AirShip Technologies Group

Our Delorean ATG vehicle is still being designed from the ground up to be powered by Lithium-ion electric batteries and revolutionary integrated hub-based magnetic-levitation propulsion motors.  This software driven maglev propulsion, suspension, braking, and steering, are all adapted to a production chassis.  For street transportation, all four sphere and socket hub assemblies have an electric spherical induction motor assembly incorporating a free moving spherical wheel.  Drive-by-wire software and electromagnetism rotate the spheres on demand and can change the speed and direction through 360-degrees.  Hub electromagnets act on the spherical wheel’s core surface magnets, vastly simplifying the drive system and eliminating the need for Green House Gas (GHG) producing fuels.  This 4-sphere coordinated motor and drive system enables the driver to maneuver all spherical wheels for controlled handling and steering.

AirShipTG did not create the electric wheel market, but has focused on this maglev electricity-driven solution and moved quickly to exploit it first.  We are hitting this automotive clean technology and green technology market just right which translates to extended sales cycles and a greater than anticipated production rate once the technology is perfected.  With the price of oil and gas reaching heights never before seen, consumers are moving to smaller, efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.  Our maglev track sphere assembly solves a real market need at a critical worldwide tipping point for consumers who need inexpensive, efficient, safe transportation for either small and/or large vehicles.  With an extended drive time approaching 400 miles per charge, the “regenerative drive” aspect of our maglev track sphere hub is designed to return electric energy back to the Lithium-ion batteries as the spheres move.

The market is ready for hyper efficient vehicles and the world is saying let’s go!   Adopting improved vehicle performance through clean and renewable technology solutions, we can literally change the world.  Our track sphere maglev Spherical Induction Motor wheel assembly is designed to rotate the spheres for 360-degree propulsion through forward, aft directions as well as lateral parking. 

At the Kent State University TRIZCON2008 Problem Solving Event (April 2008) for the Altshuller Institute of TRIZ Studies, the Track Sphere technology design and development was modified and accelerated in order to move AirShip concept vehicle components to a Delorean ATG production car. The experimental workshop in support of the  US$10 million Automotive X PRIZE had  delegates from Germany, Israel, Ireland, Russia, UK, Korea, Taiwan, and multiple US states.  Represented were several members from the industries of electronics, automotive, aerospace, control systems and textile industries, tire industry, universities, private industry and consulting.   The X PRIZE will go to the vehicle that can demonstrate 100 miles per gallon or the equivalent in alternative fuels and able to drive at 100 miles/hour, in a production-capable vehicle.

The science of the Track Sphere hyper-efficient transit drive system and integrated frame and hub, enables the driver to maneuver all four spheres for better handling and steering control while moving the vehicle in a 360 or 180-degree motion on center for reverse from a stationary position.  Enter the Delorean ATG with the ability to exploit electric power that has a long life expectancy as an efficient, quiet and powerful energy source alternative.  Those off-the-shelf electric power sources currently under consideration for vehicle propulsion are Bio-Diesel, Fuel Cell, and Lithium-ion Battery Packs; plus Solar Fabric Photovoltaic's for supplemental vehicle electronics.

AirShipTG’s other vehicle, the AirShip Ground Transit Vehicle, is design is focused on aerodynamics of speed and light weight manufacturing.  The exterior car body is made of composites, stainless steel or aluminum.  AirShip’s lightweight composite frame structure is similar to those found in race cars and jet aircraft; yet this one weighs a scant 250 pounds and can support 2,200 pounds gross weight.  Using an Open Technology Innovation approach developed from work in the Open Source Software industry, we are modifying the AirShip Use Case for ground transit only.

To prove some of the AirShip Ground Transit Vehicle's core competencies, AirShipTG is converting a Delorean as the vehicle of choice.  We all love our automobiles, but this initiative is designed to reduce green house gases for the world!  In fact, our cars even take on our personalities or visa versa; they get us from home to work and from work to home.  But, the automobile is facing a dilemma as it is at the intersection of two world problems – that of oil dependency and climate change due to green house gases.  That’s why we are doing what we can to make a difference where our ATG team will develop competitive hyper-efficient vehicles.

                          AirShipTG Supply Chain

AirShipTG intends to enter the automotive hyper efficient drive train/vehicle propulsion market by inserting itself into the supply chain rather than competing against current vehicle (auto and long haul truck) manufacturers/producers.  This strategy allows AirShipTG to protect itself from fierce competition by not directly competing with automobile producers.  This strategy allows manufacturers to re-brand the Spherical Induction Motor (SIM) Track Sphere wheel as their own.  AirShipTG can enter the market without starting a product price war.

One way to market to vehicle manufacturers is to form partnerships with large drive train and wheel and tire producers to produce SIM wheel assemblies for cars and trucks.  This will allow AirShipTG and the partnering firms to effectively gain a majority market share in the vehicle drive train maglev market.  If partnerships are not forthcoming, then AirShipTG would need a small, but experienced sales force to target vehicle manufacturers directly.

Once AirShipTG has established relationships with manufacturers, strategic alliances will be formed.  In a strategic alliance, AirShipTG will sell SIM Track Sphere drive trains exclusively to these producers at a price premium, enabling the producers to market the first standalone maglev drive trains to the market.  Because maglev testing will take approximately six months and the Federal Highway Administration certification approval an additional 1 year, we are targeting sells of SIM drive trains for a company sales profit by 2012.  This means investors can expect to see a return by 2012.  In this scenario, the AirShipTG patent-pending product would eventually provide 100% of vehicle SIM drive trains each year, perhaps up to 15 years before the competition makes significant in-roads.