The "Solar Mobility" GUI, And How It Works (From the front desk of SmartVan Paratransit)

The purpose for integrating a GUI into paratransit:

With an innovative web portal that allows users to "dial-a-ride" in realtime, Uber has certainly created one of the world's very first, automated paratransit systems. But in the form of more specialized networks like Access Paratransit, there really is no such thing.

Truth be told, Access and the like are geared toward the physically-challenged, and we need a live interface for our transportation more than anybody. But as it currently stands, our paratransit network in Los Angeles, much like our bus and rail corridors, are insufficient, and in the eyes of our organization's wellness model, this is namely due to a lack of automation technology in the public sector.

But we also have to face the truth: even though automation technology benefits everyone across the board, it translates in a very special and delicate way to the physically-challenged community. Within the vast, geographical context of a city like Los Angeles, it becomes true all the more.

What the Mobility GUI does:

1. Set up rider accounts and profiles

2. Make reservations/payments

3. Send trip profiles to the office/vehicle via GPS

4. Allows users to see available rides/vehicles

5. Vehicle/trip tracking capabilities

6. Price list viewing capabilities

7. Direct video chat with drivers/staff

8. GUI based on “Uber” platform

9. Projected cost: $120-600K

10. Construction timeframe: 2-5 years

Permobil C-300 Performance Stats

Our mission, for the purposes of establishing performance brackets on our Permobil C-300 power chair, was to run the vehicle under substantial, off-road environments. In this case, our playground of choice was none other than the San Fernando Valley's own, Balboa Lake.

So we were more interested in achieving sustainable distance than we were in grabbing on to any kind of outright performance, but what we did find made sense and was mind-boggling, all at the same time. It appears that when one pilot tries to grab on to all three of the power chair's performance variables simultaneously, the chair's running gear simply won't allow for that synchrocity. Maybe because of accessory drag, or maybe the vehicle has some kind of rev limiter.

Whatever the case, we know that if what is true of the C-300 platform is true across the board, then most power chairs currently available simply can not sustain the variables needed to meet most environmental demands. Apparently, the adaptive market has been one of our nation's smallest, even after the dawn of our very own, civil rights bill.

The Sustainability Of Powered Wheelchairs: Yet Another Argument Toward Autonomous Transportation

What the disabled community has discovered over the years is that power chairs are much more than medical equipment; they function, both figuratively and literally, as sustainable transportation. The formula that our committee has found, in terms of overall running dynamics on power chair platforms, is one that says that the workload has to be underneath the chair's actual running speed, but that the running speed can never exceed the actual workload, or wattage.

This is mostly because with Permobil's front-to-mid drive as our test layout, we found a substantial amount of rear tipper vibration, in environments where the top speed matched the vehicle's actual watt output, or workload.

That language can be further translated to the bus, rail and paratransit networks. With conventional buses and vans, you always have human error, but if that same bus or van was fully-autonomous, then you would have no human vision or judgement at all.

The ideal solution is to have both, so by building a paratransit system that's both capable of being autonomous and driven, you can have real human judgement, but without the error component attached. 

The "Binaural Motor Theory," And How That Theory Applies To Paratransit

To create any kind of transport system or hub, based on this whole notion of DC motor automation and web-connectivity, seems too fantastic to even be physically-possible. But in the world of 2015, where technology is becoming so mobile at such a fast rate, vehicle automation is seriously becoming an element, a "thing" that we all need to start thinking about.

It's not just kinesiology or overall theory, and if you take that notion and translate it to the physically-challenged community, what you get is a solid formula for the most sustainable transport system possible. The formula is one that establishes a direct correlation between workload and running speed, and this is how it breaks-down: Automated vehicle + accessibility=SmartVan.

But even a formula as tacky as that has fibers that make-up its very construction, and those fibers were ones that had to be collected out in the field, using the power chair itself as a test vehicle. What a series of test runs at the San Fernando Valley's Balboa Lake revealed is that whether going uphill or down, most electric-powered wheelchairs, in order to be sustainable and perform, must be able to calibrate all vehicle variables in relation to terrain.

This is true of an all-electric platform like a power chair or even a Tesla Model S, so why wouldn't it be true for a more passenger and cargo-oriented platform, such as the "Unicab?" It does, in fact become evident that the vehicle is irrelevant; it's the intuitive platform that becomes the kernel of our many science experiments.

In the '80s, it was at least somewhat true for the world of GM muscle, that the G-Bodied Buick Regal also served as a testing ground for more progressive ways of building sustainable performance. That language, in and of itself, could care less whether or not that turbocharged Regal appears in the guise of a Grand National or an even less-rated T-Type; the point is the turbo V-6 concept.

So over time, what a lot of us start to understand is that it's kind of hard to differentiate between vehicle and platform, but once we start to understand what's going on, we can take the language of the formula and translate it.

