2024 Volkswagen ID.Buzz Microbus

With electric vehicles becoming more mainstream each year, and few capacious EV options for families, the 2024 Volkswagen ID.Buzz aims to address a largely untapped market. The design of the ID.Buzz commemorates the German company’s iconic Type 2 Microbus—or VW Bus for short—which inspired the new van’s retro design. Along with its uniquely nostalgic exterior aesthetic, its spacious cabin will feature flexible seating and three rows. The ID.Buzz’s all-electric powertrain will come in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations, delivering a driving range that’s expected to be around 260 miles. Plugged into a DC fast-charger, VW says the van will be able to charge its battery from 5 to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The company also eventually plans to introduce its plug-and-charge technology that essentially eliminates the need to use an app or a card for payment to unlock the charger.

When the ID.Buzz goes on sale in the U.S. in 2024, it’ll mark the Volkswagen van’s long-awaited return to our shores. While we’ve now seen official photos of the new microbus, the company still hasn’t disclosed a ton of details, specifically regarding the American version. However, much of that information should start to be revealed later this year, if not sooner.

VW hasn’t said how much the ID.Buzz will cost or what trim levels will be offered. However, current market pricing for EVs leads us to expect it will start at around $40,000.

The ID.Buzz will ride on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) platform that currently underpins corporate products such as the Audi e-tron crossover and the VW ID.4 crossover. While Europe will get both a commercial and passenger version of the ID.Buzz, America will only get a long-wheelbase passenger one. The base model will feature a single, rear-mounted electric motor that makes 201 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque. A dual-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration with around 295 horsepower–similar to the current ID.4–will also eventually join the lineup. We’ve driven a prototype version of the European cargo van, which has a shorter wheelbase and smaller battery than the one we’ll get in the U.S., but it still gave us a better idea of what to expect.

VW has released few details about the ID.Buzz’s battery pack, specifically the one that’ll be used on U.S. models. The company has only said that the battery will be larger than the 77-kWh pack that powers the upcoming European model. We expect that the American ID.Buzz will have at least 260 miles of range per charge. VW claims that those who plug into a DC fast-charger will be able to charge from 5 to 80 percent in as little as 30 minutes.

One of the defining details of the ID.Buzz is its cavernous and configurable interior. The front seats feature adjustable armrests as well as tables that fold out of the backrests for rear-seat passengers. There’s also a removable center console between the front seats. VW says the U.S. version features three rows standard with seating for seven. An adjustable load floor can be fitted in the cargo area, too, which offers 40 cubic feet of storage space. The ID.Buzz’s standout standard features include a 10-inch digital gauge cluster, but the top options include customizable ambient lighting and a set of massaging front seats.

The VW van’s infotainment system primarily operates through a touchscreen that sprouts from the middle of the dashboard. The standard screen size is 10.0 inches, but a 12.0-inch display is optional. We also expect the ID.Buzz to have standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and possibly some sort of rear-seat entertainment system. A subscription-based Wi-Fi hotspot and wireless device charging should be on the roster, too.

The Robot ‘Dogs’ set to Patrol The Southern US Border

Quadrupedal robots are one of the most interesting developments in robotics in recent years. They’re small, nimble, and able to traverse environments that frustrate wheeled machines. So, of course, it was only a matter of time until someone put a gun on one.

The image above shows a quadrupedal robot — a Vision 60 unit built by US firm Ghost Robotics — that’s been equipped with a custom gun by small-arms specialists Sword International. It seems the gun itself (dubbed the SPUR or “special purpose unmanned rifle”) is designed to be fitted onto a variety of robotic platforms. It has a 30x optical zoom, thermal camera for targeting in the dark, and an effective range of 1,200 meters.

What’s not clear is whether or not Sword International or Ghost Robotics are currently selling this combination of gun and robot. But if they’re not, it seems they will be soon. As the marketing copy on Sword’s website boasts: “The SWORD Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapon systems, and that future is now.”

The machine was shown off for the first time at the Association of the United States Army’s 2021 annual conference earlier this week. The conferences bills itself as a “landpower exposition and professional development forum” held in Washington DC, October 11-13.

Details about the partnership between Ghost and Sword are unclear, but Ghost’s quadrupedal robots are already being tested by the US military. Last year, the 325th Security Forces Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida became the first unit in the Department of Defense to use quadrupedal robots in regular operations. It uses them to patrol the base’s perimeter, navigating swampy areas that “aren’t desirable for human beings and vehicles,” according to an interview with Ghost Robotics CEO Jiren Parikh.

Although reconnaissance is one of the most obvious use-cases for robot dogs, manufacturers are slowly experimenting with other payloads. As well as providing remote video and mapping, the machines could be used as mobile cell towers, to defuse bombs, or to detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear matter (otherwise known as CBRN).

And, of course, they can become weapons themselves.

Flying Cars! no more just a concept in sci-fi movies.

Flying car certified to fly following the completion of a 35-minute inter-city flight in June, now Klein vision’s flying car wins an airworthiness certificate by the Slovak transport authority. the ‘Air Car’ is capable to take over the sky, reaching speeds of over 100mph (160km/h) and heights more than 8,000ft (2,500m). the certification followed 70 hours of rigorous flight testing compatible with European aviation safety agency (EASA) standards, with over 200 takeoffs and landings. as the company mentioned, this futuristic vehicle can convert from an aircraft to a car within two minutes.

Developed by Slovakian startup company, Klein vision, ‘Air Car’ is a dual-mode car-aircraft vehicle, powered by a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. eight highly skilled specialists at Klein vision worked in total more than 100,000 hours to design, model, and test the 1000kg two-seat dual-mode vehicle. according to the company, the upcoming monocoque model with variable pitch propeller is expected to reach speeds over 300km/h and a range of 1,000km.

The challenging flight tests included the full range of flight and performance maneuvers and demonstrated an astonishing static and dynamic stability in the aircraft model. the takeoff and landing procedures were achieved even without the pilot’s need to touch the flight controls.

Its certification ‘had opened the door for mass production of very efficient flying cars. it is official and the final confirmation of our ability to change mid-distance travel forever,’ said professor stefan klein, the inventor, leader of the development team and the test pilot. ’50 years ago, the car was the epitome of freedom,’ says Anton zajac, the project co-founder. ‘AirCar expands those frontiers, by taking us into the next dimension; where road meets sky.’Klein vision’s flying AirCar receives airworthiness certificate in Slovakia.

‘Transportation authority carefully monitored all stages of unique AirCar development from its start in 2017. the transportation safety is our highest priority. AirCar combines top innovations with safety measures in line with easa standards. it defines a new category of a sports car and a reliable aircraft. its certification was both a challenging and fascinating task,’ said rené molnár, the director of the civil aviation division (transport authority of slovakia).

After the scheduled upgrades, klein vision expects the next production model to be certified in 12 months.

Isn’t that insightful?

Scientists Make Plastic Repair Itself In An Hour Using Only Light in 3D-Printing

Could 3D printed plastic heal itself? If engineers from University of New South Wales (UNSW) are to be believed, yes it could!

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UNSW engineers recently demonstrated how 3D printed plastic could heal itself at room temperature by using only lights.

Led by Professor Cyrille Boyer and his team from the UNSW School of Chemical Engineering, the experiment showed how adding a “special powder” to the liquid resin used while printing can be of much help later while making repairs in case of breakage.

The process is quite simple. According to Phys.org, shining standard LED lights on the printed plastic for an hour causes a chemical reaction and helps two broken pieces of plastic fuse together.

It also turns out the plastic becomes stronger than its original form after undergoing the repair process. With further enquiry into the method, chemical waste in the future could be reduced tremendously.

Most broken plastic parts are discarded or recycled. But this method means that all broken plastic may be reused in other plastic-heavy components.

