10-27-2012, 11:46 AM
(10-27-2012, 07:21 AM)LochnarITB Wrote: I doubt that there would ever be a system that maintains the cars at just a few feet at speed.
I wonder if a solution to this might be a no-space system. Have the cars built with the ability to attach to each other. They are all computer controlled and so can communicate with each other (wirelessly before connection) to determine when paths line up long enough to connect and when space is needed. They would arrange themselves such that vehicles going the same way for a certain amount of time would attach to reduce drag, share workloads, and react to problems as a combined system instead of individually. Could maybe have the attachment mechanisms built such that a car failing gets supported by the other cars it is attached to so that it can fail gracefully. Like brakes failing gets communicated and the other cars help it stop. Just a crazy idea that came to mine from reading your post.