MAS.966/4.552/11.970 Design Workshop: Mobility-On-Demand Fall 2008 …

MAS.966/4.552/11.970 Design Workshop: Mobility-On-Demand
Fall 2008

Instructor Professors William J. Mitchell, Charles Correa
Teaching Assistant Somnath Ray
MIT Course Collaborators Ryan Chin, Michael Lin, Raul-David "Retro" Poblano, Will
Lark, Jr., Ed Fredkin
Contact Ryan Chin, rchin@media.mit.edu

Prereq Permission of instructor
H (fall)
(12-21 units to be arranged)
Wednesday 2-5 pm
Room E15-001
*Requirements below


Course Description

This course will focus on the design and implementation of Mobility-On-Demand
systems in dense urban environments. Ideally, Mobility-On-Demand systems consist of a
fleet of lightweight electric vehicles placed at electrical charging stations that are
strategically distributed throughout the city. Users simply walk up to the closest station,
swipe a membership card, and are given access to vehicles. They are then allowed to
drive to any other station (one-way rental) closest to their desired destination. The Vélib'
system in Paris consisting of over 20,000 shared bicycles is the largest and most popular
Mobility-On-Demand system in the world.

The Smart Cities group of the MIT Media Lab has begun design each major component
of the Mobility-On-Demand ecosystem including:

   1)   Shared-Use Electric Vehicle ­ CityCar and RoboScooter (foldable and stackable)
   2)   Kiosk and Charging Station ­ Inductive charging and rental interface.
   3)   Overall Urban System Design ­ Station sizing and placement
   4)   Active Fleet Management ­ System dynamics model for optimizing fleet
        management and logistics

This term we will focus on the implementation of Mobility-On-Demand in Bangalore,
India. Lead by Indian Architect, Charles Correa, we will research and analyze
Bangalore's history, urban plan, and transportation infrastructure and then synthesize a
plan for implementation that considers: 1) existing mobility patterns (geography,
demographics, zoning), 2) existing transportation infrastructures, 3) site context for
placement of stations, and 4) economic viability through new ownership models.
The team will develop user and operator scenarios that will aid in the design of the
scooter/car stations (electrical charging and rental) and the display of mobility
information such as rental/parking availability, coordination with mass transit, and
interfacing with social networks. This research will parallel a development plan for the
MIT campus.

The workshop will also serve as a forum and meeting place for ongoing Smart Cities
projects including:

   1) CityCar project with General Motors (GM)
   2) RoboScooter project with SYM and ITRI.
   3) Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) Project with the Mechanical Lab at ITRI

A detailed project assignment for the upcoming term will be distributed at the first class
meeting for each project. Current project descriptions and visuals can be found at
http://cities.media.mit.edu

Students will work in teams throughout the semester lead by project leaders from the
Smart Cities group. Projects will run the throughout the term with several joint design
reviews with invited academic and industry guests.

*Requirements
Prior enrollment in the previous workshops is NOT a requirement for this class. Both
Graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to apply to the course. Backgrounds
in Architecture, Computer Science, Management, Material Science, Media Arts and
Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, and Urban Planning are preferred.


Project Collaborators

Bangalore
Charles Correa, MIT
Somnath Ray, MIT

RoboScooter Project
Wen-Jean Hsueh, ITRI Creativity Lab
Eugene Hsiao, ITRI Creativity Lab
Grand Wu, SYM R&D
Angel Chang, SYM R&D

LEV Project
Alex Tong, ITRI Mechanical Lab

CityCar Project
Wayne Cherry, General Motors
Chris Borroni-Bird, General Motors
Roy Mathieu, General Motors
David Cameron, General Motors


Key Texts
William J. Mitchell, The Logic of Architecture, (MIT Press, 1990).
William J. Mitchell, Me++ (MIT Press, 2004).


Term Schedule

 Week     Dates             Wednesday
                            First Class meeting, Introduction, Interviews (Demo
      1   Sept. 1-5         prototypes)
      2   Sept. 8-12        Form project teams, first assignment
      3   Sept. 15-19       Individual group meeting time
      4   Sept. 22-26       Charette #1
      5   Sept. 29-Oct. 3   CityCar Testing (4-wheeler)
      6   Oct. 6-10         Charette #2
      7   Oct. 13-17        Work time (Ecogen conference in Vienna for RoboScooter)
      8   Oct. 20-24        Group update (prepare for sponsor week)
                            Media Lab sponsor week - Show Prototypes at ML open
     9    Oct. 27-31        house (starts Wednesday afternoon)
    10    Nov. 3-7          Work time
                            Internal review, set goals for final review (Smart Customization
    11    Nov. 10-14        conference week ­ Mon & Tue)
    12    Nov. 17-21        Work time
    13    Nov. 24-28        Work time (Thanksgiving week)
    14    Dec. 1-5          Work time
    15    Dec. 8-12         Last week of Classes (final tune-up for final review)
    16    Dec. 12-19        Final exam week (invited guest reviewers)
                                     End of fall term