Lite-Pods Concept (LPC)
Executive Summary Inspired by the humble egg, the “Lite-Pods Concept (LPC)” encloses each of its five occupants inside their own individual “safety-cell.” By shrinking the passenger safety cell to the smallest possible single occupant volume, maximum geometric strength and minimum weight (minimal material) are achieved simultaneously. Then once the occupants are individually protected in their safety-cells, all the remaining components of the LPC are focused toward maximizing crash safety and lightness performance. As a result, the LPC is revolutionary since it is both very light and very safe.
Weight Reduction Methodology The hard shell egg is a marvel of natural engineering. Its shell is both strong and light because it is as small as possible yet just large enough to contain the delicate egg yolk. If the yolk is now enlarged to human scale, then the egg shell becomes the personal safety-cell. And like the egg, that personal safety-cell is both tremendously strong and light because it is small - and only large enough to hold a single human being. Hence the inspiration for the proposed “Lite-Pods Concept” (LPC). Rather than a conventional vehicle’s single large five-passenger “safety-cell” compartment, the LPC protects its five passengers in their own individual small, strong and light safety-cells. Thus the LPC is able to accomplish both revolutionary weight reduction AND maximizing safety in the following manner: 1) Five small, single-occupant safety-cells can each be made much stronger and lighter than a conventional vehicle’s large five-passenger compartment. 2) With the single-human safety-cells protecting the five occupants individually, the remaining LPC chassis components can be optimized for both lightness and collision safety performance. 3) Since the five individual safety-cells occupy a much smaller volume collectively than a single large five-passenger compartment, it is now possible to extend the vehicle crumple/crush zones into the space formerly occupied by the conventional car safety-cell volume. 4) In addition, the safety-cells are designed to actually move away from the collision thus opening additional crumple/crush volume to control the collision. 5) Both (3) and (4) greatly increases vehicle side-impact safety performance – the biggest challenge in vehicle safety engineering - since here, unlike the vehicle’s front and rear, there is no space to add supplemental crumple/crush collision energy absorbing structures. 1 of 7
6) The LPC prioritizes chassis performance as follows, 1) individual occupant protection and safety, 2) collision energy management and performance, 3) lightness and 4) chassis rigidity. In contrast, conventional chassis performance priorities are usually reversed – with chassis rigidity first and occupant protection last. It is this reordering of chassis performance priorities that results in the revolutionary LPC. Note that while the LPC will have great occupant protection, great collision safety performance and be very light, it may not be the most rigid of chassis. This is because like all engineering systems, there must be compromise in one performance area (chassis rigidity) in order to enhance others (occupant safety, lightness).
Innovation Inspired by eggs, the resulting LPC reimagines the vehicle chassis as five (5) distinct components: I. II. III. IV. V.
Life-Pods* Pod-Deck Crush-Deck Crash-Band Body Coverings
(LP) *5 – one for each occupant. (PD) (CD) (CB) (BC)
I) Life-Pod (LP): The central safety component of a modern vehicle chassis is its occupant “safetycell.” It is the one structure that must be as impervious to deformation and intrusion as possible since, during a collision, it is the last line of protection for the soft human body. The modern passenger safety-cell is by far the heaviest component of a vehicle chassis for the two primary reasons. First, it needs to enclose a single huge five (5) passenger volume. Second, since the cell can’t deform (and crush its occupants), it must be extremely strong and rigid. And since it is large, strong AND rigid, it is also extremely heavy (since a lot of structural material is needed here). Furthermore, since the safety-cell can’t deform - and does nothing to absorb crash energy to stop a collision - to it must be added “crumple-zone” components (front/rear zones, side beams, etc.) that does add to safety but also adds additional weight. Thus, in conventional chassis design, a safer chassis usually means a heavier one. In contrast to this, the eggs-inspired LPC offers the “Life-Pod (LP).”
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The five LP’s are the LPC “eggs.” Thus as an egg shell is to the yolk, the LP is the last line of protection for the soft human body during a collision. As a result, it must be impervious to deformation and intrusion. Thus, it will be very strong, rigid BUT actually – in this instance - light – since its enclosed volume is minimized. Herein lies the revolutionary thinking of the LP (and the LPC). Given its function as the LPC “safety-cell”, the LP is likely - on a per volume (density) basis – to be as heavy as a conventional safety-cell. However, the LP minimizes weight by simply reducing its volume to the absolute minimum – to that of a single human body. In other words, rather than enclosing all five occupants in a one large safety-cell “box,” in the LPC, each of the five occupants occupies his/her own individual LP. Again like an egg, the LP is designed to protect the occupant from collision intrusion on all sides – left, right, top and bottom (front, rear, side collisions and rollovers). Thus, all five LP’s are independent impervious structures that protect each occupant individually. In the LP, the occupant is conventionally seated and belted (via standard 3-point belts) and supplemented by two side whole-length airbags. The airbags’ primary function is to aid the belts (which will automatically tighten during a collision) in holding the occupant in place and secondarily, offer cushioning during the collision event. Note that as an extra benefit, the side airbags will actually deploy quicker than conventional ones since they’re much smaller in volume (the very small deployed volume akin to that of inflatable seatbelts). As will be described further, by shrinking the rigid, impervious “safety-cell” volume to that of the LP, the excess vehicle volume that used to be the conventional safety-cell can now perform crash energy-absorbing functions – thus increasing safety performance and reducing chassis weight at the same time.
II) Pod-Deck (PD): Holding the LP’s within the LPC chassis is the “Pod-Deck (PD).” The PD’s functions are 1) to hold the LP’s within the chassis, 2) allow for the LP’s to move within the horizontal plane, and 3) offer additional collision energy crumple structure. Note that the PD’s function may be difficult to engineer. First, it needs to allow the five individual LP’s to move independent away from the collision. Second, at the same time, it needs to restrain them to prevent LP (and occupant) ejection from the LPC. III) Crush-Deck (CD): Sandwiched below the PD is the “Crush-Deck (CD).” All five LP’s ride on top of the CD relatively freely (constrained only by the PD). 3 of 7
The CD’s function is to provide the primary LPC crumple structure absorbing most of a collision’s energy. During a collision, the CD crushes and distorts to dissipate collision kinetic energy in a controlled sacrificial fashion in order to protect the occupants. IV) Crash Band (CB): The next chassis component of the LPC is the “Crash-Band (CB).” It is a belt of stretchable but very strong and lightweight tensile material (metal, kevlar) that wrap around the side of the LPC “sandwich” structure. The CB’s functions are, 1) to wrap around and focus the collision energy from any direction into the LPC, 2) to dissipate the collision energy crushing and distorting the LPC structure, 3) to allow for LP’s movement away from the collision and, along with the PD, restrain them from ejection from the LPC, and 4) to further dissipate collision energy by the CB’s own stretching.
V) Body Coverings (BC)*: While the above four LPC chassis components (LP, SD, CD and CB) result in a safe and lightweight drivable chassis, the LPC is still opened to the weather. Therefore, to weatherproof it, the LPC is covered by lightweight “Body Coverings (BC).” Note that the BC (body cover, windows, doors, hood, trunk, etc.) can be very lightweight since it provides only 1) weather protection and 2) only a little supplemental crash protection. *not shown in the illustrations
Bill of Materials
I) Life-Pod (LP) – Carbon fiber, graphite composites, graphene: As the last line of crash protection for the occupant, the LP needs to be the strongest, most crush-resistant structure in the LPC. Therefore, present technology means it needs to be made of graphite/carbon graphite composites (akin to modern race car seats and chassis). And for the future, a “super-material” such as graphene. High per-pound strength should be paramount while cost secondary. Note that even with high material cost on a per-pound basis, costs should be manageable given each LP’s relatively small size and resulting materials requirements. 4 of 7
II) Pod-Deck (PD) – Aluminum, metal (?) matrix-type material: Since how the PD will hold the LP’s within the LPC structure while still allowing them to move horizontally on the CD deck surface is not obvious, neither is its material selection. It is likely a matrix-type material that will both hold the LP’s to the LPC but also will stretch to allow the LP’s horizontal movement away from the collision direction. In addition, the matrix-type material will need to be able to absorb collision kinetic energy. III) Crush-Deck (CD) – Aluminum, metal-based, carbon-fiber reinforced honeycombed matrix material: The CD’s function is to absorb and control collision energy from any horizontal direction through being crushed, torn and deformed. Therefore, the material will need to have great compressive strength (crush), high tensile strength (torn) and be deformable (combination crushing and tearing). As a result, the CD will likely be constructed of a metal (aluminum) honey-combed matrix material since this material is capable of both great compressive and tensile strength. For greater energy absorbing properties, the matrix can be reinforced with carbon fiber.
IV) Crash Band (CB) - High tensile strength steel, aluminum, kevlar: The CB surrounds the perimeter of the LPC structure. During a collision, the CB wraps around the colliding object to focus and distribute the impact forces onto the rest of the LPC structure. Thus high tensile strength and ductility (the ability to be stretched) will be the paramount material characteristics needed here. Kevlar may be the ideal lightweight, high tensile strength material.
V) Body Coverings (BC) - Ultra-light plastic, glass/plastic composites (windows, windshield), high-tech weatherproof fabric: Since the BC will need to only protect the occupants from the environmental elements (weather, road dust, bugs), the LPC BC’s can be feathery light. Therefore, the LPC car body/doors can be constructed of ultra-light non-structural plastic and with windshields/windows constructed of a glass/plastic composite sandwiches (glass on the outer layers for good wear). Even more extreme for the LPC BC body is a fabric one inspired by the BMW GINA concept. Given the LPC BC body need not be structural, an ultra-light, high-performance fabric covering may be the ideal application for the LPC. Required Manufacturing Processes 5 of 7
The innovations the LPC represents is a wholesale redesign and reimagining of the vehicle car chassis. How it’s made, however, and its material composition is relatively conventional. As a result, all components of the LPC can be manufactured from conventional production processes using state-of-the-art, relatively conventional material (metals, carbon fiber, composites, etc.). New manufacturing processes will be needed should new materials be introduced (graphene).
Passenger Safety As with all vehicles, the LPC is governed by the physical laws of momentum and energy: Momentum:
Force x Time = Mass x (∆)Velocity
Kinetic Energy = Work
Force x Distance = ½ x Mass x Velocity^2
It is a vehicle’s ability to minimize the collision forces experienced by its occupants that is key to protecting them. “Force” thus is the variable that needs to be minimized. From both equations, it can be seen that for a given vehicle velocity and mass, minimizing “force” (F) is a matter of maximizing the collision time (“T” – Momentum) and distance (“D” – Energy/Work). Qualitatively, it can be seen that for a given vehicle speed, to increase the time needed to stop a collision event means increasing its stopping distance. Thus the key to the LPC’s high safety performance is its ability to increase the stopping distance of the collision while still protecting its occupants. A typical LPC collision event shows how this is accomplished. 1) The colliding vehicle first strikes the LPC via the BC (body coverings). Since the BC is not structural, only minimal crash forces are absorbed. 2) The colliding vehicle then strikes the CB which distorts and wraps around it. The distorting CB itself stretches (dissipating energy) and focuses the collision forces into crushing, stretching and distorting the CD/PD “sandwich” in order to absorb the collision energy. 3) Concurrently, the distorting CD/PD also pushes all the LP’s away from the colliding vehicle. Note that since the LP’s are allowed to move independently, their individual distance and direction away from the collision will depend on each LP’s location relative to the collision point. 4) By being moved away from the collision, the LP’s will actually act almost as individual “vehicles” within the LPC. Thus, the LP’s will “collide” and deflect away 6 of 7
individually from other LP’s. As a result, the crash forces are further dissipated by the individual LP’s deflection away from the collision. 5) Note that since the individual LP’s structure is highly crush-resistant, all the internal collisions will occur without harming the occupants inside each LP. 6) Moving the LP’s away from the colliding vehicle exposes additional energyabsorbing PD/CD crumple-zone volume thus increasing safety performance. A key to the LPC’s high safety performance is its ability to extend its collision energy crumple/crush distance into the volume formerly occupied by conventional passenger compartment. Note that allowing the crumple/crush zone to safely intrude into the passenger volume will greatly increase side-impact safety performance since there is little or no available space here for conventional crumple zones.
Innovative/Safety Component As explained previously, the Life-Pod (LP) individual safety-cell is the key driver for all the innovations in the LPC. Protecting each occupant individually frees the remaining LPC components to focus on collision energy absorption and management. As a result, the LPC represents a quantum leap in safety performance over conventional chassis.
Potential Challenges Some roadblocks to bring the LPC to reality are: 1) The LPC is an untested idea. While it looks good on paper, it may not actually work in reality. 2) To make them strong and light enough, the LP’s may be too expensive (material and fabrication costs). And to make them affordable may make them too heavy, too weak or both. 3) The PD may not work to hold the LP’s in place while allowing them to move and the CD may not have sufficient crash performance. 4) The assumption that, as conceived, the LPC may be sufficiently strong and rigid to function well as a chassis may be wrong. In other words, while the resulting LPC chassis may be very safe, it may not be sufficiently strong and rigid enough to perform well as a vehicle chassis. The proposed solution to these roadblocks is as with all new ideas – rigorously study them further, simulate, test with physical models and prototypes to validate the theories. 7 of 7
Weight Reduction Methodology The hard shell egg is a marvel of natural engineering. Its shell is both strong and light because it is as small as possible yet just large enough to contain the delicate egg yolk. If the yolk is now enlarged to human scale, then the egg shell becomes the personal safety-cell. And like the egg, that personal safety-cell is both tremendously strong and light because it is small - and only large enough to hold a single human being. Hence the inspiration for the proposed “Lite-Pods Concept” (LPC). Rather than a conventional vehicle’s single large five-passenger “safety-cell” compartment, the LPC protects its five passengers in their own individual small, strong and light safety-cells. Thus the LPC is able to accomplish both revolutionary weight reduction AND maximizing safety in the following manner: 1) Five small, single-occupant safety-cells can each be made much stronger and lighter than a conventional vehicle’s large five-passenger compartment. 2) With the single-human safety-cells protecting the five occupants individually, the remaining LPC chassis components can be optimized for both lightness and collision safety performance. 3) Since the five individual safety-cells occupy a much smaller volume collectively than a single large five-passenger compartment, it is now possible to extend the vehicle crumple/crush zones into the space formerly occupied by the conventional car safety-cell volume. 4) In addition, the safety-cells are designed to actually move away from the collision thus opening additional crumple/crush volume to control the collision. 5) Both (3) and (4) greatly increases vehicle side-impact safety performance – the biggest challenge in vehicle safety engineering - since here, unlike the vehicle’s front and rear, there is no space to add supplemental crumple/crush collision energy absorbing structures. 1 of 7
6) The LPC prioritizes chassis performance as follows, 1) individual occupant protection and safety, 2) collision energy management and performance, 3) lightness and 4) chassis rigidity. In contrast, conventional chassis performance priorities are usually reversed – with chassis rigidity first and occupant protection last. It is this reordering of chassis performance priorities that results in the revolutionary LPC. Note that while the LPC will have great occupant protection, great collision safety performance and be very light, it may not be the most rigid of chassis. This is because like all engineering systems, there must be compromise in one performance area (chassis rigidity) in order to enhance others (occupant safety, lightness).
Innovation Inspired by eggs, the resulting LPC reimagines the vehicle chassis as five (5) distinct components: I. II. III. IV. V.
Life-Pods* Pod-Deck Crush-Deck Crash-Band Body Coverings
(LP) *5 – one for each occupant. (PD) (CD) (CB) (BC)
I) Life-Pod (LP): The central safety component of a modern vehicle chassis is its occupant “safetycell.” It is the one structure that must be as impervious to deformation and intrusion as possible since, during a collision, it is the last line of protection for the soft human body. The modern passenger safety-cell is by far the heaviest component of a vehicle chassis for the two primary reasons. First, it needs to enclose a single huge five (5) passenger volume. Second, since the cell can’t deform (and crush its occupants), it must be extremely strong and rigid. And since it is large, strong AND rigid, it is also extremely heavy (since a lot of structural material is needed here). Furthermore, since the safety-cell can’t deform - and does nothing to absorb crash energy to stop a collision - to it must be added “crumple-zone” components (front/rear zones, side beams, etc.) that does add to safety but also adds additional weight. Thus, in conventional chassis design, a safer chassis usually means a heavier one. In contrast to this, the eggs-inspired LPC offers the “Life-Pod (LP).”
2 of 7
The five LP’s are the LPC “eggs.” Thus as an egg shell is to the yolk, the LP is the last line of protection for the soft human body during a collision. As a result, it must be impervious to deformation and intrusion. Thus, it will be very strong, rigid BUT actually – in this instance - light – since its enclosed volume is minimized. Herein lies the revolutionary thinking of the LP (and the LPC). Given its function as the LPC “safety-cell”, the LP is likely - on a per volume (density) basis – to be as heavy as a conventional safety-cell. However, the LP minimizes weight by simply reducing its volume to the absolute minimum – to that of a single human body. In other words, rather than enclosing all five occupants in a one large safety-cell “box,” in the LPC, each of the five occupants occupies his/her own individual LP. Again like an egg, the LP is designed to protect the occupant from collision intrusion on all sides – left, right, top and bottom (front, rear, side collisions and rollovers). Thus, all five LP’s are independent impervious structures that protect each occupant individually. In the LP, the occupant is conventionally seated and belted (via standard 3-point belts) and supplemented by two side whole-length airbags. The airbags’ primary function is to aid the belts (which will automatically tighten during a collision) in holding the occupant in place and secondarily, offer cushioning during the collision event. Note that as an extra benefit, the side airbags will actually deploy quicker than conventional ones since they’re much smaller in volume (the very small deployed volume akin to that of inflatable seatbelts). As will be described further, by shrinking the rigid, impervious “safety-cell” volume to that of the LP, the excess vehicle volume that used to be the conventional safety-cell can now perform crash energy-absorbing functions – thus increasing safety performance and reducing chassis weight at the same time.
II) Pod-Deck (PD): Holding the LP’s within the LPC chassis is the “Pod-Deck (PD).” The PD’s functions are 1) to hold the LP’s within the chassis, 2) allow for the LP’s to move within the horizontal plane, and 3) offer additional collision energy crumple structure. Note that the PD’s function may be difficult to engineer. First, it needs to allow the five individual LP’s to move independent away from the collision. Second, at the same time, it needs to restrain them to prevent LP (and occupant) ejection from the LPC. III) Crush-Deck (CD): Sandwiched below the PD is the “Crush-Deck (CD).” All five LP’s ride on top of the CD relatively freely (constrained only by the PD). 3 of 7
The CD’s function is to provide the primary LPC crumple structure absorbing most of a collision’s energy. During a collision, the CD crushes and distorts to dissipate collision kinetic energy in a controlled sacrificial fashion in order to protect the occupants. IV) Crash Band (CB): The next chassis component of the LPC is the “Crash-Band (CB).” It is a belt of stretchable but very strong and lightweight tensile material (metal, kevlar) that wrap around the side of the LPC “sandwich” structure. The CB’s functions are, 1) to wrap around and focus the collision energy from any direction into the LPC, 2) to dissipate the collision energy crushing and distorting the LPC structure, 3) to allow for LP’s movement away from the collision and, along with the PD, restrain them from ejection from the LPC, and 4) to further dissipate collision energy by the CB’s own stretching.
V) Body Coverings (BC)*: While the above four LPC chassis components (LP, SD, CD and CB) result in a safe and lightweight drivable chassis, the LPC is still opened to the weather. Therefore, to weatherproof it, the LPC is covered by lightweight “Body Coverings (BC).” Note that the BC (body cover, windows, doors, hood, trunk, etc.) can be very lightweight since it provides only 1) weather protection and 2) only a little supplemental crash protection. *not shown in the illustrations
Bill of Materials
I) Life-Pod (LP) – Carbon fiber, graphite composites, graphene: As the last line of crash protection for the occupant, the LP needs to be the strongest, most crush-resistant structure in the LPC. Therefore, present technology means it needs to be made of graphite/carbon graphite composites (akin to modern race car seats and chassis). And for the future, a “super-material” such as graphene. High per-pound strength should be paramount while cost secondary. Note that even with high material cost on a per-pound basis, costs should be manageable given each LP’s relatively small size and resulting materials requirements. 4 of 7
II) Pod-Deck (PD) – Aluminum, metal (?) matrix-type material: Since how the PD will hold the LP’s within the LPC structure while still allowing them to move horizontally on the CD deck surface is not obvious, neither is its material selection. It is likely a matrix-type material that will both hold the LP’s to the LPC but also will stretch to allow the LP’s horizontal movement away from the collision direction. In addition, the matrix-type material will need to be able to absorb collision kinetic energy. III) Crush-Deck (CD) – Aluminum, metal-based, carbon-fiber reinforced honeycombed matrix material: The CD’s function is to absorb and control collision energy from any horizontal direction through being crushed, torn and deformed. Therefore, the material will need to have great compressive strength (crush), high tensile strength (torn) and be deformable (combination crushing and tearing). As a result, the CD will likely be constructed of a metal (aluminum) honey-combed matrix material since this material is capable of both great compressive and tensile strength. For greater energy absorbing properties, the matrix can be reinforced with carbon fiber.
IV) Crash Band (CB) - High tensile strength steel, aluminum, kevlar: The CB surrounds the perimeter of the LPC structure. During a collision, the CB wraps around the colliding object to focus and distribute the impact forces onto the rest of the LPC structure. Thus high tensile strength and ductility (the ability to be stretched) will be the paramount material characteristics needed here. Kevlar may be the ideal lightweight, high tensile strength material.
