5 ms·
Everybody seems fixated on the stacking, but it's clearly not central to the system, merely an artifact of the demonstration-scale (and presumably demonstration
by ebikelaw 8y ago
Everybody seems fixated on the stacking, but it's clearly not central to the system, merely an artifact of the demonstration-scale (and presumably demonstration-budget) implementation. They could just as easily be lifting a tremendously massive object a small distance and then letting it back down again with fixed hoists, which eliminates all of the structural problems this stack of barrels faces. Also, that would allow a single unit to sink and source power continuously instead of intermittently like this crane.
- gitgud 8y agoYes, you could have 1 massive block, but the stresses and risks on the system would be much higher. Probably not achievable with current common tower cranes. The beauty of this idea is that these tower cranes are standardised and ubiquitous. So it could be implemented immediately in almost any city in the world.
- foota 8y agoI think the engineering there is more difficult because you need very strong cabling and pulleys that can deal with huge load.
- pas 8y agoJust use multiple attachment points. I think the problem with the one big weight is that it'd require an extra structure (a gantry) to hold it, whereas this is really simple logistically. Easy to transport and assemble.