Sunday, Mar. 01, 2009

Thinking out of the box ... And in the slot

Turlock resident has thoughts on clearing the air yet accommodating nation's car culture

Michael Rudt of Turlock envisions cleaner valley air by turning the vehicles we drive into giant slot cars.

Perhaps you've seen small racing models zipping around plastic tracks, picking up power from a swivel-blade dropped into a groove. Why, Rudt wonders, couldn't life-size vehicles do the same?

Rudt, 64, isn't an inventor or slot-car fanatic. But he's not afraid to think outside the box. Thirty years ago, he raised cacao and bananas on 750 acres in a Costa Rica rain forest. He also used avant-garde insulating concrete forms instead of wood frames in foothill buildings before retiring two years ago.

Q: You mention a possible way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and (reduce) air pollution at the same time.

A: I was thinking if there were to be a solution to transportation, the environment, jobs, it would have to be something that would be practical, something that would not really change the American driving lifestyle, which is basically get in and go. I was thinking of using our existing infrastructure, that is, highways and our power grid, and using hybrid vehicles.

Q: Explain what would happen.

A: A person with a gas/electric hybrid, with an attachment that would have to be made out of stuff we already have, would drive onto this (special) lane on the freeway. A contraption would transfer power to the vehicle and it would run on electricity.

Q: The track would run down its own lane?

A: You've got your car, you go this place and they put this little towbar with a meter on the front. When you're getting on the freeway, you press the button and down goes the little contraption and it slips in the groove. You're going 15, 20 mph and with computer control, no more gasoline, the electric motor takes over and you just drive like you normally do.

Q: How fast do you think it could go?

A: Well, slot cars go faster than 60 (mph) now. I don't think it would have any problem going 60, 70.

Q: When you want to get off the track, what happens?

A: You just pick it back up and drive off your exit.

Batteries are real heavy, it costs a lot to make them and it's got a lot of junk in it that you don't want in the landfill. When you get on the freeway, you charge your battery. You drive to Stockton or Sacramento, you go to work, you drive back and it doesn't change your driving style.

Q: What about weather? Can you only do it where it's sunny?

A: No, sunny or snow. I want to make sure (water) drains below. You know, an electric motor will work underwater. It'll run. I don't think the weather will affect it.

Q: What makes you think of this kind of stuff?

A: I was thinking there's got to be a better way of (com- muting). When I was a kid, we lived down the street from street cars in Pittsburgh, Pa. It's like a railroad car and runs on an electric motor. San Francisco buses run on a wire with an overhead power supply. All I'm changing is, instead of getting power from an overhead grid, we're getting it like a slot car. That's how it popped into my head. We're just upgrading something that's already being done, changing from overhead to below.

Q: Have you been a slot-car fan?

A: No. A friend took me in Florida many years ago. He and I were race car drivers. He liked it; I didn't get much enjoyment out of it. They're cute little cars, but you had to control them because they go way too fast. You have to be in control.

Q: Have you invented things before?

A: No, I've adapted things. If you see the goal — a lot of people get to work, you reduce pollution, reduce the cost, increase the safety — how much can you object?

Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or 578-2390.