Tag Archives: unmanned vehicle

Hyundai’s TIGER walking robot is an advanced locomotive version of Boston Dynamic’s Spot!

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Walking in the footsteps of Elevate – Hyundai’s Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) shown-off at CES 2019, is the all-new TIGER that the Hyundai Motor Group revealed today. A logical progression in the development of the walking car robot dream that Hyundai has been chasing for quite some time, the TIGER (Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot) concept is developing under the freshly formed New Horizons Studio in collaboration with Autodesk and Sundberg-Ferar. This will be the company’s first unmanned Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) with the 360-degree directional control, designed typically to carry payload on challenging terrain in remote locations.

As Dr. John Suh, Head of New Horizons Studio, aptly put forward, the group’s vision to design automated vehicles like TIGER and the associated technologies to push the envelope of imaginations for future UMV’s. He said, “We are constantly looking at ways to rethink vehicle design and development and re-define the future of transportation and mobility.” The vehicle’s size and total weight are kept to the minimum courtesy of the carbon fiber composite additive printing – making it possible to transport TIGER to remote locations via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) for exploration or delivering emergency payload for rescue missions. Taking the capabilities of any off-road vehicle to the next level, TIGER can transform its locomotion from wheeled mobility to walking abilities instantly. Hyundai Motor Group calls it the Leg-wheel articulation that enables it to deliver payload in inhospitable terrain safely. For the most part, TIGER uses an all-wheel-drive mechanism to get over the landscape, and when things get too tricky for its wheels, it’s time to get walking.

The first prototype version of the TIGER will be X-1 (‘X’ for experimental) – honing strong legs and chassis thanks to the advanced generative design capabilities. Not only will the UMV be ideal for rescue missions and payload delivery, but it will also be perfect for 360-degree surface evaluation for other planetary exploration missions – the likes of the Moon mission or the ongoing Mars missions. As per David Byron, Manager of Design and Innovation Strategy at Sundberg-Ferar. “TIGER is a modular platform design allowing different bodies to be attached to the chassis for unique applications such as cargo delivery or surveillance in locations not suitable for humans.”

While Elevate is designed to carry passengers, this one solely targets unscrewed missions with its compact form factor. Now that Hyundai Motor Group has acquired Boston Dynamics, this robotic powerhouse’s characteristics may well come into play for bringing the two walking robots to life. In a way, it looks like the evolved cousin of Spot the dog robot already. We can expect the TIGER X-1 to take shape in the next couple of years, and a buyable version is expected at least five years from now. After all, designing a vehicle like this is no child’s play!

Designer: Hyundai Motor Group

World’s largest unmanned aquatic vessel sets sail to explore depths of underwater mysteries

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Only 20 percent of the world’s ocean has been mapped – even the topography of Moon and Mars is better known to humankind. To this end, the significance of ocean surveying vessels that have a lower carbon footprint is vital in assessing the ocean beds and the diverse ecology that these mystical places have kept hidden for centuries. There’s so much to get baffled by when it comes to understanding the marine environment and San Francisco-based Saildrone has the right unmanned aquatic vehicles for underwater exploration, and it is the world’s largest of its kind currently.

The aquatic drone-maker has surprised with its previous builds of autonomous surface vehicles exploring the Southern Ocean (in agreement with the Australian research team), and now they are back with their latest version. The 72-feet Saildrone Surveyor is a bigger, better variant of the previous generation models – loaded with new-age hardware to reach the extremities of the seafloor for findings that’ll surprise mankind. All this while being zero-emission courtesy of the wind and solar-powered credentials. The on-board equipment including the navigation systems, SONAR equipment, or the marine and atmospheric sensors are fed by the stored energy from the solar energy while the Surveyor is propelled by the energy of the wind.

All this means a non-stop exploration duration of 12 months on one go – being autonomously driven or remote-controlled from the shore. This allows the experts to have ample environmental data for deeply analyzing the carbon level fluctuations or assessing the degree of biomass in the water columns. The advanced SONAR equipment on the Surveyor will map the ocean depths of 7,000 meters to collect DNA samples of unknown organisms who survive in the harsh environment devoid of any sunlight and oxygen. To this end, the Surveyor joins the fleet of existing unmanned aquatic vehicles by Saildrone who’ve got more than 10,000 days of sail time so far. To start off things, Saildrone Surveyor will set on its adventure between San Francisco and Hawaii for ocean mapping missions.

Surveyor has been a result of a cooperative effort by NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) who gave a three-year grant through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program to the University of New Hampshire, in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Saildrone. For the launch of Surveyor Alan Leonardi, director of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research said that this is a huge leap for the unscrewed underwater missions and now “a scalable solution now exists to map our planet within our lifetime, at an affordable cost.”

Saildrone Surveyor has the same wind-powered technology as that of the Explorer that has covered more than 500,000 nautical miles from the Arctic to the Antarctic for its ocean mapping and maritime security, looking to uncover more about the oceans and their depths for a better understanding of the planet.

Designer: Saildrone

Saildrone Explorer 

This autonomous flying taxi cocoons you for comfort-laden morning office commute

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Given the exploding population of humanity that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, the only avenue left for casual travel is in the air. Commercial airlines have taken the gauntlet for decades, and the next avenue is private air travel in flying taxis. Now that times have been unprecedented this year due to the ominous COVID-19 pandemic, Italian designer Andrea Ponti has designed the idea of concept electric flying taxis that’ll be autonomous. The vision is to create a safe mode of air travel for China’s greater bay area (nine cities and two administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau) for starters since the pandemic has pushed travel and tourism against the wall. A personalized means of commute for inter-city transit, making sure there’s minimal contact during travel.

The all-electric flying taxi derives inspiration from Hong Kong’s popular bird of prey – the black Kite. Hence, Andrea has understandably named his concept the Kite. It has a quadcopter-like propulsion system similar to that of drones with entry to the plush interiors from a single rear door. This drone-like flying car is designed to comfortably transport four people to their destination – sans any traffic congestion or fear of getting infected by the coronavirus. Step inside the interiors and passengers are embraced with private jet-like luxury and of course social distancing to keep up with the norms. There are infotainment systems to keep track of things like current weather, distance to the destination, or perhaps a collection of your favorite movies. Under the seats, there is storage for keeping your belongings like bags or briefcases, and for people who have constricted time, there are retractable trays for working or having a quick snack before arriving for an important business meeting.

Andrea says that Kite will land on docked platforms at the designated location that have charging ports to juice up for the next flight. To make sure the landing is smooth, the flying pod has retractable all-weather skids. The flying taxi has a contoured design to keep the drag down and ensure that it is energy efficient for long flight durations. For now, the idea seems quite feasible as flying cars are already knocking down the doors, literally ready to transform the way we commute!

Designer: Andrea Ponti

An unmanned rover for Earth!

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The Bend Unmanned Cross-country vehicle looks remarkable for quite a few reasons. Its tires, for starters, are made from scrap metal and are modeled in a manner that feels almost like a combination of Michelin’s 3D printed tires and NASA’s chainlink tires. The hollow metallic construction makes the wheel less susceptible to puncturing, while the organic design makes it look rather unique. Made from scrap metal, the wheels are easy to replace and repair.

What’s also interesting about the Bend (and also the reason behind its name) is its form. Looking broadly like a ball and socket joint, the Bend is pretty much exactly that. Designed as a massive magnetic ball-socket joint, the Bend can literally twist and contort itself to work around any sort of terrain (its hollowed-out tires would then come in use for gripping onto the ground, I suppose). Designed for applications in construction, research, and agriculture, the Bend works unmanned, and can be modified to suit its application. It runs on a battery that may need replacing from time to time. The designer proposes a drone-based battery replacement system, but I don’t see why we couldn’t use solar panels instead!

Designer: Maya Prokhorova

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