WATCH: This self-flying car concept is taking internet by storm
- By Web Desk -
- Mar 09, 2017
New innovations in science are multiplying with the passage of time. Nobody knows what the world will exactly look like in the coming years. But one thing is for sure that this world is going to transform completely into a digital world.
Aircraft manufacturing company, Airbus has partnered with an auto engineering company, Italdesign, to materialize one such idea which is “seamless, multi-modal and fully electronic urban mobility”.
This idea has been named as Pop-Up. Pop-Up will be connected with an application. The Pop.Up vehicle combines the flexibility of a small two-seater ground vehicle with the freedom and speed of a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle, thus bridging the automotive and aerospace domains.
It is a system with the ability to fly the vehicle out of traffic congestion into airspace. Both ground and air transportation are self-piloted.
Passengers will have to only relax and enjoy the journey as an Artificial Intelligence platform will manage the trips offering passengers multiple optimized choices of transport combinations to match their travel preferences.
This system will largely help people get out of ever-increasing traffic mess as tackling the issue of traffic has become greatly concerning for mega cities. Even over-laping flyovers are unable to cater to this issue with the rapidly increasing population. However, Pop.Up system promises to deliver to this need.
“During the 87th Geneva International Motor Show (on March 09), Italdesign and Airbus world-premiered Pop.Up, the first modular, fully electric, zero emission concept vehicle system designed to relieve traffic congestion in crowded megacities,” said an official press release.
“Pop.Up envisages a modular system for multi-modal transportation that makes full use of both ground and airspace,” it added.
The Airbus release said, “Pop.Up’s modus operandi is simple: 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.”
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.
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General Manager Airbus Urban Air Mobility Mathias Thomsen said pop-up is a new mobility concept. It combines ground with the air. It’s a partnership between aerospace and automated sector. Two powerful sectors that come together to develop new technology and new concepts for the future smart cities.
“I think that right now the urban sky’s quite underutilized. We think that by combining ground with space we would get much better use of the space that we have.”
CEO Italdesign Jorg Astalosch said, “Well, we think that both companies believe in finding the best solutions for people in future mega cities and generally in transport. So, Airbus is doing it in their field and in their way and we are doing in our ground-bound transportation. So, when we combine the skills and into a research partnership what it is then we find our dedicated people on both sides and we wanted to make sure that we take down the boundaries between these different specialties and find the best solutions for future mega cities.”
“With the technical experts at Airbus, we have aimed for a realistic and scalable system that would democratise the availability of the city sky,” he said.
