Hyundai’s TIGER ‘ultimate mobility vehicle’ concept is as big as a domestic cat

The public got their first look at Hyundai’s Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) concept, the Elevate, at CES 2019. The rallies offered scenes of disaster, devastation and desolation as the car-sized robot with wheels for feet at the end of its elongated articulated legs drifted, rolled and scratched to help people in need. ‘Hyundai showed the results of its subsequent development efforts on Wednesday with the unveiling of its new TIGER (Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot) program concept, the X-1, on Wednesday – just do not expect it to come to the rescue for once greater than’ a kitten.

“Vehicles like TIGER and the technologies that underlie it give us the opportunity to advance our imagination,” said Dr. John Suh, head of Hyundai’s newly formed New Horizons Studio, said in a statement. “We are constantly looking at ways to rethink vehicle design and development and redefine the future of transportation and mobility.”

Unlike the Elevate, TIGER is Hyundai’s first UMV designed to operate autonomously. First, the first tasks involve transporting cargo, equipment and supplies across challenging sites rather than people, or as a mobile scientific research and sensor platform in remote areas.

To reach its destination, the TIGER X-1 (‘eXperimental prototype-1’) can drive like a normal AWD vehicle if its legs are retracted; or it may lock each wheel separately, and extend its legs to walk, hop, or crawl over the barriers, curbs, and breaks in its path.

Although the Elevate is portrayed as a vehicle that can transport adults, New Horizons Studio starts smaller with the TIGER. “X-1 is about the size of a hand luggage in dimensions,” Suh ​​told reporters during a recent press conference. “About 50 to 30, maybe 18 centimeters today.”

“We have focused more on the technological capabilities of TIGER X-1, and in future versions we will be working to increase the size and load capacity,” he continued. “At the same time, we needed to gain some insight from our future customers about what they need in terms of size and capability.”

New Horizons Studio is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has already begun assisting its Silicon Valley neighbors in developing the TIGER, including Autodesk and design firm Sundberg-Ferar. Autodesk lends its additional manufacturing expertise and is working to develop light carbon fiber components for future X-prototypes. Sundberg-Ferar, on the other hand, handles the vehicle’s external design and capabilities.

“During the development of TIGER with New Horizons Studio, the team at Sundberg-Ferar was creating a robot that maximizes the efficiency of wheel movements with the articulation of a quadruplet to expand the ability to reach more remote locations. “” David Byron, Manager of Design and Innovation Strategy at Sundberg-Ferar, said in a statement. “TIGER is a modular platform design that allows different bodies to be attached to the chassis for unique applications such as cargo delivery or surveillance in places that are not suitable for humans.”

Hyundai is already brainstorming for its design of ‘car with legs’, apart from disaster response and freight transport, including autonomous taxis for wheelchair users that can walk straight up to the person’s front door so they can drive in seamlessly. Obviously, New Horizons still has to devise, develop or mature another set of TIGER’s internal systems before this will happen, including wheel movement, high-performance materials, structures and power systems; chassis and baking systems, virtual development and evaluation systems, and people-centered design and systems, ”according to Hyundai.

“There are a lot of technical obstacles we have to overcome so that it has the taste of a scientific project,” Suh ​​conceded. ‘But our great desire is to make it a product. One day, for sure. ”