Vacuum-Controlled Elevator Developed 313
Aenox writes "Vacuum Elevators of Florida have released a one-man elevator system that easily slots into buildings. It has gone on sale in the U.S. for around $20,000 and uses only electricity to power vaccum-inducing suction turbines that can lift 204Kg several floors up. They claim it provides a smooth ride but from the video it looks like it could use some oil."
Failsafes (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm glad to see this because this was my first thought on watching the video. I can imagine all sorts of overly dramatic Hollywood type scenarios...... Cut the power to the building.....drama ensues. Or, a couple of well placed bullets into the side of the plexiglas causing a sudden implosion and dramatic falling of the lift. Also, one would want to ensure there are no leaks from the capsule to the inside of the lift tube. That sort of thing could play havoc on your eardrums, sinuses and eustachian tubes. Ask anyone who has been in a plane when they open a cargo door before completely equalizing the pressure in the cabin...... Wow, talk about uncomfortable.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Failsafes (Score:2)
Usually there aren't too many survivors after such an event, so I doubt anyone here has actually had the opportunity to ask such a question.
It's like asking someone what a successful suicide feels like.
Re:Failsafes (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Failsafes - image links, etc (Score:4, Informative)
Here [demon.co.uk]
Probably a better example is Aloha Airlines flight 243, which looked a whole shitload worse.
Check out the picture on page 2 [aloha.net]
Only one fatality, which is kind of amazing if you look at the pictures (flight attendant blown out).
Re:Failsafes (Score:3, Interesting)
You don't live if you have explosive decomp at 40K feet. If there is a slow drop to ambient, maybe -- like a cargo door cracking open but not flying off. You will, however, pass out VERY quickly, so it isn't like you will care for long
But hey! If you manage to get your ox mask and stay concious, the pure O2 will help pacify you anyway! Good to go either way
bullets not a problem (Score:2)
Bullets won't be much a problem. The glass in this thing is the same thing they make bullet proof glass out of. Maybe not as thick, but it should still be enough. Even if not, this stuff won't shatter like glass, so the leak won't be as sudden.
Re:Failsafes (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Failsafes (Score:2)
Re:Failsafes (Score:5, Informative)
Elisha Otis, at the 1853-54 World's Fair. Interesting history of the safety elevator here [sterlingelevatorcons.com].
Re:Failsafes (Score:5, Informative)
No he didn't. He died of diptheria during an epidemic in 1861.
Re:Failsafes (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Failsafes (Score:2)
Re:Speaking of power; "only electricty?" (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Failsafes (Score:2)
The passenger capsule is lowered by turning off the vacuum turbine and allowing normal air pressure to return to the upper section of the tube. Thus, if the power fails, the passenger capsule will simply travel to the bottom floor in a no
Re:Failsafes (Score:2)
Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:5, Insightful)
Does NewScientist.com have editors?
Call me picky, but if you're doing a professional publication, there are some standards you ought to uphold.
But O'Connor adds that a series of mechanical breaks will activate should there be a sudden loss of pressure, to prevent the capsule falling.
Well. this certainly doesn't sound promising. I would think that in the event of a sudden loss of pressure, the elevator would 'break' quite satisfactorily on its own, without the need for additional mechanical help.
The elevator costs between $20,000 and £22,000.
That's actually quite a large price range, once you figure out the exchange rate.
Clearly someone over at NewScientist.com is asleep at the switch. The sad fact is that this is nothing new....even sadder is the fact that this sort of thing is now acceptable, even in professional publications.
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:5, Funny)
This statement is actually correct. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure mechanical arms break some of the passengers limbs and jam them into the sides of the elevator to prevent the elevator from falling, so technically they are mechanical break brakes.
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:2)
I wasn't sleeping! I was drunk!
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:2)
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:4, Funny)
If this upsets you, why are you reading Slashdot?!
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:2, Offtopic)
Not as much as I love my bold italic words.
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:2)
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:4, Funny)
"one or typographical errors"? *sigh*
Your post proves my point more eloquently than I ever could. Thank you.
Nice troll (Score:2)
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:4, Insightful)
Does it?
Well, yes...we've established that.
Tell me that there are people of reasonable IQ who would read that sentence and not know what I was saying.
Spelling and grammar rules exist so that people don't have to guess the meaning of a particular sentence. We have standards for a reason.
Personally, I rather an article has factuality over some anal compliance with grammar.
Personally, I wonder why you feel the two must be mutually exclusive.
You personally may prefer grammatically correct lies over truths that contain a couple of spelling mistaeks [sic].
My my, that's a mighty fine straw man you're building over there...just don't try to hang my name on him.
Just for the record, you were the one who introduced the (non)issue of factual accuracy into this conversation. Nowhere have I ever said that grammatical correctness is preferable to factual accuracy, and for you to attempt to insinuate that I did is disingenuous.
OK...now you're just being childish.
I don't get it.
Yes...you're making that painfully clear.
Aren't there other things in the world for someone like you to be concerned about?
Yes, but unlike you, I apparently have this preternatural ability to be concerned about multiple issues at once.
Let me ask you this, what is it that you do?
I'm a network administrator...not that my current employment is pertinent to this discussion...
I mean, give some credibility as to why people should follow your advice.
Because it's not *my* advice...it's the elementary rules of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. It's not like I'm somehow privy to the mysterious dark secrets of the English language...these rules are available to anyone who cares to pick up a textbook. Any highschool English teacher who read that article would have found the same errors I did.
Who exactly are you "Trip Master Monkey"?
Actually, if you would bother to read my previous posts, you would see that it's 'TripMaster Monkey', but perhaps I'm being *too* picky now... ^_^
And why should we listen to you..
Starting a sentence with a conjunction, question without a question mark, and two periods. I think you just answered your own question.
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:3, Insightful)
And you would think a (supposedly) professional publication such as New Scientist would at least ensure that each article was reviewed (and corrected, if need be) by an editor with the appropriate skills, assuming the authors were lacking thereof.
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:4, Insightful)
However, the article does not. Mixing British Pounds and US Dollars as it does is a *factual* mistake. It presumably meant to say twenty to twenty-two of one currency or the other. What they actually said was something like $15,000 off at one end or the other.
Yes, factual issues are more important than typographical issues. However, typos are easier to catch than errors. There is no reason not to make the minimal effort to catch the typos. You will catch some number of errors along the way (e.g. the incorrect currency symbol). Further, the minimal effort needed to find typos is still needed if you want to find errors, as you need to find where statements regarding facts are being made.
Another way of saying this is "If your realtor adds a 0 to the end of your house price, that is a typo. Would you then pay it as typos are unimportant?"
Re:Editor desperately needed at NewScientist.com (Score:2)
Surely you meant to type:
Give people a fucking brake and start your own magazine that will be profitable and stand up to your anal standards.
Not too expensive... (Score:5, Funny)
Sweet. My new Prius gets between 812448 RPH and 48 MPG. I think I've saved enough on gas to get one of these...
Re:Not too expensive... (Score:2)
Vacuum Elevators? (Score:5, Funny)
It's like... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's like... (Score:2)
Re:It's like... (Score:3, Funny)
The future makes me shiver... (Score:4, Funny)
Rick : I think Richard Harrelson has them.
Mr. Johnson : Get Richard in here NOW !
Zoooooooof - plop
Something I noticed (Score:3, Insightful)
If that is true there could be risks if stuff (like clothing) gets caught at the wrong places... Not very high I suppose - it's just like using an escalator - if you careless/stupid enough to get something caught you better hope it rips rather than you rip...
Re:Something I noticed (Score:2)
Re:Something I noticed (Score:3, Informative)
Apart for being safer, the modern doors do offer some interesting opportunites for the artist [talesofbalboa.com]
Re:Something I noticed (Score:3, Informative)
There is a detailed explanation [snopes.com] at snopes.com. The exact cause was a miswired controller stud which bypassed the safety features.
Other hospital accidents have been caused by the elevator cabs falling by several feet while a gurney was being pushed in or out.
According to an elevator expert [elevator-expert.com], most of these accidents are caused by infrequent maintenance.
From no
For Us Americans... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:For Us Americans... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:For Us Americans... (Score:2)
Re:For Us Americans... (Score:2)
DZM
Re:For Us Americans... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:For Us Americans... (Score:3, Funny)
Unfortunately at 204kg load capacity (Score:5, Funny)
oops make that 74, McDonalds are doing an all you can eat special today.
