Trafficide Testing

The thing about trafficide is that it is always dangerous and *maybe* illegal.  Those two factors, and a bunch more I haven't mentioned, create a challenging test environment.  The good news is that AcMo personnel have never backed down from a challenge.  Yes,  danger raises the excitement level a bit, but we're looking for practical vehicle-based highway warfare solutions to propel us into the future.  Testing is expensive, and railguns are difficult.  We mitigate both of those downsides by letting the Navy handle initial testing for us.  No Navy official will confirm or deny our testing partnership because it is not public knowledge.  We move forward when the Navy makes breakthroughs, which is why this project has taken longer than AcMo's normal prototype to production timeline of 3 days.  This recent news means we can move closer to scaling the Navy's railgun down to a size that will more or less fit into our test vehicle.

Navy Railgun Successfully Fires Multi-Shot Salvos

This is the first time I've allowed myself to get excited about the possibilities.  AcMo's Trafficide project has worked so long to perfect this system, and now we are closing in on our first real-world tests.  The simulations have all looked glorious up to this point, so I don't expect any surprises once we mount the railgun on the test vehicle and go loud with it.

I don't want you to think this means we'll be ready to test tomorrow.  There are still a number of items that must be addressed before we can start target practice.  Chief among those items is occupant protection.  Our beta tester will be subjected to tremendous noise and heat from the railgun.  At first we thought using his vehicle in stock form would be viable, but after looking at the extensive safety modifications required, we changed our minds.  The problem is that this project needs to adhere to strict safety guidelines, which isn't normal for AcMo.  I treat most guidelines as suggestions to ignore.

These mockups lack the LIDAR targeting system and x-ray laser gun because we need to move in stages and get the railgun installed before we worry about adding the other extra cost items.  We also need to figure out how much additional weight this paper-thin chassis can support before we start piling on options.  The last thing we need is another car chassis to fold in on itself because we've asked it to withstand far more stresses than it was designed to experience.  Things would be so much easier if a chassis could talk.  Then it could just tell us that it can't handle the extra weight, or heat, or cornering forces, or the roof racks, etc.  Yes, a talking chassis needs to become a reality.  Maybe we'll even look into creating trash talking chassis to go along with the trafficide thing.  I sense an entertaining highlight reel upcoming.

We need a wagon

The sedan isn't large enough to securely hold the power equipment, shells, fast loader and railgun inside the vehicle.  The engineers are working right now to reconfigure the engine so that the intercooler doesn't have a railgun sticking through it.  The level of heat the railgun generates is not going to help the intercooler work its magic on the charge air.  In fact, the intercooler in the stock location was the first thing that melted in every simulation.  The second melting object was the driver.  Third was the passengers, if applicable, and fourth was the car itself.

The simulations made it clear that the driver and any unlucky passengers would be exposed to high voltages, high heat, and the concussive blasts from launched shells.  While we do not rate driver and/or passenger comfort high on our list of concerns, survivability is, and melting was not on the list of survivable events.  The sedan configuration proved the trafficide system would work as designed, but it would also destroy the operator.  Operator destruction was not one of the items on the to-do list.  We only have one reliable beta tester left, so we need to create a survivable firing solution.  The whole point of the system is to take out other drivers, not our own.

Not a wagon, but a portable railgun provides the option to make your own rally route.

I thought a rally car would work since its stripped interior would provide more space to create a survival cell for the vehicle occupants. We scaled the railgun down to its smallest size while maintaining its target melting force and it is still too large to fit inside the vehicle.  These are the types of issues I would guess the Fairchild designers encountered when developing the A-10.

Our solution is to use all of the extra cargo space in the STI wagon to make the gun barrel and the rest of the railgun fit inside the vehicle.  The packaging requirements will reduce the passenger capacity from 3-4 down to 1.  This is required because we can't handle the liability of having minors seated on top of a high voltage power unit.  That never ends well.  Stealth is an important factor because a conspicuous barrel sticking out of the hood of a Subaru will draw the attention of people who don't need to know what's going on with that railgun.  Because the firing speed is still not up to a rate that makes me happy, we need the vehicle to blend in while it reloads.

AcMo will boldly travel along the path already formed by other brilliant engineers when we create a survival cell out of aircraft grade titanium armor.  The strength of the armor should create at least a few seconds for emergency evacuation when the gun starts melting the vehicle and/or a power surge occurs.

Another challenge is the shift in vehicle dynamics as a result of adding 42,000+ pounds to the vehicle in a position above the vehicle's centerline.  This messes with the center of gravity and creates stability issues.  The handling must be on point if we have any hope of selling this product to interested parties.  The last thing a railgun car owner wants is to be targeted by another one as a result of impeding traffic because the car has become too unstable to drive.  This is the part of the plan I don't love so much.  The suspension and tires have to be completely redesigned to compensate for the added weight of the equipment and the chassis needs to be reinforced so that it doesn't pancake itself upon the initial test firing.  This is hard work with numbers and complex torsional rigidity models.  Any incorrect calculations at this point could mean the end of the project.  That's why I'm trusting my gut and creating the numbers by intuition and random guesses.  The worst case scenario means we'll have to find a new beta tester, vehicle, and railgun to start fresh.  

I am confident that in-vehicle testing will commence the moment we have solved a few of the above referenced issues.  The excitement around AcMo HQ is higher than it has ever been.  Everyone here is hoping that we'll be able to revolutionize intelligent traffic management forever by systematically eliminating impeding vehicles from the grid.  The only thing stopping us from achieving the dream is heat management.  And reload speed.  And power management.  And vehicle stability.  And the targeting system.  AcMo is so close to meeting the objective, as you can see if you're paying attention to the details.  It won't be long now until the glorious sound of supersonic shells flying on the highway becomes commonplace to drivers keeping right like they're supposed to unless passing slower vehicles.