Denso mobility system lets you drive your suitcase around using an app
Automotive components maker Denso has showed off an innovative compact electric mobility system concept at Japan’s CEATEC 2014 tradeshow. The device will allow users to control and drive their suitcases and light loads around via their smartphone or tablet, reports PC World.
Denso X Mobility System
As you can see from the photo above, the X-mobility system consists of a platform equipped with 3 or 4 wheels, depending on configuration, where each wheel contains a motor, a Silicon Carbide (SiC) semi-conductor battery, a decelerator, a controller, sensors and a Bluetooth communications module which allows it to connect to mobile devices.
“We wanted to bring our automotive technology outside vehicles for potential new applications,” a Denso spokesman said. “We’re interested in hearing the reactions of visitors and will then decide on a course of development.”
Denso X Mobility System
The vehicle has a unique hexagon design which gives it 360 degree movement as well as stability when manoeuvring. The wheels communicate their position to one another via infra-red sensors which allows the device to rotate in place, and the system can carry up to 15 kg.
Ideas for possible application of the in-wheel system include carrying food to patients in hospitals, acting as a shopping cart, and also as a mobile platform for walkers and compact robots. The currently used battery lasts about three hours on a charge, but the company says that the device could find use in facilities such as airports, shopping malls and factories which could provide a system to recharge its batteries.
Although Denso has no plans to commercialise the product yet, it will continue developing it and assures that a bigger version which will be capable of carry around full grown adults is coming. If successful, this could be useful for people with disability or elderly who finds it hard moving from one place to another.
