Horizontal elevators will change how we design and build cities

[M II A II R II K]

HORIZONTAL ELEVATORS WILL CHANGE HOW WE DESIGN AND BUILD CITIES


DECEMBER 3, 2014

By MATTHEW BURGESS

Read More: http://www.factor-tech.com/future-ci...-build-cities/

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Engineering company ThyssenKrupp has made this a reality with their magnet controlled elevator system MULTI. The set-up sees elevators being able to move along horizontal shafts as they are no longer connected to ropes that pull them up and down. It also allows more than one cabin to be in each elevator shaft. It is due to be tested in 2016 but the new system may change how we design our future cities and buildings.

- “As the nature of building constructions evolve, it is also necessary to adapt elevator systems to better suit the requirements of buildings and high volumes of passengers,” said Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG. --- “From the one dimensional vertical arrangement to a two dimensional horizontal/vertical arrangement with more than one or two cabins operating in each shaft, MULTI represents a proud moment in ThyssenKrupp’s history of presenting cutting-edge transport technologies that best serve current mobility needs.”

- “In the future more and more people will live in megacities. Today, building development is constrained by the forms of mobility available.” --- “The ability for the elevator to move horizontally as well as vertically means that buildings will be able to be designed into different shapes that could reflect its environment or be built around pre-existing structures.”

- The creators said the elevator system can increase a building’s usability by up to 25% as it will take up significantly less floor space than traditional elevators do. The system essentially works on a circular system, which involves the cabins running in a loop at a speed of 5m/s. The company said there will be transfer stops every 50 metres, which means that there will be access to an elevator every 15 to 30 seconds.

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• Video Link

[MolsonExport]

^cool video and concept. I for one still prefer needle-like buildings.

[aaron38]

If they move horizontally they should be named "turbolifts"

[M II A II R II K]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^cool video and concept. I for one still prefer needle-like buildings.

You could still have that, by adding a shell around the structure, and perhaps even making use of the empty space to still have stick buildings.

[scalziand]

Just noticed in the diagrams that Thyssen-Krupp is building a new elevator testing tower.

http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=104738

[Swede]

Originally Posted by aaron38

If they move horizontally they should be named "turbolifts"

T-K will have a product name for their model. Kone will follow with a version of their own. They'll need a common name for all the types that can do all that is shown in the vid (and more). Turbolifts is the obvious choice.


As for the idea that this tech will lead to towers with buldges... I don't buy it. Apart from a few buildings, a tower that is basically an extrusion upwards of the plot area will still be the dominating form.

[Large Cat]

Maybe. But I can imagine a sort of "tetris effect" happening in limited form, where vertical space above existing low-rise buildings (ones worth keeping) is allowed to be built into by adjacent developments. See for example the proposed tower over Waterfront Station in Vancouver, which takes up minimal space on the ground but lots of extra vertical space above the old station building.

It might do a lot to mess with our conception of land ownership in highly developed cities. Probably a good thing. There will also be something called "sky ownership".

[gttx]

Originally Posted by Large Cat

There will also be something called "sky ownership".

Air rights?

[M II A II R II K]

MAGNETICALLY LEVITATING ELEVATORS COULD RESHAPE SKYLINES

Read More: http://www.popsci.com/elevator-will-reshape-skylines

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The system, called Multi, may help make possible buildings of unprecedented size and energy efficiency, like this conceptual Edison Tower. Patrick Bass, CEO of ThyssenKrupp North America, says supertall, power-producing skyscrapers could help accommodate booming urbanization.

- The Edison Tower, dreamed up by German developer Frank Jendrusch, will reach nearly 4,300 feet--about four-fifths of a mile. The idea is to create an all-in-one space with residences, offices, shopping, and recreation. Jendrusch aims to build the tower by 2030. --- The Edison Tower, dreamed up by German developer Frank Jendrusch, will reach nearly 4,300 feet--about four-fifths of a mile. The idea is to create an all-in-one space with residences, offices, shopping, and recreation. Jendrusch aims to build the tower by 2030.

- Maglev will enable Multi to “float” to its destination. Magnets in the car will repel opposing magnets along the track, causing the car to hover. A separate set of coils along the track will push and pull the car in its intended direction. --- Multi is far more nimble than a pulley system. To change orientation, the section of rail carrying the elevator car will rotate, shifting the direction of the moving magnetic field. All that additional space will allow for creative interior designs, like parks.

- With its unique star shape, the core of the Edison Tower will act similarly to a solar updraft tower, using the flow of hot air to turn internal turbines. Along with photovoltaics, it’ll produce power for the building. --- Up to 20 percent of any high-rise building is consumed by elevator space. ThyssenKrupp estimates that Multi could reduce the elevator footprint in future buildings by up to 50 percent.

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[jbermingham123]

This idea pertains just as much to the autonomous cars developments thread in the transportation section, so I have posted it there too.

A conclusion that most autonomous car enthusiasts have reached is that autonomous cars are bound to evolve into something more like personal rapid transit. This is because autonomous cars will never leave the roads, and thus they might as well simply be placed on tracks. Another conclusion that many have reached is that they will be much smaller. a little while ago, GMC unveiled an autonomous car project that had only two wheels; essentially a Segway with a roof and seats. There will also be no need for individual car ownership, saving families hundreds of billions of dollars in car payments.

