GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: EDAG Soulmate Concept debuts in Europe
Lightweight 3D printed vehicle developed with Bosch to showcase 'new solutions for highly automated driving'Independent engineering service provider EDAG has collaborated with Bosch to create the Soulmate concept vehicle.
Three things stand out regarding the Geneva Motor Show concept; the 3D laser printed body (known as additive manufacturing), the extensive HMI system and EDAG’s version of autonomous technology.
“The body is printed with the idea to leave out everything on the body that has no function,” EDAG Vehicle Project Leader Michael Jahn told motoring.com.au.
“It is very aerodynamic and light weight. For the concepts we can cover in cloth but can also use other materials,” he continued.
“Should we move into serial [production], we would look at laser melting of materials such as aluminium for the body structure where required.”
The bionic structure and cloth cover of the concept car enabled funky illumination of both interior and exterior surfaces. While allowing for personalisation, the colour can alter externally to warn other road users of potential hazards.
Blind spot monitoring also takes on a new level of sophistication, the Soulmate lighting up the inside door of the side the object creating the blind spot is on.
The Soulmate has no engine; it is designed instead to showcase its advanced styling and interior layouts.
“We have a large HMI system with seven screens [that combines the dash and centre console and can be textured]. These can display ten different ‘use cases’ covering infotainment, navigation and personalisation.
“It also has ‘Smart Home’ which is very new. You can for example look at your home on the screen, check its security status and even sign for parcel deliveries using your personal fingerprint on the screen,” Jahn explained to motoring.com.au.
“It is very connected to your home life.”
The EDAG/Bosch collaboration is also working on autonomy.
“We call it fully automatic driving. It doesn’t only drive autonomous, it also searches for things like parking lots by itself. You prompt ‘find a car park’ and it does the rest,” said Jahn.
In a future world this in-car technology is said to actively take care of its driver.
If an appointment is cancelled, for example, the Soulmate can automatically adjust the route to one that allows autonomous driving, enabling the driver to gain free time.
Thanks to the largely tool-free build process, the company’s ability to rapidly prototype comes to the fore.
“For this concept it was five weeks’ turnaround, with the electronic systems taking only three months.
“We have transferred a lot of software development knowledge into vehicle development to allow this,” concluded Jahn.
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