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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504970488 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 01/06/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 136 |
| File size: | 366 KB |
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Turbopod
By Jason O'Neil
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2016 Jason O'NeilAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-7026-6
CHAPTER 1
FLIGHT
The sun shone brightly over Key Biscayne, Florida, as the Flynn brothers sat poolside. The conversation moved effortlessly from sports to politics and then, inevitably, to their groundbreaking work.
"Murray, did you know that on his deathbed in 1519, Leonardo da Vinci said one of his regrets was he had not flown?" Matt asked his brother. "Thirty-nine years earlier he sketched a helicopter, but even today, almost 600 years later, safe personal human flight is not a reality. You know many lives have been lost and fortunes squandered pursuing the dream of flight? For crying out loud, Paul Moller has spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars on his Skycar, and he has yet to prove the thing even works."
Murray finished his iced tea as his brother continued, "Your invention, the Red Box, changes everything. It's the enabler because it means gravity is no longer an obstacle to be overcome. We are free to develop an automobile that can fly and land on and take off from water. It's a car, an airplane, a helicopter, and a boat that doesn't use fossil fuel. And with the Situation Awareness Suite, this new Turbopod is the safest vehicle on the planet."
Murray knew better than to stop his brother when he was on a roll, so he just smiled as Matt went on, barely stopping to take a breath. "And your 'T-Pod' has two other great advantages: It eliminates gridlock and air pollution. Sitting in traffic isn't a good use of American time and talent, even if the vehicle is self-driving or autonomous. These vehicles may allow passengers to work on computers while on the road, but they only add to the congestion. Your ingenuity is about to change global transportation forever."
"Thanks, brother," Murray said. "But let's see if we can get it approved for use in American airspace first."
"It'll happen, I'm sure of it," Matt said. "Most automobile manufacturers already offer electric vehicles. Mercedes-Benz's B-Class electric car is competitively priced and has some amazing features — it has an electric motor with 177 bhp and 251 pound-foot of torque, regenerative brakes, a lithium-ion battery, and a voice activation system."
"It's a sweet ride, that's for sure," Murray replied.
"And a safe one." Matt said. "It has electronic stability control, all-around air bags, emergency SOS services, park assist sensors, forward collision prevention assist, cameras, and inherent crush-zone design."
"And to think I spent all that time as a teen learning how to parallel park," Murray joked.
"You're still a horrible parker," Matt said. "But what I'm trying to say is that it would be in our best interest to continue working with Mercedes-Benz on the Turbopod. They've been producing aircraft and aircraft engines since 1915. After a century, they definitely know the industry, including all its successes and failures. They provided incredible support for our development of the Red Box and the Baldie seaplane — it's in service in the Caribbean thanks to their help. Plus, they have a world-class R&D center in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, Germany. And we're $1 billion richer due to our collaboration on the Baldie."
"You're right, Matt," Murray replied. "They've been a tremendous partner in our development, test, and production efforts."
"So I say we pay a visit to our Mercedes-Benz friends in Santiago, Chile to their composite engineering laboratory and then their production plant in Vance, Alabama. Are you with me?" Matt asked.
"My bags are already packed," Murray said as he stood up, stretched, and cannonballed into the deep end of the pool, leaving Matt thoroughly drenched.
CHAPTER 2SANTIAGO
Murray and his wife, Maggie, an aeronautical engineer and pilot, met Dr. Reiner Strassburg, Chief Engineer of Mercedes-Benz, and Reinhold Timm, Factory Manager at Vance, Alabama, at the Santiago airport after their flight via Baldie from Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. A helicopter picked up the party and flew 15 minutes north to a modern business park, Centro Comercial Las Brisas, near Colina, Chile.
A long black Mercedes was waiting for them. They drove a mile to a business park filled with modern one-story buildings with white stucco walls and tinted glass windows, all surrounded by lush greenery. It reminded Murray of the high-tech laboratories in Palo Alto, California, with one delightful diff erence: These buildings were conveniently located in the middle of a golf course, Las Brisas de Chicureo.
