Bringing a Wipeout style of racing to reality

[Phaze0352]

Hi guys and gals I need your help. I'm hoping to get some feed back from you and other members on the forum. You see I have a start up company which is currently building software and hardware for next generation maglev transportation. One of the reasons why I started this company was to see a real life Wipeout style of racing become a reality. What I would like to do is start a conversation with those who are more likely to participate in the sport in order to get feedback on how to launch the product as well as start building a real community around the sport itself. Below you will find one of the concepts for our prototype body

10304

***Note: Moderator please know that I did email the forum owner in order to gain permission but no responded. If you have any questions please PM***

[TurboTails8027-Icaras]

The main things to note are that in real life the crazy speeds wouldn't be doable, and that weapons and powerups would likewise not be viable.

[terra-wrists]

@phase0352,

what drugs are you on?

[AdHoc]

That's cute... Good luck!

[Phaze0352]

@TurboTails8027-Icaras no weapons or power ups. The Wipeout style I am referring to is frictionless travel, hovering just like the game without wheels. This technology is much like the technology that powers some of the test pods for the Space X Hyperloop competition. But instead of zipping along a tube the systems we are developing can move in any direction. This technology has huge implications in a ton of industries but more importantly I believe this technology is the foundation for the next evolutionary step in racing. One of my company’s main goals is to build, design and race maglev ships like in the picture above. Because the ships need to travel over non-ferrous metal in order to hover, maglev race tracks no longer need to be a permanent fixture in the landscape. My track designs allow for race tracks to be placed in any location and because the ship doesn’t rely on wheels we can race in almost any type of condition.

@terra-wrists I assure you I am not on drugs. I am one the first resellers and system integrators of the Arx Pax MFA hover engine. I have been working with the company for almost 2 years designing and buliding prototypes. My company is finally close to releasing something in 2017 and I would really like everyones input. Check out the link to the video to my business parteners demo reel and see the tech work for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMnFWpB_WrU

[DIXI200]

the future knocks on the door :clap.. I had already seen on YouTUBE these prototypes .. shocking their usage.

[AdHoc]

What's your business plan, how much do you plan on spending and investing in your project and where will you source these funds from?

[blackwiggle]

I suggest a proof of concept AG Slot car racing like game, then upscale.

I've been following this sort of thing since buying high powered magnets form K&J Magnetics, then receiving their news letters.

There has been attempts at RC model racing in a sort of AG racing format, using hovercraft mechanics.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=911123
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRTDxaaiZfM

It never took off, I think mainly due to lack of people knowing about it, and having a single manufacturer.....possibly also because steering so called AG craft via Aerofoils doesn't work quick enough, nor is it nearly as precise as needed.
Unless using some form of varying electronic control of magnetic strength to control steering, you would be pretty much stuck with the same problem.

I know we all want this.:rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpL-qDIo64

[Snakenator1]

I remember there being a proof of concept design where a car achieved something similar to anti-gravity through the use of the electro-static repulsion from magnets (albeit in a computer generated demonstration). Is this the concept you're aiming for with your design?

[Xpand]

Can't really do much with maglev when it comes to giving vehicles complete freedom of motion on a large surface. Ionocraft on the other hand, if one could find a lightweight but very powerful power supply we could have hover cars by tomorrow, because this technology is more than studied, it just lacks a good power supply, since it requires really high voltages to work, so high that our current ionocraft can't lift their energy supply. But they do have the problem of death by electrical shock and generating a lot of ozone... Quadcopter structures have been proven the most reliable, but for something that large it would require quite a bit of energy too.

People look at things with magnets as the solution to hover vehicles, but magnets are the absolute worst. From all the possible hovering technologies we have, magnetic systems are the only ones that depend on very specific, rare and expensive surfaces to work, whether it's a magnetic surface or a copper surface to put lenz's law in practice, not to mention the loss of degrees of freedom. The only advantage is the almost unnoticeable amount of energy it requires to run, compared to the other methods described above.

[Snakenator1]

if one could find a lightweight but very powerful power supply we could have hover cars by tomorrow, because this technology is more than studied, it just lacks a good power supply, since it requires really high voltages to work, so high that our current ionocraft can't lift their energy supply. But they do have the problem of death by electrical shock and generating a lot of ozone...

Unless we somehow invent portable nuclear fission/fusion generators there is no power supply for them (would nuclear power even supply the required energy?)
Then the other problem like you said is ozone, Tropospheric ozone causes serious health problems with those who suffer from a respiratory disease such as asthma and also increases everyone's susceptibility to respiratory infections, unless we find a way to have the Ionocraft to reduce there ozone production they wouldn't get past health and safety assessments. Especially if there is also a risk of them killing the pilot.

Really the practical use of Ionocraft would be severely limited from the start if they ever come to fruition.

[blackwiggle]

There is always a different method.

Once initial motion has started, one could always use a different method of partially self sustaining power, via a electo magnetic friction motor [ basically a Dynamo], and static electricity build up, containment of that as a power source, then gradually release power.

[Phaze0352]

@Adhoc...The technology has a ton of applications and we are working with other industries to develop products specifically for them but in regards to the racing aspect, we will be offering a small RC version of the ships along with track systems for them to run. The tracks that are being developed are modular and can be assembled in a number of different ways. Think I REALLY big hotwheels track. I'm currently working on getting material cost down.

As for funding I've already spent a good amount of money on just R&D. Mainly using personal funds and liquidating some of my small stock portfolio. The prototype chassis and control system hardware is done, now we are in the software "alpha" stage (which is the tricky bit). After the "alpha" is done we move to angel investors and public testing.

