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7/24/2009
  Recycled living pod steals the show at Dwell on Design  The smash hit at the recent Dwell on Design show in Los Angeles was the newest prefab living pod model from the innovative builders at Reclaimed Space. The 400 square foot home was, apart from wiring and plumbing, built almost entirely of locally sourced recovered materials. Labels: Pods
7/06/2009
A relaxing floating living pod could be your key to a longer life  This attractive floating living pod features translucent aluminum grid panels, aluminum, fiberglass or steel hull, premium windows & doors, one piece fiberglass roof system, viking & gaggenau kitchen, Italian vanity & Kohler Shower, danish sound system & hd tv's.  A comfortable, stress free living pod is a key to longer life. Labels: Pods
6/30/2009
A new personal transport pod that runs on anything that burns  Segway inventor Dean Kamen is developing a hybrid electric scooter that can run on almost anything that burns - from wood chips to plastic. According to the patent, the bike uses a small two-piston Stirling engine. Stirlings move their pistons by means of internal temperature differentials maintained by an external combustion heat source. The image is of a low temperature difference Stirling Engine by American Stirling Company that is powered by the heat from a warm hand holding it.
6/25/2009
Drive around town for pennies per mile in a compressed air powered mobile pod  The 2010 MDI AIRPod emits no emissions and runs on nothing but compressed air. The heart of the 2010 MDI AIRPod is a piston engine that has been specially adapted by MDI to run on compressed air. The expansion of the compressed air within the cylinders moves the pistons. The engine is "fueled" by a system of high-pressure air tanks that can be refiled in just a few minutes.
6/21/2009
The best designed living pod yet from New Zealand  Much like modern manufacturing techniques used in the automotive industry, the HABODE is constructed in a customized factory. Utilizing a "fold-out" patented system, HABODE can be shipped and transported worldwide as in their shipping mode they are compliant with international shipping standards with respect to dimension and structural characteristics. Once landed and trucked to your site this unit is positioned onto its foundations. This operation can be performed in eight hours provided weather is favorable with full completion within two days. Labels: Pods
6/20/2009
Highly flexible and configurable container living pods  These modular container houses offer a high degree of flexibility. These living pods can be easily modified and regrouped to change the nature of your dwelling. The structural rigidity in the metal frame and corrugation give greater strength than standard timber and steel construction, allowing easy stacking and joining in numerous possible configurations for habitats both large and small. Construction time from start to finish is significantly reduced through prefabrication of about 80% of the structure. Once a plan has been selected, the factory prepares the units by cutting for windows, doors or removing sides. Windows, flooring, and other finish materials are applied easily through use of standard dimensions and pre-assembled framing. Labels: Pods
6/17/2009
A comfortable living pod you can fold up and move  Our planet's climate regularly swings between no-ice periods, when locations of all our coast cities are under hundreds of feet of water, to high-ice periods when the sites of all our mid-western cities are under hundreds of feet of ice. Not to even mention all the in between uncertainties: constantly shifting jobs, wars and other economic uncertainties. So here is the ultimate in resilient living pods. A pod that you can just fold up and move out of any emerging risk zone and over into the nearest emerging reward zone. Why own a fixed living pod, when the politicos of most of America's cities have created employee pension traps that are about to force them to start property taxing all their fixed home owners to death? Labels: Pods
6/17/2009
Hydrogen powered car ready to go and it's design is open source  A new hydrogen-powered mobile pod, whose designs will be open source and posted for free use in the cloud, was unveiled in London. The open-source approach means entrepreneurs around the world could download the designs and manufacture the two-seater prototype locally for free.
6/15/2009
Diesel-electric trike pod kit gets a sweet 225mpg  Robert Riley's XR3 kit mobile pod has three-wheels and a plug-in diesel-electric hybrid that get 225mpg on combined diesel-electric power or about 125mpg on the diesel engine alone.
