Engineering:JPods

JPods is a personal rapid transit concept which uses distributed collaborative computer networks to route transit in a manner similar to the data trafficking of the Internet. Developed by JPods LLC, the vehicles consist of ultra-light pods controlled by on-board computers.

Transport Characteristics

In the demonstration JPod, people get in, select a destination on a touch screen and the vehicle navigates to that address. In production models people and/or cargo will set destination and travel non-stop from origin to destination.

System details

• vehicles weigh approximately 500 pounds (230 kg) with a gross carrying capacity of 1,700 pounds (770 kg)
• vehicles travel suspended below an overhead guideway that encases the bogies
• bogies are the mechanisms that propel vehicles and from which the vehicle chassis is suspended. Bogies are composed of generally of motors, controllers, wheels, gearboxes, sensors, and switches.
• switch control is managed by the vehicle and/or by the network
• solar powered
• travel between 30 and 40 miles per hour (48 and 64 km/h)

The computer network is managed in three tiers:

• devices such as pods, switches, structures
• negotiators collaborate with devices and load managers to set routes
• load managers log time-based demand to create a terrain map that allows appropriate routes to be identified and scheduled

External links

• JPods.com