If you stop and think about this for a moment, cars are destined to become small, self-driving compartments on tracks, used by all but owned and operated by few. Sound familiar? ELEVATORS!! My idea is this: The system described in this thread could simply be an extension of the roads and streets of future cities. The unidirectional shaft design is very much like a road, with dedicated shafts for upward cabs and dedicated shafts for downward cabs. Imagine requesting a car to pull up on the road nearest your house/building (streets in front of every single house will become impractical, as nobody will own cars), getting in, and arriving not only at your building, but at your floor!!

[drumz0rz]

I was actually dreaming up a new elevator system similar to this so it's really cool to read about.

If you've ridden the Tower of Terror ride at Disney you may know that those cars are actually autonomous vehicles, and they share the lift shafts. When you board the car travels horizontally away from the door into the shaftway, and at the end, it moves forward back to the door.

By de-coupling the car from the shaft / hoist equipment, I think it revolutionizes the elevator industry and design. This is what I dream of:

Imagine a lobby of 6 or 12 doors. Using destination dispatch, you're assigned to a door, and a... let's call them 'Autonomous Lift Vehicles' (ALVs) is sent to pick you up. Once in the ALV, you move horizontally to the shared shaftway, and then up you go to your destination floor. When you arrive on the floor, there may only be 2 or 4 doors. You move horizontally out of the shaftway and to the door. This lets other ALVs pass by while that ALV is loading and unloading.

Buildings no longer need to employ multiple shaftways for different zones (low rise, mid rise, high rise) or sky lobbies to reduce floor plate space. Now a few shaftways in the core handle all the up and down building traffic and the lobbies are offset from the shaftways.

Similar to how an amusement park operates the trains of a roller coaster, the ALVs could be stored in a basement garage when not in use. Here they could be serviced without disruption to the building. Depending on demand levels, ALVs would be added and removed from the system as needed. Overnight on the weekend? Perhaps only 2 or 3 can serve the whole building. Friday afternoon rush hour? You might need 80 ALVs in circulation.

Vertical travel could be compressed by using a moving blocking system similar to CBTC on subway and commuter rail lines. The biggest bottle neck would be passenger loading, which is why you could have a single vertical shaftway split into 2-8 different loading zones on the lobby floor.

I wish I could work on this project, it seems as the next big evolutionary jump in elevator tech and ultimately high rise design.

[samsonawane08]

Very interesting but the manufacturers of such an elevator system need to make sure that the system is designed in such a way that any kind of collision between the cabins is avoided. There is higher chances of collision happening in such a system.My idea is that a high speed ,single big elevator cabin pulled up and down along a vertical shaft using magnetic control is equally effective and cheaper compared to the mentioned system.

[The North One]

What is the point of this? besides granting the ability to make even more ridiculous designs that modern architecture seems to love so much.

[scalziand]

For one thing, it would allow conventional buildings to have more efficient elevator networks taking up less room, increasing leasable space.

[scalziand]

Originally Posted by samsonawane08

Very interesting but the manufacturers of such an elevator system need to make sure that the system is designed in such a way that any kind of collision between the cabins is avoided. There is higher chances of collision happening in such a system.My idea is that a high speed ,single big elevator cabin pulled up and down along a vertical shaft using magnetic control is equally effective and cheaper compared to the mentioned system.

That's what the CBTC-like system would be for.

Originally Posted by drumz0rz

Vertical travel could be compressed by using a moving blocking system similar to CBTC on subway and commuter rail lines. The biggest bottle neck would be passenger loading, which is why you could have a single vertical shaftway split into 2-8 different loading zones on the lobby floor.

[M II A II R II K]

The Sideways Elevators of the Future Will be Shown Off for the First Time

Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...-of-the-future

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ThyssenKrupp AG this week will show the public for the first time a 10 meter (32 feet) functioning model that uses giant magnets to move cars in multiple directions. The technology, called magnetic levitation, is borrowed from high-speed trains and doesn’t rely on cables. The German industrial company says the system allows for multiple cars in one shaft and can increase transport capacity as much as 50 percent.

- The company’s miniature model will be unveiled in Gijon, Spain on Thursday. A bigger example of ThyssenKrupp’s technology is being built at a research center in Rottweil, Germany, known as the Test Tower. The site will be 246 meters tall, only slightly shorter than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and eventually be open to the public. --- “This technology could be a significant revenue and income generator for ThyssenKrupp, particularly in the long run,’’ according to Johnson Imode and Mustafa Okur, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence. They described the market as “massive.” --- ThyssenKrupp says the magnetic-levitation elevators are best for buildings higher than 300 meters.

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[M II A II R II K]

• Video Link

[MAC123]

Originally Posted by The North One

What is the point of this? besides granting the ability to make even more ridiculous designs that modern architecture seems to love so much.

Do you know how much space elevators take up in modern skyscrapers?
But besides that, there are capacity and speed improvements because a single elevator car no longer takes up an entire elevator shaft and can now share it with several elevator cars.
Thyssenkrupp (at least when they still owned their elevator division) also claimed energy savings because of it.
also from you " What is the point of this? *Inserts completely valid point of this system* "