The powdered additive used by UNSW scientists is called “trithiocarbonate”, a RAFT (reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer) agent. What the RAFT agent does is it simply allows rearrangement of minute networks of elements that make up the plastic, allowing the broken pieces to fuse. 

Within 30 minutes, most of healing is complete. In about 60 minutes, the two broken items are fused back together. The study’s results were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Of course, having a method that allows for plastic repair is also a welcome sign in high volume productions where the environmental impact of broken and discarded plastic can add up, thereby increasing plastic waste. Thus, this approach offers a promising step towards both a viable method in production and the reduction of plastic waste.

The Audi Grand Sphere!

Audi has unveiled the Grand Sphere Concept, its second Sphere concept that previews the possibility of the all-electric next-gen A8. Set to debut at the upcoming IAA2021 in September, this concept pushes the pinnacle of luxury and autonomous driving technology. You can consider it Audi’s rival to the Mercedes EQS. 

Let’s start this report with the Grand Sphere’s opulent interior. The doors open in a suicide style a la the Rolls Royce Ghost and welcome to you a cabin that would beat many top-class lounges. And as seen in these images, it’s finished in premium wood, leather, and aluminium. The seats push back and adjust to your preset position so ingress and egress can be easier.

And once you’re seated in front, the cabin design is extremely minimalistic due to the lack of screens. Rather, Audi has integrated them behind the wood that projects to you in the cabin. It’s a full width MMI system that displays all the info from your digital driver’s display to the infotainment. 

The Grand Sphere concept also boasts of another cool technology: level-4 autonomous driving capabilities. Once you select it, the pedals and steering wheels retract inside so that you can relax and enjoy the ride. You can also use those screens to watch your favourite movie or attend a video conference call. The experience is further topped by a cooler in the centre console with champagne glasses!

Coming to its exterior design, the Grand Sphere concept’s silhouette is quite unique. The large single-piece grille is the only design similarity with current Audi cars. The short front overhang leads to the sleek headlamps and flowing silhouette that finishes in a fastback-like silhouette. The rear end, like current Audis, also gets a sleek LED light bar.  

Propelling this concept are two electric motors that develop 710PS and 960Nm. They draw their power from a 120kWh battery pack and are capable of a claimed range of around 750km. It also can support charging speeds up to 270kW, by which it can recover 300km in 10 minutes. The Grand Sphere is no slouch when it comes to acceleration, with a 0-100kmph time in a bit over four seconds. 

Audi has also fitted it with adaptive air suspension to ensure that you have a wafty ride as you’re being driven around. It can also control the pitch and body roll of the vehicle by scanning the road ahead. And last but not least, the rear wheel steering wheel should help maneuvering this 5.35 metre vehicle a piece of cake. 

The Audi Grand Sphere clearly pushes the pinnacle when it comes to luxury and technology.

Mercedes to use Luminar Lidar in its self driving luxury cars

Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday that it selected America’s Luminar for the supply of lidar systems to be used in its electronic driver-assist systems and eventual full self-driving systems.

Mercedes has also acquired a small stake in Orlando, Florida-based Luminar, joining Volvo and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel as a fellow investor. Mercedes sister division Daimler Trucks is also an investor in Luminar and plans to use the company’s lidar for future self-driving systems for semi-trailer trucks.

Mercedes is acquiring its shares in Luminar in exchange for anonymous data gathered from the vast fleet of Mercedes cars around the globe. This data will be used by Luminar to help it develop its own self-driving system, one capable of handling road conditions in multiple countries.

Other companies using Luminar technology include fellow automakers Audi, SAIC and Volvo, as well as self-driving technology companies Mobileye, Pony.ai and Zenseact.

The first self-driving systems that enable true hands-off, eyes-off capability are now hitting the market. Honda launched a system for conditional highway driving in Japan last year, after getting regulatory approval in that country. And Mercedes plans to launch a system, also for conditional highway driving, later this year. Mercedes’ system, known as Drive Pilot, has so far only been announced for Germany.

