XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   In article ,   
   Doc O'Leary  wrote:   
      
   > In article ,   
   >  Bernard Peek  wrote:   
   >   
   > > You could possibly take the level of abstraction one step further and   
   > > consider a system analogous to container freight. The object of the   
   > > exercise is not to get a vehicle from A to B, it is to get a passenger   
   > > from A to B. Moving the vehicle too is wasteful.   
   > >   
   > > Build a small short-range shuttle capable of collecting a passenger pod.   
   > > Deliver the pod to a hub where it can be loaded on to a train, or plane   
   > > as appropriate. The same system could handle some freight.   
   >   
   > Heh.  I actually *did* imagine such a system many years ago.  Back when   
   > SyFy was called SciFi, they were casting a reality show called Brain   
   > Trust, where they were looking for people to solve crazy problems with   
   > crazy solutions.  I submitted an entry where I talked about how close we   
   > could come to a "transporter" model of travel, which essentially worked   
   > like the containerization scenario you describe (i.e., you go into a   
   > "room" at one location, and when you exit it you're at a different   
   > location).  I don't think they ever made the show; I certainly didn't   
   > get on it.  :-)   
   >   
   > The bigger the room/pod, the less efficient it gets, though.  But there   
   > *is* something to be said about having a vehicle that is simply a   
   > platform for moving anything   
      
   Except riding a Segway looks so geeky.  ;-)   
      
      
      
      
   > , and then you fit it with modules that suit   
   > it to the particular purpose of packages or people or whatever.  Such   
   > ideas are considered too wacky for most people, I guess.   
      
   Some warehouses already use this sort of idea. There was one shown on   
   TV last week where the warehouse has small robots (similar to the robot   
   vaccum cleaners / lawn mowers) that move around autonomously, find the   
   shelving with the item requested and scuttle underneath to attach   
   themselves, then lift the entire shelving cabinet and carry it to the   
   people doing the packing, before returning the shelving to it's   
   appropriate place and finding the next one.   
      
   Obviously its a bit silly transporting the entire shelving unit around   
   the warehouse when a robot could (eventually) simply pick one item and   
   pack it itself.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)