In last week we further analyze the our current designs and try to figure out the shortcomings of each of the design. We notice that there is one shortcoming of these designs and that is the bogie may have the chance that the guiding wheels on either side of the bogie are not supported by the rail during rail switching action and this may result in safety issue. So we have decided to come up with designs of steering mechanism that keeps the bogie on the supporting rail constantly. The whole design team, both the fail safe and steering mechanism team, agree that the new design of the track and steering mechanism should not be something totally different from the previous design. We also discuss the 1/4 scale model that we are going to build and we agree that the finished product will be in a loop and there will be some inclination simulating the bogie is approaching the boarding station on ground level. I have further brainstormed for some new design and I was thinking about using tube structure for the rail. However since the new design shouldn't be deviate from the old design too much and hence I reckon the design is not feasible.
Some of the rail design I made:
Some of the rail design I made:
Jeffrey, looking at your most recent sketches here, I am concerned about the rail (guideway) having moving parts. If cars are streaming into the switch at sub-second intervals, how could you verify that the switch is in the correct position after each car, and the next vehicle won't proceed until the position of the switch is confirmed?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I don't see your idea clearly. Let's discuss this further.