6/12/2009
A living pod building system that delivers  There are certain basics everyone wants in a living pod: energy efficiency and non-toxic materials, abundant daylighting, good acoustics and superior air quality. With the Project FROG building system, you get all this delivered with just six months from contract to completion. Labels: Pods
6/10/2009
The ultimate clean lean mean electric riding machine  Drawing inspiration from BMW's DNA with a focus on their efficient dynamic theme, the BMW X bike by designer Jacobus Marx is a zero-emission electric bike concept for the active urban motion pod of the near future. This motion pod concept is propelled by two 80KW in-wheel electric motors and uses super-capacitors to keep the bike lean and super fast to charge. It can run in an elevated mode at city speeds or sink down close to the ground for a higher speed ride. Labels: Pods
6/08/2009
The snail shell rolling, amphibious living pod  The snail shell rolling, amphibious living pod is a low cost system that enables persons to move around, changing their whereabouts at will. The pod can function in almost any environment. One unit supplies space for one person. It is mobile both on land and water. One person can move it slowly, either by pushing it like a wheel, walking inside it or on top of it. On water it can be rowed, moved by a kite or hooked up to a vessel, for example, a ferry. The unit rests on one flat side and can be anchored in lakes, rivers, harbors or at sea. On land, it can be placed in city spaces, vacant lots, ponds, forests etc. The pod takes up very little space and can easily be placed in a discreet way. It can even be buried in the ground, exposing only the entrance. It can also function as a comfortable space inside existing buildings. Several units can meet up to form ad hoc crowd communities. Labels: Pods
6/03/2009
21st century ronin mobile living pod with 19th century gypsy ambiance  Guy Lemieux in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada offers a unique modern take on the gypsy-inspired transportable wooden 4 seasons cottage adapted to modern living with a carefully decorated and furnished interior. Labels: Pods
6/02/2009
A lyrical living pod perched with the birds in the forest canopy  Architect Robert Harvey Oshatz has managed to perch this living pod so elegantly in the tree tops, that it seems as naturally there as the birds singing from the limbs all around it. Labels: Pods
5/27/2009
The Boxhome rustic/modern urban cave/living pod  Boxhome is a small, residential project in Oslo by Norwegian architects Rintala Eggertsson, who describe the 19 square meter project as an 'urban cave.' It feature timber frame construction, clad in aluminum, with a different species of wood covering the interior walls of each room. Labels: Pods
5/27/2009
Seasteading Institute announces winners of this year's design contest The old order's nation states seem a terribly flawed system. They seem to be forever spying on and infringing the rights of their citizens. They engage in costly and unnecessary conflicts and spend fortunes on things like research into bioweapons with the power to cause the extinction of our species. The services nation states deliver to citizens are routinely of inferior quality. And their efficiency is so abysmal that they turn their citizens into virtual slaves of the state by forcing them to pay taxes much higher than the 33% of their crops feudal lords took from their serfs. Moreover, instead of serving the common good, legislation and regulations often seem more targeted at serving the needs of a political connected elite, at the expense of most citizens.  Some, like the Seasteading Institure, think the best way to create a civilization 2.0 that treats humans with respect, is to avoiding the nation state model entirely by homesteading outside their jurisdiction either in outer space or on the high seas.  The images shown are from the more interesting of the winners of this year's Seasteading Institute annual design competition. The concept was created by a 22 years-old architecture student named Anthony Ling. And it illustrates an extremely interesting idea for maximizing human freedom by injecting real competition into the administration of our cities. Numerous proprietary communities of containerized living pods could be set up at sea. Community operators would be forced to provide highly efficient administration and real value for the fees paid by inhabitants, because if they failed to do so, inhabitants could just have their pods detached and moved to another better operated community. The potential effectiveness of making governance truly competitive can be seen in the fierce competition between RV communities in places like Arizona and Florida. The highly mobile living pod inhabitants that are their customers must be given real value for their money. Imposition of the high fees or ridiculous and oppressive regulations, found in many communities with more captive populations, is made impossible by the mobility of the inhabitants.
