Saturday, January 1, 2011

Floating vehicles

So it occurred to me that, if you had micro-control over the surface of a plane's wing you could dynamically shape it to be optimal for all speeds.

That idea isn't new. But that kind of dynamic control is interesting. What if you had a set of narrow alloy tubes jetting out air at the bottom of a car, just a millimeter from the ground. Sensors on all sides would dynamically model the ground below the car and 'remember' it as the car moved along. The tubes would adjust their altitude, keeping the car on a cushion of air.

The idea is that the vehicle doesn't have tires at all. It floats of a cushion of air. But not a great big clumsy one like a hovercraft. Instead, huge numbers of microjets, perhaps in clusters of 50 to 200, would be positioned where the wheels currently go, constantly adjusting to be super-close to the ground, expelling air and keeping the vehicle floating just above the ground.

Possible?

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