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An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

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Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#31

Post by scarface_74 »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #26
nvy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but if a Paris Metro train gets stuck, the tunnels are enormous and your maintenance staff can walk from the nearest station to repair and un-stuck the train. It's not clear to me that these tunnels will be sufficiently large.

You send a recovery vehicle down the line to fetch it, capable of hooking it, and strong enough to tow/ drag it to an exit point or service "vault" just like "vaults" on underground tunnels for power, data, gas, etc. The tow vehicle basically just needs to weigh enough. Or you send a human down the line on a platform with wheels. The tunnel would have to be at least as high as those crates and at least twice as wide.…

Has any private company in the last decade or so had a successful startup that had to build massive infrastructure?

While I’m no fan of Musk and his management of Twitter has been a shit show, I must begrudgingly admit that he is damn good at building companies that produce real tangible hardware based products that require infrastructure

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#32

Post by Xylakant »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #21
Animats wrote: post #9

There's a project in Switzerland to build an underground network of cargo tubes.[1] Cargo Sous Terrain has been making animated videos since 2016, though, and as yet has very little hardware to show. Their proposed tunnels are 6 meters in diameter and have 3 lanes, traversed by AGVs. [1] https://www.cst.ch/en

[flagged]

“Expensive” is always a relative term. The Swiss have a good overground rail network and for example branch lines sometimes run combined cargo/passenger trains. No need for dedicated tunnels here. Payoff in a city, especially with little existing rail infrastructure may look different. Hamburg for example tried to establish a 45cm diameter tube mail system in the 1960ies https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohrpost_in_Hamburg and that seems like a more viable concept for a city than a full fledged rail tunnel. The system ultimately failed for multiple reasons, but one was that the vibrations cause by cars and trucks damaged the tubes :(

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#33

Post by Animats »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #21
Animats wrote: post #9

There's a project in Switzerland to build an underground network of cargo tubes.[1] Cargo Sous Terrain has been making animated videos since 2016, though, and as yet has very little hardware to show. Their proposed tunnels are 6 meters in diameter and have 3 lanes, traversed by AGVs. [1] https://www.cst.ch/en

[flagged]

If the alternative is building more road and rail through mountains, a 6M tunnel might look like a good option. Less rock to remove.

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#34

Post by project2501a »

So, Adam Something: "Elon Musk's Loop is a Bizarrely Stupid Idea", but instead of loop "We have the USPS already, convince Congress to stop destroying it"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACXaFyB_-8s

https://jacobin.com/2020/09/usps-postal-service-mail-voting-...

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#36

Post by ponector »

Not clear why they want to put that into the tunnel. There are already autonomous solutions for last mile delivery: robots using pedestrian sidewalks. No need to bore anything, easy to navigate and to rescue if there is an issue.

>>Underground tubes are already the transportation method of choice for essentials like water, sewage, and Wi-Fi.

Underground tubes with wifi? Good joke

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#38

Post by Sharlin »

ponector wrote: post #36

Not clear why they want to put that into the tunnel. There are already autonomous solutions for last mile delivery: robots using pedestrian sidewalks. No need to bore anything, easy to navigate and to rescue if there is an issue. >>Underground tubes are already the transportation method of choice for essentials like water, sewage, and Wi-Fi. Underground tubes with wifi? Good joke

Presumably "Wi-Fi" these days means "any Internet connection that’s not cellular". And to be fair, cellular data mostly travels underground too.

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#39

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #26
nvy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but if a Paris Metro train gets stuck, the tunnels are enormous and your maintenance staff can walk from the nearest station to repair and un-stuck the train. It's not clear to me that these tunnels will be sufficiently large.

You send a recovery vehicle down the line to fetch it, capable of hooking it, and strong enough to tow/ drag it to an exit point or service "vault" just like "vaults" on underground tunnels for power, data, gas, etc. The tow vehicle basically just needs to weigh enough. Or you send a human down the line on a platform with wheels. The tunnel would have to be at least as high as those crates and at least twice as wide.…

Ok get this. We make a spider bot that suctions to random cars going in the general direction that we want to deliver the package. If the car turns to go in the wrong direction, the spider bot jumps off and hitches to the next vehicle. Free transit, no infrastructure costs.

Re: An underground delivery train comes to the Atlanta suburbs

#40

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #20

It's a mini Rubber-Tyre Metro for cargo. Low RoW maintenance (I think), high vehicle maintenance/wear, high energy usage. The challenge to me: "just put it underground" isn't nearly as easy as people seem to think. There's a lot of people-placed stuff underground, and the companies doing it have likely been around longer than you, are pretty regulated, and nobody is going to want to change any of that for your Sandwi…

The bike can be self driving too, no? Should be easier that SDVs if we limit it to a few well known paths. Add digital guiderails if needed.
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