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Old 30th September 2013, 19:24   #1
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A Smart Car that folds into half for parking

Dear All, Through a reputed newspaper ET came across a report as per which researchers have made possible a Smart Car which can fold up into half just by pressing a button thru the driver's smartpnone. Named 'Armadillo-T' it can save a lot of parking space thus reducing the parking woves for times to come. It has been tested atthe Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea.

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AD
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Old 1st October 2013, 07:49   #2
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re: A Smart Car that folds into half for parking

Hi all, posting here the video link for Armadillo-T . This car can travel 100 km on a 10-minute charge and has a maximum speed of 60 km per hour. The figures seems to be good considering the size of the vehicle.

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Last edited by GTO : 1st October 2013 at 18:50. Reason: Really no need to greet everyone a good morning / afternoon in your posts. Thank you!
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Old 1st October 2013, 19:31   #3
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Re: A Smart Car that folds into half for parking

Hi team, Sharing with you the concept behind the Armadillo T with some inputs from internet.

As we know getting parking space for hours at a busy market or an arcade or being stuck on traffic jams with cars releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide are a familiar sight in cities so a group of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have recently developed this sure-shot solution to such problems in the form of thissmall and light electric car completely makes up for a perfect fit for public or private mode of transport for urban environment.

A foldable, compact electric vehicle that can be utilized either as a personal car or part of the public transit system to connect major transportation routes within a city and immensely reducing the ever-rising pollution level across the countries.

An associate professor In-soo from Graduate School for Green Transportation at KAIST, and his research team developed this prototype micro electric car called "Armadillo-T," whose design is based on a mammal of South America, the armadillo having leathery armor shell.

The research team tried to incorporate the animal's distinctive protection characteristic of rolling up into a ball when facing with threat from predators. Just as armadillos hide themselves inside the shell, similarly the car folds its rear body away, shrinking its original size of 2.8 meters (110 inches) down to almost half, 1.65 meters (65 inches), on folding.

Armadillo-T, the all electric car is a 2 seater with a four-wheel-drive with four in-wheel motors. As the motors are mounted inside the wheels, and the 13.6 kWh capacity of lithium-ion battery pack is placed on the front side, the battery and motors dont have to change their positions on it’s folding leading to optimization of energy efficiency and giving stability with ample room for drivers and passengers

When folded, this small and light, 450 kg electric vehicle takes up only one-third of a 5-meter parking space, the standard parking size in Korea, allowing three of its kind to be parked. With a smartphone-interfaced remote control on the wheels, the vehicle can turn 360 degrees, enhancing drivers' comfort to park the car, even in odd spaces of a parking lot or the corner of buildings.

The car on hitting the markets across the globe shall make people living in cities to eventually shift their preferences from bulky, petro-engine cars to smaller and lighter electric cars like this for urban travels, including car-pooling and transit transfer in a city. Metros in India shall too be benefited by this when the vehicle is launched.

This concept car boasts of smart features, viz-a-viz the cameras installed inside the car eliminating the need for side mirrors and increase the driver's ability to see the car's right and left side, hence reducing blind spots and with a smartphone, the driver can control Armadillo-T enabling the remote folding control.

It wont be a surprise to see that in coming years, mega-size cities shall face more serious environmental hazards across the world. So with the ever increasing global warming and expensive petroleum resources, Armadillo T serves as an icon for the future transport system with technological innovation resulting from an outside the box idea of building a convenient and eco-friendly transportation alternative.

This specific research project has been supported by the Korean government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement aswell.

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AD

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Old 4th November 2013, 19:21   #4
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Re: A Smart Car that folds into half for parking

Hi all, posting the 3 stage folding pattern of the Armadillo T. I seriously see it as a viable solution for the times to come in terms of our road-traffic pan india. Also if the vehicle gets introduced to the indian market then it will pose huge compition to Reva also.

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AD
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