AFAIK . . . Passive Laser Restraint System = Invisible Seatbelts.LoneKnight wrote: . . . the Passive Laser Restraint System so widely used in
the last two seasons.....thing is, What the heck is PLRS?!?
K.I.T.T. Technicalities
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LoneKnight
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I knew what it did, in terms of the actual meaning....but in real life? Come on now.......DJGM2002 wrote:AFAIK . . . Passive Laser Restraint System = Invisible Seatbelts.LoneKnight wrote: . . . the Passive Laser Restraint System so widely used in
the last two seasons.....thing is, What the heck is PLRS?!?
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Darknight
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Sorry for the length, but here goes...
Lasers holding someone back would certainly go against the popular belief that light doesn't have mass. Personally, I believe that it does have mass. Assuming that it does have mass is the only way I can figure to explain the phenomenon of PLR. If, however, you were using lasers strong enough to physically restrain a human by kinetic energy(the combined physical impacts of each photon), they would very, very likely bring extreme harm or death to the individual. I personally think that PLR is one of those "magical" abilities of KITT's, like using Microjam to manipulate mechanical locks.
"Auto Cruise is definitely a possibility. I read something in Popular Science a few years back where they had concept cars that had sensors in front of them and underneath them. The concept was that there would be a cable under the pavement and that the car would follow that cable with it's sensor. Kinda like a monorail. The sensor in front would keep the car at a safe distance from the car in front."
KITT would need to operate without a cable beneath the road. He would have to be able to maneuver independently, even off-road. You are right, though. Auto-cruise is a definite possibility.
"Now what about the Emergency Braking System? There is no way that that those fins can bring the car from 260-0 in a matter of feet. I know the EBS is possible, but not that quickly. It would still take about 100 yards to completely slow down. Even with the assistance of wheel brakes. "
Air resistance increases exponentially. Stick your hand out the window at 55mph, and you'll feel a fairly stiff amount of pressure. Do the same at around 300mph, and you'll be lucky to keep your hand. For a vehicle as aerodynamically sound as KITT, increasing the drag by as much as 50% could provide a very sizeable gain in stopping power. I agree that EBS couldn't stop him in just a few feet, though. I figure in my head that it's possible to make him stop in about 30 feet from 300mph. That's an average of 10mph/ft. With retrorockets, electric motors applying reverse torque to the wheels, regular brakes, and wind flaps, I say it's possible.
"What about KITT's gadgets on the inside. Like that scanner that Michael uses to have KITT analyze paint, metal or any other material for substance."
The chemical analyzer is an amazing little device. You could, however, use things like a spectrometer to determine a sample's elemental makeup, electron microscope to look for micro-organisms and view atom groupings of large elements, UV light to look for phosphorescent content, a Geiger counter to test radioactivity, and a pH indicator, among other useful instruments. Getting all these into one tiny little device, and making the AI able to operate and interpret the results is another matter altogether.
"Also, KITT must have had wireless Internet before the Internet? He could bring up information on somebody in no time."
Yes. He had the ability to access nearly any public or private file that he wanted, not to mention the Foundation database, along with his own data banks, without any wire hookups. That's a pretty amazing ability for that time.
"Turbo Boost is possible from a moving start, but not from a standstill."
Turboboost could possibly be done from a standstill, but if he were tightly enclosed, he wouldn't have enough room to gather the momentum to break free. Lead-lined boxcars prove especially efficient at this, since he can't transmit through lead(what was the episode?). My personal take on Turboboost calls for the use of either rockets or compressed gas. In order to avoid carrying more gasoline for a liquid rocket, or having to use uncontrollable dry fuel rocket motors, I prefer the compressed gas. It could come through about four aimable nozzles beneath the vehicle, producing the thrust to give KITT temporary flight at almost any angle, perhaps even straight up. He never could do that in the show. If the nozzles were aimed and metered just right, KITT could potentially even levitate for a short time, or skim the surface like a hovercraft for a few seconds. Getting enough thrust to lift a vehicle would drain even a large compressed air tank in no time, though, so any "floating" act would be over real quick.
Even so, a liquid nitrogen tank with a temperature regulation unit and a chamber for the quick release of pressurized gas could do just the trick. 1 psi produces 1 pound of thrust for every square inch that it reacts upon. I know...that's real brilliant, haha. Bear with me, though. If 462.5 psi escapes through four stationary rocket style nozzles with only 2 sq. in. of reaction area each, that comes to 3,700lbs of static thrust, which is enough to keep a 3,700 lb object suspended, or accelerate a 3,500lb object vertically at a rate of 6400 feet/sec/sec, which comes to 72.72mph in 1 second, or 145.44mph in 2 seconds. We don't know what KITT weighed but I imagine that it's close to 3,500 with all his equipment. That's just a guess,though. He could have weighed 2,800 or so. No one knows for sure. I do hope I gave sufficient evidence to support my idea for compressed/liquid gas.
