transportation. Locked in an office here at MIT's Media Lab is the latest
prototype of the RoboScooter, delivered just one month ago from Taiwan.
Outside this room, the Media Lab is almost too eccentric for words: an open
space lined with offices, teeming with art and an explosion of plant life.
It's the exact opposite of this austere little space, where the scooter's
detached seat is sitting on the floor and wires snake from the cavity where
the removable battery pack should be. The rear wheel is clamped in place,
and under the fluorescent lights, in these cramped quarters, the RoboScooter
looks like a hospital patient. Its immediate prognosis is still up in the
air, but here's the good news: Whatever it eventually looks like, and
whatever it actually does, this vehicle is going to make it.
And then, there's the inevitable bad news: The first-gen RoboScooter will
not be very robotic. The original concept developed by the Media Lab's Smart
Cities research group called for wheels that were essentially self-contained
robots, with dedicated processors that could optimize braking and
suspension. In a four-wheel configuration, these wheeled bots would also
control steering. The group's City Car design, for example, allows each
wheel to turn independently. For a scooter, computer-controlled steering
isn't necessarily more efficient than old-fashioned handlebars. But for now,
the point is moot, because the first RoboScooters to hit the streets won't
have wheels any more intelligent than a Vespa's.
But here's what makes it smarter: The RoboScooter will be entirely electric,
with at least one lithium-ion battery pack that can be swapped out for
another, fully charged one. And although the exact mechanics haven't been
finalized, the scooter will have the ability to fold into itself, with its
rear wheel sitting alongside the front one. That covers the cool stuff that
might convince you to eventually buy or rent one. But the RoboScooter's
biggest innovation-one with the real potential to change the state of urban
transportation-is on the assembly line. "A traditional internal combustion
vehicle might have 1200 to 1500 parts," says William Mitchell, director of
the Smart Cities research group and a professor of Architecture & Media Arts
and Sciences. "RoboScooter has 150."
Hybrid vehicles are even more complex, sometimes requiring upwards of 25
percent more parts than their internal combustion counterparts. "Hybrids
have a niche in the short term," Mitchell says. "But in principle, they're
going in exactly the wrong direction. They're doubling the complexity
instead of what we should be doing, which is halving it." The RoboScooter
trims parts by way of being all-electric, but also with its straightforward,
borderline minimalist design. "We are religiously pushing the proposition
that we should get rid of the sheet metal that usually encrusts a scooter,"
Mitchell says.
This dramatic reduction in parts could mean dramatically cheaper production
costs for Taiwan-based manufacturer Sanyang Motors (or SYM). It could also
have an impact on similar electric vehicle projects, like the City Car.
While that design hasn't found a partner willing to commercialize it, a
low-cost, streamlined production process could allow small firms, both in
the United States and abroad, to seriously consider getting involved. To
Mitchell, everything is riding on RoboScooter.
Today, however, no one is actually riding the scooter, and it's hard to tell
when anyone will. The prototype is a work in progress, and the researchers
at MIT still have to finalize its electric propulsion-and how to collapse
it. The final product won't be able to shape-shift Transformers-style at the
push of a button. But the driver won't be expected to wrestle it entirely on
his or her own-the scooter might have spring-loaded components, or the kind
of hydraulic system that allows car trunks to open themselves. Also in
question is how the vehicle will be charged. Developers originally
envisioned charging racks distributed throughout a city, which could double
as rental stations where users would buy a one-way trip. If SYM ever decides
to take that leap, adopting a business model that's a cross between services
like Zipcar in the U.S. and the successful Parisian bicycle rental program,
it could be the biggest endorsement yet of one-way, short-trip vehicle
rentals.
If-and let's be clear, it is a very big if-the RoboScooter takes off when
its introduced in Asia, the benefits could quickly snowball. The wheels may
not be robotic now, but the architecture is already in place for future
generations of the scooter; the wait now is for computer-controlled
components like the electric brakes currently being developed by Siemens.
And if a RoboScooter rental system turns a profit, it could not only prove
that short-trip, one-way electric vehicles are feasible, but possibly change
the current perception that EVs will only become useful when they have the
range to travel cross-country. One potential upside might be a battery lease
model for the scooter's swappable li-ion packs, reducing the cost of
ownership and solving the complicated warranty issues associated with
plug-in vehicles.
As excited as Mitchell is about the RoboScooter, he has no delusions about
where it will be successful. "Scooters are perfect for Asian, European
markets. They aren't a good model in the States. They're trendy for art
directors," he says, "but the expectation of safety is higher here." For the
United States, Mitchell has a very different vision from the near-term
impact of a City Car-like electric vehicle. It's a more ambitious,
multi-modal, one-way rental model. A user might rent a scooter or bicycle to
get to the supermarket, and then rent a car to bring his groceries back
home. Far-fetched as that scenario sounds, every one of its components is
entirely within reach, from a technological standpoint. The hard part will
be convincing companies to take the initial plunge. For its part, the Smart
Cities group expects to present what Mitchell describes as a "good, working
prototype" of RoboScooter to SYM by April 1. If all goes according to plan,
the scooter could hit the market in Asia as early as next year.
----------------------------------
Something interesting from MIT. The scooter looks damn cool!
----------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment