Podcar 9 Charette

    I did not feel like participating in the competition, because I had felt like it was a conflict of interest. The presentations from those that did participate gave more insight and reassurance that my partners and I are on the right track fro the cabin and stations. There was a consensus view that the cabin needs to have handicapped features and easily accessible. The architectural students from UC Santa Cruz had many good ideas, some were similar to my thoughts. They believed having different station types would be beneficial depending on the area for the station, including different types of safety features, and have solar panels.
    I had the pleasure of meeting Bengt Gustafsson! He is very passionate about his work and knows every aspect thoroughly. I asked if he would like use to add anything to the cabin. His reply was not for the exterior but rather the interior. He would like us to add a feature more make a simple interior design for easy cleaning.
    At the meeting during down time I met a fellow anthropologist, Jason Ackerman. He was very pleased an anthropologist is working on the project.
   Overall I was glad that I stayed for the presentations for aspects for the cabin and station.

Home Depot

I am seriously debating on getting a job at Home Depot or some other hardware supply store. The amount of time that I spend at these places amazes me. In the last month I think I have gone at least once a week which I would believe is more than the average person.


Supplies list:
Paint
Thinner and mineral spirits
Painters tape
Sand paper
Paint sprayer 

Update for full-scale cabin, visit, and sub-team

Full-scale cabin update:

For visit of Erik Bromander, State Secretary to the Minister, Anne Lindgard, part of the Vinnova, Rod Diridon and other sponsors;  we were requested to clean up the current look of full-scale that the Swedish students started. During class time we started to bondo the places that needed fixing and sanding to make an even surface for the cabin. On the weekend the group joined at SDCC to finish up more bondo work, sanding, and painting the cabin white. I made sure that we had the proper materials for finishing the cabin. The group needed to get finer grit of sandpaper, extra white paint, and spatulas. Mark did a very good job with sanding and finding the last few areas that needed to do more bondo work. While Mark was sanding, Lucas and I started to make a painting station.  After completing, Lucas and Mark worked on how to make the paint sprayer to function properly. Then Lucas began to spray paint the cabin. The first coat showed the imperfection still on the cabin. This led to doing more bondo work and sanding by Mark. After this was complete the second coat of paint was applied the surface looked better and clean.

The Visit:

    A tour was given to the visitors so that they could see what the Spartan Superway was working on. After the video showing of how the Superway would look and functioning, group discussion began. There was definitely a group consensus that sustainable transportation needed to be established. This would provide for the ever growing congestion transportation problem and better for the environment. When Rod Diridon gave his opinion of how the future for Super would look like was very interesting and convenient for those that would be using it. I think that everyone benefited from the Mr. Diridon being at the visit.

Updates:

    The group has finalized the decision to make to complete full scale cabin, make a one ¼ scale cabin that can open to show interior, two ¼ scale cabin shells for model rail, and functioning ¼ or full scale station mechanism. The mechanism is still in the thought process because of other possible docking devices for the cabin to be stabilized when it is at the station.

Work since 9/16/2015

Sub-Team:

Since last class meeting on September 16, 2015, I have been looking at the painting methods for the full-scale cabin. The group was notified that the students and an ambassador from Sweden will be coming to see the project. Ron Swenson noted that it would be a good idea to finish up the work that the Swedish students had done over the summer. The full-scale group collaborated with Caleb Kalala Kabeya via discussion in class time and email. Caleb contacted the Swedish students to see if they had preference in color scheme for the cabin that they built. We also discussed times when we could get together to do the finish work. Work that needs to get done is as follows: sanding, adding more bondo (if needed), priming (if needed), painting, and possible second coat of paint.

Full-Team:

As head librarian for the Spartan Superway, I have been trying to look for resources and references for the project. The main goal is to find a way or location site to organize all the work done over the years in a central location. This will help the current and future teams when they needed to reference current or past information. This will replace having to ask around or emailing documents.

Cabin sketches and explanations

I would like to focus on the design of the full-scale cabin, station, and safety features. The safety features would mainly focus for handicapped; with adding hooks and ramps. The hooks in figure 1, would help to keep wheelchairs from moving during the time the cabin is going to it's destination.

Figure 1: Hooks for the wheelchairs

In figure 2, there is the representation of a ramp for the cabin. The ramp is there if the platform of the station and floor of the cabin are not leveled. The ramp would be in place of a step because there is wheelchair accessibility and passengers would not have to step down from the cabin. The ramp would also cover the gap between the station and cabin, which will prevent tripping accidents for the passengers.

Figure 2: Cabin ramp

 Figure 3 shows a possible entry and exist for the cabin. Sliding doors would be used because they would slide along the sides of the cabin. Having sliding doors is the better option because swinging doors would require space when opening, which could possibly hit a passenger if they are standing close too the entrance of the cabin.

Figure 3: Cabin with sliding doors

Research on areas of interest, shortcomings, improvements, and images

            The areas that I would like to improve on or further research would be the cabin, safety of the cabin and railways, and station innovation.

Cabin:

            The current full-scale model of the cabin is still unfinished; it currently needs a coating of paint. Sanding the rough and uneven parts needs to be done before painting can be done. Possibly after finishing the work on the current model, a functioning model could be started. This would include making another outer shell with hollow inside. The inside could have the seats that would be in the position functioning for sitting and handicap purposes. The structure of the cabin could also use other materials other than wood, to make the cabin lighter for moving to different exhibitions. The doorway for the cabin also needs to be established, whether it is double sliding doors or a single door that could be used as a ramp.

Figure 1: VTA bus ramp

Safety:

            The current pod systems like the Cabintaxi in Hagan, Germany has the establishing top speeds of 18-22 mph. This is less than half of the speed that the Superway would like to travel. The Cabintaxi speeds were tested with riders that were able to sit cooperatively. Safety for the riders and railways is a major concern for every transportation system. In long distance travel there was the suggestion of having seatbelts, which could extend to wheelchair riders by putting restraints on the wheels so that they do not move during the time the cabin is moving, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Wheelchair hooks for safety

Station:

            The location and site position of the stations for the Superway needs to be decided. When the station is at the level of the track, then the cabin does not need to be lowered, as shown in figure 3. There is the possibility that the cabin will be lowered from the train to ground level for stations. This would require the station platform to be raised higher than ground to make the floor of the cabin level to the platform, as in figure 4. Another situation could be the floor of the cabin meeting ground. Or there is the possibility of the ramp-door taking place of the platform for ease of access to the cabin, figure 5. These options are all wheelchair accessible.

Figure 3: The Link ferris wheel in Las Vegas, NV. Example track level platform

Figure 4: VTA raised platform

Figure 5: Ramp connection for entry and exit

Summary of 9/2 class and update

During the last meeting on 9/2/15 I participated in giving a 1-minute speech on what I learned from the reading in the INIST library. After completing my stumbling speech about how people and transportation affect each other, I realized that I need to strengthen my speech skills. Listening to fellow classmates’ speeches, there seemed to be a consensus of trying to improve the previous year’s work rather than creating new ideas. There was also emphasis on making more safety precautions.

        After completing speeches, the class took a guided tour to each of the different aspects of the project, which included: full-scale model, scale model, and guide-way section of the track. At each stop the group was introduced what was going on in that area and what could be done to improve it. Once the tour was completed each person went to the area that they thought they would like to work on. Then formed groups with others that had similar interests in each of the divided areas.

        The area that I took interest in was the full scale model and the station area. I would like to improve the existing full scale model of the cabin, making safety improvements the bogie-rail connection, or creating a station that the cabin would use. I am more inclined to working on the full scale cabin so that it is aesthetically pleasing and functioning than the existing models. By working on the cabin there is the possibility to transition into making a station for the cabin-human experience.

Introduction

Hi, I’m Rebecca. I am currently finishing up my dual-degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Anthropology at SJSU. My two main focuses are in design and culture, because both compliment each other. Participating in the Spartan Superway project, I felt that it could encompass both areas of my studies. My engineering knowledge will help me analyze, calculate, and improve functions of the Superway. Implementing anthropological techniques, I will be able to find and integrate the needs of the people (culture) whom will be using the Superway one day. Getting involved with the Superway also interested me because I have been using public transportation for over 21 years, finding a way to improve this system would benefit society and the environment.