System and method for managing transportation using a self-propelled cab

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a transportation system that includes a plurality of cabs that are attached to suspension frames suspended from a cable using multiple pairs of sheaves running freely on an overhead cable guide-way to allow balancing of total weight of the cab along the cable guide-way. The pairs of sheaves are assembled to articulate in a horizontal plane to allow easy traversing along curved cable guide-way sections. The transportation system also includes a plurality of smart electro-mechanical switches capable of disengaging continuity of line of motion of the cab from the cable guide-way section and diverting the cab onto other cable guide-way sections. Each of the plurality of cabs can be coupled with a plurality of propellers to provide thrust for forward movement, speed control, steering, stabilization of the cab from swinging on the suspension frame and stopping of the cab by reversing the thrust developed thereof.

1 . A transportation system comprising:
 at least one cab attached to a suspension frame that is suspended from at least one cable, wherein the suspension frame is suspended from said at least one cable using one or more pairs of sheaves that run freely on an overhead cable guide-way; and   at least one propeller that is coupled with the cab and is configured in a pusher propeller arrangement to provide any or a combination of thrust for forward movement, speed control, steering, stabilization of the cab from swinging on the suspension frame, and stopping of the cab by reversing the thrust developed thereof.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each pair of sheaves is assembled in a horizontal plane to allow easy traversing along the cable guide-way, and wherein each sheave forms a pair with an opposing sheave to grasp a safety cable below a load bearing main cable of the cable guide-way, and wherein the pairs of sheaves are assembled using a sheave to grasp the upper main cable and the opposing sheave to grasp the safety cable from below. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one cable comprises an upper load bearing main cable, and a lower safety cable, and wherein the at least one cable comprises cable and cable that are interconnected to each other to prevent swaying. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein system comprises a plurality of electro-mechanical switches capable of disengaging continuity of line of motion of said plurality of cabs the cable guide-way section. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one of said plurality of electro-mechanical switches is configured to divert at least one of said plurality of cabs physically onto rails fixed on pylons so as to allow one or more passengers to get on the cab at a station or a sub-station. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the cab is further operatively coupled with a second propeller to allow controlling of flight of the cab during ascent and emergency mode upon sensing that descent acceleration of the cab is higher than permissible descent acceleration. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said second propeller is coupled to a horizontal section of the cab, wherein the second propeller allows air cushion to be built up under the cab to provide a safe landing to the cab in case the cab detaches from the cable guideway. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the second propeller is configured to control flight of the cab when the cab passes a junction switch between two separate cable guideway sections. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein interconnection between each of the pairs of sheaves is fixed on one side, and has a movable safety panel on the other side so as to create a box to fully enclose the at least one cable of the guide-way. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the movable safety panel is locked in a position as long as the cab runs along the at least one cable, and wherein the safety panel has the ability of being unlocked and shifted out of the way by a lever arrangement attached to pylons. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the cab is controlled by at least one onboard computing device that detects waypoints using any or a combination of embedded RFID tags, GPS, and a mechanical interlock. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the cab  402 -is stabilized using any or a combination of a plurality of onboard gyroscopes and accelerometers. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , said system further comprises one or more Route switches that are configured at one or more segments of rail sections, each segment of the one or more segments being pivoted vertically such that the segment is capable of swiveling to either side along the horizontal plane so as to allow a curved rail section to be presented to sheave suspension of the cab, said curved rail section permitting interlinking of two separate cable guide-way sections allowing the cab to change its route from one cable guide-way section onto another cable guide-way section along the route chosen by the cab. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more junction switches use curved steel rail sections that rotate forward or backwards along the horizontal plane about its axis, and wherein the switches are configured to link two adjacent rail sections of the cable guide-way at a junction of multiple cable section terminations. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said cab is communicatively coupled with a second cab so as to enable sharing of information between said cab wand said second cab and also relay data to other cabs. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein said information comprises information pertaining to congestion at one or more switch points along a defined route, said information also being capable of being shared with respective main station(s) and control center. 
     
     
         17 . A transportation system comprising:
 at least one cab attached to a suspension frame that is suspended from at least one cable of a cable guide-way;   one or more switches configured to assign a priority, by means of a digital token, to said at least one cab when said at least one cab is arriving at a switch selected from said one or more switches, wherein said at least one cab crosses over to another section of the cable guide-way based on said priority.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein said one or more switches are selected from any or a combination of route switches or junction switches. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein in case multiple cabs arrive simultaneously at a given switch, cab having digital token with highest priority is allowed to cross the switch first. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the digital token is surrendered by the respective switch after the cab exits the switch. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein entry of said at least one cab at a switch is on an interlock that activates a physical stopper block on the rail to prevent rolling of the cab towards the switch. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein said digital token is assigned based on any or a combination of prioritization of cab coming towards the one or more switches, traffic availability beyond the one or more switches, accumulation of traffic at a station, and malfunction of a switch. 
     
     
         23 . An autonomous cab configured in a transportation system, said cab being suspended from a cable and comprising an on-board computing device that utilizes GPS enabled routing along a cable guide-way that is configured between a route. 
     
     
         24 . The autonomous cab of  claim 23 , wherein one or more sequential waypoints are established along said route using reception of signals from an embedded RFID along the cable guide-way. 
     
     
         25 . The autonomous cab of  claim 23 , wherein said transportation system authorizes movement of said cab selected from a plurality of cabs from any or a combination of one or more route switches and one or more junction switches, said authorization being based on matching of unique identifier associated with the cab and unique identifier associated with any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches. 
     
     
         26 . A transportation system comprising:
 a non-transitory storage device having embodied therein one or more routines operable to control movement of one or more cabs; and   one or more processors coupled to the non-transitory storage device and operable to execute the one or more routines, wherein the one or more routines include:
 a cab position determination module, which when executed by the one or more processors, acquires instantaneous position of said one or more cabs with respect to one or more sections of a cable guide-way, wherein each of the one or more cabs are attached to a suspension frame suspended from a section of the cable guide-way using multiple pairs of sheaves running freely on the overhead cable guide-way; 
 a cab prioritization module, which when executed by the one or more processors, prioritizes each of the one or more cabs present in a section of the cable guide-way by assigning a unique identifier to at least one cab of the one or more of cabs, wherein at least one of said one or more cabs is assigned a digital token based on any or a combination of number of vacant seats in a cab, type of cab, location of the cab, traffic situation, emergency situation pertaining to a cab, and an attribute of the cab, and wherein the unique identifier associated with the at least one cab is the digital token; 
 a switch tokenization module, which when executed by the one or more processors, associates a unique identifier to any or a combination of one or more route switches and one or more junction switches, wherein the detection of the instantaneous position of the one or more cabs enables tokenization of any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches; and 
 a cab authorization module, which when executed by the one or more processors, authorizes movement of at least one cab of the one or more of cabs from any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches, said authorization being based on matching of the unique identifier associated with the at least one cab and the unique identifier associated with any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches. 
   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein said cab authorization module allows movement of the at least one cab in case the unique identifier associated with the at least one cab matches the unique identifier associated with any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches, and also restricts movement of the cab when the unique identifier associated with the at least one cab pertains to a lower priority level than the unique identifier associated with any or a combination of the one or more route switches and
 the one or more junction switches.   
     
     
         28 . A method for facilitating movement of a cab along one or more cable guide-way sections, said method comprising the steps of
 determining, at a computing device, instantaneous position of a plurality of cabs configured with one or more sections of a cable guide-way, each of the plurality of cabs being attached to a suspension frame suspended from a section of the cable guide-way;   prioritizing, at the computing device, each of the plurality of cabs present in a section of the cable guide-way by assigning a unique identifier to at least one cab of the plurality of cabs, said unique identifier being represented in the form of a digital tokens that is assigned based on any or a combination of number of vacant seats in a cab, type of cab, emergency situation pertaining to a cab, and an attribute of the cab;   associating, at the computing device, a unique identifier to any or a combination of one or more route switches and one or more junction switches, wherein determination of the instantaneous position of the plurality of cabs assists in tokenization of any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches; and   authorizing, at the computing device, movement of at least one cab of the plurality of cabs from any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches, said authorization being based on matching of the unique identifier associated with the at least one cab and the unique identifier associated with any or a combination of the one or more route switches and the one or more junction switches.   
     
     
         29 . A main station having a defined coverage area with at least one physical guide way, said main station being configured in a network having one or more main stations, said defined coverage area of said main station comprising one or more cabs that are suspended over multiple tie-points of cables and further comprising a plurality of switches, said multiple tie-points of cables being monitored actively, wherein said main station controls the plurality of switches to allow access to the one or more cabs to travel through at least a portion of said at least one physical guide way in a defined direction based on allocation of priority to each of the one or more cabs by the main station. 
     
     
         30 . The main station of  claim 29 , wherein said priority is allocated to each of the one or more cabs by means of one or more digital tokens, at least one of said one or more digital tokens comprising priority indication and expiry time information.