God bless,
DK
Lasers holding someone back would certainly go against the popular belief that light doesn't have mass. Personally, I believe that it does have mass. Assuming that it does have mass is the only way I can figure to explain the phenomenon of PLR. If, however, you were using lasers strong enough to physically restrain a human by kinetic energy(the combined physical impacts of each photon), they would very, very likely bring extreme harm or death to the individual. I personally think that PLR is one of those "magical" abilities of KITT's, like using Microjam to manipulate mechanical locks.
"Auto Cruise is definitely a possibility. I read something in Popular Science a few years back where they had concept cars that had sensors in front of them and underneath them. The concept was that there would be a cable under the pavement and that the car would follow that cable with it's sensor. Kinda like a monorail. The sensor in front would keep the car at a safe distance from the car in front."
KITT would need to operate without a cable beneath the road. He would have to be able to maneuver independently, even off-road. You are right, though. Auto-cruise is a definite possibility.
"Now what about the Emergency Braking System? There is no way that that those fins can bring the car from 260-0 in a matter of feet. I know the EBS is possible, but not that quickly. It would still take about 100 yards to completely slow down. Even with the assistance of wheel brakes. "
Air resistance increases exponentially. Stick your hand out the window at 55mph, and you'll feel a fairly stiff amount of pressure. Do the same at around 300mph, and you'll be lucky to keep your hand. For a vehicle as aerodynamically sound as KITT, increasing the drag by as much as 50% could provide a very sizeable gain in stopping power. I agree that EBS couldn't stop him in just a few feet, though. I figure in my head that it's possible to make him stop in about 30 feet from 300mph. That's an average of 10mph/ft. With retrorockets, electric motors applying reverse torque to the wheels, regular brakes, and wind flaps, I say it's possible.
"What about KITT's gadgets on the inside. Like that scanner that Michael uses to have KITT analyze paint, metal or any other material for substance."
The chemical analyzer is an amazing little device. You could, however, use things like a spectrometer to determine a sample's elemental makeup, electron microscope to look for micro-organisms and view atom groupings of large elements, UV light to look for phosphorescent content, a Geiger counter to test radioactivity, and a pH indicator, among other useful instruments. Getting all these into one tiny little device, and making the AI able to operate and interpret the results is another matter altogether.
"Also, KITT must have had wireless Internet before the Internet? He could bring up information on somebody in no time."
Yes. He had the ability to access nearly any public or private file that he wanted, not to mention the Foundation database, along with his own data banks, without any wire hookups. That's a pretty amazing ability for that time.
"Turbo Boost is possible from a moving start, but not from a standstill."
Turboboost could possibly be done from a standstill, but if he were tightly enclosed, he wouldn't have enough room to gather the momentum to break free. Lead-lined boxcars prove especially efficient at this, since he can't transmit through lead(what was the episode?). My personal take on Turboboost calls for the use of either rockets or compressed gas. In order to avoid carrying more gasoline for a liquid rocket, or having to use uncontrollable dry fuel rocket motors, I prefer the compressed gas. It could come through about four aimable nozzles beneath the vehicle, producing the thrust to give KITT temporary flight at almost any angle, perhaps even straight up. He never could do that in the show. If the nozzles were aimed and metered just right, KITT could potentially even levitate for a short time, or skim the surface like a hovercraft for a few seconds. Getting enough thrust to lift a vehicle would drain even a large compressed air tank in no time, though, so any "floating" act would be over real quick.
Even so, a liquid nitrogen tank with a temperature regulation unit and a chamber for the quick release of pressurized gas could do just the trick. 1 psi produces 1 pound of thrust for every square inch that it reacts upon. I know...that's real brilliant, haha.
