Autonomous–Ways, or A-Ways

Where do these Autonomous Vehicles go inside the buildings? Where do the Autonomous Vehicles get power? How do they get into a home? How do they get from one floor to another? How do we manage delays at peak use times? What keeps people from sending you “junk packages”? Do Autonomous Vehicles share hallways and sidewalks with people?

Or do we have separate “ways” for Autonomous Vehicles to go about their business?

We already discussed using Autonomous Personal Mobility Vehicles to enable people to walk together. If the Autonomous Vehicles use existing ways, they can access everywhere people do. So some Autonomous Vehicles need the capability to maneuver safely with people – we will discuss the technical challenges of moving among people later.

There are also several reasons that some Autonomous Vehicles should move separately from people. Autonomous Vehicles can move faster than people, but having Autonomous Vehicles whizzing about under foot is not only uncomfortable but dangerous. People might step on Small Autonomous Vehicles and fall. Autonomous Vehicles will work more efficiently on clean solid surfaces: carpets make fine motion control challenging. Fibers and dirt in the carpet foul the works of the Autonomous Vehicles. So how do we solve these challenges?

Innovation: Autonomous–Ways, or A-Ways, Optimized for Autonomous Vehicles

We propose creating enclosed Autonomous-Ways, or A-Ways, for Autonomous Vehicles to provide safer, faster, less expensive service. A-Ways provide solutions for many of the challenges facing the design and introduction of Autonomous Vehicles.

Enclosing A-Ways keeps out pedestrians, human-driven vehicles, animals, dirt, weather, and debris. Excluding extraneous objects simplifies the design of Autonomous Vehicle controls, reducing cost and improving safety. Managing Autonomous Vehicles and the A-Way itself is much simpler in a completely controlled environment. Optimizing the riding surface improves cost, control, and efficiency. Protecting the riding surface from weather and other wear inducing factors helps maintain the riding surface, and Autonomous Cleaning & Repair Vehicles can provide additional improvements. Communicating inside an enclosed A-Way is free of interference. Powering Autonomous Vehicles directly in the A-Way essentially eliminates the cost, weight, and scarce resources for batteries – just like subways and electric trains. From a human perspective, possibly the most beneficial result of the enclosed A-Ways will be keeping the Autonomous Vehicles out-of-sight and out-of-mind, except when you want one.

Enclosing the A-Ways requires Autonomous Vehicles that don’t pollute, so we focus on electric motors. One of the major barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles is the cost, weight, and scarce resources for batteries. Powering directly means that batteries are only needed when moving between powered A-Ways. Minimizing batteries significantly reduces weight and cost of Autonomous Vehicles – in the amazing Tesla Model S the batteries are the heaviest component at 1,323 pounds, or 28% of the total weight. Powering directly is more efficient than charging and discharging batteries, and makes more efficient use of regenerative braking. Autonomous Vehicles can run continuously without having to stop to recharge. Batteries use scarce natural resources, such as Lithium, which is a major barrier to the widespread use of Autonomous Vehicles that we envision.