JPods

JPods are an innovative method of personal transportation that use distributed collaborative computer networks to route physical transit in a manner similar to the data trafficking of the Internet. Developed by JPods, Inc. as a form of personal rapid transit, ultra-light pods have an on-board computer that controls their motion.

Personal rapid transit was defined in Congressional Office of Technology Assessment Study PB-244854 as the solution for urban transport in response to the 1973 Oil Embargo. Morgantown, West Virginia installed a heavy version of this technology that has delivered 110 million oil-free, injury-free passenger miles.

Transport Characteristics

In the demonstration JPod, people get in, and the vehicle navigates to that address. In production models people and/or cargo will set destination and travel non-stop from origin to destination.

Installations

JPods has signed letters-of-intent (see image of letter to the right) to build networks in 2014 with the cities of Secaucus ( network, US-NJ), Anshan (, China), and Linyi (, China). On June 25, 2014 the Town of Secaucus passed a Performance Standards Ordinance making it a law to grant rights of way access based on exceeding 120 passenger-miles per gallon.

System details

• vehicles weigh approximately with a gross carrying capacity of
• vehicles travel suspended below an overhead guideway that encases the bogies
• bogies are the mechanisms that propel vehicles and from which the vehicle chassis is suspended. Bogies are composed of generally of motors, controllers, wheels, gearboxes, sensors, and switches.
• switch control is managed by the vehicle and/or by the network
• solar powered
• travel between

The computer network is managed in three tiers:

• devices such as pods, switches, structures
• negotiators collaborate with devices and load managers to set routes
• load managers log time based demand to create a terrain map that allow appropriate routes to be identified and scheduled

External links

• US Patent 6,810,817, "Intelligent transport system", issued November 2, 2004.
• JPods.com