Hyundai reveals details about world's first walking Elevate Concept car
All first responder specialists will tell you that the first 72 hours following a disaster are the most crucial to saving lives. And often times, due to the nature of disaster, it can be difficult for search-and-rescue teams to reach and help those in need.
Such occasions have led Hyundai team to the idea of developing a vehicle with moveable legs. The prototype is already created and bears the name Elevate. This is world's first Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV), which blends technology in electric cars and robots, which would allow it to go beyond the limitations of conventional automobiles and rescue machines.
Elevate concept is based on a modular EV platform with the capability to switch out different bodies for specific situations. The unique robotic leg architecture features five degrees of freedom along with wheel hub propulsion motors and electric actuator technology. This design allows the concept to imitate mammalian and reptilian walking gaits, allowing it to move to any direction and in any surface conditions. These legs can also fold up to a stowed drive-mode, in which power to the joints is cut and the use of integrated passive suspension system maximizes the battery efficiency.
SEE ALSO: Brabham team presents unique upgrade for the track-ready BT62
Such tweaks allow Elevate to drive at highway speeds just like an ordinary vehicle, but at the same time it can climb a five-foot wall, step over a five-foot gap, walk over diverse terrain and achieve a 15-foot wide track width and all this by keeping its body and passengers completely steel. Also, the combination of wheeled motion with articulating legs provides a new concept of mobility by enabling faster walking speeds, unique dynamic driving postures and torsional control at the end of each leg.
Source: Hyundai