The Mercedes laboratory was named after Friedrich Wohler, a famous German organic chemist who discovered aluminum, beryllium, silicone, and titanium, among other compounds. The lab is located near Santiago because the city is only a few hundred miles from the richest lithium deposits on Earth and has the most skilled labor force in Latin America, in particular a cadre that can work with such a potentially volatile substance. Mercedes-Benz has agreements with leading mining companies in Chile and Bolivia to ensure a sufficient and continuous supply of lithium.
The foursome was greeted at the door by Laboratory Manager Patrick Rosenberg, a disarmingly handsome Tel Aviv native who immigrated to Germany only to be hired by Mercedes-Benz and immediately dispatched to this R&D center, family and all.
"Welcome, my friends," the 35-year-old engineer said. "I have some very exciting things to show you!"
"Thank you, Patrick," Murray said as he shook his colleague's hand. "We've talked on the phone so many times. It's really nice to meet you in person and discuss how we can make the Turbopod a global sensation."
Both Reiner and Reinhold smiled.
"So we have two days to show you our progress," Patrick said. "And, of course, you'll be welcome at my home for dinner."
"Patrick, we look forward to your hospitality, and I hope to reciprocate in Miami in the near future. Surely you have relatives there," Murray said.
"I'm not sure, but I'll find one!" Patrick said, eliciting a round of laughter from the group.
"This way, please," he said as he led the party to a clean room. White panels were spread out on black marble tables and connected to wires, which in turn were connected to a rack of equipment with multicolored blinking lights.
Murray immediately knew that the T-Pod's panels were being checked for their combined battery strength and ability to hold an electrical charge.
"Murray, I think you can see what we're doing here," Patrick said.
"Yes, I can," Murray replied with a confident gleam in his eye. Maggie, Reiner, and Reinhold walked around the room, examining several of the panels. "The totality of the battery power confirms our models, doesn't it?"
"Yes, with a 20 percent surplus," Patrick answered immediately. "There are over 300 volts, which is enough to drive the ducted turbofans and all of the on-board electronics, sensor systems, and parachute deployment, if required."
Patrick picked up a notebook-sized panel and pointed to the edge. "On the edge of the panel you can see the dark lithium-ion solid electrolyte and graphite compound sandwiched between the composite sheets with a positive or negative pole on the edge, which snaps into the adjoining panel. This means that when all of the panels are connected, the Turbopod becomes one big battery. And, because so much surface area is exposed, heat buildup is not a problem. A protective circuit module prevents overcharging. Any questions?"
The team was silent but nodded its understanding.
Patrick then led them into an adjoining room with a series of hooded machines on work benches.
"As you can see, we've set up a miniature factory on 3-D printers, all under computer control," he said. "These machines make different composite parts of the T-Pod. And they do it around the clock without complaining!" The team smiled.
"We can say with confidence that the process is imminently scalable, so Reinhold can set up a full assembly line in Vance, where robots will snap the panels together and conduct inline testing for connectivity. I'm happy to report that we've been awarded the European patents for the panels and their manufacturing and testing processes."
"Perhaps the process can be applied to vehicles besides the T-Pod," Murray said.
"Oh, you're absolutely right. It reduces weight, adds strength, reduces the manufacturing time, and solves the power equation all at once," Patrick replied.
"Now let me show you my favorite part of our laboratory," Patrick said as he led the team down the hallway to a glass-enclosed room.
As they entered the room, Maggie let out a gasp as she took in the elaborate setup. "Wow! A glass cockpit simulator."
"Maggie, you're a pilot. I thought you would enjoy this," Patrick said. "And thanks for bringing a Red Box so we can test the integration with the Situation Awareness Suite. Are you willing to participate?"
"Is the pope Catholic?" she replied. "When can I start?"
"How about right now? Take a seat in the captain's chair and we'll power-up the simulator," Patrick said. "The four of us will observe a few of your initial maneuvers before going to our next station, the structural systems."
Maggie took a seat with obvious delight and surveyed the dashboard. Some of the gauges lit up as technicians activated the systems. A voice came over a loudspeaker: "Mrs. Flynn, are you ready for the tests?"
Without looking back, Maggie replied, "Absolutely!" as she gave the thumbs-up signal and bent over to her left to insert the Red Box into the power bracket on the floor. All of the sensor systems were now visible on the heads-up displays on the windshield. As Maggie got familiar with the displays and joystick controls, a technician asked her to start reading the script shown on one of the monitors. Before she knew it, she was controlling the T-Pod with voice commands.
"This is awesome," she said without trying to hide the thrill in her voice. She then spoke: "Activate autopilot." Immediately the joystick rotated to the right to simulate a turn to avoid turbulence. She could feel the vibrations in the chair as the simulation of rough weather proceeded.
"We're particularly pleased with the results of our Situation Awareness Suite," Patrick said. "The blind spot warning system, collision avoidance system, flight planning subsystem, and weather data systems are all debugged and ready for the prototype at your Florida facility."
He asked Maggie to look at the right heads-up display.
"This is something I really love," he said. "Look closely. You can see horizontal lines on the display. This is our Utility Line Detection System, or ULDS. It's the only one in existence and should be a real lifesaver. It will be standard equipment in the T-Pod, and we'll license it to other vehicles and aircraft. Without bragging, I'll take a little credit for developing this system. You know it's really difficult to see wires, particularly at night, without an expensive radar system."
"Bravo!" Murray said as the team clapped their approval.
As Maggie continued flying the T-Pod simulator, Patrick led the team out of the room and down the hall to the structural systems laboratory. In the middle of the room was a full-scale T-Pod aluminum chassis, complete with deployable wheels mounted on a test fixture. A technician was raising and lowering the wheels via remote control when the group arrived. Patrick pointed out the special waterproof axel hub as he said, "We've dramatically reduced the number of parts in the deployment system to increase reliability. We've done these deployments thousands of times, even automatically at night, to simulate a long T-Pod lifespan."
Patrick then waved the team over to a device in the corner of the room. "Here we have a strength test fixture for the titanium stiffeners used in the chassis and turbofan swivel mounts. We apply pressure while twisting these rods to assess their tensile strength and their ability to withstand hard landings. Titanium is expensive, but from an engineering perspective it's worth its weight in gold. We expect the T-Pod to do extremely well in the Department of Transportation crash tests."
"Speaking of crash tests, let's move over here to the entry/swim platform test rig," Patrick said as he led the group to another part of the lab. "Here we have a series of weights suspended above a vertical platform. Dropping the weight onto the platform simulates a rear-end collision."
"What are the results to date?" Reiner asked.
"I knew you'd ask that, Reiner," Patrick said with a smile. "Please step over to the monitor and we'll run several videos."
Patrick signaled a technician to start the videos. The weight plunged slowly at first, but by the fourth test it simulated a crash at 40 mph. The honeycomb structure was compressed, but the rear of the T-Pod remained undamaged.
"This isn't your standard 5 mile per hour bumper, but a compression zone capable of withstanding a crash at 30 miles per hour, which the safety officials should readily approve," Patrick said.
"Reinhold, I want to thank you for suggesting this rig and the test regime," he added. "It has proven very useful not only for the entry/swim platform tests, but also for the side and front panels as well. They, too, have done exceptionally well, proving to us that the only steel required in the craft will be the wheel hubs and rims."
"You're quite welcome," Reinhold said. "Again, we save weight but add strength. It's a win-win scenario." The team nodded its approval.
The group then returned to the simulation laboratory to find Maggie placing the Red Box in a safe.
"I can't wait to have this cockpit in the next generation Baldie," she eagerly reported. "It's so intuitive, so complete and yet simple to operate, particularly with voice controls. It gives the operator great confidence, not to mention the passengers. It provides supreme control over all potential operations and environments. The combination of the Red Box, turbofans, and the Situation Awareness Suite will make the T-Pod a global phenomenon. Mark my words!"