5/24/2009
Live anywhere in your customizable mobile living pod  The capability to live well anywhere, increases your resilience -- essential in our rapidly evolving times. People want to be mobile but also have the ability to relax in their own personal living pod.  The Mehrzeller mobile living pod offers you the ability to set up your own unique design. The configuration is generated by a computer using the customer's inputs, and then the final design is done by parameters from the architects to yield an attractive and practicable result. Labels: Pods
5/22/2009
Living pod designed to operate on solar power  Alchemy Architects' WeeHouse features lighting and appliances sufficiently energy efficient to allow this living pod to operate off the grid with an add-on solar energy package if desired. The living pod comes in numerous configuration with the smaller configurations designed to require less than 260kWh per month of electric power for full operation. Labels: Pods
5/22/2009
Minimalist living pod designed for quick assembly  With its clean lines and glowing surface, the Modular Dwelling embodies California's new Prefab architectural movement. These custom built living pods blend minimalist styling, industrial materials and a modernist's attention to detail. Designed to be easy to transport, quick to assemble and esthetically pleasing. The ideal blend of form and function. Labels: Pods
5/21/2009
You've seen 'flat pack' furniture, now you can get an entire 'flat pack' living pod  You've seen flat pack furniture, now Form & Forest is offering a line of flat pack living pods. Great looking kit habitats in a range of sizes, which can be shipped flat, just like the famous furniture, and quickly assembled on site. The living pod shown is the Lookout model. Labels: Pods
5/20/2009
Float to where the jobs are in a low-cost build-it-yourself floating living pod  Devlin Designing Boat Builders offer construction plans for a great little floating living pod called the Millie Hill. This floating pod can sleep up to four using settees that convert into double berths and features a head (toilet for the non-nautical) with a shower. In these challenging times, nice to be able to just float to wherever the jobs are. Labels: Pods
5/20/2009
A self-contained ship-anywhere living pod  Imagine a low-cost, completely self-contained, ship anywhere in the world living pod, which you could even load your electric car into before shipping. Your pod is on the way. See also Compact, fully equipped living pods in many different configurations Labels: Pods
5/18/2009
Urban infill (incremental) housing can fix our cities  With millions of new car drivers added each year in many places like China and India, the price of fuel is headed up. But urban planning regulators have foolishly assumed cheap gas forever and divided our cities into separate residential, shopping, office and industrial zones, typically miles apart. So how do we add enough resilience to our cities to avoid a collapse should high price or a prolonged supply disruption from the volatile lands where crude is pumped make fuel unavailable? Urban infill (or incremental) housing built around where the jobs are can replace those long commutes with short walks. Shipping container living pods stacked in large parking lots, no longer needed due to factory automation. Living pods built on roofs of retail businesses, on vacant industrial or retail lots. Pods built inside disused factories and closed retail stores. These are the types of solutions that can give our cities the resilience they must have to insure there are jobs there for our kids. Planning departments will, as regulators always do, fight to defend the old failed order. But if we let them hold back the more resilient civilization 2.0, we and our kids will pay a terrible price. Labels: Pods
5/18/2009
The Lifepod state of the art movable living pod  Architect Kyu Che Lifepod Project is an attempt to fuse the best of automotive, aeronautic and RV design to offer what Che calls "high tech mini capsule living." Mimicking terrestrial mammals, the structural system is a quadrupedal fuselage. This allows for foundation-less "footings" that can adjust to the contours of the natural landscape. The house adjusts to the land. The land need not be disfigured for the house. Labels: Pods
5/17/2009
The ModestHouseMini living pod isn't modest, it's marvelous  Brilliantly combining a state-of-the-art system of pre-manufactured parts like structural insulated panels (SIPS) for the roof, walls and floor with lots of glass to achieve a traditional ranchhouse look in a humods era living pod. The ModestHouseMini design by architect Jeffrey McKean is frugal, but much more grand than modest in appearance. Labels: Pods
5/17/2009
An attic space transformed into a sensational city living pod  Form follows function in this city living pod design that gives a feeling of spaciousness to its 30 square meter size by elegantly packing all the comforts of luxurious contemporary city living into an attic space. Labels: Pods