Both systems rank at Level 3 on the SAE scale of self-driving capability, as a driver needs to be ready to take back control at a moment’s notice, meaning there’s no chance to take a quick nap behind the wheel. BMW and Volvo have also announced similar systems but haven’t said when they will be available.

The sensors also help improve over vehicle safety, said Russell, who is also a Forbes 30 Under 30 All-Star. “Much better automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance systems, those kinds of capabilities that can be had from this. It’s not just about autonomy, it’s about actually saving lives more generally with better active safety systems.”

Currently, Luminar is preparing to expand sensor production at its production facility in Orlando.

The Robots Are Here. Is Your Portfolio Ready?

There is no question that the pandemic-fueled labor shortage is a problem. When enhanced unemployment benefits in the US ended earlier this month, many businesses looked forward to a reversal in the job market as job seekers flooded the labor market. So far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, workers are quitting their jobs in droves, and a lack of enthusiastic replacements has businesses struggling to ramp up everything from manufacturing production to fast-food service.

The obvious solution is automation. But even as businesses turn to automation to solve this lingering symptom of COVID and mend their ailing supply chains, it is clear that this is not a unique scenario. Research has found that it’s common for automation to accelerate during weak economic periods. The reason: weakness in revenues results in humans becoming comparatively more expensive than automated alternatives—aka robots. Happily, this time around, the robots are ready. In 2021, automation and artificial intelligence exited the laboratory and moved straight into the institutions that drive our global economy.

The trajectory of automation is undeniable, but what is so exciting about this revolution is that it is much different in scale, scope, and complexity than we’ve seen during any other technological era. According to economist Joseph Schumpeter, what we’re seeing today is a normal step in what he calls “creative destruction”—a cycle of industrial change in which old economic structures are continuously destroyed and new ones are created. It is a cycle that constantly pushes forward as the cost savings generated from each new wave of automation are used to fuel new markets and enable new technologies. That cycle is accelerated today thanks to a wide range of new technologies that are fusing the physical and digital worlds and affecting disciplines and economies around the globe. One of the biggest shifts is that, for the first time in the history of automation, new technology is not replacing people, but empowering them to work faster and more efficiently than ever.

That’s not to suggest that the benefits of automation won’t impact employment. The question is how. While the relationship between economic growth and jobs is a tricky one, it is often true that when unemployment is up, growth and stock prices are down. So, does it make sense to invest in a sector that is ‘killing jobs’? Based on the value automation is bringing to business today, there is no doubt that investing in the sector is a wise move. Looking at automation’s impact on jobs, the answer is also ‘yes’—largely because jobs are being affected much differently than many people think.

Consider this: Almost a decade ago, Oxford University researchers predicted that as many as 47% of US jobs could be ‘automated away’ by 2025. With just four years to go before that fateful date, it’s clear that the robots that are supposedly poised to steal our jobs are doing a pretty bad job of it! Putting the Oxford prediction into context in today’s world, there are currently about 160 million jobs in the US workforce. If the Oxford prediction were to play out as expected, around 75 million of those jobs would be eliminated in the next four years. Expanding that calculation across the G7 industrialized geography, the numbers grow to include roughly 368 million existing jobs, of which 173 million jobs would be eliminated. In theory. Clearly, the Oxford hypothesis and many others like it are not holding true. While it’s easy to see automation and technology as job destroyers, every major technology shift throughout history has led not to job elimination, but to job creation. It’s also true that automation is freeing up human workers to focus on more value-added tasks than the often dull, dirty, and dangerous work the robots are taking on. Will some jobs be ‘automated away’? Absolutely. But far more jobs will be enhanced and, in time, millions more will be created—driving future employment up, not down.

