Give me strength....yeah I know it must be about the worst job in the world coning off a lane on a motorway. But you can just see the chip in these things going haywire after a couple of months on the upper stretches of the M62 in winter
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3666989.stm
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I also heard the article on R4 this morning.
Well, I can see them working in sunny California, but add water, salt and freezing conditions and they arent going to last long. Its not the chips that would concern me but the motors and gearboxes to drive the wheels.
On the radio they were talking about reducing the £400 cost by using cheaper components. Most cheap motors and gearboxes start struggling around 5C and have completely stalled by -5C.
Ian L.
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Can you imagine, take a call on the mobile or operate your satnav system and suddenly a line of fifty cones start tearing down the fast lane at 80 mph.
Especially if they let Microsoft supply the operating system...
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Brings about a new chapter in 'cone rage'-you clip a cone and find it and 20 of its mates chasing you down the road....
Hollywood will be making a horror film about it soon too....
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Hollywood will be making a horror film about it soon too....
'Revenge of the Mutant Cones' perhaps.
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Or maybe....
I. The Phantom cones
II. Attack of the Cones
III. ?
IV. A new Cone
V. The cones strike back
VI. The return of the cones
any suggestions for part 3?
I.
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Not strictly following your Star Wars theme but if a Beemer was involved....
Cone and the Bavarian (say it quickly and think of Arnie)
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::: Drums fingers on desk :::
Do I really need to say anything?
Altogether now, after 3.
1...... 2....... 3
all: \"Keep it Motoring!\"
Thank you class, that will be all.
No Dosh
Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
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III. Bring me the cone of Alfredo Garcia
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Well I suppose when they go missing in action (borrowed by students etc) they can be sent a signal and they will merrily drive back to base.
Provided they havent been put at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
Sorry
Ian L.
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::: sigh :::
Ok, have it your way. At least if the silliness stays it will be easy to clear up later.
::: Casts baleful eye over the pitiful wretches before sloping off to corner for a virtual ciggie :::
ND
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To get this back on track. In California and Oz I have seen traffic lanes that change direction depending on the time of day. ie. a central lane that is used for traffic into the city in the morning rush hour and the bollard are moved midday so that the central ane is used for outbound traffic in the evening rush hour. Works very well.
I know that in Sydney somebody is employed to move these cones twice every 24 hours, 365 days a year. Might see a use for this
technology in this case.
Ian L.
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The Beckton flyover on the A13 in East London used the same system when it first opened 25 odd years ago. The "Tidal" lane was controlled by red X's on the overhead gantry to discourage drivers using it at the wrong time. The idea was fairly short lived if my memory serves me correctly, no doubt because of the interesting situations it led to.
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and the Aston express way?
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There's a tidal flow system on one of the main routes into Lincoln. It's been there since the mid eighties. As in the other examples, it's only the illuminated signs that show what the middle lane is for.
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It is a very common approach in South America. Indeed, in parts of Brazil, the entire road changes direction one way for morning rush hour, the other way for the evening rush hour and both ways the rest of the time.
It works very well, or at least as well as anything does out there. Even people who live half way along the road cope.
And whilst some of the roads have physical obstructions such as gates which swing one side or the other, the majority do nto and rely only on lights.
Each road is opened/closed by a police car driving along it slowly.
I worry a bit about it here and the other morning when I went into Birmingham through Aston, I just couldn't use the middle lane wihtout worryign what was coming the other way.
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I thought the center lane on the Aston Express way was just for 2 wheels? I used to commute to B'ham but when the trains were on strike I'd borrow my sister's 125, haven't done it since december '02 so might be different now.
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>>center lane on the Aston Express way was just for 2 wheels?
ooh. Glad I didn't use it [much] then.
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Army and Navy flyover Chelmsford.
Only once had emergency stop practice on it !
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And when one of these powered cones fails or falls over mid-lane?
Strikes me some things are best left to a human. Whilst I appreciate the thinking of safety behind the invention, would it cause more problem then retrieving the cone before a car hit it?
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And when one of these powered cones fails or falls over mid-lane? Strikes me some things are best left to a human. Whilst I appreciate the thinking of safety behind the invention, would it cause more problem then retrieving the cone before a car hit it?
Surely the problem you identify is merely that the powered cones are too crude?
If the cones had arms and legs and electronic brains, then they could pick themselves up and limp back to their proper place.
Mind you, by then they'd probably be in a strop and start using their arms to make rude gestures at the passing cars
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If they had cameras in, they could be become self-funding.
However, I think someone's trying to make out that there's a problem in order to sell this solution.
Normal cones are better overall.
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Read the article and disregarded it, however............
With scheduled roadworks I'm not sure there's any advantages, manpower is already available so little cost saving potential.
Got stuck in a jam on the M25 yesterday when a trailer flipped and took out lanes 2 and 3, as usual there were 3 lanes of virtually stationary traffic until 20 yards before the trailer.
If the cones were available and worked as advertised, this could have got the traffic through the obstruction faster, this equates to less delays which does save costs.
Could also be a potential life-saver by coning off immobilised cars on motorways, given the average cost of an accident this could well fund itself.
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On reading this in "auto express" my immediate thoughts were that this was an april 1st story that was late in getting into print.
Come on guys, it surely can not be genuine.
Mal.
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