For the #collectivio project, the EDAG booth at the IAA 2017 served as the development lab for Germany's probably first live engineering project. In the course of 13 exhibition days, six development specialists from the fields of design, package, HMI, VR, app development and business cases developed a concept for swarm-intelligent robotic vehicles for autonomous passenger transport.
Throughout the entire ongoing development process, the general public were able to use the hashtag “collectivio” to send their ideas and wishes to the EDAG Group development team, and so make a collective contribution to the mobility concept. Over 1,000 ideas were received by EDAG Group's live engineering team via social media. The "Scrum" development method made it possible not only to note all these impulses, but also to implement them flexibly and efficiently in the short time frame offered by the show. With the visionary #collectivio project, EDAG Group's brand values were successfully transported and displayed as a proactive development service provider.
All-round carefree mobility solution
By the end of the IAA, EDAG Group not only produced a complete, true-scale model which moved autonomously around the track at the EDAG stand and was able to receive and carry out its first orders via voice control, but also numerous approaches to making the journey pleasant and surprisingly different for the passenger.
For example, the business case experts came up with a model that would allow a zero-cost journey if the passenger paid with their personal data and accepted custom-tailored advertising during the journey. VR specialists developed an entertainment system that enables passengers to put on VR glasses and experience and book trips through different landscapes – synchronised with the actual motion of the vehicle they are in. On request, passengers could also have friends as co-drivers faded into the vehicle using VR or AR.
Innovative and solution oriented
"Digitalisation, connectivity, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence are becoming more and more important in vehicle development – as are alternative transport options. The response of IAA visitors as well as our social media community has shown that with the integration of future technologies into engineering we hit the nerve of the time. The fact that #collectivio is now being honoured at the Automotive Brand Contest underscores once again our ability to think about the future today and to reconcile society's needs with the possibilities of technology and the automotive industry," says Cosimo De Carlo, CEO of the EDAG Group. The Wiesbaden engineering expert has positioned itself as an innovative and solution-oriented development partner with this project.
The award ceremony will take place on October 2nd as part of the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris.