h a l f b a k e r yRenovating the wheel
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For remote communities, establishing a proper rail link
is
expensive. For speedy link of occasional small items, a
UAV is recommended. This idea aims to provide a way to
economically link transport of daily goods and parts to
hard
to reach areas.
This is a system where a zipwire lines
(or two for duplex
transport), is placed between a remote community and a
distribution hub. A micro 'monorail' is used between
heavier
links.
Transport is performed by battery powered robots that
can
zip across the zipline to the destination. It has enough
intelligence to deal with zipline interchange tower, so
that
a single zipline can split to two different towns.
Much like the internet, each distribution hub is
connected
to another distribution hub, where a parcel can be
considered a "packet" sorted by a routing algorithm.
Meaning a town, can send to another town with minimal
human intervention. A physical internet one might say.
This will not total replace railways, trucks and UAVs. But
in
between the need for speed/convenience, and the need
for
cost efficiency, this may have its use. E.g. Getting a set
of parts to maintain various equipments in a town.
The recreational model...
Gondola_20with_20the_20Wind
[normzone, Jun 11 2014]
[bungston] Yes, messages used to be delivered like this, and you were expected to tip the messenger...
http://bluehourstud...y-meetup-goals.html
(scroll down just a little) [normzone, Jun 11 2014]
The Museum of Retro Tech.
http://www.aqpl43.d...m/MUSEUM/museum.htm
Fascinating [8th of 7, Jun 12 2014]
Cash baskets
http://www.ids.u-ne...cash/cashbasket.htm
The indoor version. [8th of 7, Jun 12 2014]
Here's my similar suggestion
Existing_20Utility_..._20Delivery_20Route
[doctorremulac3, Jun 12 2014]
[link]
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This sounds familiar ... an idea about transporting items using
existing overhead power and phone cables. |
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Now that friendly drones are bringing us Cuthbert and chicken, this zipline scheme seems old fashioned. But doable with precomputer technology. I wonder if there were interbuilding zipline communications in built up cities like NY and London back in the 1920s? |
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As far as ziplines out to the boonies I worry the towers would be expensive. Unless you can induce volcanoes to build them on, like the Unorthodox Engineers did. |
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As far as CGI mayhem I can definitely imagine a zipline race above the lava-bubbling monster shuffling alien landscape. A good opportunity for the protagonist to fire his guns backwards to propel himself along faster. And when he reaches one of the helium balloon tethers (because monsters climb the towers) he grabs on, cuts it loose and floats away like Curious George, leaving his pursuers to try to reverse course back along the falling zipline. |
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// interbuilding zipline communications in built
up cities like NY and London back in the 1920s?// |
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In London (and probably in NY) there were
networks of (usually underground) tubes that
carried canisters, powered by compressed air. |
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But before that, in the late 1800s, there was
indeed a system of zipwires, which radiated out
from towers (either purpose-built, or the tops of
existing buildings). Boys were employed to run up
the towers with the wicker baskets that were
used, and then send each basket along the right
wire to its destination or to its next waypoint. It
was possible, using this system, to send a decent-
sized parcel from Greenwhich to Haringey in about
six minutes. |
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I wonder if the remnants of those ziplines still exist. |
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I'm bunning this even though similar ideas have been
proposed, specifically for use on existing power
cables etc. as 8th pointed out. |
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Small package delivery routes via micro
road/pathway/cable whatever, especially in big cities
make a lot of sense. Basically a physical version of
the internet sending real packages instead of data
packets. With addressing technology that we have
now it makes more sense than ever. |
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I'd like to see some bold entrepreneur create a
grocery store with five minute delivery of your order
over an infrastructure they built going to test
neighborhoods. |
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//I wonder if the remnants of those ziplines still
exist.// |
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Yes! On the towers of St. Sepulchre's Church and
St. Bride's Church, there are the wrought-iron
attachment points for the old wires. There are
probably more. |
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(Minor aside: the tower of St. Andrew Holborn
church was severely damaged and almost brought
down, due to all the wires therefrom running
either north or northeast, causing an unbalanced
load. Conversely, at least one tower _did_
collapse when the wires were removed in the late
1800s, because they had been acting as braces
while the tower's timbers decayed.) |
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//a grocery store with five minute delivery of your order over an
