So, if the power goes out...wouldn't you be even MORE screwed?

Sounds cool.

But why does one need horizontal moving boxes? Wouldn't a treadmill-like band (maybe also magnetically powered) be better to move cargo around, without the volume limitations of a box? I'm thinking of cargo here, because what we don't need more of is excuses for people to not walk.

Tanis:
So, if the power goes out...wouldn't you be even MORE screwed?

Maybe you missed this part...:

"There would also be a multi-level brake system, and an energy return/inductive power transfer system."

I'd heard about this from a colleague just yesterday, but it's still great to see it making the news.

Here's hoping their test runs quickly prove successful.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Devin Connors:

This means a smaller footprint would also be able to more people, and faster -- a typical skyscraper system would reduce elevator wait times to between 15 and 30 seconds.

I assume you meant, "...able to move more people".

If all goes well, you should be seeing Star Wars-style turbolifts in new skyscrapers and urban projects in the 2020's.

I also assume you meant Star Trek-style turbo-lifts.

;)

With the power going out there might be a more harsh bounce but with standard breaking systems it wouldn't be too bad I think. The lack of a counterbalance is what I'm thinking would make it more severe as if the line had snapped but I'm sure that's just an engineering problem rather than something major.

I really don't see this as being energy efficient though.

Those... are Star Trek turbolifts.

Tanis:
So, if the power goes out...wouldn't you be even MORE screwed?

I'd imagine that this elevator would have electromagnetically sealed break system, designed to go off the moment the power goes out, similar to what current elevators have today.

shiajun:
But why does one need horizontal moving boxes?

Just being able to move a few feet to the side - allowing each box to move from one shaft to another - makes an enormous difference. Now, the same box that was moving up in one shaft can be moving down in another shaft. A box stopping in the middle can move out of the way so that boxes continuing to the top or bottom can move past it. And so on.

Right now elevators are extremely limited in that you can only have one box per shaft, no matter what it's doing.

shiajun:
Sounds cool.

But why does one need horizontal moving boxes? Wouldn't a treadmill-like band (maybe also magnetically powered) be better to move cargo around, without the volume limitations of a box? I'm thinking of cargo here, because what we don't need more of is excuses for people to not walk.

If you have the treadmill going across the floor plate you are eating up valuable space. Every sqft is big money in a high rise building. So if you are able to have a system that takes up less space for circulation, both vertical and horizontal, you know have more lease-able space and more lease-able space equals more money for the owners/investors of the building.

If this works and isn't significantly more costly to build it's a win win.

Devin Connors:

The testing will take place in Rottwell, Germany in 2016. If all goes well, you should be seeing Star TREK-style turbolifts in new skyscrapers and urban projects in the 2020's.

There, Fixed that for you.

I for one am actually looking forward to see if this works.

Chinchama:

shiajun:
Sounds cool.

But why does one need horizontal moving boxes? Wouldn't a treadmill-like band (maybe also magnetically powered) be better to move cargo around, without the volume limitations of a box? I'm thinking of cargo here, because what we don't need more of is excuses for people to not walk.

If you have the treadmill going across the floor plate you are eating up valuable space. Every sqft is big money in a high rise building. So if you are able to have a system that takes up less space for circulation, both vertical and horizontal, you know have more lease-able space and more lease-able space equals more money for the owners/investors of the building.

If this works and isn't significantly more costly to build it's a win win.

But it's worse with a box. You still need a shaft for the elevator to go through, only now it's horizontal. It's volumetric space you're wasting, not only a flat moving, conveyor belt.

*Checks off another part required to build the Enterprise*

Getting warmer...

Of course, there IS one thing that potentially XYZ-axis elevators make me worry about. Does anybody happen to recall those Cube movies where they wipe your memory and put you through a giant shifting torture puzzle-box?

shiajun:

Chinchama:

shiajun:
Sounds cool.

But why does one need horizontal moving boxes? Wouldn't a treadmill-like band (maybe also magnetically powered) be better to move cargo around, without the volume limitations of a box? I'm thinking of cargo here, because what we don't need more of is excuses for people to not walk.

If you have the treadmill going across the floor plate you are eating up valuable space. Every sqft is big money in a high rise building. So if you are able to have a system that takes up less space for circulation, both vertical and horizontal, you know have more lease-able space and more lease-able space equals more money for the owners/investors of the building.

If this works and isn't significantly more costly to build it's a win win.

But it's worse with a box. You still need a shaft for the elevator to go through, only now it's horizontal. It's volumetric space you're wasting, not only a flat moving, conveyor belt.

The issue is though, by having the X & Y movement separated, they must exist at two separate planes (depths) in the building, by combining them into the same depth you gain probably a solid 12ft in one direction plus whatever the width is. You can put desks or walls in the circulation area, so putting the two types of circulation together is more cost beneficial.

The flatness is a mute point since people need open spaces in the height to be able to move.

The article here omits the fact that those boxes are supposed to be way smaller. More 10 people than 30, like it is now.
That means you can fit more system in the same space that is used now, or you take up less space.

The magnet better not be too strong to messed up our electronic stuff when we're inside it!

It's not an elevator. Elevators only go up and down. It's a wonka-vator, which can go up-ways and down-ways and long ways and short ways and you get the point

Magnets, how do they work?
Amirite guys?
... I'll show myself out now.

Does no-one remember Roald Dahl any more? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory did this before Star Trek. Although having checked the dates, not as much before as I thought.

While I don't see this being used like in some sci-fi movies that show the elevator moving rather long distances sideways (a regular conveyor belt is way more space efficient), this opens a lot more possibilities for regular elevators.
With the current system, you're limited to 1 elevator per shaft.
With the possibility of sideways elevators, we would have the option of having a system similar to a circular "one way shafts".
This would open up the possibility of several elevator per only 2 shafts.

It would also open up the option of several elevator per one shaft with spaces for the elevators t move to the side so that they can past by each other.

Another interesting thing would be the elevator moving one elevator size to the side when they stop so that the whole system doesn't need to wait if they want to move one.

Yup, lots of possibilities for faster elevator systems and them moving purely sideway isn't really the big thing.

FalloutJack:
*Checks off another part required to build the Enterprise*

Getting warmer...

Of course, there IS one thing that potentially XYZ-axis elevators make me worry about. Does anybody happen to recall those Cube movies where they wipe your memory and put you through a giant shifting torture puzzle-box?

I remember. The movies were so ridiculously bad that they ended up being one of my favorite unintentional horror comedies.
Now, this could end up being either really bad or an interesting yet mostly useless office system.
BUT... it could end up being a rather space efficient 3 dimensional parking lot where the front side is accessible, you park it, get a card with the box coordinates and it moves back to the cube. If the system ends up having an "smart' AI, it could learn the patterns of the regular customer and keep the vehicle in a way that makes the best use of space, time and energy with keeping the cars so that they get closer to the front with the time the customer will come back. Basically, if someone parks there Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm, the system will slowly move the car to the front so that when 7pm comes, the car will be close.
The 3D cubes now sound a lot better than I first imagined.
Any kind of storage could be extremely space efficient. Reminds me of the huge storehouse of the furniture company Steinhoff in Germany where I've been. The most efficient storehouse in Europe and one of the best in the world. And it would get only better with not having to have moving robot hands that take up a lot of space after every 2 rows.

Scarim Coral:
The magnet better not be too strong to messed up our electronic stuff when we're inside it!

Unless they are using something with a high frequency, the car itself will be enough. I doubt this thing will ever need the speed or tonnage of a Mag-lev train using superconductors, So additional shielding will not be needed.