Core components
The Guideway
The guideway's design is heavily influenced by the size, shape and functionallity of the Inteletrack (main bogie). However some fundamental principles have remained unaltered through out the different test models we have built, such as modularity, lightness and simplicity.
Today, if we want to improve the quality of mobility of people and goods without using more land, which is an expensive and finite commodity, we must either go under ground, as with subways, or above ground, as with monorails. On the other hand, if we want to reduce the number of vehicles that need to be parked at each destination, which also use too much land, we need to encourage vehicle sharing over individual vehicle ownership.
For this reason, Solar skyways is developing a low-cost, super-strong guideway that hovers in the air above the ground, supported by lightweight modular pillars. Motorized photovoltaic autonomous vehicles we call pods, run through this guideway hanging form it. The guideway can be laid over existing roads without the need to create new infrastructure or modify the existing one.
The ground beneath our system can now be productively used for purposes other than vehicular traffic.
In 2015 SSW affiliate Milotek, member of the Futran Group, built a 1 km oval test track for mining applications near Pretoria, South Africa, proving the structural guideway and in-vehicle switching mechanism.
Milotek was a finalist for the Swedish Steel Prize for "a completely new, innovative and environmentally aware system for high-capacity heavy transportation: a modular elevated track with self-propelled trains. The Futran System creatively utilizes high-strength steel in several different parts of the structure."
Also in 2015 our academic affilate Spartan Superway implemented a full scale model of the Beamways bogie / guiderail design and proved viability of the switching mechanism.
Naturally we learned valuable lessons from these two full scale proptypes, however, the guideway and the beam design will continue to evolve according to the progress of the other two core components that are intimately tied to the guideway, the Inteletrack and the ACNS and to the ongoing research of multiple manufacturing strategies until we reach the optimal architecture.