Bear with me, though. If 462.5 psi escapes through four stationary rocket style nozzles with only 2 sq. in. of reaction area each, that comes to 3,700lbs of static thrust, which is enough to keep a 3,700 lb object suspended, or accelerate a 3,500lb object vertically at a rate of 6400 feet/sec/sec, which comes to 72.72mph in 1 second, or 145.44mph in 2 seconds. We don't know what KITT weighed but I imagine that it's close to 3,500 with all his equipment. That's just a guess,though. He could have weighed 2,800 or so. No one knows for sure. I do hope I gave sufficient evidence to support my idea for compressed/liquid gas.God bless,
DK
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Vchat20
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wow. very good. im impressed.
th PLRS could very well be replaced by just old fashioned seatbelts.
as for Auto Cruise, I dont see how scanners checking for the yellow and white lines couldnt keep it on the road. and those same scanners could very easily check for a path if he does go off-road.
but with all this tech being connected all to the central computer (KITT), you gotta wonder how much power it would need to actually handle all the data coming from each component.
th PLRS could very well be replaced by just old fashioned seatbelts.
as for Auto Cruise, I dont see how scanners checking for the yellow and white lines couldnt keep it on the road. and those same scanners could very easily check for a path if he does go off-road.
but with all this tech being connected all to the central computer (KITT), you gotta wonder how much power it would need to actually handle all the data coming from each component.
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Darknight
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Sensing the yellow and white lines could keep it on the road for a while, but it would need to be able to perform emergency maneuvers, and if you ran into a patch where the paint was faint(hehe, I made a rhyme)he would have to be able to keep going anyway, and if there was a sharp curve, he may be going too fast to adjust unless he was reading the land far ahead. It all depends on how the scanners are set up. If they lock specifically onto a certain color of stripe, they'd be of little use off the road. If they were more versatile, however, you could lock them if you wished, or let them read the general landscape more freely. Above scanners, however, is the interpretation. That's what matters most. Having a car that can figure out traffic patterns, read traffic lights, and take you many miles down the road safely to your destination requires a huge number of decisions per second. The scanners would have to be as streamlined as possible, reporting only useful information, so it would have to prioritize, just as we humans do. Doing so properly would dramatically reduce the amount of processing power required.
PLR would need more than just seatbelts to replace it. I advocate at least mounting the whole seat on shock absorbers. You could add to that a shock absorber on the wheel, just in case. Possibly(this is getting a bit further out there) you could have the whole passenger compartment existing as a single unit, with shock absorbing material between it and the body. It would require diligent thought and planning, however. It would help save electronic equipment from shock, though, as well as making the ride smoother.
DK
PLR would need more than just seatbelts to replace it. I advocate at least mounting the whole seat on shock absorbers. You could add to that a shock absorber on the wheel, just in case. Possibly(this is getting a bit further out there) you could have the whole passenger compartment existing as a single unit, with shock absorbing material between it and the body. It would require diligent thought and planning, however. It would help save electronic equipment from shock, though, as well as making the ride smoother.
DK
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cloudkitt
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One thing i wanna know why they never used for stopping from SPM was this: Remember the episode where they had knocked out Micheal put him in KITT, and rolled KITT towards the edge of a cliff? KITT fired the Turbo Boost Jets directly forward which stopped him, why didn't they just use that?
Michael: "KITT! Where are ya?!"
K.I.T.T.: "I'm in your parking space, Michael, where else would I be?"
K.I.T.T.: "I'm in your parking space, Michael, where else would I be?"
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LoneKnight
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cpatterson1177
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Getting Gas
Did KITT use some special fuel to power the engine or did he use normal gasoline? We never see Michael stop at the local gas station and give KITT a quick fillip. But we never see Bonnie putting any special fuel into KITT either. KITT always had that jet engine sound to him that makes ya think that he didn't use regular unleaded (or regular gas as it was back in the 80's).
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Skav
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We saw him fill up in 'No big thing' the first season episode, and he can use any combustible fluids.
Skav
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LoneKnight
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This question was brought up awhile ago....I think we determined that standard gasoline in an engine such as KITTs wouldn't last. Considering that, in most modern aircraft your standard 89 octane would burn up as fast as you put it in.
Now, we're talking about KITT here. If he can use standard gasoline, then there could possibly be a system inside that will convert the gas to be usable in KITTs engine, perhaps the gas sits in a tank where it is treated or conditioned, then fed into the engine.
Now, we're talking about KITT here. If he can use standard gasoline, then there could possibly be a system inside that will convert the gas to be usable in KITTs engine, perhaps the gas sits in a tank where it is treated or conditioned, then fed into the engine.
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Darknight
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The question of octane ratings comes down to a few variables like compression ratio, design of the engine, the richness or leanness of the fuel/air mixture, and the amount of power and efficiency you hope to achieve. High compression ratios require high octane ratings to avoid detonation. Detonation occurs when the combustion produces a supersonic shockwave that can severely damage or destroy an engine. By using fuels that burn more slowly, you can reduce or eliminate detonation. It works especially well for piston engines, which need a smooth, consistant power stroke to preserve the strength of the pistons, rods, wrist pins, rings and crankshaft.
