Chapter 16

We were up early on Sunday to have a quick breakfast before heading to the airport. The flight was under two hours and we had an early check-in at the Courtyard hotel downtown within a fifteen minute walk to the university. We went down the street to the Elephant and Castle Pub and had lunch before mom and dad decided to visit friends in the city. I went back to the room and worked with Base on pollution scrubbing ideas that the Telan scientists had already perfected hundreds of years ago.

We designed a unit to attach to the end every vehicle’s exhaust system, that would capture the harmful chemicals in an easily replaceable cartridge once every two years. There would have to be several sizes made but it would be ten times better than the existing catalytic converters. OEMs could put them on new cars going forward and existing cars could have them installed at any garage or dealership. We would leave it to the university and the corporations to get it implemented. Another idea we had was to set up industrial sized scrubbers for industry exhaust pollution and then even bigger ones for large scale elimination in cities. The bigger units would work the same as the small units but on a much larger scale. We supposed fans could suck in the air through the filter but we weren’t sure if the electricity bill would be too high to get cities to use them. Positioning them in places where the prevailing winds would push the air through the filters would help in some cases. That could be where the MIT team could help in designing them to work in large areas. We wrote up the ideas along with the full design of the filters and saved our work.

Base then showed me some designs of Telan aircraft for inside their atmosphere, then low orbit craft and finally pure spacecraft designs. Their spacecrafts did not lift off from the planet but from a spaceport outside of their atmosphere so they didn’t have to expend all the energy and force to get the craft out to space. Base and I reviewed all the craft currently being built by NASA, the Russians, the Chinese and by private firms. We also looked at the International Space Station and the Chinese Tiangong Space Station designs and functionality.

‘Let me do some research on everything that is planned for the next twenty years from all governments and private companies and we can then decide what we should show MIT or Toronto,’ Base suggested. ‘New launch craft, new space stations, new spacecraft are all needed but will require a lot of money. We might not want to divulge too much of the Telan designs at this point. It might be better to give them robot designs for space as well as other devices such as scrubbers, jet packs etc. to start with while we develop the propulsion engines for each of the units we need to build.’

‘I suppose, but we could design one spacecraft that would be functional but would need a futuristic propulsion system to be added later,’ I suggested. ‘Make it for space only and have it sit thirty people or so with all the latest upgrades we know we need. We could incorporate all our devices into it and break it out to them so they all have something to review and get involved with right away.’

‘That way they don’t just brush off your design but split it up and review everything and perhaps your new design will be met positively rather than contempt,’ Base mulled it over. ‘I see where you’re going with this Ben. That is a good idea.’

‘Then we hit them with the new designs for surface to space station craft with large capacity as well as a new space station design meant to house and launch space craft while also being supplied and supported by the surface to space station craft,’ I continued.

‘This is an audacious plan you have developed,’ Base stated. ‘It will take us a couple of weeks to get everything drawn and planned out but even if they don’t do much with it, we can later. It will show your seriousness and your intelligence, if we make it look as professional as any from NASA or other institution. Splitting off all the improvements that can be done right away will help make the rest more palatable. I will start on this right away.’

‘Alright, I’ll concentrate on robots for here and for outer space so I can show those first,’ I decided. “Before we begin, are we set for the patent filings on the robot models?”

“Yes, I’ve put all the required documentation in the patent folder on your laptop,” Base informed me. “We need your mother to send it in to the patent lawyer she has chosen in Toronto.”

“I’ll remember to do that when she gets back,” I confirmed.

Base sent me over examples of current models on earth for robotic arms, moon and Mars rovers and vehicles for moon and Mars exploration. Then he shared advanced Telan robots for space external repair, internal repair and other service models and modules. I reviewed everything and then decided on a design that took the best ideas and merged them into something new. I barely noticed when my parents came in but they insisted on going out to dinner at a nearby steak place so I saved my work, put on some good clothes, and joined them in the short walk to the restaurant.

“So, what you working on so diligently?” mom asked after we were seated.

“I updated my designs for the scrubbers for both the vehicles and the industrial version and have a design for something even bigger,” I told them. “Then I started working on the designs for better spacecraft, a space station and surface to space craft with more payload. I’m also working on some new robots for external and internal repair on all of those so that they can be repaired in flight rather than have to wait until they are back in their port or station.”

“You’ve been busy then,” dad said without smiling.

Mom laughed at that and I had to grin.

“A bit,” I said. “I want to be able to show that I not only had ideas but actual designs and solutions to problems so they take me seriously wherever I end up. I know that I will be brushed off unless I can show them full designs and even some actual devices or robots that display my improvements and futuristic designs.”

“Good for you,” mom said. “I want you to go there and blow them away with your ideas so that they have to not only take you seriously but want to include you in their teams. We both want the name Ben Addler to be used whenever anyone thinks about software, robots, space ships and anything else you want to get involved in.”

“What you did in that lab was just the tip of the iceberg, wasn’t it?” dad asked.

“Definitely,” I told them. “I’m going to revolutionize robotics and AI with the models I’ve have already designed and I’m going to add a couple for use on all ground to space flights as well as out in space. I’ve got five weeks to get this all designed up and some of them built. That includes some scrubbers prototypes so I can demo those in the new year.”

“We’ll help as much as we can,” dad told us just as the waitress appeared to take our order.

Dad and I ordered ribeye steaks while mom had a filet mignon. We tabled the discussion for a bit as we had soup and salad before the steaks came. The steaks were big and juicy and dad and I devoured ours while mom ate hers a bit more daintily. We all skipped dessert and walked back to the hotel.

I sent all the patent information to mom’s email and told her it was all ready to send to the patent lawyer. She said she would pass it on in the morning. Mom and dad retired to their bedroom while I stayed up in mine to continue work with Base until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I fell asleep after washing up and brushing my teeth.