5/15/2009
A guide to transforming shipping containers into comfortable living pods  Here is a guide to all the various resources for turning shipping containers into low cost living pods. Labels: Pods
5/13/2009
The modular, expandable iHouse living pod  For a comfortable living pod with a different look and modular expandability, check out the new i-House. Labels: Pods
5/11/2009
Your retro-futuristic personal backyard working pod  The OfficePOD gives you a self contained office that exceeds all standard office accommodation regulations & requirements, anywhere. Says the company: Being an OfficePOD user will bring a positive change to life. A chance to cut down on commuting, to be more productive, to spend more time at home but at the same time keep your work separate. A major way to getting a better balance into your life. Labels: Pods
5/07/2009
Compact, fully equipped living pods in many different configurations  Tiny living pods built for under $100 a square foot including full kitchen and laundry with all appliances, bath, living and bed room.  Multiple floor plan configurations available in lengths from 16' to 28' with a standard width of 14'.... READ Labels: Pods
5/06/2009
The versatile Solo mobile living pod  Unique design features include completely off-grid operation and optional advanced mechanical systems such as biodiesel fuelled micro-combined heat and power systems (MCHP), advanced heat recovery technology and an airtight envelope made from an advanced form of steel Structural Insulated Panel System (SIPs).... READ Labels: Pods
5/06/2009
A truly unique little living pod  Next Generation House created by Sou Fujimoto Architects is a small housing module for weekend use.... READ Labels: Pods
5/04/2009
A living pod that can simplify your life  The Hangar prefab living pod's clean design is so simple and organized, that living in it could simplify and organize your entire life.... READ Labels: Pods
5/04/2009
A transformer apartment living pod Hong Kong architect and technophile Gary Chang's 344-square-foot transformer apartmen can be shifted into at least 24 different layouts, using sliding walls and detachable shelving.... READ (warning: clueless old media site requiring registration) Labels: Pods
5/02/2009
A versatile, great looking kit built living pod  The iPAD is a kit built living pod designed to covers a range of options, including: one bedroom home, office, studio or resort unit to name but a few.... READ Labels: Pods
4/28/2009
A tiny amphibious living pod that you can build for yourself from plans  Berkeley Engineering's Aqua Casa Houseboat is the result of years of boat design and building experience. These boats can be built by the amateur builder with little or no boat-building experience.  The Aqua Casa is fully trailerable and can double as a self-contained travel trailer, which you can use for any purpose.... READ Labels: Pods
4/25/2009
A stacked shipping container living pod village in Amsterdam  Keetwonen, completed 3 years ago, continues to be the largest shipping container community in the world, with 1000 units as student housing.... READ .... WATCH .... READ Labels: Pods
4/24/2009
The Silver Fish floating living pod  The choice of materials makes the Silver Fish floating living pod the perfect balance between functional design and maritime romance.... READ Labels: Pods
4/17/2009
Turning an old truck into a rolling urban studio apartment San Francisco couple turn old van into a rolling living pod for traveling the state to sell their art.... READ Labels: Pods
4/13/2009
The Loftcube rooftop living pod  The slickly designed Loftcube 420 square feet living pod from Werner Aisslinger can be dropped in place by a helicopter on a rooftop or anywhere.... READ Labels: Pods
4/08/2009
Breakthrough living pod that can be built anywhere in 3 days  Says the designer: Imagine a home that can be built in three days, that will suit any landscape and adapt to virtually any architectural style. Picture a design so sophisticated and fabulous that it seems futuristic, yet so simple and uncomplicated that you wonder why no one has thought of it before.... READ Labels: Pods
4/07/2009
Building your own mini mobile living pod  Blog covers adventures of city couple building their own mini mobile living pod. We have a foundation. Our foundation is a $3124.70, Iron Eagle, 7000 Series trailer. It's gross (trailer and load) vehicle weight is 7000 lbs. It has a tubular frame, electric breaks and a longer tongue than many others in its class..... READ Labels: Pods
4/05/2009
The secure, confortable port-a-bach container living pod  Atelier Workshop in New Zealand has created one of the most interesting living pods yet. Made from a standard shipping container, it is intended as a vacation cabin that folds up and locks completely inside the container for excellent security.  One wall of the container lowers to create a deck, which can be enclosed in tent or screen to double the usable space. Likewise the old contain door opens and can be enclosed with snap on tent material to offer enclosed bunk space for sleeping two, while a double bed folds down from the wall to allow sleeping of four.... READ Labels: Pods
4/02/2009
Container + House = ConHouse living pods  Using the benefits of the container system (mobility, modularity, prefabrication) and upgrading it into a new housing category, offering more light, thicker walls, and better materials.... READ Labels: Pods
4/02/2009
All Terrain Cabin that folds out of standard shipping container  Sitting in a warehouse in greater Vancouver is living pod that travels around looking just like a standard shipping container. When in arrives, the walls unfold to triple the usable space and to reveal an ultra contemporary dwelling. The All Terrain Cabin (ATC) is designed to travel by train, truck, ship, plane, or helicopter. It can literally go anywhere--and it is self contained: a generator running on bio-diesel is included and an "inverter" changes DC into AC. The ATC operates off the grid. Plumbing is similarly environmentally friendly--filtering and re-use of gray water, composting toilet, tanks of fresh water, rain collection, etc. It's beautiful, it's smart, it can support a family of four.... READ Labels: Pods
3/27/2009
A "flat pack" living pod   With a massive courtyard style deck the 738 square feet Trapper is the perfect living pod for catching up on the things that really matter.... READ Labels: Pods
3/24/2009
Flexible, sustainable sea living in a buoy-pod  Open Sailing aims to design an attractive technological lifestyle to overcome any possible natural and man-made disaster, stimulating people's ingenuity and sense of solidarity. We are building a floating architecture that evolves like a living organism, a laboratory for techno-social experiments in creating living pods at sea.... MORE .... MORE Labels: Pods
3/24/2009
A stronger, better living pod building material -- bamboo  Lamboo Inc. engineers structural bamboo I-beam joists and plywood for building your living pod. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the earth and therefore an excellent renewable resource. It is light, easy to use and possesses more elasticity, hardness and strength than wood.... MORE Labels: Pods
3/23/2009
The build it yourself Eco-Dome living pod  Built from local earth-filled Superadobe coils (soil-cement or lime-stabilized earth).... MORE Labels: Pods
3/20/2009
A low-cost, well-designed and compact living pod with an awesome look  The LVM is a 625 sq. ft. sq. ft living pod that is 25'-1" x 25'-1" with one bedroom, one bathroom, kitchen, and living/dining area that sells for only $24,950.... MORE Labels: Pods
3/20/2009
Quickly assemble a comfortable dome living pod for any enviroment  InterShelter is a patented portable dome shelter, made of an aerospace composite material, or cutting edge HD plastic. Built to sustain hurricane strength winds or earthquakes and insulated to stay warm in extreme arctic sub-zero degree weather or cool in hot desert climates, these structures can be assembled in just a few hours by three untrained people. The pieces can fit in the back of a pick up truck, single helicopter sling, or a bush cargo plane and can be set up on almost any terrain. These shelters are not only ideal for research needs, quarantine shelters, and emergency relief situations but can satisfy most any mobile shelter needs.... MORE Labels: Pods
3/19/2009
Mobile Minimal Mansion timber frame mobile living pod  The Mobile Minimal Mansion is 30-feet long, 8.5-feet wide, and 13.5-feet tall, just about as big as you can build and still tow it down the road without a permit in most states.... MORE Labels: Pods
3/19/2009
Small comfortable floating living pod  These floating living pods range in size between 300 to 800 square feet and are built using conventional construction techniques, allowing them to be financed with a conventional mortgage.... MORE Labels: Pods
3/09/2009
Riding out the chaos of the civilization 2.0 upgrade in a simple little living pod  Peter King is a builder of tiny living pods in Vermont who also teaches workshops on designing and building simple little living pods on shoestring budgets.... watch .... more Labels: Pods
3/06/2009
GMC PAD the living pod design that would let you go where the jobs are At least two design guys from General Motors have had brilliant humods era ideas. Somebody should find out who they are and hire them, before GM tanks. One was the fuel cell drive-by-wire skateboard design that any vehicle body could snap onto the top of. What a brilliant way to cheaply give the vehicle market exactly what it wants. Just roll out the boards with three or four stock body designs and in no time five thousand cloud cooperative constructs would pop up to fab every kind of body imaginable. Let them worry about achieving the most create new vehicle bodies, while you get stinking rich rolling out all those skate boards to move the bodies around.  The other rad concept was the PAD, a self-contained mobile urban pod with all the necessary displays and cloud connects to satisfy even the most nomadic humods. Instantly decamp and move to wherever the creative action is and the wars and chaos isn't in these fascinating times of ours. Click the image to blow up the data sheet and read all about this super shinny mobile pod - it ain't your grandpa's RV, that's for sure.  Labels: Pods
3/06/2009
A fab for attractive and efficently designed living pods  GreenPod Development fabs attractive and efficiently designed living pods ranging from 300 to 800 square feet. If additional square footage is needed the pods can be joined or stacked, creating any number of possible design options ... more Labels: Pods
3/05/2009
The lessons we can learn from a third world slum  The world's slums are overcrowded, unhealthy -- and increasingly seen as resourceful communities that can offer lessons to modern cities. For decades while clueless city planners were designed cities that separated homes from retail from office, forcing residents into heavy automobile use. Slums were employing the same principals that city planers now are realizing they should have been using all along. Slums tend to be walkable, high-density, and mixed-use with homes, commercial & retail commingled. Slums also make heavy use of recycled materials and have a much lower carbon footprint than old-style cities. Slums seem to naturally organized into multiple small villages with neighbors who tend to know and help each other more than in traditional city neighborhoods ... more Labels: Pods
3/05/2009
Avoiding the mortgage crisis by building your own living pod  With the worldwide crisis in the mortgage market, there is a growing trend towards avoiding the need for a mortgage altogether by building your own tiny, low cost home. These tiny homes typical run only a few hundred square feet in size but manage to be very livable by incorporating the efficient uses of space found in Recreation Vehicles and the tiny apartments that have existed in Tokyo for many years. Often the entire cost of a tiny house project is less than the down payment would be on a standard-size house, allowing the occupant to enjoy mortgage-free living ... more See a tiny house being constructed ... watch Labels: Pods
2/21/2009
On the road to a successful electric mobile pod design  The new Zero electric city car concept from Tazzari appears to be on the road towards what would seem an optimum design for this class of vehicles. Small and light but designed with safety in mind, offering enough room for people and groceries, sharp looks (no one wants to drive a golf cart to work), simple to charge, easily maintainable, with enough range to easily handle a day's commute plus after work errands ... watch
2/17/2009
Is the BugEV the Model T of 21st century mobile pods?  The designer calls this electric bike kit, an electric Model T for the 21st century. And indeed it does appear to provide reasonably priced, basic transportation, which is both function and very easy to work on yourself. And those are exactly the traits that caused the Model T to revolutionize the horseless carriage market. Could this little electric bike, rather than those fancy but tremendously costly vehicles like the Tesla and the Volt, be the true model for the electric city vehicles of tomorrow? As we watch the world's economy sinking at an unprecedented pace and see many traditional auto companies facing bankruptcy, I wonder if that might not just turn out to be the case ... watch ... more
1/13/2009
World's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid electric mobile pod  China's BYD Auto is showing off the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle at the Detroit auto show. The five-year-old automaker, which is a subsidiary of the No. 1 supplier of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones, began selling the dual-mode hybrid in China last month. At least a full year before rivals General Motors and Toyota bring electric-powered vehicles to market. The F3DM can travel 62 miles using only batteries. Then a 1.0-liter all-aluminum gasoline engine comes on to generate electricity for the vehicle's battery pack, which in turn powers the vehicle's 75-kilowatt electric motor. The company plans to bring the car to America in the next couple of years at about half the price of GM's Volt ... more
1/07/2009
Production fuel cell mobile pods finally actually hit the road  Honda's FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle is powered by an electric motor running on electricity generated by a breakthrough Vertical Flow (V Flow) hydrogen-powered fuel cell stack that is much smaller than other fuel cells, allowing for more passenger space and a bigger trunk. A compact, high-efficiency lithium-ion battery pack is used as a supplemental power source capturing lost energy during deceleration and braking ... more