There are drawbacks, however. High compression ratios require energy to compress all that air and fuel, they can be hard to start without high-torque starter motors, and high octane gasoline is more expensive. Usually, you make up for it by increased burning efficiency, but I think there's a better way. My engine would likely use a low compression setup, with lean-burn technology, to extract every bit of energy available from a given amount of gasoline. It wouldn't use conventional pistons, and octane would become almost irrelevant. Compression would be variable on-the-fly, whereas in other motors it's not changeable. For highest efficiency, you could use low compression, lean burn, but for quicker bursts of power, you could bump up the compression, and run richer. For normal cruising, it would likely stay at a constant RPM level, charging the batteries which power the electric motors. For fast acceleration, the gasoline engine would engage the wheels via some type of fluid clutch set to engage at a particular RPM level, while the electric motors continued to pull. Given that the very best piston motors get between 35-40% efficiency(I'm being optimistic), I believe my combination could achieve close to 80%. I can't prove it, without releasing more particulars of my engine, but I believe it. Let's just say that my motor wouldn't waste so much energy pulling and pushing a piston, idling at stops, and trying to reach compression ratios of 9:1 or 10:1.
Oh, one big thing...ignition. Standard piston engine ignitions are horribly flawed in basic design. They only allow for a tiny spark. Most plug gaps are between .040 and .060 inches. Why not have a system that turns the entire combustion chamber into a firestorm of electrical energy? Instead of burning "almost" all of the fuel, why not burn every last droplet? More power, more efficiency, and a greener tomorrow...(I'm not a hippie, I promise!)
DK
There are drawbacks, however. High compression ratios require energy to compress all that air and fuel, they can be hard to start without high-torque starter motors, and high octane gasoline is more expensive. Usually, you make up for it by increased burning efficiency, but I think there's a better way. My engine would likely use a low compression setup, with lean-burn technology, to extract every bit of energy available from a given amount of gasoline. It wouldn't use conventional pistons, and octane would become almost irrelevant. Compression would be variable on-the-fly, whereas in other motors it's not changeable. For highest efficiency, you could use low compression, lean burn, but for quicker bursts of power, you could bump up the compression, and run richer. For normal cruising, it would likely stay at a constant RPM level, charging the batteries which power the electric motors. For fast acceleration, the gasoline engine would engage the wheels via some type of fluid clutch set to engage at a particular RPM level, while the electric motors continued to pull. Given that the very best piston motors get between 35-40% efficiency(I'm being optimistic), I believe my combination could achieve close to 80%. I can't prove it, without releasing more particulars of my engine, but I believe it. Let's just say that my motor wouldn't waste so much energy pulling and pushing a piston, idling at stops, and trying to reach compression ratios of 9:1 or 10:1.
Oh, one big thing...ignition. Standard piston engine ignitions are horribly flawed in basic design. They only allow for a tiny spark. Most plug gaps are between .040 and .060 inches. Why not have a system that turns the entire combustion chamber into a firestorm of electrical energy? Instead of burning "almost" all of the fuel, why not burn every last droplet? More power, more efficiency, and a greener tomorrow...(I'm not a hippie, I promise!)
DK
Last edited by Darknight on Sat May 31, 2003 2:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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cpatterson1177
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Darknight
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I believe you're thinking of the horrific 4-6-8 engine, which would fire only on the numbers of cylinders necessary to meet the immediate power demands of the vehicle. It had problems with the valves, mainly, but it was a noble undertaking. They have since revived it in a similar engine, however, with better success.
My engine idea is radically different from these. You wouldn't recognize it as an engine if you saw it.
With regard to piston engines, however, there are more advances left to be made. The auto industry has amazing technologies available, but they don't release them until they have to. It's dispicable, if you ask me.
Even so, electric valves for piston engines would make a huge impact. They would increase the RPM range, while allowing a custom "virtual cam" setup so you could tune your car for optimum torque, or top end horsepower, or a mixture thereof, or both, and reprogram the profile after each drive, if you wished.
Low RPM torque is great for efficiency in a piston vehicle, and also great for everyday driveability. The day of a working electric valve should be here soon.
DK
My engine idea is radically different from these. You wouldn't recognize it as an engine if you saw it.
With regard to piston engines, however, there are more advances left to be made. The auto industry has amazing technologies available, but they don't release them until they have to. It's dispicable, if you ask me.
Even so, electric valves for piston engines would make a huge impact. They would increase the RPM range, while allowing a custom "virtual cam" setup so you could tune your car for optimum torque, or top end horsepower, or a mixture thereof, or both, and reprogram the profile after each drive, if you wished.
Low RPM torque is great for efficiency in a piston vehicle, and also great for everyday driveability. The day of a working electric valve should be here soon.
DK
