An autonomous
transport system is disclosed, formed by four main subsystems: a channel subsystem; a vehicle subsystem; a wheel guide subsystem and central control
station subsystem. The
system is designed for the transportation of people or goods, to be used in tall buildings and in small and large scale urban environments. It comprises unitary vehicles that may move in different directions: horizontal, steeply sloped and also vertical tracks, thanks to novel traction wheel assemblies that roll on carefully designed wheel tracks. The
system's cabin maintains the horizontal level / position regardless of the changes of track direction or slanting thanks to
pendulum based automatic level control and may rotate up to 180° under
normal conditions and even a full 360° turn respect to the wheel
assembly in space restricted positions. The cabin is mounted on a
cantilever, thereby displacing its center of gravity respect of the wheel guides. Thus, a lever action is established, which presses the wheels against the wheel tracks and therefore enough
frictional resistance is obtained so as to avoid wheel slippage on the wheel tracks. The vehicles are moved by non-polluting, electric drives that move and stop them with
high energy savings. The vehicle runways are designed taking in account safety features against fire hazards. Several vehicles may be used at the same time and on the same track and may run individually or in groups, conforming a
train. The
system allows for vehicles to be parked in bypassed positions or else they may be disengaged from the convoy to be used individually.