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Ballon Generali

Balloons (aeronautics)Buildings and structures in the 15th arrondissement of ParisTourism in FranceTourism in ParisTourist attractions in Paris
Ballon Generali taking off
Ballon Generali taking off

The Ballon Generali is a tethered helium balloon, used as tourist attraction and as an air quality awareness tool. Installed in Paris since 1999 in the Parc André-Citroën, it was created and developed by the French company Aerophile SAS for the celebration of the year 2000. The balloon has lofted more than 500,000 passengers into the sky since its opening.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ballon Generali (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ballon Generali
Allée des Enfants et Victimes de la Prise d'Otages de Djibouti-Loyada de Février 1976, Paris 15th Arrondissement (Paris)

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Wikipedia: Ballon GeneraliContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 48.841388888889 ° E 2.2741666666667 °
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Ballon Generali de Paris

Allée des Enfants et Victimes de la Prise d'Otages de Djibouti-Loyada de Février 1976
75015 Paris, 15th Arrondissement (Paris)
Ile-de-France, France
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Phone number

call+33144262000

Website
ballondeparis.com

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linkWikiData (Q2881327)
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Ballon Generali taking off
Ballon Generali taking off
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SAGEM

SAGEM (Société d’Applications Générales de l’Électricité et de la Mécanique, translated as "Company of General Applications of Electricity and Mechanics") was a major French company involved in defense electronics, consumer electronics and communication systems. Founded in 1924, SAGEM initially specialised in mechanical engineering and tool manufacture. Early in its existence it entered the defense sector. The company made a foray into telecommunications in 1942 with the first telex printer, although it was principally a defense-oriented company during the first few decades of the post-war era. This majority focus upon the military sector continues for several years after the departure of Marcel Môme, SAGEM's founder. During the 1980s, SAGEM's response to the newly developed fax machines by distributing Japanese fax machines while developing its own technology allowed it to quickly innovate and gain marketshare as a major player in telecommunications. Such products comprised a growing share of SAGEM's revenues over the traditional defense sector. During the 1990s, the firm went into automotive systems, becoming a large supplier of that sector. Starting in 1997, the sales of mobile phones grew enormously. SAGEM rapidly became one of the world's leading manufacturers of GSM telephones, as well as the undisputed leader of the French market, at one point holding roughly 50% of the market. By the turn of the century, SAGEM was a highly profitable company, with net profits nearing the FFr 1 billion mark during 1999. In 2005, SAGEM and SNECMA merged to form Safran. Together, the companies focus mainly on aeronautics, defense and security. The communications and mobile telephony businesses were spun off as two independent entities: SAGEMCOM and MobiWire.

Aramis (personal rapid transit)
Aramis (personal rapid transit)

The Aramis was an experimental personal rapid transit (PRT) system developed in France for deployment in the Paris area. Aramis included the unique feature of non-mechanical platooning that allowed the small cars to run as virtual trains in areas of higher transit density. This would allow the system to maintain high throughput in busy areas, with the trains breaking up into individual cars and going their separate ways as they approached their destination. In spite of considerable development, the platooning system was never made to work properly, and the cars tended to bump and jar in testing. The project was eventually shut down in November 1987, its place taken by the conventional Véhicule Automatique Léger system developed through the same period.Phase 0 of Aramis began in 1969. During Phase 0, the patent was processed, a test site was determined, and the Aramis development committee was created. Phase 1 started in 1974. During Phase 1, more test sites were researched, variable-reluctance motor was developed and Aramis' competition was eliminated. Phase 2a began in 1977. During Phase 2a, Aramis was simplified for economic reasons. Phase 3A started in 1978, and during phase 3A tests of the system's main components were run, and more site analyses took place at test locations. Phase 3B was the final phase for Aramis; it started in 1982. During the report for phase 3B, Aramis looked like it was in good shape; however, at the end of phase 3B Aramis was abandoned. Technical development was conducted by "Engins Matra" company, which then became Matra Transport (and later absorbed by Siemens under the same "Siemens Transportation Systems", now a part of Siemens mobility). The project was financed by the French agency DATAR (French: délégation interministérielle à l'aménagement du territoire et à l'attractivité régionale; English: Inter-ministerial Delegation for Territorial Planning and Regional Attractiveness).The project met with various failures, for both social and technological reasons. In Bruno Latour's book on the subject, Aramis, or the Love of Technology, the author explores the various shortcomings that led to the stillbirth of the project. The original intention for Aramis was to be an ideal urban transportation system based on private cars in constant motion and the elimination of unnecessary transfers. This new form of transportation was intended to be as secure and inexpensive as collective transportation. The proposed system had custom-designed motors, sensors, controls, digital electronics, software and a major installation (the "CET") in southern Paris. The demonstration of the technology in 1970 was a success. What set Aramis apart from other personal rapid transit projects were non-material couplings. Non-material couplings were linking elements that would allow each vehicle to be self-contained, while moving in unison. Unlike trains, individual Aramis were not physically attached. The 1972 prototype featured a piece of track 800–1000 meters long, a fixed station, a movable station that would have included a workshop, a control post, a reception building, a parking lot, and five full scale cars (two for passengers, three reserved for measuring instruments). Social concerns made the development of Aramis difficult; the safety of passengers was at risk because of the lack of security in private cars. Point-to-point travel for passengers, an essential feature of Personal Rapid Transit, was removed from the specifications around 1973 because of the extra cost of the turnouts.