infrastructure they built going to test neighborhoods. // |
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Did someone say "trebuchet" by any chance ? |
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I have heard that these systems caused "issues" on Sundays; when the bells are rung it is normal for the tower to sway a bit, however when all the towers are ringing at once the swaying could get a bit much, so to prevent snapping they organised a rota of service start times. Some of these regular service times are still used today, you can see if you go onto the parish websites. |
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//Did someone say "trebuchet" by any chance ?// |
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No. That was the intercalary sneezing. |
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//Did someone say "trebuchet" by any chance ?// |
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No, but that's an interesting idea. |
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Some "settling" of contents may occur during shipping
but you'd get it quick. |
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I am so delighted to learn about these zip wires in
London! It is exactly the sort of Victorian
technology I imagined. If something like that
existed in NY or Chicago I have never heard of it and
I love that stuff. |
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Max, what did they call these things? Not zip lines
apparently. Where did you
learn about them? Can you link up a book or other
reference? |
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//what did they call these things?// At one point
they were just called "wires" (as in to send by
wire, or to wire something). |
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I presume the system overlapped, in time, with
the telegraph - so I'm not sure if there was
confusion over the terminology. |
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Come to think of it, I don't know why nobody ever
thought to combine the two systems (ie, use the
"zip lines" for telegraphy); but I have a feeling
that the zip lines weren't steel cables, and that
copper wires wouldn't have been strong enough to
use as zip wires. (You need a certain amount of
weight in the basket, or it risks getting stuck part
way down the wire.) |
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Yes, stuck baskets were a problem. Pity the young children forced to
crawl out along the wires to free jammed pulleys. They had to be
small and light to avoid overstraining the cables, which sometimes
happened, with predictably tragic results. |
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Wire you worrying? The young child shown in the second link is doing fine. And no lines from zippers are showing. |
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//young children forced to crawl out along the
wires to free jammed pulleys.// |
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No, but children and small adults did travel in
special harnesses to reach baskets that were
stuck. Other than that, they were forbidden from
riding the wires, although some did. Perhaps
surprisingly, there are no records of any fatalities
in the operation of the system, and it's unlikely
that a fatality over busy London streets would go
unrecorded. |
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Weren't they called "Maundell wires" at some point? |
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It's possible - Maundell was certainly credited with
popularizing the system, after it had been used
for several years by (I think) Fortnum & Mason as a
purely private enterprise. |
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(In fact, the system never made money for
Fortnum's, but it was run at a loss because it was
such an excellent advertisement for their
business. Only when it became a network
covering much of central London, and open to
public use, did it become economically viable.) |
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[EDIT - "Maundell Wires" gives no meaningful hits
on Google; perhaps you're conflating the person
with the technology.] |
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//Where did you learn about them? Can you link up a
book or other reference?// |
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I think there's a mention of them in "The Victorian
Internet" by Tom Standage (though it deals mainly
with telegraphy), but I've lost my copy. There was
also an article in the Sunday Telegraph (!) some time
ago. |
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There's a page about it somewhere in The Museum Of Retro Tech
(q.v.) which also covers Pneumatic tube systems and mechanical
amplifiers. |
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I'm pretty sure something LIKE this idea, maybe not
exactly like this, but similar to this idea is going to
re-surface in reality. Driving to the store to get a
carton of milk and some gum in the data age seems
really backwards. |
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The technology has been sufficient for years, it's just
the roadway that's needed. I think existing power /
communications poles with cables on the top are the
no-brainer answer. |
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This sounds like the kind of hair brained idea Google
should fund. (See link) |
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