Abstract: An electrically powered vehicle transportation system utilizes a guideway with parallel enclosed rails. Each enclosed rail has an electrical bus bar for supplying power to vehicles on the guideway. The guideway will accommodate dual-mode vehicles that are capable of usage on conventional streets as well as on the guideway. The guideway also accommodates conventional vehicles and ferries that operate only on the guideway. The enclosed rails have a downward facing slot on an inner wall. The vehicle axles are offset, with a portion extending through each slot. The dual-mode vehicle has a body with axles that are extensible. The axles move from a retracted position, with the wheels recessed within the wheel wells, to an extended position. In the extended position, the wheels locate within the enclosed rails. Conventional vehicles and freight are carried on ferries that move along the guideways.

Abstract: Electro-optical interface connections between electronic modules are used for data transmission rather than conventional pin and socket connections. Each module has on its top a number of diode pairs, one of the diodes transmitting light, and the other receiving light, and converting the light into electrical pulses. A data bus block is mounted across the tops of the modules. The data bus block has corresponding diode pairs that align with the diode pairs in the modules. Light pulses may be transmitted from the modules to the data bus block onto parallel data bus lines, then transmitted back to other modules from the data bus lines. On another side of the module, a serial electro-optical connection using a diode pair transmits to and receives light pulses from a fiber optic line for communicating with modules other than in the cluster.