MegaRail News
Press Releases
October 10, 2008
MicroRail™ production prototype vehicle outdoor testing trials underway.
10 October 2008
Fort Worth, Texas
MegaRail® Transportation Systems of Fort Worth, Texas began outdoor
testing of a dualmode (street and guideway capable) MicroRail™ production
prototype vehicle on 1 October 2008 and is continuing engineering testing.
All of the street mode testing has been completed, leaving only the on-rail
automated and emergency backup steering mode testing to be completed.
The vehicle is equipped with an electronic guideway steering more in
which the vehicle senses the distance to side steering reference rails
located inside the enclosed guideway rail tubes. The electronic steering
system provides smooth, jerk-free steering during rail use by steering the
vehicle to maintain a fixed distance from the steering reference rail. In
addition, the vehicle is also equipped with an backup emergency mechanical
steering system to assure continued safe guidance in the event of any
electronic steering system failure.
The vehicle is currently being tested as a fully functional chassis unit
without a passenger cabin installed in order to provide easy access to all
system elements in the chassis unit. A passenger cabin is currently being
manufactured and will be installed on the vehicle immediately following
completion of engineering operational tests.
Guideway mode testing is being accomplished with only the side steering
reference rail of the guideway in order to provide full access during
testing. Some completely enclosed rail guideway sections are to be added at
a future date after all functional testing is complete.
Although the vehicle is a MicroRail-configured vehicle, all of the
testing on this unit is also fully applicable to the larger MegaRail
vehicles because the two types of vehicles differ essentially only in
physical size. All sensors and control systems are the same for both sizes
of systems.
A brief video of the MicroRail vehicle testing is available under the
MegaRail web site (www.megarail.com) video section.
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