* * *
The team arrived at Patrick's home shortly after 6 p.m. The single-story Spanish-style hacienda backed up to a series of canals in a gated community on the northern side of the golf course. After a ceremonial toast with Baldie cocktails, the group was persuaded to don their swimsuits and enjoy Jet Skiing on the canals. As they returned to Patrick's house, Maggie shouted to Murray, "As much fun as this is, I can't wait to try the T-Pod on Key Biscayne!"
The Flynns and their colleagues talked business throughout dinner. At 9 p.m. Patrick toasted the venture with a round of Freixenet cava. Shortly afterward, a large, black Maybach whisked the team back to their hotel.
* * *
The next morning, the Flynns, Reiner, and Reinhold met Patrick at a remote hangar at the Santiago airport. Baldie #006 was parked just outside the hangar, gleaming in the bright morning sunshine. Patrick escorted his guests to the opposite end of the building, where they found a large test stand constructed of crisscrossing steel tubes. On each side of the stand was a turboprop ducted fan motor on a swivel hinge. Weights simulating the mass of the T-Pod. The stand was connected to a control room on the side of the building via a series of multicolored cables.
Patrick then escorted the team into the control room, where they stood up against the glass window and watched as actual flight software guided the fans through a series of acceleration tests in horizontal, transition, and vertical positions. In one test only one turbofan was activated in the horizontal position to rotate the fixture on four wheels, simulating a T-Pod turning maneuver. In another test, the horizontal ducted fans easily moved the whole fixture out the rear doors onto the tarmac, where it rose about 6 feet, hovered about 30 seconds, turned around in midair, then slowly descended to the tarmac and returned to the hangar.
A decibel meter could be seen through the control room window. The T-Pod didn't disappoint. It was amazingly quiet, even inside a metal hangar. This reinforced Reiner's prediction that minimal insulation would be required for a quiet passenger environment. And, given that thousands of T-Pods could be used in a city, the noise level would be acceptable.
All of the members of the team were quite obviously pleased with the results. They gave each other a round of high-fives as the tests concluded.
"My friends, I think we're at the point where we request that Mercedes-Benz fund the initial production line at Vance to build our prototype vehicles," Murray said. Both Reiner and Reinhold agreed with a hearty, "Jawohl!" Maggie smiled her concurrence.
Murray continued, "Maggie, let's return to Belize tonight, pick up our production manager, and proceed to Vance. Is that OK with you, Reiner?"
"Yes, of course," Reiner said. "We can lay out and price our assembly processes, determine what machines we need, and prepare a videoconference with Stuttgart."
As the group wrapped up its meeting, Reiner said he would return to his R&D center near Stuttgart to tell the chairman and his advisors about the results in Santiago and prepare them for the forthcoming request.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Turbopod by Jason O'Neil. Copyright © 2016 Jason O'Neil. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 Flight, 1,Chapter 2 Santiago, 4,
Chapter 3 Patent, 12,
Chapter 4 Kharbarovsk, 21,
Chapter 5 Phone Calls, 24,
Chapter 6 E-Fan, 33,
Chapter 7 Stuttgart, 40,
Chapter 8 Ordos, 46,
Chapter 9 Export, 50,
Chapter 10 Urban Flyer, 53,
Chapter 11 Kingsbury Mine, 59,
Chapter 12 Riverine, 67,
Chapter 13 Five Stars, 70,
Chapter 14 Certification, 74,
Chapter 15 Roll-Out, 78,
Chapter 16 Homestead, 81,
Chapter 17 Gold Run, 86,
Chapter 18 Chin Chin Po, 89,
Chapter 19 White House, 95,
Chapter 20 Midas Touch, 102,
Chapter 21 Sky Battle, 1108,
Chapter 22 Decision, 110,
Chapter 23 Sky Battle 2, 113,
Chapter 24 Race Day, 115,
Chapter 25 Medals, 121,
Chapter 26 Deep Space, 125,