A company called Pix Moving has launched a new self-driving car which can also serve coffee.
Pix, a multidisciplinary technology developer specialising in robotics and automation, says the vehicle is of a modular design so it could be reconfigured for a variety of purposes.
The coffee-dispensing system utilises a Universal Robots arm functioning as a “barista”, which was last seen serving beer at Hannover Messe.
But the car is said by Pix to be the result of a completely new way of manufacturing and of thinking about vehicles.
“Pix is a new manufacturing and designing system for cars,” says the company on its website. “We are creating a decentralized, distributed and user-participated way of manufacturing.
“With modular and parametric design, also the contribution of an industrial robot, 3D printing and artificial intelligence, we make 90 per cent less car parts a possibility.
“Besides, the distributed manufacturing enables faster response to customer needs, 60 per cent manufacturing cost reduction(under the same productive capacity), and 75 per cent car iteration time-saving.”
The Pix vehicle is electrically powered and can use the growing super-fast charger network. It can be fully charged within six hours, says the company, which adds that all Pix cars can get charged at the super-charger spots.
Among the other features of the Pix vehicle are the following:
- Load Capacity: 1.85 tons (4079 lbs)
- Range: 100 km (62 mi)
- Max Speed: 24 km/h (15 mph)
- Length: 2840 mm (9.3 ft)
- Width:1933 mm (6.3 ft)
- Height: 1900 mm (6.2 ft)
- Passenger Mode Capacity: six
- AC permanent magnet induction motor
- Lead-acid maintenance-free battery
- Single-speed transmission for electric car
The makers are aiming to market the Pix vehicle to a variety of industries and potential clients, including logistics, industrial parks, shopping malls, tourist attractions, airports, residential areas, private roads and, probably later on, public places.
