Check out the Earth-1 prototype - part Gundam, part Transformer.
(Earth-1 prototype, part Gundam, part Transformer)
It is a city car par excellence. A car designed specifically for the largest and busiest cities . Without taking anything away from comfort (or at least hopefully), it boasts very small measures . But if that were not enough, Earth-1 is able to " bend" . You read well. A self-propelled platform lifts the driver allowing the front and rear parts to approach. The car , therefore, becomes more compact, further reducing its already minute starting dimensions.
The " folding " maneuver of the chassis takes place through the use of a special button. Instead, the guide is set with a cloche that incorporates all the basic commands. The propulsion is completely electric, in adherence to the need to gradually abandon the use of fossil fuels.
Looking at it well, the car seems to have come out of a manga in full 80s style. And perhaps this was exactly the result hoped for by Four Link when he entrusted Kunio Okawara with the draft of the "Earth-1" prototype . Halfway between a Transformer and a Gundam, the car has special lines, like the suite of a mecha, in fact.
The project , still under completion, is not aimed at the western market. Although it is a common desire for everyone to find parking easily, the concept is very different compared to the needs of our home or the new continent. That said, Earth-1 remains a very curious car and will certainly be able to assert itself in Japan , with or without Gundam's "mega particle cannon" .
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'