Electric aerial sky tram
An aerial sky tram system includes a plurality of towers, a cable track suspended from the plurality of towers by a support cable, and a sky tram coupled to the cable track. The sky tram includes a plurality of rotors that propel the sky tram along the cable track.
1. An aerial sky tram system comprising:
a plurality of towers;
a cable track suspended from the plurality of towers by a support cable;
a sky tram coupled to the cable track, the sky tram comprising a plurality of rotors that propel the sky tram along the cable track; and
wherein:
the cable track comprises a curved portion;
the plurality of towers comprises a first tower, a second tower, and a turn tower positioned between the first and second towers; and
a horizontal distance between the turn tower and the cable track is greater than a horizontal distance between the first tower and the cable track.
2. The aerial sky tram system of claim 1 , wherein each rotor of the plurality of rotors comprises a vertically oriented vane and a horizontally oriented vane that articulate to control a direction of thrust generated by the rotor.
3. The aerial sky tram system of claim 1 , wherein the sky tram comprises a probe attached to a first end of the sky tram and a dock attached to a second end of the sky tram.
4. The aerial sky tram system of claim 1 , wherein the cable track comprises two cables coupled together in parallel by a cable track support suspended from a tower of the plurality of towers.
5. The aerial sky tram system of claim 4 , wherein the cable track support comprises an attachment bracket that couples the support cable to the cable track.
6. The aerial sky tram system of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of towers comprises:
a tower comprising an upper arm that extends vertically and horizontally from a base of the tower; and
wherein a first end of the support cable is attached to the upper arm and a second end of the support cable is attached to the cable track support.
7. The aerial sky tram system of claim 4 , wherein at least one cable of the two cables carries electricity to power the plurality of rotors.
8. The aerial sky tram system of claim 1 , wherein the sky tram comprises a truck attached to a top of the sky tram and coupled to the cable track.
9. The aerial sky tram system of claim 8 , wherein the truck comprises a pair of c-channel members, each c-channel member of the pair of c-channel members comprising an opening that faces the opening of the other c-channel member of the pair of c-channel members.
10. The aerial sky tram system of claim 8 , wherein the sky tram comprises a mechanical orientation system configured to raise, lower, and roll the sky tram.
11. The aerial sky tram system of claim 10 , wherein the mechanical orientation system comprises a plurality of actuators coupled between the truck and a compartment of the sky tram.
12. The aerial sky tram system of claim 10 , wherein:
the mechanical orientation system comprises a plurality of linkages coupled between the truck and a compartment of the sky tram; and
the linkages have a fixed length.
13. An aerial sky tram system comprising:
a plurality of towers;
a cable track suspended from the plurality of towers by a support cable comprising a cable dampener;
a sky tram coupled to the cable track, the sky tram comprising a plurality of rotors that propel the sky tram along the cable track; and
wherein the cable dampener comprises:
a cable dampener body;
an elastic element disposed within the cable dampener body; and
wherein an end of the support cable is coupled to the elastic element and the cable dampener body is coupled to a cable track support of the cable track.
14. The aerial sky tram system of claim 13 , wherein each rotor of the plurality of rotors comprises a vertically oriented vane and a horizontally oriented vane that articulate to control a direction of thrust generated by the rotor.
15. The aerial sky tram system of claim 13 , wherein the sky tram comprises a probe attached to a first end of the sky tram and a dock attached to a second end of the sky tram.
16. The aerial sky tram system of claim 13 , wherein the cable track comprises two cables coupled together in parallel by a cable track support suspended from a tower of the plurality of towers.
17. The aerial sky tram system of claim 16 , wherein the cable track support comprises an attachment bracket that couples the support cable to the cable track.
18. The aerial sky tram system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of towers comprises:
a tower comprising an upper arm that extends vertically and horizontally from a base of the tower; and
wherein a first end of the support cable is attached to the upper arm and a second end of the support cable is attached to the cable track support.
19. A sky tram for an aerial sky tram system, the sky tram comprising:
a compartment;
a truck attached to a top of the compartment and configured to couple to the sky tram to a cable track suspended from a tower;
a plurality of ducted fans attached to the compartment and configured to propel the sky tram along the cable track; and
wherein each ducted fan of the plurality of ducted fans comprises:
a duct housing a plurality of rotor blades; and
a vertically oriented vane and a horizontally oriented vane aft of the plurality of rotor blades and that articulate to control a direction of thrust generated by the rotor.
20. The sky tram of claim 19 , wherein the sky tram comprises a mechanical orientation system configured to raise, lower, and roll the sky tram.