7 Transportation

The fundamental physical concepts of force and motion come into their own as essential ideas in the design and function of moving vehicles. When we are passengers in vehicles, these become overt sensory experiences as we encounter linear acceleration, centripetal acceleration, changes in orientation relative to gravity, vibration, the sounds of varying power in engines, and the sound of moving air or water. Indeed, significant aspects of human-centered vehicle design attend to the comfort or discomfort of these experiences. At a deeper level lies the essential connections between energy supply, power plant, and drive train or thrust mechanism needed to make the vehicle move. Structures must bear loads and accommodate the vehicle to its environment, protecting passengers and other contents. Drag and friction must be minimized. The dynamical behavior of vehicles must be understood for effective control and stability. Steering and guidance are now rapidly evolving from human controlled systems into autonomous vehicle technologies. These technologies are adapted to rovers designed to explore the surfaces of remote planets and moons.

Once a hobby for radio-control enthusiasts, small drones for air, sea, and land operation have become serious business. At the other extreme of scales, infrastructures such as roadways, railways, shipping lanes, and air-traffic control systems span entire continents and even the globe. Spacecraft require an interplanetary scale of operation, guidance and communication. Finally, elaborate systems and infrastructures use transportation vehicles to pick up, route, and deliver goods and services. Large networks of containerized shipping have radically transformed raw materials and manufacturing into a global system. New services mediated by mobile communications provide transportation of people, meals, and consumer shopping items “on demand”. Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately – the “Star Trek” idea of beaming people and materials remains science fiction…but some technologies like remotely specified 2D and 3D printing allow some parts of this dream to be realized. Finally, quantum “teleportation” is the source of intriguing conceptual issues regarding coupling physical events across distance.

General resources

NASA

Space X

Blue Origin

Professional societies

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Bibliography

-- (in preparation)