- - - Updated - - -


I suggest a proof of concept AG Slot car racing like game, then upscale.

I've been following this sort of thing since buying high powered magnets form K&J Magnetics, then receiving their news letters.

There has been attempts at RC model racing in a sort of AG racing format, using hovercraft mechanics.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=911123
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRTDxaaiZfM

It never took off, I think mainly due to lack of people knowing about it, and having a single manufacturer.....possibly also because steering so called AG craft via Aerofoils doesn't work quick enough, nor is it nearly as precise as needed.
Unless using some form of varying electronic control of magnetic strength to control steering, you would be pretty much stuck with the same problem.

I know we all want this.:rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpL-qDIo64

AWESOME... The controls for the maglev ships are much faster and way more precise. It's not perfect yet, but you have a ton of control. Thanks for the links Blackwiggle

- - - Updated - - -

@xpand…To some extent you are correct. The movement of maglev vehicles using Lenz law is limited to only being able to work over non-ferrous surfaces. But the cost isn’t as bad as you would think. Copper is expensive but we use Aluminum which cost much less. As I mentioned before I’m trying to figure out a way to bring that cost down a bit more. As of right now is roughly about $10 to $20 USD more per square meter than asphalt. In fact the Hyperloop is using Aluminum in their tracks systems now. As to the loss of motion, aside from ride or hover height being restricted, there is none. I am 6’4” 250lbs but yet when I’m on a “dumb” hover board set up (meaning a hoverboard with no control systems) a 97lb woman can move me in any direction they want with little to no effort.
Finally the power requirements for the maglev hover engines are not as bad as you may think. Currently the RC ships run on off the shelf RC batteries which supply enough power to maintain hover for 15 mins. We are looking at custom battery manufactures now to see if we can double that time.

[Xpand]

I did say the advantage of maglev technology is the low power consumption, aside from low (read 'no') friction, that's not really what I'm worried about, but making a whole track surface out of aluminium seems very costly. It's one thing to make rails, we can almost approximate that to a couple of very thin lines of aluminium, but for a race track we're talking about several thousand of square meters of aluminium, I mean, say we have something like Daytona, for a simple comparison, 20m wide, 4km long, would be around 80 thousand square meters of aluminium. I guess you can reduce that a lot by making sure that the whole track isn't aluminium, but rather several aluminium stripes alternated with asphalt, spaced just enough that the cars don't feel the lack of magnetic field. A cheaper material with the same properties is needed in my opinion. Probably some paramagnetic material made of abundant resources like silicon. However, I wouldn't be against seeing a proof of concept working on an aluminium track. Maybe start with something small, an RC version or something, heck if it proves to be cheap enough you might have started your own brand of levitating "slot" car toys.

[Phaze0352]

All valid points and concerns that I’ve been over a number of times (going 2 years with this project) and we have done some experiments with diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials like silicon and graphite. But we have had no success as of yet. One of my mentors is a metallurgist and has worked in aerospace for over 30 years and he believes it is possible but I would need to do a crap ton of R&D. Another possibility is using recycled aluminum, which I’m playing around with now but that turns into a cost vs. quality thing. I believe the answer lays in a hybrid of the 2 but I need to do more research. With me being in a start up, a dad and having a day gig it’s a little hard to dump a ton of money into R&D at that level, at least for now. So that’s the reason why we are going with RC versions of the ships to start out. This way we can work the bugs out, build amazing 2 or 3 story tracks that will capture the imagination and hopefully fuel the sport. It is also why working with this community and others is important, I want to get it right or as close to being right at launch. I know I won’t sell a ton off the bat or people will think I’m nuts but it’s cool. I just want to see ships in the air. As for the branded ships and parts,we plan to have those and the tracks available in early to mid 2017.

[Snakenator1]

I certainly commend your effort into making such a project a reality without sounding like a naive young kid. Certainly wish you the best of luck with this project, like many people have already said start small scale and take baby steps, patience is a virtue.
Lets us know how things go, I'm sure all of us would love to hear about the progress you make!

[Ace3000]

we plan to have those and the tracks available in early to mid 2017.

Huh. Fun Fact: That was the establishment date of FEISAR in wip3out, before it was retconned.

[blackwiggle]

I almost forgot, there was this bunch of people in Germany that made a wipeout track out of cardboard and ran RC cars with on board cameras, using a old arcade steering wheel and TV to control it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF2v0HfOGJ8

Forum member Mad-Ice [Holland] is heavily into slot car racing, or at least was last time I heard.

Here's a link to K & J magnetics.
https://www.kjmagnetics.com/

Check out their YouTube page, as I remember them sending me a video of a little mock up levitating car running on a Aluminium track, the video is bound to be there.

[Phaze0352]

Huh. Fun Fact: That was the establishment date of FEISAR in wip3out, before it was retconned.

Nice:rock

[Phaze0352]

Hi guys I know its been awhile sense my last post but I wanted to share some updates.
We have launched a website for people check out the project www.halcyonracingtech.com
Sign up for the newsletter to keep up with the major announcements and I also I just started a Twitter (@HalcyonRT) as well as a Facebook page www.facebook.com/HalcyonRacingTech
Wipeout and it's surrounding community have been a huge influence on me and my teams work not to mention the main reason I'm doing this. We should have a couple of RC maglev kits, chassis and small tracks available for sale before the end of the year. We just need to work some bugs out of the guidance system.

Below are a couple of our 3D concepts of our full size racing ships as well as our RC track. For more pics check out the site
10656
10657