‘Half Robot, Half Car’: Concept Vehicle Could Link With Others While Driving to Recharge
- Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:35pm by
Liz Klimas
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With self-driving cars already making their way to the road in a test capacity and flying cars completing successful flights, a new prototype unveiled at the CeBit computer-electronics show in Hanover, Germany, in March is setting out to test other new technologies, especially those involving design flexibility.
(Related: ‘Aqua car’: Volkswagen’s new design gives all-terrain a whole new meaning)
As CNET pointed out, the “EO Smart Connecting Car,” designed by the Robotics Innovation Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and is so flexible it can turn its wheels in a perpendicular fashion to allow it to travel side-to-side. In the future, it will even lengthen to allow for more passengers.
(Photo: DKFI)
But CNET reports that’s not all:
More dramatic, though, is that the car is designed to link up with an as-yet-unbuilt second model while both vehicles are being driven.
“The goal is coupling while in motion to demonstrate the validity of the concept,” said project researcher Martin Schroer.
What Schroer is describing is what CNET puts as building a “platoon” or “train” of cars. The benefit of linking up in this fashion would be to recharge the batteries of the all-electric car while still in motion.
(Photo: DKFI)
Check out CNET’s footage of the car at CeBIT in March:
Here is the concept video of the EO — Latin for “I go” — by the Robotics Innovation Center lead by Prof. Dr. Frank Kirchner at DFKI:
More recently, USA Today reported a DFKI researcher describing the car as “half-robot, half car.” While this vehicle is not yet street ready, in a few years it could be using camera, laser and remote-control technology to cart passengers around in both cross-country and inner city situations.
The goal of having a morphologically flexible design, according to the project website, is to allow the car to “adapt to practically all driving situations possible.”
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Comments (80)
georgepatton
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:20pmLets see the crash test…….cherry pie everywhere!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:58amSo… you will be able to… Couple with a Stranger while in motion? There just is going to be enough Cherry Pie to go around :)
Report Post »mattmo79
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 10:23amThe first codependent car!!
Report Post »candcantiques
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 1:59pmPlease allow me to test drive this on I-95 amongst all of the tractor trailers !
Report Post »muffythetuffy
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 4:16pmA Golf Cart to save the world no one will want to build and no one on earth will want to buy. Brazil, China, and other nations are pumping oil like there is no tomorrow so why should they build it. America is the only looser nation left on earth.
Report Post »CONAN THE CONSERVATIVE
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 4:03pmI always wanted an air-conditioned riding mower!
Report Post »georgepatton
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:19pmSell it to france or some other retarded euro country!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:52amYes, sell it to some socialist crap hole, I’ll keep my V-8 and I want gas down to $1.80 again. It can be done and we all know it. You won’t see the rich liberals who love these things ever driving one.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:35amI think it will be the mechanical star of the next Paul Blart movie. Of course it will be federally subsidized to save the movie makers some kickback funds.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on May 13, 2012 at 6:48amOf course for Paul’s sake, the vehicle will to be a single seater. Naturally with his weight it’s a “good thing” that it will have that parasitical link advantage.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:52pmInteresting
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 9:07pmWhy do they have a midget driving it?
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:42pmWhere can I buy one–for my wife!
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:41pmBest feature of this vehicle? The ‘top’ comes off for ‘the viewing’ and can double as a casket–after an accident! Think of all the money you will save!
Report Post »theotherken
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:36pmIt does have good visibility,good city car with mid to high populations. Great idea, just don’t use my money unless I give it to you.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:43pmVisibility is important–so the guy that hits you can see what he is running over!
Report Post »SHOOTnCRASH
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:35pmThis is just insulting. Looks like a friggin smurf dinglberry
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:44pmLooks like a death trap to me. An 18 wheeler would have body parts in his brake linings if he hit one…
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:57pm18 wheelers are one of the biggest problems we have in this nation. If the greenies were really worried about the environment, they would go balls to the walls getting them off the roads and onto rail/water. We could save over to half the fuel used in transportation in the nation, and create millions of new jobs with little down side and huge upside by phasing out long haul trucking and going rail.
Report Post »9111315
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:50amReally, create more jobs?
It takes maybe two guys to drive a 100 car train vs 200 truck drivers to drive that same freight.
Looks like a 100:1 job reduction plan to me. (But it does sound like a good way to reduce shipping costs and the final retail cost).
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:30pmAny progressives out there, looking to open their wallets? If I weren’t so under employed, I might be inclined to support such a venture. But, PLEASE DO NOT USE MY TAX DOLLARS TO SUBSIDIZE THIS PATCH! What are they trying to do, put all the Jump Start Auto Clubs out of business???