12/31/2008
Future mobile pod concepts from Motorsport 2025 Design Challenge The winner is Mazada's KAAN ... more  Other inspired designs include Honda's versatile land, sea & air personal transport ... more  And Mitsubishi MMR25 ATV featuring wild looking all terrain, omnidirectional wheels ... more 
12/16/2008
Autonomous aquatic communities of floating self-sufficient waterpod habitats  The waterpod is a mobile aquatic habitat designed for nomadic sea living that could be docked together into groups to form ad hoc autonomous water-based communities ... more
12/12/2008
The next delivery truck you see might be electric mobile pod  Next time you see a UPS or FedEx van, it could be running on electricity. Both worldwide delivery companies are now actively testing a vehicle made by Modec with a 100 mile range, 50 mph top speed and 2 ton payload. Wouldn't a motor home built inside that fine looking exterior be sweet, with rooftop solar to help with recharge ... more
10/15/2008
Nissan prototype mobile pod features 4 bots to prevent collisions  Nissan has unveiled an All-Around Collision Free prototype incorporating four bots - Side Collision Prevention (SCP), Back-up Collision Prevention (BCP), available Distance Control Assist (DCA) and Lane Departure Prevention (LDP) systems. This latest prototype vehicle extends Nissan's 'Safety Shield' concept to help protect the vehicle and its occupants from potential risks ... more
10/14/2008
The electric 'city car' motion pod's time has arrived A lot of 'city car' concepts are showing up around the web these days including this interesting electric vehicle concept car the Nissan Nuvu.  There is also the gas fueled Toyota iQ, which Motor Trend says will soon be coming to America under the Scion brand.  Given that most city dwellers drive no more than 40 miles per day, a small electric 'city car' vehicle could be the breakthrough that brings the cost of getting around back down to a more reasonable level. With hundreds of millions of Indians and Chinese now rich enough to be in the market for vehicles, clearly a breakthrough of some sort is necessary.
10/13/2008
A mobile pod running on compressed air costing only a penny per mile  A breakthrough from the French engineer Guy Negre could soon having you moving to and from work, the grocery store and all those other town trips that make up most of everyone's driving for a cost of less than a penny per mile in a 3-person vehicle powered by compressed air.
10/08/2008
Bot-driven mobile pods will hit the streets soon Ars Technica reports on how the success of DARPA's urban vehicle challenge series has made it clear that it is only a question of "when," not "if," self-driving automotive technologies will make their way into car showrooms and onto our streets.
8/27/2008
Vote for your favorite mobile pod  The 5th Peugeot Design Competition is asking you to vote for your favorite car. For this competition, Peugeot invited young designers to imagine the Peugeot of the metropolises of tomorrow. This concept car should be designed to be driven in the large urban cities of the future, while exhibiting key values of the 21st century. Projects, while conveying Peugeot’s stylistic qualities, must incorporate four criteria specific to this design competition: environmental friendliness, social harmony, interactive mobility and economic efficiency. Some of these are amazing personal transport concepts. I define a personal transport as a vehicle that you wouldn't feel like you were getting into, you would feel like you were putting it on. My personal favorite in the competition is a design from a Norwegian named Oskar Johansen. Oh, I so want one of those ... more
7/27/2008
Meet Stanley, world's first bot-driven mobile pod  This is the story of Stanley, the robotic car that won the Darpa Grand Challenge. For an in-depth view of the complete system design see Stanford's excellent white paper. The car itself was built at the Electronic Research Lab (ERL) of Volkswagen of America (Palo Alto, CA) and I had the great pleasure to lead the team of engineers who brought it to life. It all started when one of my colleagues, Martin Lienkamp, paid us a visit at the ERL. On the plane ride from Germany he had read an article about the 2004 Grand Challenge and was convinced that "we (Volkswagen) can do better than that" referring to the fact that none of the autonomous vehicles that had entered that race were able to complete the course. ... more
7/22/2008
Could tomorrow's mobile pods run on air? It is possible that you could soon be driving a small personal vehicle for trips around town that runs on compressed air. The small but powerful little motor at the end of the video is especially fascinating ... watch Send comments to: humods [at] gmail [dot] com |
