COVER STORY | FUTURE MOBILITY
SATUETPO CMHOATNIVGEE’S
A transformer-type concept best
summarised as ‘a car that walks’ unveiled
at CES 2019 is being developed using the
latest generative design tools.
In recent years, we have all
become used to seeing weird
and wonderful mobility
concepts. So much so that
it sometimes feels as though
‘mere’ driverless cars have
come to seem also mundane by
comparison.
Few of these concepts,
however, have been quite as
eye-catchingly futuristic as
Hyundai’s Elevate Concept
vehicle. First debuted at
the Consumer Electronics
Show in 2019, this is called
the ultimate mobility vehicle
(or ‘UMV’), Elevate has the
ability to transform from a
four-wheeled, car-like vehicle
into a four-legged, reptilian
walking machine, giving it the
ability to traverse terrain that’s
inaccessible to even the most
capable off-road vehicles.
The 150-year-old automotive
industry is navigating a
period of transformational
change and needs to innovate:
strict climate regulations,
electric vehicle (EV) startups
disrupting established
markets, changing personal
travel habits, shipping patterns
and global supply chains
are just a few of the forces
dictating that established auto
manufacturers absolutely must
innovate now.
Fundamentally, the design
emanates from one thought,
summed up by John Suh,
Hyundai’s founding director the
New Horizons Studio as “What
happens if you combine a car and
a robot?”
Suh has spearheaded one
of Hyundai Motor Group’s
more futuristic approaches to
addressing these challenges.
Hyundai’s New Horizons Studio
believes that the combination of
driven wheels and powered legs
will result in ground vehicles
with unprecedented locomotion
capabilities.
The studio aims to contribute
to Hyundai Motor Group’s core
automotive business as it seeks
to expand into new markets that
enhance transportation on and off
the road.
“What could a car achieve
if it had the ability to walk?”
continued Suh’s thinking,
which ultimately resulted in
the walking “Elevate” concept
vehicle that Hyundai developed
in collaboration with storied
industrial design
studio Sundberg-Ferar
and debuted at CES 2019.
The potential uses for such
a vehicle include irregularground
transport needs,
surface exploration, search
and rescue emergencies,
and clearing the signi cant
transportation hurdles some
mobility-impaired individuals
face daily.
As the vehicle does not rely
solely on wheels, it is expected
to be capable of addressing
challenging driving situations
– for example, a car with
robotic legs could save lives as
the rst responder in natural
disasters; or, people who do not
have access to an ADA ramp
could hail a car to walk up to
their front door, level itself,
and allow wheelchairs to roll
right in. Using a combination
of robotics and wheeled
locomotion technology, Elevate
and other vehicles from the
same studio are expected to
rede ne vehicular mobility.
This design is uniquely
capable of both mammalian
and reptilian walking gaits,
allowing it to move in any
10 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | DECEMBER 2020
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