The COVID labor shortage has spotlighted the need for automation to improve operations and enhance business growth. Now, more than ever, it is clear that advanced robotics and AI technologies are enabling the future of business. The robots are not coming—they are here. We are meeting with a rising number of companies that are motivated to pull outsourced processes and data back in-house to regain control over costs, quality, and output using factory robots and other forms of automation. These businesses are shifting their focus to where things are being executed, and they are adopting automation to help optimize processes and reduce the risk of human error. We are also seeing that the sales of products and services produced by automation are vastly more affordable and of much higher quality than those produced manually. Everywhere we look, automation is surging.

BMW expanding app functionality!

BMW is allowing owners to do more via the My BMW app, though some of the new features are exclusive to the new iX electric crossover.

The company says the features initially exclusive to the iX will filter down to other models in the future.

All My BMW users can synchronise their calendar, allowing for planned journey locations to be transferred directly to the vehicle’s navigation system.

BMW models with specific optional extras will now permit users to view their tyre inflation pressures via the app, as well as the recommended pressures for each wheel.

iX crossovers fitted with an alarm and interior camera now include a Remote Theft Recorder.

If you own an iX and its alarm system is activated, you’ll be informed via a push notification.

Once the alarm is triggered, the vehicle cameras record images of the entire environment and the vehicle’s interior. You can then access this via the My BMW app.

This means if your vehicle is stolen, you’ll be able to download external footage and interior stills for the authorities.

All BMW iX models also feature BMW Digital Key Plus.

Utilising ultra-wideband technology, this allows owners to unlock, start and lock the vehicle without having to take their smartphone out of their pocket.

It’s available for the Apple iPhone and can be shared with five other users.

All My BMW users with an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid could already access their charging history via the app.

Additionally, the My BMW app allows users to lock and unlock the vehicle, sound the horn, flash the headlights, and ventilate the cabin, with some models also featuring a remote start function.

The app is available on both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store.

If you don’t yet have a BMW, you can still download the My BMW app to view a new Demo Mode, which walks you through what features are available.

The additional features arguably brings BMW’s app offering – at least in the iX – up to the same tier of connectivity as Tesla.

With Tesla’s app, you can adjust your climate control remotely, as well as lock or unlock the vehicle, honk the horn and flash the lights.

You can also track your vehicle’s movement, send an address to its navigation system and, if Autopilot is equipped, even have the vehicle pull out of your garage or parking spare with the Summon feature.

ROBOTS SANDING FURNITURE?

That’s a common reaction in the furniture industry when manufacturers try to envision bringing robots into sanding and polishing applications. And you can’t blame them; when it comes to shaping a plank of wood into the back of a chair or finish sanding cabinet doors or a headboard, automation hasn’t been as common – until recently.

While traditional industrial robots that require safety guarding, complex programming, and high unit counts to justify automation are not an optimal fit here, we now increasingly see collaborative robots assist wood, furniture and cabinet manufacturers. As opposed to their larger cousins bolted down in cages, collaborative robots can be moved around between machines and processes just like any other tool in the cabinet shop.

Training on operations and programming is available 100% online from the UR Academy – in fact, Universal Robots has delivered online training to over 100,000 people around the world.  No computer science degree is required! 

Manufacturing labor is in short supply in every industry, particularly in DDD (Dull, Dirty, Dangerous) positions.  With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring every day in the U.S. alone, and younger generations not particularly interested in DDD jobs in manufacturing, it’s no wonder there are over 700,000 open, unfilled manufacturing U.S. jobs today.

Wood products in general and cabinet producers specifically are feeling the pain.  Woodworking Network reported 80% of woodworking manufacturers are having trouble filling open positions.  And the National Association of Manufacturers reported hiring and retaining skilled manufacturing labor is the industry’s #1 problem.

Each company is unique, but we believe sanding to be the most common, pervasive workforce problem in cabinet and furniture factories and shops.  Manual sanding is the definition of Dull Dirty and Dangerous.  Dull because it is a repetitive task with little or no variation.  Dirty – operators live in a cloud of dust.  And dangerous due to the environment and the high potential for carpal tunnel and repetitive stress injuries.