Re:Unfortunately at 204kg load capacity (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Unfortunately at 204kg load capacity (Score:2)
That's what overclocking is for,
204Kg? Rules out some markets (Score:3, Insightful)
Videos not /.-ed (yet) (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.vacuumelevators.com/video.htm [vacuumelevators.com]
Huh? Wha? (Score:2, Funny)
Dear Cowboyneal (Score:2)
Dear pikine (Score:2)
Dear pikine,
We editors no longer even care about Slashdot, much less some other site we link to. So shut up and buy a subscription.
Love,
Cowboyneal
These people are missing the main market. (Score:4, Insightful)
So the only market for this thing is going to be for rich people who'd rather blow money on a toy than take the stairs. While I'm sure there's a market for that, it's not going to be a big one.
Re:These people are missing the main market. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:These people are missing the main market. (Score:2)
Did nobody RTFA? (Score:2)
Wheelchair support coming in a future patch!
Re:These people are missing the main market. (Score:3, Interesting)
During my time working for astructured wiring subcontractor, I saw several of these places setup with small elevators, but the numbers I usu
Video mirror (Score:2, Informative)
http://mirrordot.org/stories/9c88d25a2a2d153850db
Loudness of suction pumps? (Score:2)
I certainly do not want a 120dB monster of an elevator in my home/business/whatever.
A tweak here and there... (Score:2)
My Uncle made an elevator (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:My Uncle made an elevator (Score:5, Informative)
Simple physics. Your water pressure it between 20 and 60psi. (Anything higher will break hoses) City water is generally on the high end because cities have to reach the upper floors of houses on top of hills, and regulators are a lot each to install and maintain than pumps. Well water is often on the low end because you set it for what you need.
20 psi means that if you have a tube with a piston with one square inch of surface area, the piston will hold up 20lbs. A little math and you can find how big a piston you need to lift the weight (Not mass, we care about fighting gravity) you are concerned about. Now just place the piston in a tube long enough, and apply water. It will lift your elevator.
The hard part is making this without digging a hold DOWN 2 stories to place your tube in. There are many solutions to this, they are left as an exercise for the reader.
I don't get it ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I don't get it ... (Score:2)
Re:I don't get it ... (Score:2)
They're planning a larger version, but it will usually be installed in new houses during construction.
Residential elevators [elevette.com] have been around for years, but they require more on-premises assembly and customization.
Hm... (Score:3, Funny)
Hmm I guess this elevator really sucks then...
Thanks, I'm here until Wednesday, try the veal!
Torrent for all videos (Score:3, Informative)
Directly linking the video (Score:2)
Only electricity? (Score:3, Insightful)
elevators don't run on guinea pig droppings. All modern elevators (excepting perhaps the Space Elevator) run on ONLY electricty.
Did I miss something here?
One question... (Score:2)
CowboyNEAL is a THIEF!!! :) (Score:3, Insightful)
2005-05-06 18:01:29 Elevator from Futurama! (Hardware,Technology) (rejected)
and a better description.
This elevator comes in 2 modes: 2 floor mode and a 3 floor mode. It is easy to install, you only need to make a round hole in the floor/ceiling and put the round tube-shaft through it. It works by pumping the air out of the tube from the top (a pump generates 87dBA of noise,) and since the pressure underneath the cabin stays the same, the cabin goes up.
Safety is guaranteed by a mechanical lock that stops the cabin dead in case if pressure under the cabin becomes weaker than the pressure from above. On the other hand if electricity cut off from the pump, the cabin wouldn't get stuck between the floors, it would slide down slowly due to slow pressure venting.
There is a clever cabin ventilation scheme...
anyway, this thing looks a lot like the mode of transportation used in Futurama and my last sentence was:
Now I wish someone came up with an american favorite Suicide Booth, then my day would be complete.
Does this remind anyone else... (Score:2)
well that sounds... (Score:3, Funny)
Poor Design (Score:2, Interesting)
While still a clever design, this is a giant step backwards because it does not provide positive position control. Vacumn just provides a force, not a means of controlling position. From the video it looked like he had to tweak the elevator position before he could open the door.
As for opening the door above the car while it's running, remember there is a vacumn holding the door shut with at least a few hundred lbf.
Why vacuum instead of pressure? (Score:2)
Does vacuum seem an odd choice? (Score:4, Interesting)
interesting. Google can't parse:
(pi * ((inches in 1 foot * 2)^2) * psi in 1 atm) / lbs in 1 ton
but substituting in values, you get:
(pi * ((12 * 2)^2) * 14.6959488) / 2000 = 13.2965812
OK. I guess that's not so very strange after all. In a 4 foot wide elevator, you can lift 13 tons with a hard vacuum above it. Damn. 15psi sure does add up quick.
