Topic: Holy Crap! *New Tech/Gadget Thread*

[BlackNMild2k1]

I've been waiting for you to show up in here and have my back on this.

I knew your inner FUTURIST was all OPTIMIST and would be all for the idea.
We gotta start somewhere, and this project is probably the best start we can get.

[Ceric]

You underestimate the Greed in mans Heart.

Most peoples rings are Orange.

[Stogi]

Just to be a devil's advocate, but my main concern would have to be finding raw materials to make each hexagonal block; precious metals especially.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I said the same thing

I would actually think that one of the things that would hold a project like this back in the computer components. precious metals that are currently required for circuit boards and computer chips.
Trying to push something like this mainstream could hopefully lead to some advancements in other areas too. Such as wireless energy transfer; new cheaper, more efficient and abundant materials to use for computers, and things where too much power was being used to make it economical.

Maybe we can see something get rolling that moves us as a society into the new age of technology before we die. Probably not, but one can dream.

[Ceric]

Congratulation BnM!

I just found a Story where the Solar Road way got funded.

http://www.technologytell.com/in-car-tech/8904/solar-roadways-reaches-1m-indiegogo-funding-goal/

[BlackNMild2k1]

Congratulation BnM!

I just found a Story where the Solar Road way got funded.

http://www.technologytell.com/in-car-tech/8904/solar-roadways-reaches-1m-indiegogo-funding-goal/

That is great news. good for them. hopefully it will be good for us too.

Recently, the duo said it wrapped up its second contract with the Federal Highway Administration, in which the government’s primary interest was to build a parking lot structure using the solar panel “pavers” and do some long-term testing.

And I'm glad to see they already have a government contract to get something built and test the viability, durability and feasibility of the product. This could really be a game changer if they get it right. I hope they nit Obama's twitter hard with links and updates and get the President himself onboard. no better way to spread awareness than have the president back the idea. He was looking for a viable source of renewable energy and assuming this works, it may have just landed in his lap.

That government backing from the top down could go a long way.

[BlackNMild2k1]

And this is the product they need to goto Google about integrating with the effort to push solar powered "smart" roads.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/just-press-go-designing-self-driving.html
Google proto-types and test steering wheel-less (& pedal-less) smart car.

The prototype is far too cute for mass human consumption, but ignore the design and focus on the concept. An electric car, that taps into the wireless powergrid and the wireless internet grid, both provided by the solar smart roads, to network millions of smart cars to navigate completely free of human intervention.

No more drunk driving. Roadhead becomes a lot less risky. automated taxis/shuttles/buses.

The idea of car shares becomes something more of a reality. Not actually owning a car, but paying a "timeshare"/subscription to a vehicle and calling one when you need it. It shows up on it's own and takes you where ever you need to go.

No more waiting around to find parking. Dropped off and picked up at the door to the store/event.

No more stopping for gas, as energy is "free" and abundant. No more traffic jams, shitty drivers that don't know how to merge or rush to run lights and cut people off.

Catch up on sleep/movies/TV/reading/life on the way to work/home.

Imagine the new Ice Cream/Vending Machine Truck.

I'm peeking into the future here and it's beautiful.

[nickmitch]

All those cabbies would be out of a job

And I dunno, sometimes I like driving.  And what does this do to the road trip??

[BlackNMild2k1]

Allows family bonding while traveling. Sleep. Party bus mode activated. Everything but driving.

[Stogi]

I'm just gonna ramble as I keep thinking about the idea.

They should allow me to drive but be able to throw on auto-pilot if I so please. Most cars, if the idea takes off, should be comfortable rooms instead of what we think of a modern day car. We don't need the seats to face the same way, we could all face each other. They're should be a table, a place to plug in your devices, a TV to entertain yourselves, and little refrigerator.

There would still be regular cars. The drop top is not going away. In fact, some of those cars may not be able to ride on the road anymore, but they'd be worth a **** ton of money.

Mr. Black already mentioned most of what I'm interested in (Roadhead? Get me some limousine tint and that'll just be the beginning....hope they clean those rentals). Not owning a car would be the norm, as it's incredibly convenient and cheap to simply rent one whenever your needs arise. The people who do buy cars would buy RV's. They would extremely nice. There could be a huge resurgence in that market if they were electric and autonomous.

As for the roadtrip, this would make it so much better. In fact, I forsee this fucking with the airlines so much so that they'll have to innovate incredibly to bring in customers commuting small distances. Would you rather hop in your car that is damn near another room in your house for 12 hours as you travel across the country for free-ish AND have your car during where ever you're traveling to or would you rather pay steep fees to fly and pay for a rental car? If time wasn't a problem, it's an easy decision.

If people aren't driving and if the accident rate is negligible, how fast do you think we can go? Can my autonomous lambo push 200?

And what would this do not just for taxi drivers but truck drivers? There would still be jobs loading the truck, but shipping it? Prices of goods could plummet if it's damn near free to ship anything, anywhere. Amazon's stupid flying drones could already be obsolete.

And last but not least, what about vandalism and theft? This thing sticks out of the roof obnoxiously. It's begging some brat kid to kick it off or take a bat to it. Can they make it smaller? Could they achieve the same goal with several cameras around the car instead of one giant spinning monstrosity?