At the AWSF Show (Association of Woodworking & Furnishing Suppliers) this summer, we heard the stories from owners and production managers as they stopped by our booth; Hiring 40% more sanders than needed because there are no-shows every day.  Skipping drug screens to increase the candidate pool.  An inability to attract younger workers with growth potential to even start as a sander. Push back from cabinet builders who are true craftsmen, and don’t want to sand.  And a stream of workers comp claims. Most of our booth visitors were very surprised to realize that they might have found a solution to all this.

How the Automation Revolution Is Shaping the Work of Architects & Designers

The industrial revolution was focused around methods of production, and transformed ‘blue-collar’ jobs. The information revolution was about how organizations communicate, organize, and conduct business, and it changed ‘white-collar’ work. Now the automation revolution is touching everything. Artificial intelligence and machine learning—along with rapidly advancing robotic vision, control, and actuation technologies—are out of the lab and are entering practical applications.

Robot programming used to be the domain of industrial manufacturing specialists, but now low-cost general-purpose robot platforms with friendly names like Baxter, Sawyer, Franka and Eva are changing that. Given interfaces which make it possible for non-programmers to get things done, robots are quickly becoming everybody’s business. Improvements in interface, design, and workflows have made industrial robotics accessible to far more uses than ever before.

Marketing and advertising agencies now leverage custom robotics technologies to drive autonomous GPS snow-blowers to write messages that cover mountainsides, or create experiential campaigns to encourage people to quit smoking, one 11-minute reminder at a time.

Companies like Bot & Dolly (acquired by Google in 2013) are pioneering precise projection-mapping and robotics integrations that yield surreal and magical in-camera effects for film and live performance.

Then when it comes to new ways of making things, there are companies and research groups using standard six-axis industrial robots equipped with advanced 3d-printing capabilities to explore new means to produce architectural form and structure.

But what about product design and development? Since industrial designers are responsible for all the cars which get robotically welded and the plastic parts which are being robotically de-molded, sorted, palletized, and so on, you could say that their work has been touched earliest by the automation revolution compared to the other design disciplines.

For example, 3d printing was developed as a rapid-prototyping process for designing and engineering products. One could also consider how CNC machining as an automation age technology is coming into its own; a production-proven manufacturing technology which also lends itself to rapid design iteration. These two foundational technologies have facilitated exploration of form and function to progress far more quickly and precisely than traditional hand-modeling methods would allow. While many industrial designers might have already been designing with automated production methods in mind, there are important developments currently unfolding for design professionals in their own practice.

Integrating robotics into the design process will be an ongoing part of the road to mass-customization; the next step from mass-manufacturing. General-purpose robotics also unlock new possibilities that were cost-prohibitive or impossible before.

In support of this growing trend of robotics as part of the design process, there are organizations like the Association for Robots In Architecture which are putting on conferences and publishing papers about the current state of the art. There’s a lot of work being done in universities and corporate research labs around the world exploring new methods of processing materials, fabricating components, and assembling structures with industrial robots.

The use of robotic fabrication in architecture, art, and design, closely links the industry with cutting-edge research institutions.  For years, robots have been employed by industrial manufacturers, but not until recently, have they been considered seriously by architects. In the age of digitalization, virtualization, and computerization, the relationship between architects and robots seems to be growing.

In architecture it is difficult to define what a robot is. The word is inclined to refer to anything from robotic arms to CNC milling machines to 3D printers. Basically, robots are programmable automated mechanisms that help out in the process of digital fabrication. In reality, a robot is a more proficient process that could reduce the time and cost of construction.

It’s the task of design practitioners to engage the question of ‘what to make—what is worth making?’ while also thinking about how to make things for the future in a sustainable, responsible manner. Without a doubt, the design disciplines are being touched by the automation revolution right now, and robotic tools will most certainly be a part of their toolkit for their work in the 21st century.