Sick of queuing in Deeside traffic? Airbus may have just come up with an answer; their stunning car, drone concept
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As Deeside prepares for a consultation on how to fix the A494 and A55, Airbus has just revealed a stunning new ‘concept’ which could banish those traffic woes to history.
The regions biggest employer has unveiled its urban drone, car mobility system at the Geneva Motor Show today.
Called ‘Pop.Up’ the concept is the first modular, fully electric, zero emission vehicle which can seamlessly transition from car to drone.
With traffic congestion projected to hugely increase by 2030 Pop.Up is aimed at relieving jams in crowded megacities (and north Wales roads)
Pop.Up system consists of a three layers concept:
- – an Artificial Intelligence platform that, based on its user knowledge, manages the travel complexity offering alternative usage scenarios and assuring a seamless travel experience;
- – a vehicle shaped as a passenger capsule designed to be coupled with two different and independent electric propelled modules (the ground module and the air module). Other public means of transportation (e.g. trains or hyperloops) could also integrate the Pop.Up capsule;
- – an interface module that dialogues with users in a fully virtual environment.;
Pop.Up’s allows passengers plan their journey and book their trip via an easy-to-use app.
The system automatically suggests the best transport solution – according to user knowledge, timing, traffic congestion, costs, ridesharing demands – joining either the air or ground module or other means of transportation to the passenger capsule, and following passengers’ preferences and needs.
At the heart of the concept is a capsule: designed to accommodate passengers. This high-tech, monocoque carbon-fibre cocoon measures 2.6 metres long, 1.4 metres high, and 1.5 metres wide.
The capsule transforms itself into a city car by simply coupling to the ground module, which features a carbon-fibre chassis and is battery powered.
For megacity journeys with high congested traffic, the capsule disconnects from the ground module and is carried by a 5 by 4.4 metre air module propelled by eight counter-rotating rotors.
In this configuration, Pop.Up becomes a urban self-piloted air vehicle, taking advantage of the third dimension to get from A to B efficiently whilst avoiding traffic congestion on the ground.
Once passengers reach their destination, the air and ground modules with the capsule autonomously return to dedicated recharge stations to wait for their next customers.
Airbus is harnessing its expertise to actively develop a number of radical concepts that will contribute to relieving urban congestion.
[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”48531,48530,48529,48528,48525,48524″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]“Adding the third dimension to seamless multi-modal transportation networks will without a doubt improve the way we live and how we get from A to B,” said Mathias Thomsen, General Manager for Urban Air Mobility at Airbus, on the occasion of the unveil.
“Successfully designing and implementing solutions that will work both in the air and on the ground requires a joint reflection on the part of both aerospace and automotive sectors, alongside collaboration with local government bodies for infrastructure and regulatory frameworks. Italdesign, with its long track record of exceptional vehicle design was an exciting partner for Airbus for this unique concept project.”
“Italdesign is a service company, created to provide services and mobility solutions to interested parties worldwide. It is deeply rooted in our DNA to search for future state-of-the-art solutions,” said Italdesign CEO Jörg Astalosch.
“Today, automobiles are part of a much wider eco-system: if you want to design the urban vehicle of the future, the traditional car cannot alone be the solution for megacities, you also have to think about sustainable and intelligent infrastructure, apps, integration, power systems, urban planning, social aspects, and so on.
In the next years ground transportation will move to the next level and from being shared, connected and autonomous it will also go multimodal and moving into the third dimension” continued Astalosch.
“We found in Airbus, the leader in aerospace, the perfect partner who shares this modern vision for the future of megacities to develop a sustainable multi-modal vision of megacity transportation,” he concluded.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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