Team 3329

The Griffin Robots Present

Not just a Smart Car – A “Smart-Air-Car”

December 12, 2009
Some Transportation challenges our team identified

• Traffic congestion
• Infrastructure deficiencies
• Alternative energy
• Global Warming / Environment
• Revenue Sources limited
Various projects our team created based upon the
transportation challenges we discovered

• Rishub – Flying Car

• Ajith – Electric Car + Bullet Train Grid
• Derek – Integrate Speed Limit with GPS
• Jay – GIS+GPS
• Mihir – Car Sensors to avoid accidents
• Raj – Encourage Carpools
• Rohan – Hydrofoil boats
• Sanjay – Smart Bikes
Who we met / got feedback from ?

• Tesla Motors visit

• Mayor – City of Saratoga, Santa Clara VTA
Committee member
• Ford Motor Company, Mitsubishi Motors
• Redwood Middle School Science Teacher
• Redwood Middle School students
• Saratoga High School students
• Stanford University students
• On-line collaboration via blog
Transportation is Always Changing
What is the Smart-Air-Car?

• Car that can fly and drive

• Vertical take-offs and landing
• Runs on eco-friendly alternative fuel
• Flies at different altitudes
• Faster
• Autopilot
• Safe
Flying Car Designs we considered

Personal Air& Land Vehicle

PAL-V The Transition Lucy THM

Volantor M200 Sky Car Switch Blade

Millner Air Car

X-Hawk Moller M400 Skycar
Our own unique design of the Smart-Air-Car

• What are the design constraints?

– Size, Safety and Navigation
• GPS+GIS = safest, fastest route
• Carbon Fiber Body
• Safety features
• Pivoting propellers
• Collapsible wings
Existing Take-off Designs that inspired us

V-22 Osprey
Bell X-22

NASA AD-1
Avro Canada VZ-9V Avrocar Convair XFY-1 POGO
How does our Smart-Air-Car Work?

• VTOL (Vertical Take-Off

and Landing) aircraft for
public consumers
• Two pivoting propellers
at the ends of the wings This is the V-22 Osprey with its propellers
pointed up
• Take off and land like a
helicopter with the
propellers pointing up
• Propellers point forward
for level flight

This is the Osprey in normal flying mode

Eco Friendly fuel we considered

• The biggest challenge with an alternative fuel to gasoline

or diesel
– is the infrastructure
– safety and the range the vehicle can deliver
– timeframe

• Some alternates we studied

– Solar Energy
– Wind Energy
– Cellulose Ethanol
– Ethanol -> Hydrogen
– Compressed Air Energy
– LiIon batteries ( used in cell phones and laptops) deliver
significantly higher energy density than Lead Acid batteries.
– Hydrogen Fuel from recycled water + Solar
– Natural Gas
Pros and Cons of Various fuel technology
Type of fuel Pros Cons
Gasoline •Current infrastructure is already set up for •Not good for the environment, not
gasoline reusable.

Solar power •Reusable •Sun is not always shining

•Sun has enormous amounts of energy •Solar panels take up quite a bit of space
•Batteries are not very advanced so large
amounts of power cannot be stored
efficiently

Wind energy •Reusable •Cannot be used on cars very well (very

large/bulky)
• Battery problem

Cellulosic ethanol •Can come from plants that are not wanted •Still gives off some emissions
(i.e. weeds) •Plants help reduce carbon dioxide in the
•85% less greenhouse emissions than
gasoline
atmosphere
•Liquid at room temperature •There is not an infinite amount of plants
•Easy to store in the world
•Only engine of the car has to be changed

Ethanol -> Hydrogen •Eco friendly •Would need many new facilities

Compressed air •Mostly eco friendly •Compressing air takes energy

•Car can have a compressor built in •Using compressed air to fuel a car
would require a large tank to hold the
compressed air
•Short range & Low speed

Batteries LiIon •Not limited to one source of energy •Heavy

•Expensive

H2 /Solar •Eco friendly •Takes lots of electricity

•Utah already uses it •Compressors require energy

Natural Gas
Fuel Rating – Cellulosic Ethanol rocks!

Type of fuel Viability Eco friendly Infrastructure Ease Factor

Gasoline
Solar power
Wind power
Cellulosic
Ethanol
Ethanol ->H2

Compressed air

Batteries LiIon
H2 / Solar/
Water
Natural Gas
Lots of safety features in our design
• Accident/ failure - air-bag / parachute
• Multiple engines, with the ability to operate with one
or more out of action
• Backup computer stabilization systems.
• Aerodynamically stable glide ability.
• Dual parachutes, in the event of total loss of power
the dual parachutes can be deployed to bring the car
safely to the ground.
• Carbon Fiber body
Innovation – but with minimal needs
• Minimal Infrastructure
– No need for as many roads or bridges
– No need for more traffic lights
• Additional Infrastructure
– More satellites
– More computing power
• Different directions at different altitudes
– Specific Regulation by FAA to address this
Photo Source: Used with permission from Orange County Regional History Center
Why will Smart-Air Car succeed like the iPod?

• Mass Production
• Make it safe
• Cheap, environmental friendly fuel
• Cool 6th-sense technology
• People adapt quickly to a better technology
• Government push and legislation
– e.g. Cash for Clunkers
The future is bright…
• Time-line for smart cars
– First commercial delivery
• Impact to us
– Less congestion
– Safer, Quicker, Greener transportation
– Allows expansion
• Stress Free transportation
– Easily multi-task
• Better for long distance transportation
• Jetsons lifestyle even before 2062?
Our attempts to build a model prototype…
• Tesla parallel
– Use Lotus parts
– 6 months -> 4 years
• Foam Sheets – Depron
– Light but strong
• Optimize Rotors (3-6)
– More leads to higher weight
– More leads to higher power
– More leads to stability
• Battery – LiIon
– Ethanol difficult in a prototype
• Gyroscope
The Ultimate Paradigm Shift

• Smart-Air-Car – The car of the future

• Faster, Cheaper, Better
• Environment friendly
Our Research / References

• Books, websites, discussions

• Collaboration online via blog
• Lots of great content were posted
• Many hits from all over the world
 Our Team Blog @
http://smartransportation.blogspot.com
 Our Team Blog @
http://smartransportation.blogspot.com