SBIR Phase II: Hyprlift Vertical Transportation System Prototype

这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业化潜力将促进未来城市中心日益高耸的摩天大楼内的下一代垂直交通的发展。成功的商业化将增强美国在规模不断扩大的260亿美元“智能”电梯市场上的经济竞争力。由此产生的产品将使建筑物业主能够用更少的电梯竖井来满足他们对吞吐量和乘坐质量的内部交通需求，释放出更多宝贵的建筑核心可出租空间。除了向目标客户群提供这一和其他价值主张外，这些产品还可以减少城市扩张和使用这些产品的建筑的碳足迹，提高人口稠密城市居民的生活质量。此外，作为该项目的一部分开发的技术可能会应用于其他可持续发展的行业，如电动汽车和能源储存。智能优势包括开发和验证围绕新的动态牵引驱动技术建立的完整垂直运输系统所需的所有核心子系统。这项研究将分四个主要阶段进行。首先，将创建一个修订的牵引式驱动单元(TDU)，将最初的概念验证设计重新打包为更紧凑、更高效的机构，该机构也完全实现了主动悬架和驻车制动。接下来，将建造一个完整的电梯驾驶室原型，其中包括四个新的TDU、一个专有控制系统和乘客电梯驾驶室所需的所有标准现成机电系统。第三，将建造一个横向中转站(LTS)原型，它将允许出租车在相邻竖井之间进行转移(从而在建筑物内循环)，这是最终系统的一个关键特征。这些子系统中的每一个都将进行单独的验证，这些实验将在项目的第四阶段达到顶峰：在所有正常电梯操作的情况下，重复将原型驾驶室旅行到指定的“停靠点”，以及全自动LTS对接和转移。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercialization potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will facilitate the development of the next generation of vertical transportation within the ever-taller skyscrapers of future urban centers. Successful commercialization will enhance the economic competitiveness of the United States in an expanding $26 billion market for elevators with “smart” technologies. The resulting products will allow building owners to meet their intra-building transportation needs of throughput and ride quality with fewer elevator shafts, freeing up more valuable lettable space within building cores. Aside from this and other value propositions delivered to the target customer segments, these products could reduce urban sprawl and the carbon footprints of buildings that utilize them, enhancing the quality of life for citizens of densely populated cities. Further, technologies developed as part of this project may be applied to other sustainable industries, such as electric vehicles and energy storage. The intellectual merit includes the development and verification of all core subsystems required for a complete vertical transportation system built around a novel dynamic tractive drive technology. This research will be conducted in four primary phases. First, a revised tractive drive unit (TDU) will be created that repackages the initial proof-of-concept design into a more compact and efficient mechanism that also fully implements both an active suspension and parking brake. Next, a complete elevator cab prototype will be constructed that incorporates four of the new TDUs, a proprietary control system, and all standard off-the-shelf electromechanical systems required for a passenger elevator cab. Third, a lateral transfer station (LTS) prototype will be constructed, which will allow cabs to transfer between adjacent shafts (and thus “circulate” within a building), a key feature of the eventual system. Each of these subsystems will be validated individually, and these experiments will culminate in the fourth phase of the project: repeated travel of the prototype cab to designated “stops” with all normal elevator operations, as well as fully-automated LTS docking and transfer.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.