In an environment where the variable, "WL" represents workload, or watts, the amount of workload must be directly proportional to the amount of running speed produced by a platform's running gear, or RPM. So when you take that principle or molecule and apply it to a powered wheelchair, it fits geometrically. The reason that it does is because under the confines of that very formula, nearly any power chair platform can run optimally on top of nearly any terrain type. So by using that analogy, the "binaural-motor" or sustainable transport theory actually boils-down as follows: Min RPM/Max WL=Tr, or "transport." This very formula, when translated to the automotive sector, also fits geometrically.

Tesla, Slot Cars And The Atari Culture: What Does Slot Car Racing Have To Do With Our Daily Transport?

We don't usually talk about beer and muscle cars on a forum that has to do with Tesla Motors. Actually, we do the opposite: we speak formally about the intuitive vehicles that will change our lives in the near future. We don't talk about "girls" and KISS concerts either; usually when we talk Tesla, we're talking straight business, as ours is not a concern with sex and glamour, but with transport and practicality.

But in the case of Tesla Motors, automation of vehicles, the literal integration between hardware and soft, is of key importance to the business itself. We're business people, so naturally, we don't want to get too silly, too "KISS-concertish" with this very idea of building automated vehicles. In other words, we're not trying to build loops-and-corkscrews for some big-ass, toy car to run around on.

And that's ironic to even say something like that, because back in the early-'90s when we were kids, we had Tyco and other slot car tracks long before we ever messed with "Crash Bandicoot." And let's face it: the beginnings of the video game era signified the end of Tonka trucks and mud pies.

Bitchin' technology? Yeah, it was and still is, but...we have to pay a little deeper attention to this whole idea of being "whimsical." What does that mean? Slot car racing could be considered "whimsical," but then look at the technology behind it.

I mean, it's easy for us as thinkers to take apart nearly any piece of technology and dissect its very running gear, but here's the point: slot cars only leave their lanes if they're driven too fast within too short of a timeframe, and when they are timed incorrectly.

But do they stay on track? Absolutely! Why, because they're on a track, which means that each vehicle is guided. But here's the other thing...slot car tracks use electromagnetic rails to drive/power their vehicles. This means that the tracks themselves are used to propel-and-guide the vehicle in question.

Can this same language be applied to our everyday mode of transit? Who knows; we've lived under the umbrella of bureaucracy for so long that we don't know any other way to do things!

Now...let's look at that same picture or vision, if you prefer, from a Socialist standpoint. First, Tesla platforms are intuitive, which means that it would not be too hard for the company to integrate their services into the overall grid, providing a whole new system of interstate travel. It would be one that consists of intuitive highways and freeway lanes, saving the grid money that would prove substantial in the long run.

So have we been "Socialist" in our approaches so far? We're still burning gas, still eating-up oil while the globe continues to rise in temperature...I think we need a new way!

Again, this does not mean take away business from the mainstream. Instead, why not use technology, our wealth and material resources, to integrate that very vision of intuitive, electromagnetic transport into the very heart of public transportation? The solution, you will find, is a simple one: build intuitive vehicles, something Tesla already has down, but then build intuitive corridors, giant "slot car tracks" for those vehicles/platforms to drive upon.

Bottom line: intuitive vehicles need smarter ways of getting around. If that means getting a little silly, then so be it!

This platform sketch gives a rough illustration of how "Smart" transit would/could work.

"XK-1" Simulated Platform Proposal: How The Motion Pro II From CXC Simulations Opens Doors For Adaptive Driving

Objective:

This conventional Momo wheel is perfect for endurance racing, but not conducive to building an accessible platform.

Objective:

The main dilemma that the physically-challenged commuter faces is the same one that every commuter faces: time-and-money. We often talk about motorsports, but we all too frequently forget to take a look at one of its most important elements: product development, an obstacle that originally spawned the development of the idea behind "Tesla Mobility."

Because we're primarily concerned with platform and not the vehicle itself, we don't care what make the simulator's body is; only that the platform is fitted with a can-am body.

Product development, the stuff that we use in order to execute a specific task, is probably even more important to the motoring process then is vehicle/platform selection. Because what are vehicles and platforms if we don't have the equipment developed to be able to use it?! Product development, the actual testing phase of development in the struggle to make driving accessible, is undoubtedly the biggest challenge to the disabled, motoring community.

The "J-Series," multi-directional joystick from EMC Adaptive Driving is ideal for steering and throttle control on nearly any intuitive platform.

Ironically enough, it is also this need for product development that is a necessary stepping stone to the automotive craft as a whole. But we still need a platform to test from. For this reason, we are formally presenting to Tesla Motors and CXC Simulations an idea for a simulated platform that would serve multiple purposes.

The Idea Behind Tesla Adaptive Driving And The SmartVan Platform

Mission Statement:

Tesla Motors has created an intuitive platform that we, as a physically-challenged community, feel could be beneficial to the community as a whole. There are several angles we can take this from, but with the "SmartVan" platform, the idea is to create a dial-a-ride, or paratransit network, consisting of a Tesla van or crossover fleet. The vision behind this is to create an automated system where rider reservations could be pre-ordered via the web and GPS, and it would be a realtime operation, working 365 days per year, 24-hours per day, and it would cut man labor costs substantially. Through web videos and other abstracts, we, as a community are driven to make this platform work.