- The Mobile Eccentric Droid is going into production
- It is designed to operate indoors and on rugged outdoor terrain
- Hyundai promises automotive-grade engineering
No, this isn’t the star of Disney’s latest animated movie – Hyundai has announced a fully-autonomous robotic platform that can be engineered for pretty much any use case, and it could be the answer to a lot of mobility problems.
The Mobile Eccentric Droid – or MobED for short – features a unique Eccentric Control Mechanism that allows all four wheels to swivel and articulate, blurring the boundaries of wheels and legs. It can even cock a wheel and give a little wave, like a well-trained dog.
Far from a gimmick, Hyundai says the mechanism stabilizes the platform by dynamically adjusting the posture, so it can effectively traverse small bumps and even clamber up a step.
What you place upon this platform is totally up to you, as MobED is designed to be able to carry out a number of tasks.
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Fit it with a robotic arm and it can cruise around a warehouse, picking and packing products autonomously.
Alternatively, it could be used to autonomously deliver packages, act as a golf trolley to ferry clubs around a course, transform into an automated dolly so influencers can capture content hands-free and even sport a touchscreen so it becomes a fully-fledged helper bot.
Hyundai says the platform will be fashioned from automotive-grade materials and built on a production line so it can be scaled. The company has also created the control interface so it can be driven like a drone, as well as producing software so users can automate operations.
The company is serious about the future of its rolling droid, stating that it will sell a MobED Pro model, complete with sensors and Lidar for autonomous use, as well as a Basic version that is designed to act as a “foundation for research and development”.
The future is robot
There’s currently no word on pricing, or whether regular punters will be able to snap up a MobED to use as a rad electric scooter, but the company is serious about the future of robotics.
I’ve personally visited CRADLE in Los Angeles — Hyundai’s Center for Robotic-Augmented Design in Living Experiences — and witnessed, first hand, its work on “walking cars”, which it believes could be the rescue vehicles of the future.
Dubbed Elevate, this concept sees a chassis mounted to four robotic legs, each with a traditional wheel fixed to the end. These concepts can traverse tricky terrain, but also adapt to meet the needs of users, climbing up to the front door of a wheelchair user.
While MobED isn’t exactly a walking car, the idea isn’t too far off, delivering a stable platform that can effortlessly and autonomously navigate challenging terrain, without falling over like the myriad humanoid bots doing the rounds on YouTube.
What is placed atop MobED is anyone’s guess, but I’d bet good money these get put to use in factories and warehouses very soon. I’m holding out for the autonomous eScooter version, so I can pack the bicycle away for good.
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