Airbus and Audi fly a model of their shuttle drone

Mid-UAV Autonomous mid-car, Pop.Up Next is one of the most astonishing and daring future mobility concepts we've seen so far. Co-developed since 2017 by Airbus, Italdesign (subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group) and Audi (which joined the project this year), it is a vehicle hybrid thought both for road and air travel. Pop.Up Next is based on a two-seat capsule and two transport modules: a four-wheel chbadis and an eight-rotor air module. The whole is transformed sometimes into autonomous car sometimes taxi drone electric.

For the moment, we have not yet seen an operational prototype. But the consortium wanted to remind that it is still on track by unveiling a model of Pop.Up Next (1/4 scale) during theAmsterdam Drone Weekend which is held in the capital of the Netherlands until Friday.

A simulation in autonomous mode

Once a day, the model that is fully functional performs a demonstration. The capsule and the ground module simulate a road trip to join the air module. The capsule then connects to the latter and flies for a journey of 80 meters to reach a second terrestrial module to which it is anchored before taking the road. And all this is accomplished in a completely autonomous way.

Italdesign explains that this model-based step serves to validate basic technical concepts such as the alignment of the modules and their docking system, which will allow it to move to the next stage of development. " With this project, which began with Airbus in 2017, we will concretely demonstrate that future mobility will no longer be a playground for individual companies, each operating in its specific sector, but will instead become the point of fusion of know-how, technologies and professional expertise from a wide range of sectors – automotive, aeronautics, urban planning, social sciences – just to name a few "Says Jörg Astalosch, CEO of Italdesign.

Pop.Up Next, the shuttle drone of Airbus and Audi, becomes more precise

Article of Marc Zaffagni Published on the 9/03/2018

Audi has joined Airbus and Italdesign on the shuttle drone project that has evolved a lot since its presentation a year ago, especially in the cabin.

Last year at the Geneva Motor Show, Airbus and the studio Italdesign unveiled a surprising concept of shuttle drone named Pop.Up. It came in the form of a two-seat capsule and two transport modules: a four-wheel chbadis and an eight-rotor air module. Depending on the needs, the vehicle could be transformed into autonomous car, in a flying car or in a capsule type Hyperloop.

Things have come a long way since last year and the concept is back at the Geneva Motor Show in a revamped version. Meanwhile, Audi has joined the project to bring its expertise in battery technology and autonomous driving. In pbading, the principle of a capsule for a large transport speed seems to have been abandoned in favor of both road and air configurations.

A top speed of 540 km / h in flight

The new version named Pop.Up Next incorporates the basic features of the project, namely a autonomous car capable of driving at 100 km / h over a distance of 130 km. The performance of the air module evolved with a range reduced to 50 km (against 100 km previously) but a top speed increased to 540 km / h (against 100 km / h). The interior has been completely redesigned to gain weight, especially at the seats.

A screen almost as wide as the badpit (1.24 m) will act asuser interface with speech Recognition, facial and detection of look. The aerodynamics have been reworked, as well as the anchoring system, between the air module and the car, which is manufactured in titanium. A prototype of Pop.up Next is exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show. Its designers believe that it could become a reality in a decade. But all this is still rather theoretical since no functional prototype has yet been presented. The concept is ambitious and certainly attractive, but its feasibility has yet to be demonstrated.

Airbus unveils Pop.Up, a shuttle drone concept

Original article by Marc Zaffagni, published on 8/03/2017

Combined with Italdesign, Airbus unveiled its modular two-seat shuttle concept electric car, autonomous drone or capsule for high speed land transport type Hyperloop. Everything will be managed by a artificial intelligence who will choose the most effective combination based on travel time and traveler preferences.

At the beginning of the year, Airbus announced that it was working on a project flying car to create a taxi service that users could reserve via a application mobile. The aircraft manufacturer said it was planning to test a first prototype by the end of 2017. In reality, it is on an even more ambitious concept that Airbus board …

On the occasion of the International Motor Show in Geneva (Switzerland), the Toulouse company unveiled a multimodal transport project dubbed Pop.Up. Designed in partnership with Italian firm Italdesign, specialized in engineering for the transport industry, it is a modular shuttle system that consists of three elements: a capsule in carbon fiber, accommodating two pbadengers; a four-wheel chbadis with electric propulsion; an air module with eight rotors, electric too. The independent capsule can be connected to one or the other of these modules as needed.

According to the displacement scenario, the capsule can be transformed into electric car or autonomously controlled drone to take the route of tunes. A third option considered is to integrate the capsule with a high-speed Hyperloop transport system. In fact, this transport system, which will likely be offered as a service, will be used from a mobile application. Once the traveler has indicated his destination, an artificial intelligence (AI) will propose several scenarios taking into account the state of the traffic and the preferences of the traveler.

Pop.Up could enter service in the next ten years

The trip can start in autonomous electric car mode then, at certain points, switch to the air mode with the drone coming to be fixed on the roof of the capsule to carry it in the air, the terrestrial module then returning to the nearest Pop.Up station. Such a combination could for example be of interest to people living on the outskirts of large cities. They would roll up to doors from the city and then fly to their workplace in the center.

During the presentation, Airbus and Italdesign provided some technical elements on the configuration of the Pop.Up platform. The capsule will measure 2.64 m long by 1.54 m wide and 1.41 m high. She will be able to carry two people for a total load of 200 kg. The terrestrial module will measure 3.11 meters long by 1.90 meters wide and 68 centimeters high. It will be powered by two electric motors on the rear wheels delivering a power of 60 kW.

The autonomous car can travel at 100 km / h over a distance of 130 km. The batteries will be charged in 15 minutes. As for the air module, it will be equipped with eight electric counter-rotating rotors with a total power of 136 kW. Once connected to the capsule, it will fly up to 100 km / h over a maximum distance of 100 km. If on paper the concept Pop.Up seems feasible and rather relevant, the implementation will be no less complex. However, Airbus and Italdesign believe it could see the light of day in a decade.

Airbus plans to test a prototype of a flying car at the end of the year

Original article by Marc Zaffagni, published on 17/01/2017

Airbus has announced that it intends to test a first autonomous flying car prototype at the end of the year. The European aircraft manufacturer is not alone in floor on this solution.

After Larry Page, the boss of Google, and his project flying car that it finances in secret, here the Airbus group also thinks very seriously about this type of transport for short-distance urban journeys. "A hundred years ago, urban transport came under Earth. Now we have the technological means to lift ourselves in the air "said Tom Enders, the CEO ofAirbus, on the occasion of the DLD conference (Digital Life Design), Munich, Germany. He added that he hoped that a first prototype capable of carrying a person would be operational at the end of the year.

Last year, Airbus opened a division called Urban Mobility. The purpose of the latter is to explore possible avenues for individual air transport means or small vertical take-off vehicles likely to carry several pbadengers. The ultimate goal would be to create a taxi service that users could book via a mobile app, just like they do today with Uber.

Uber and EHang also think of the taxi drone

Uber is also working on a vertical takeoff and landing taxi drone project that could leave from the roofs of buildings and make intercity journeys. The chauffeur-driven vehicle service believes that this type of aircraft could come into service within a decade.

Airbus and Uber are not the only ones to consider this solution. Futura already told you about the taxi drone EHang 184 which was presented at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016. In 2017, the Chinese firm returned to Las Vegas announcing that his aircraft had completed 200 test flights without incident. EHang believes that it will take another two to three years to finalize development.

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