Kira Van at Sema
- Thread starter Victorian
- Start date
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
The Original version of that trailer had 4 independent electric driven wheels. To power those I believe they had a small turbine as a power plant .
goin camping
Explorer
Interesting design exercise. No doubt many ideas from this will make it into other campers.
Campers where you can get in and get to the toilet and fridge without deploying roofs or entry ways.
Campers where you can get in and get to the toilet and fridge without deploying roofs or entry ways.
cellularsteve2
Adventurer
I was fortunate enough to see this and get a personal tour by Bran Ferren, the owner/designer. Not only is the truck a sight to see, he is a fascinating person.
He said that in addition to building this for his daughter, he built it to show potential clients his firms capabilities. You see, he builds vehicles for the military and other organizations that require secrecy. They don't want him taking photos of what he built or showing the vehicles to other companies/organizations. This way he can show Kiravan, to demonstrate the capabilities of what his company, Applied Minds can dream, design, and build.
Say what you want, but this man has a fascinating background and is an inventor and patent holder as well as an Oscar winner, artist, creative genius, former head of R&D at Disney Imagineering, and just a nice guy who shared a lot of info about the build. I never met him prior, but just struck up a conversation. To me, meeting him was one of the highlights of the Sema show this year.
Steve
He said that in addition to building this for his daughter, he built it to show potential clients his firms capabilities. You see, he builds vehicles for the military and other organizations that require secrecy. They don't want him taking photos of what he built or showing the vehicles to other companies/organizations. This way he can show Kiravan, to demonstrate the capabilities of what his company, Applied Minds can dream, design, and build.
Say what you want, but this man has a fascinating background and is an inventor and patent holder as well as an Oscar winner, artist, creative genius, former head of R&D at Disney Imagineering, and just a nice guy who shared a lot of info about the build. I never met him prior, but just struck up a conversation. To me, meeting him was one of the highlights of the Sema show this year.
Steve
Steve I emailed him telling him how much I liked the vehicle and thoughts of his daughters comfort going into it. I really did not expect to receive one back. He responded with a response that let me know he read the entire message I send. His reply was the next day. Thought that was great and thought well of him for it.
Sent from my QMV7A using Tapatalk
Sent from my QMV7A using Tapatalk
cellularsteve2
Adventurer
K9-- I am not surprised. He seems to be a very down-to-earth guy. I was standing around the truck looking at it as were a lot of other people and I saw him looking at it not knowing he was the creator. Just started chatting and he invited me for a tour. Spent about 45 minutes talking. Another guy who is building a Mercedes 1300 started asking him questions about where to source parts. Bran shared information with him including sources. He also said feel free to take as many photos inside as you like. I found him no different then some Jeep guys I know are happy to share information and talk shop.
Steve
OuterLimits
I control the horizontal and the vertical
The Travel Channel episode is called "Space Age Mega Machine".
It is a fairly insane over the top rig, but still cool and interesting.
On ATT Uverse it is scheduled to play again 11/9 Mon at 3:00 AM PST. Fire up those DVRs tonight or you'll miss it.!!!
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vwteleman
Observer
Here's a good background article from last year:
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/worlds-biggest-rv/
He does sound like a fascinating guy.
Cheers,
Brent
superbuickguy
Explorer
neat, not my cup of tea, but totally neat and I wouldn't kick it out of bed for eating crackers.
DirtWhiskey
Western Dirt Rat
Bran Ferron is an absolute mad genius and waaaay smarter than either you or I. Of that I have no doubt. Every time Kira Van gets mentioned on this site, a group of know-it-alls decides to crawl out from underneath their FJ60 and chime in on how much smarter they are than the founder of Applied Minds and Walt Disney Imagineering. He is not just an engineer or a technician, he is a technological artist. Kira Van is a work of art. Oh and that "pinch to zoom" thing you do on your device? He invented that too.
I don't pinch-to-zoom, I don't own an FJ60, nor do I care what else he has done. That opening is a failure regardless of how much money he has made by being a computer wiz.
goodtimes
Expedition Poseur
When I first read about this vehicle, all that was presented was "I built it to take my daughter on a trip around the world" - at which time I (and many others) was thinking, "****** are you thinking?!?!?".
That bit of info (quote above) changes everything. From the perspective of showing design capability, the vehicle makes a heck of a lot more sense than just "I wanted to take my daughter on a cool trip". Now I kind of want to meet him.
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