A couple years and we'll find out. Now let me get rich enough to buy the second model after the eventual manufacturers agreement with Tesla.

[Ceric]

The model in the concept is already a good deal smaller than the original.  I have no doubt in my mind by Gen 3 it Will just be a hump on the roof.  Maybe not even that as the tech get spread around the car as its designed for it from the ground up.

[BlackNMild2k1]

As far as regular cars being on the road at the same time. I assume since this will get rolled out slowly, these cars will be able to operate in now 24hr Carpool lanes, and as they become more popular, the number of "24hr carpool lanes" will start to increase till there is less lanes for manual cars to drive in.

Eventually you will only be able to drive them on private roads/tracks as they will eventually be considered illegal on public safety roads.

or some models will still have a manual mode, but it will be limited to certain conditions. Eventually driving will be a skill of the past that only gets simulated in videogames and practiced in racing events by professionals.

Another thought:
This will do away with traditional Drivers licenses and replace them with Access Licenses that you would put in whatever car you were in, that would not only identify you, but allow ability to charge your account (for taxi/rental/share)

as far as the jobs of taxis/shuttle/bus drivers, well we will now need people to monitor all these sure to be equipped with cameras, public utility vehicles, and make sure nothing "illegal" is happening that would damage the car or be cause public concern. That would still leave alot of them displaced, but when a door shuts, there is often a widow opened. I'm sure new jobs in a different field will open up. They may require some specialized training (someone has to build, install, monitor all repair all these smart roads/cars), but hopefully it will all work itself out eventually.

[Stogi]

I could give a **** about jobs in terms of innovation. We shouldn't stifle innovation simply because it would cost jobs. That's retarded.

[Ceric]

It will be like the Train transition.

The short and long of it is that Innovation will always take away jobs.  We are always trying to do more with less.  I'm a Programmer.  My job is essentially to make things more efficient.  That always means less resources get used.

[BlackNMild2k1]

With all that extra energy, we will soon be needing people to man the moon base mining station and colonize mars. Plenty of new opportunities will arise.

[ShyGuy]

This thread needs a dash of dystopia to balance things out: Ultra Lethal Drones of the Future! http://nypost.com/2014/05/17/evolution-of-the-drone/

[Ceric]

This thread needs a dash of dystopia to balance things out: Ultra Lethal Drones of the Future! http://nypost.com/2014/05/17/evolution-of-the-drone/

That top drone is sort of cute in a Mopie Bird type of way.

The SR-71 is still a very cool looking plane.

Drones in the sky have always been part of the future for as long as there have been Sci-Fi stories in the future.

[nickmitch]

A case against solar roadways

[BlackNMild2k1]

A case against solar roadways

Their case against is nothing we haven't discussed before, and it boils down to "it's too expensive" to roll out, repair and to clean.

[Stogi]

http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-dot-solar-cells/32478/

Pretty much says there is a rapidly expanding new field that relates to solar technology and it could boost the efficiency of solar cells dramatically while also being able to be mixed with paints or inks and put on much cheaper materials such as flexible roofing shingles.

[nickmitch]

A case against solar roadways

Their case against is nothing we haven't discussed before, and it boils down to "it's too expensive" to roll out, repair and to clean.

Yeah, but it puts a number on how expensive ($56 Trillion).  It also points out the flaw in making the roadway "self cleaning", which brings up the issue of dirt/mud/soot covering up the solar cells.

[BlackNMild2k1]

$56 Trillion is a lot, and if they estimate it to be that much now, after labor unions get involved, it will probably be much more. BUT, that's if you were to roll the entire thing out TODAY at today's cost for the cells.

by the time they get a few cities done, manufacturing likely would be cut in half as the process is refined. several years down the line, they may be using cheaper and more efficient cells, and lots of companies may be willing to "sponsor" their territories in favor of marketing and tax breaks, so that could also alleviate cost concerns. But cost will make up for itself over time.

As far as "Self Cleaning" I don't remember what the article said on that specifically, I might reread later, but with all this unlimited power and self driving vehicles, I see no reason why there couldn't be a squad of automated "Street Roombas" roaming around in the dead of night to self reporting obstructed cells doing what they can to scrub them clean for first morning light.

[nickmitch]

Even doing "a few cities" could take years.  Paving roads is relatively fast because asphalt is easy to make and easy to lay down.  If you've seen how long highways take to build, you can probably multiply that by a large factor once we get engineers/electricians involved.

And having "street roombas" clean the roads isn't a great option when you consider having to add the cost of building and maintaining those things.  And if you replace every road, you'll need an army of these things to have some everywhere.

[Stogi]

Just bump up the efficiency. That article I linked to is the beginning of capturing all the light spectrums including infrared (which is half the energy we get from the sun) without building separate modules, like you'd have to today.

It's already at 7% and it's brand new. Imagine in a decade what it could be.

And furthermore, didn't I already argue the fact that cost shouldn't matter? 53 Trillion sounds exorbant until you realize how ridiculously low that cost is when compared to free energy. All the money in the world or free energy? It's a no brainer.

[nickmitch]

That article speaks on "potential", and it it may not work out.  Bumping the efficiency isn't one of those things you can just say and it happens with magic.  People have been working on that for decades.