Re:Does vacuum seem an odd choice? (Score:3, Funny)
You cant dig down in florida! (Score:3, Insightful)
Not handicapped accessible and other problems (Score:3, Interesting)
This elevator looks too small to accomodate a wheel chair. So, the only people who can use it are those who don't need it.
For the price of this elevator, you could install a full size elevator. I have used one elevator that I am told cost $30,000 to install and that included boring a vertical shaft and horizontal tunnel through the side of a mountain. For considerably less cost, you could build a single person elevator.
They claim that the elevator saves energy because it uses gravity on the descent. What they don't tell you is that it uses more than twice as much energy on the way up as a similarly sized elevator using the conventional counterweight design. A counterweight elevator only has to raise the weight of the occupants since the weight of the car is balanced out by the counterweight. Indeed, the counterweight might be as much as the weight of the car plus maximum occupancy load, in which case the elevator needs to use power to lower the car and only needs to release the brakes and overcome friction to raise. Futher, the inefficency of the vacuum pump could be considerable.
A hydraulic elevator of the size shown could also have been constructed using a cable or chain over a piston that travels half the distance as the elevator car (same design as used on many forklifts). This would be simpler, more reliable, and avoid the dynamic load problem described below. The design could be as compact and "portable" as the vacuum elevator.
Vacuum induced lift is a constant force rather than constant displacement technology. This is a very serious problem. When you step off the car, you can expect it to spring upwards. They probably hide this serious problem by making an elevator that can only serve two floors. At the top floor, you drive into a hard stop. At the bottom floor, you do not allow the door to open until the vacuum cylinder is fully vented. On a multifloor design, you could have a mechanical lock that engages before the door opens but then when the lock released there would be a sudden jolt if the passenger was not the same weight as the previous passenger (if any).
The large seals required and the fact that they must operate past doorways (unlike a hydraulic lift) will lead to significant maintenence problems.
This product looks to be pure gimmick. The technology used and other aspects of the design are totally inappropriate to the task.
Re:developed by microsoft? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:developed by microsoft? (Score:2)
Re:developed by microsoft? (Score:2)
Got it?
Re:(OT) Request: Help From Moderators (Score:2)
The Elderly and Disabled (Score:4, Informative)
The real answer is for the Elderly and the disabled. IF you check out That Home Site [gardenweb.com] you'll find a lot of interest in residential elevators. If it isn't feasible to buy a single level house, an elevator allows you full access to your entire abode.
Re:/.ing (Score:3, Informative)
Courtesy of mirrordot.org.
Re:/.ing (Score:2)
Re:Dangerous, to say the least (Score:2)
Exactly the same thing that happens in a standard elevator if the cable breaks. Purely mechanical brakes are activated if the elevator moves downward at too fast of a rate.
Re:Dangerous, to say the least (Score:2)
Re:use the stairs fatty ! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:use the stairs fatty ! (Score:2)
It isn't for me (Score:2)
I use the stairs. I even use the stairs when a hotel puts me on the 8Th floor.[1]
This is for some friends and relatives who can't take stairs. Have you seen what MS does to people? Ever see a 40 year old who cannot walk? It isn't pretty. Then there are general old people who can walk, but need help on stairs. I want an elevator in my house for them. Too bad this model isn't big enough for a wheelchair.
[1]If I can find ones that you can enter without setting off the fire alarm anyway. Back
Re:It isn't for me (Score:2)
It wasn't until I thought about it for a second that I realized you meant Multiple Sclerosis. Oops.
Re:firefox??? (Score:2)
Re:firefox??? (Score:2)
Initially, I had trouble as well. I was getting a page that said "SERVICE UNAVAILABLE". It was not a problem on my machine, however. There were so many people trying to see the same video that the server could not keep up (Google for "slashdot effect"). I tried the mirror link that was posted elsewhere, and it worked fine. I am running Firefox on a Fedora core
Re:This technology was first used... (Score:3, Funny)
I've heard that many an inventor has been foiled by prior art in fantasy movies. I move that we declare fantasy movies illegal, in order to protect intellectual property. Fantasy/scifi movies are like pirating the future!
Re:ENGADGET! (Score:2)
Re:A good problem (Score:2)
Re:Did they plan this out? (Score:3, Interesting)