Siemens Innotruck

[2000neon]

I just saw a commercial for daily planet where they mentioned the Innotruck. Some quick googling led me to this:

Radical Innotruck showcases emerging transport technology

I haven't seen it discussed here, but definitely seems to push the creativity envelope! The bullet truck has some competition.

[gone-ot]

It looks sorta "lonely" up there in the drivers' seat of the "needle-nose."

[freebeard]

As soon as I saw it I knew it would be a Luigi Colani truck.

I like the ones with the spinning three-bladed windshield wiper:

[2000neon]

Those look like some sort of hideous fish you would find at the bottom of the ocean... Just my opinion though.

I wonder how the aero of those lends itself to better efficiency, if that's what they're going for.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

That's freak, looks like those bimodular buses.

[freebeard]

I wonder how the aero of those lends itself to better efficiency, if that's what they're going for.

I don't know about Seimens' motivation' but with Luigi Colani it's being outrageously Italian first, with aero a close second. Look at some of his other stuff:


Other truck companies have similar efforts; Peterbilt teamed with Local Motors for a design competition:
Peterbilt: Road Icon Generation 2


And Freightliner has their Revolution:

[ljmercep]

Hello everyone,

we, the project team at the TU Munich, are basically doing research in the areas of system architecture, human-machine interface and energy management with the Innotruck. The design itself is not the sole purpose or a research topic, but it indirectly demonstrates that radical body changes are made possible via drive-by-wire systems. It also makes mapping of our "system modules", like the drivetrain module, much easier, since you can directly map them onto the physical vehicle segments.

You can also check out this Youtube clip with additional data in the video description:
EDIT: Ugh, the forum does not let me post links due to my low post count. Just type "Innotruck" in Youtube

[user removed]

Needs to be a hydraulic hybrid with infinitely variable in wheel drives.

regards
Mech

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by ljmercep

Just type "Innotruck" in Youtube

I don't think this is the video because it doesn't have additional data in the description, but I like it because it shows the truck under construction and good views of it turning.

You get to work with Luigi Colani?

In my browser, the crummy vBulletin software turns my perfectly cromulent link into a box that says I need to install a plug-in. (Ugh!) Can anyone else see a video? Here it is obfuscated: YouTube/watch?v=ewbWxRK5DPU

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Needs to be a hydraulic hybrid with infinitely variable in wheel drives.

I'll second on that. Individual hydraulic rotors with a kind of a CVT for each wheel would be a good way to manage the traction in response to terrain variations.