V) Body Coverings (BC) - Ultra-light plastic, glass/plastic composites (windows, windshield), high-tech weatherproof fabric: Since the BC will need to only protect the occupants from the environmental elements (weather, road dust, bugs), the LPC BC’s can be feathery light. Therefore, the LPC car body/doors can be constructed of ultra-light non-structural plastic and with windshields/windows constructed of a glass/plastic composite sandwiches (glass on the outer layers for good wear). Even more extreme for the LPC BC body is a fabric one inspired by the BMW GINA concept. Given the LPC BC body need not be structural, an ultra-light, high-performance fabric covering may be the ideal application for the LPC. Required Manufacturing Processes 5 of 7
The innovations the LPC represents is a wholesale redesign and reimagining of the vehicle car chassis. How it’s made, however, and its material composition is relatively conventional. As a result, all components of the LPC can be manufactured from conventional production processes using state-of-the-art, relatively conventional material (metals, carbon fiber, composites, etc.). New manufacturing processes will be needed should new materials be introduced (graphene).
Passenger Safety As with all vehicles, the LPC is governed by the physical laws of momentum and energy: Momentum:
Force x Time = Mass x (∆)Velocity
Kinetic Energy = Work
Force x Distance = ½ x Mass x Velocity^2
It is a vehicle’s ability to minimize the collision forces experienced by its occupants that is key to protecting them. “Force” thus is the variable that needs to be minimized. From both equations, it can be seen that for a given vehicle velocity and mass, minimizing “force” (F) is a matter of maximizing the collision time (“T” – Momentum) and distance (“D” – Energy/Work). Qualitatively, it can be seen that for a given vehicle speed, to increase the time needed to stop a collision event means increasing its stopping distance. Thus the key to the LPC’s high safety performance is its ability to increase the stopping distance of the collision while still protecting its occupants. A typical LPC collision event shows how this is accomplished. 1) The colliding vehicle first strikes the LPC via the BC (body coverings). Since the BC is not structural, only minimal crash forces are absorbed. 2) The colliding vehicle then strikes the CB which distorts and wraps around it. The distorting CB itself stretches (dissipating energy) and focuses the collision forces into crushing, stretching and distorting the CD/PD “sandwich” in order to absorb the collision energy. 3) Concurrently, the distorting CD/PD also pushes all the LP’s away from the colliding vehicle. Note that since the LP’s are allowed to move independently, their individual distance and direction away from the collision will depend on each LP’s location relative to the collision point. 4) By being moved away from the collision, the LP’s will actually act almost as individual “vehicles” within the LPC. Thus, the LP’s will “collide” and deflect away 6 of 7
individually from other LP’s. As a result, the crash forces are further dissipated by the individual LP’s deflection away from the collision. 5) Note that since the individual LP’s structure is highly crush-resistant, all the internal collisions will occur without harming the occupants inside each LP. 6) Moving the LP’s away from the colliding vehicle exposes additional energyabsorbing PD/CD crumple-zone volume thus increasing safety performance. A key to the LPC’s high safety performance is its ability to extend its collision energy crumple/crush distance into the volume formerly occupied by conventional passenger compartment. Note that allowing the crumple/crush zone to safely intrude into the passenger volume will greatly increase side-impact safety performance since there is little or no available space here for conventional crumple zones.
Innovative/Safety Component As explained previously, the Life-Pod (LP) individual safety-cell is the key driver for all the innovations in the LPC. Protecting each occupant individually frees the remaining LPC components to focus on collision energy absorption and management. As a result, the LPC represents a quantum leap in safety performance over conventional chassis.
Potential Challenges Some roadblocks to bring the LPC to reality are: 1) The LPC is an untested idea. While it looks good on paper, it may not actually work in reality. 2) To make them strong and light enough, the LP’s may be too expensive (material and fabrication costs). And to make them affordable may make them too heavy, too weak or both. 3) The PD may not work to hold the LP’s in place while allowing them to move and the CD may not have sufficient crash performance. 4) The assumption that, as conceived, the LPC may be sufficiently strong and rigid to function well as a chassis may be wrong. In other words, while the resulting LPC chassis may be very safe, it may not be sufficiently strong and rigid enough to perform well as a vehicle chassis. The proposed solution to these roadblocks is as with all new ideas – rigorously study them further, simulate, test with physical models and prototypes to validate the theories. 7 of 7
