet of fabric x 9 feet. There is a great fabrics store near SF where you can purchase lycra in wide rolls for $9 per linear yard. IE you can make your own custom skin on the cheap. Same goes for the column skins.
• Column skin is made out of shiny gray spandex material.
• The vehicle is a 9.5' x 5.5' piece of cardboard, with a printout of the latest Taxi2000 design, waterproofed via clear contact paper (great for lining shelves) on the front, and black contact paper on the back. We looked into painting the carboard with surfboard resin to waterproof, but that was not the best way to go.
• Sonotube columns were primed with a primer, then painted deep blue with exterior paint.

March '03, Guideway Skin Design Session:

112_cuttingPlastic.JPG. White 0.5" foam didn't have the properties we wanted. Next, we tried black plastic. Forrest is shown cutting a section. Plan is to create an armadillo like series of segments that fit together.

112_forrestWorking.JPG . Forrest attaching a segment. Various attachment schemes were brainstormed.

112_plastic.jpg. Here we had some plastic segments attached, and we tried covering with various materials and fabrics, to no avail.

112_applyPlastic.jpg.

Current plan is to procure a silver plastic material with a bit of blue tint. We're looking for thin, lightweight, strong, and flexible. ABS plastic is a possibility. We're hoping to cut segments with a laser cutter, but may have to cut by hand.

Work-in-progress Full Scale Model @ University of California Transportation Center Conference, Feb 7, 2003 - full size images are about 500KB. These pictures are taken in front of the UCLA Alumni Center, where the conference was held:

030207-002b.jpg. Forrest, ATRA board member / USC Professor Catie Burke, and a USC student.

030207-003.jpg Soon, the guideway will have a skin and the pillars will be painted. The base is also more sophisticated than shown.

030207-004b.jpg

Jeral worked in the wee hours past midnite, even though hampered by a cold. Steve got by on 4 hours sleep for most of the week. Forrest pulled an all-nighter on Wednesday PM, then topped it with an all-nighter on Thursday evening, finishing at 6AM, in time for a brutal 350 mile drive with the FSM to UCLA.

FSM production work: aluminum tent pole tube bending on Forrest's clever jig. Sorry about the shiny head:

030203-005.jpg 030203-003.jpg