All Artwork is by Grady Lyda
Rockwell International Defense Systems, Anaheim, California – Mid-1990s
IVHS Architecture Development Program – Interim Status Report – April 1994
The overarching goal of the Rockwell Team's development effort is to map out a low-risk, high-benefit approach for the implementation of an architecture framework. This will integrate all modes of transportation (airplanes, ships, rail, buses, trucks, cars, etc.) to equally benefit users and the national economy through the safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and information with less congestion, less pollution, greater safety, and greater energy efficiency, while maintaining the privacy of individuals and corporations. – From Rockwell International's Government Proposal (See examples of this document here: Interim Status Report)
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This concept, designed by artist Rick Olds, was the basis for my Adobe Illustrator image at top – From the corporate newsletter: Rockwell News, November 4, 1993
I often needed to revise this image for Rockwell/AESD. At Right, we see Intelligent Vehicles arranged in SmartTravel "caravan" formations. Rockwell proposed that the diverse routes of random cars could be guided into common groups to be linked electronically, all heading to the same location. With 3 to 7 cars sharing GPS, specialized mobile radio, and in-vehicle radar forming a single self-directed unit, the individual drivers would be unnecessary until they arrived at their destination. The well-monitored caravans could travel much faster with greater safety and fuel efficiency, while reducing the congestion caused by numerous unguided vehicles. Why isn't this happening today?
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We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough. – Niels Bohr, Theoretical Physicist
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| This article describes Rockwell International's demonstration of innovative SmartCar technology featuring GPS navigation with voice-prompts for the driver. Our current Global Positioning System was also developed by Rockwell. – Automotive Industries, May 1994 |
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| AVLS – Automatic Vehicle Location System; SMR – Specialized Mobile Radio |
I designed a bumper sticker that said: Every year 40,000 Americans are killed in car crashes. Rockwell is aiming for ZERO. However, my colleagues pointed out that this was not a message anyone would want to see on the bumper of the car in front of them...
Federal funding was soon withdrawn from the IVHS (Intelligent Vehicle Highway System) and restored to more profitable HotWar hardware. Our vision of a Post-ColdWar renaissance faded away and the Government returned to business-as-usual: D&D (Death & Destruction).
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. – Max Planck, Originator of Quantum Theory
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