Mobility Design
Transportation and mobility design are changing. The advent of autonomous driving will completely change the way we get around as well as the approach to various logistical problems.
All the projects shown here are either done privately or as part of my studies.
Sheppard
Africa's national parks, poachers have been threatening not only the profits from tourism for years, no, the damage is many times greater. Between 2009 and 2016, 600 park rangers fell victim to poachers, several elephant and rhino populations were decimated by 90%. The money gained from this flows into crime and finances wars. If we want to show our descendants more than photos of long extinct species, it is time to act. This is where Sheppard comes in.
Technical Solution
The technology Sheppard will use to fight poachers is called LRAD - Long Range Acoustic Device. It uses an array of loudspeakers to emit highly focused sound waves that stay within a narrow cone for hundreds of meters. By cleverly manipulating the timings, the direction of the "beam" can be controlled without moving parts. Even with hearing protection, the attack of an LRAD is almost unbearable.
Thanks to the directional control, it is possible to avoid harming animals. Although the LRAD will still be audible over a greater distance, the harmful effect will be focused on a small area. The non-harmful sounds will also serve as an "early warning system" for animals in the vicinity that perceive the sound as a danger.
Devices based on this principle have been used in various fields for years. In Somalia, LRADs can be found on ships to fight pirates, in the Iraq war they were used to clear buildings. LRADs have also been used in civilian contexts, for example to break up demonstrations.
Mission Profile
First, Sheppard takes off from a central airfield, which serves as a HUB for a swarm of drones. From there, Sheppard flies up to 50km into his assigned area. Once in its area, Sheppard flies a predetermined flightpath and searches for unwanted guests until the battery gets below 50%. If it finds nothing, it returns to the airfield to be readied for the next mission.
If Sheppard identifies a potential threat, it flies closer to send high-resolution images to a human operator. The operator reviews the situation and decides how to proceed. If the suspicion that poachers are involved is confirmed, they are alerted to Sheppard's presence in a second overflight. If there is no change in behavior, Sheppard begins to circle counterclockwise around the targets to bring the LRAD into the correct starting position. The deployment of the LRAD follows. In the best case, the poachers are forced to retreat, worst case they are delayed long enough by the dispersal of game in the immediate vicinity to fly in reinforcements in the form of rangers.
Impressions
Credits
Max Jannusch
Student, Designer
Dipl. Des. Prof. Manfred Wagner
Professor, Projektleiter
Vehicle Designer (M.A.) Jannis Carius
Dozent, Projektleiter
Airtaxi
The dream of flying has accompanied mankind since the dawn of time. The progress made in the field of autonomy in recent years could finally make it a reality for everyone. Initially, such services will probably focus almost exclusively on affluent customers. But just like the automobile, it could become a pillar of our means of transportation in the future.
Process
The challenge of designing an aircraft that is lightweight, efficient, can transport a few people over long ranges, and can operate in urban areas is daunting. Not without reason there are still no companies actively operating such a service.Since this task goes far beyond the competences of a designer, this project was developed in cooperation with the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Aachen. The Airtaxi is divided into 2 modules, the Flight-Cell, and the Life-Cell. The flight module was developed and designed by Department 6 under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thilo Röth. The Life-Cell was created by the Mobility-Design group under the direction of Dipl. Des. Prof. Manfred Wagner.
Credits
Max Jannusch
Student, Designer Life-Cell
Dipl. Des. Prof. Manfred Wagner
Professor, Projektleiter Life-Cell
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thilo Röth
Professor, Projektleiter Flight-Cell