Report Post »Politijack
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:23pmNow THATS a Rollover special!
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:31pmDefinitely looks like an 18-wheeler trip hazard to me!
Report Post »Livia
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:41pmMaybe, but I’d LOVE to have one, just to run around town with.
Report Post »Pilgrimsarbour
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:17pmYeah, that’s what we need. A car that can easily go up onto a sidewalk. What could go wrong?
Report Post »Flyingfish
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:14pmI love the concept, but it needs a flex fuel turbine engine to provide power and oh yeah needs to be an off road vehicle and 3-4 times as big. All that articulation is a waste on a city car. I like the mods too, but we already have trailers, they even have automatic brakes for them. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to add a power assist electric motor to them.
There is already a cheap, highly manuverable, fuel efficient vehicle ready for all the city dwellers. It’s called a scooter. You can even get them with a roof so you don’t get rained on.
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:34pmI’m waiting for one to run off old dinosaur farts, so we can make a dent in this Global Warming problem everybody seems to be so concerned about! Hmmm, NASA doesn’t want us to see the Sun Spots–do you think that maybe THEY might be more a Global Warming concern than milleniums-old dinosaur flatulence?
Report Post »Netsurfer2
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:10pmThis is so funny looking, it reminds me of a clown mobile! I could imagine people stealing energy away from others while they are driving down the road and find themselves with an electrical problem sometime later on the side! Not to mention the other cars being far heavier than yours when you wreck, killing everyone in your smart car! Yeah, economy sometimes does not matter when it comes to saving your behind! The idea of not paying your own way, just makes me think you have no integrity to ever make it in this world! Good luck with that!
Report Post »possom
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:10pmOne good breeze will blow it away. I wonder where they will put the fire extinguisher?
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:35pmOr, the ground clip, so one doesn’t electrocute themself during a charge-up!
Report Post »WEBWITHDEB
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:59pmThey are going to have to do some practicality redesign on this car — not the concept, which I think is a great commuter option — but the lack of privacy. I submit that the reason most of us love our individual vehicles is because of the autonomy of being in one’s own space. This vehicle, as shown, has far too much see-through space.
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:58pm“Coupling in motion” sounds interesting, but go-carts? Nah.
Report Post »Richalu
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 9:30amWhen I saw “coupling in motion”, I thought maybe having sex while the car drove itself. But then I saw the passenger compartment is actually a fishbowl, so … maybe not.
Report Post »marcus_arealius
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:57pmNow there is a brilliant design for you.. your arse just inches (millimeters) away from exploding batteries! Not to mention your family genes.
Report Post »skippy6
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:04pmSperm count would suffer due to heated balls…..A good way for government to curb population….
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:37pmThey could call it the ‘Darwin-mobile’ to commemorate the evolution of the owner into non-reproductive status from a battery fire!
Report Post »asittner
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:55pmHow many points do you get for smashing it with an F-350?
Report Post »skippy6
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:06pmYou get 350 and I get 150…..
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:40pmCareful there! With all the batteries this thing must need, it might just outweigh an F350! You know, electrons are dark and heavy–ever try and pick up a deep-cycle battery? It’s black, and it’s heavy! Al Gore’s Earth Science prof would be proud of me!
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:55pmThe perfect Sociacommiarxist car; hook up to someone else and get free energy from them.
I suppose Congress will pass a law making them be painted red and blue with only the blue cars getting a free ride.
Report Post »9111315
Posted on May 12, 2012 at 8:52amI envision a whole chain of cars linked up on side of the road — all with dead batteries.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:54pm…
Report Post »We have a President who is half Robot and half Alien.
sizzler2220
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:54pmTime to get away from all these “green”, EPAish inventions and go back to horse and buggies. Oh, I forgot the horses fart too much for the greenies.
Report Post »Mutiny
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:51pmLooks like the blaze is scrabbling to remove the Romneycare story before this one. The truth lives here huh?
Report Post »Sapience
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:50pmIs it me, or does it seem as though this car is a leftists dreamboat? Electric, and it will leech off of other vehicles to re-charge. What’s not to love? :)
Report Post »BeingThere
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:46pmThe only thing this POS would be good for is target practice. Obama will make sure they come in pink!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 8:00pmMount a MachineGun on it… and you have Something. Of course, if you mount a MachineGun on anything you have Something :)
Report Post »ReallyAUnionGuy
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:42pmThats not a car, its a go cart…. no practicality at all….it would be fun as a toy….where there is NO traffic.
http://www.firefightersforfreedom.blogspot.com
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 11, 2012 at 7:40pm‘And… their babies will be… Smart & Pretty!’
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