It shares several characteristics with the Hyundai Elevate off-road model, which was introduced in 2019.
Hyundai Motor Group on Wednesday unveiled the concept of its first autonomous vehicle, dubbed ‘Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot X-1’ (‘TIGER’, for the English acronym), which is capable of turning its wheels into ‘legs’ when encounters obstacles that you cannot overcome in a conventional way.
Features include a wheel and leg movement system, 360 degree directional control and a range of sensors for remote observation. In addition, it can connect to a drone that can take the TIGER X-1 to remote locations.
It is equipped with a modular platform, which means that different ‘bodies’ can be installed depending on the purpose. For example, it could be used to explore the surface of planets or in a more accessible form of transportation for people with disabilities.
It is being developed by New Horizons Studio, a design workshop founded by Hyundai in 2020 with the aim of creating unmanned vehicles based on research from various innovation centers. Your partner in this project is Autodesk, a leading engineering design software company.
“We are constantly looking for ways to redefine design, vehicle development and the future of transportation and mobility,” said John Suh, head of New Horizons.
It should be noted that the TIGER X-1 has many similarities with the Elevate model presented at the Consumer Electronics Fair 2019. It is a car that can cut through difficult terrain and also climb a wall of up to 1.5 meters in height height thanks to the collapsible limbs.
