The rapid advance of robotics will perhaps lead Hyundai to a small revolution in the world of 4-wheel vehicles.
At Hyundai, the engineers have continuity in ideas and the backing of their hierarchy to experiment. In any case, this is the most obvious conclusion on reading the latest press release from the Korean manufacturer spotted by Interesting Engineering; forget Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, make way for this improbable 4×4 with a concept as surprising as it is innovative.
This machine with a decidedly very unusual silhouette will be designed by the New Horizon Studio (NHS), a brand new department is specially dedicated to the exploration of avant-garde machines described as “Ultimate Mobility Vehicles” (for Ultimate Mobility Vehicle), which says a lot about their design philosophy.
In these brand new, state-of-the-art facilities, the NHS will begin by tackling the production of a land vehicle described as “autonomous, intelligent and able to transform”. Its purpose will be to deliver payloads of vastly different mass, weight, and transportation stresses through very difficult terrain.
But the most interesting is certainly the second project that will see the light of day in the offices of the NHS. Hyundai has indeed announced the resurrection of the Elevate project, one of the most interesting and intriguing ground vehicle concepts to have been presented in recent years.
A funny 4-wheel-drive wader
It is essentially a 4×4 mounted on four articulated legs, which was already enough to make it a unique machine of its kind when it was presented in 2019. But since then, the firm had not really communicated on this subject. We could therefore expect the project to be put on hold or simply abandoned; but the latest announcement from Hyundai proves that this rather exciting idea is still valid.
Hyundai n’a not divulged new details in relation to this project; so we don’t know how this new vehicle will conform to the original Elevate concept. On the latter, the most interesting elements of the design were obviously the four articulated legs. It all starts with four electric motors mounted on segmented appendages. They are able to orient the wheel according to 6 different degrees of freedomso that it can benefit from optimum traction at all times.
A new definition of off-road
This will allow the Elevate to move in any type of environment, even on very rough terrain. Theoretically, he will even be able to do it in all fluidity since these four legs will also serve as suspensions. The machine also has three different modes of movement which are closely linked to the mode of operation of this damping system.
The first mode, called “suspension passive”, works more or less exactly like the shock absorbers of a standard car. The second mode is already more exotic since it forces the arms to adapt their configuration to maintain the nacelle at a precise height with perfect stability; perfect for transporting sensitive materials or equipment, or even humans over bumpy terrain.
The third mode of travel, called “Reptilian”, is undoubtedly the most exotic; it consists of doing move the machine forward by moving the wheels in the same way as a lizard. The result, visible on the video above, is very surprising visually, but also very interesting in terms of engineering.
These four robotic limbs support a fully modular central platform. It is therefore possible to climb there different chassis specifically adapted to different uses or environments. It can, for example, be a basket with several seats to transport passengers, a mobile mini-laboratory with a small cockpit, a container optimized for the transport of a particular commodity, etc.
A concrete interest in operations in difficult terrain
According to Hyundai, this machine is designed to meet “difficult driving situations” for all other vehicles. He might as wellsave lives by facilitating access to first aid” to otherwise difficult to reach areas.
Even if Hyundai does not talk about it at all, we can also imagine that this concept could be used to build space exploration rovers. Indeed, being able to move safely through any type of terrain without knowing the constraints in advance could change the game considerably in this context. Just look at the side of Curiosity and its wheels reduced to lint to be convinced. Same observation for Perseverance; with such a versatile mode of propulsion, it probably wouldn’t have needed a scout like Ingenuity to navigate safely through the trappings of the Martian surface.
Since the NHS has just officially opened, it will probably take wait a few years before seeing the first prototypes arrive. It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers will also try to reinvent the traditional model of the 4-wheeled vehicle by then, or if Hyundai is set to become the undisputed specialist in this technological niche.