“Hyundai Motor Group has revealed TIGER (Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot), the company’s second Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) and the first designed to be uncrewed.
The transforming intelligent ground excursion robot is designed to carry various types of payload while traveling over challenging terrain.
TIGER is being developed by Hyundai Motor Group’s New Horizons Studio, headquartered in Mountain View, California. The studio was established in late 2020 to develop UMVs drawing on research and innovation leadership from Silicon Valley and other innovation hubs.
Concept vehicle showcases capability across remote and inaccessible terrain
TIGER’s exceptional capabilities are designed to function as a mobile scientific exploration platform in extreme, remote locations. Based on a modular platform architecture, its features include a sophisticated leg and wheel locomotion system, 360-degree directional control, and a range of sensors for remote observation. It is also intended to connect to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can fully charge and deliver TIGER to inaccessible locations.
First version designed in Silicon Valley with global development partnerships
The first version of TIGER is X-1 (the X stands for experimental) and brings together a wide-range of technological and design expertise. The project is being led by Hyundai Motor Group’s New Horizons Studio, while working in close partnership with Autodesk, a leading engineering design software company.
TIGER X-1 fuses Autodesk’s generative design capabilities with Hyundai’s growing R&D capabilities in mobility. The teams have been working together to create a lightweight but incredibly strong structure, with the legs and certain chassis elements created using carbon fiber composite additive printing.
Collaborating with external concept design experts Sundberg-Ferar, New Horizons Studio has been developing TIGER X-1 to deliver and retrieve critical payloads across rugged terrain. These capabilities make the concept vehicle ideal for 360-degree surface evaluation, in areas struck by natural disaster, while tackling challenging terrain, or even exploring the surface of another moon or planet.
New Horizons Studio - home to Hyundai Motor Group UMV development
New Horizons Studio, headquartered in Mountain View, California, develops vehicles with unprecedented mobility. Products from the studio target users with a need for travel and mobility across unconventional and off-road terrains, including places that cannot be reached by conventional wheeled vehicles. UMVs developed by New Horizons Studio can be subject to more challenging applications and environments, and adaptable to changing conditions.
New Horizons Studio has been focused on developing technologies to enable concept vehicles such as TIGER. These technologies include wheel-leg locomotion, high-performance materials and structures, high-performance power systems, chassis and body systems, virtual development and evaluation systems, and human-centered design and systems. Each of these represents significant technical progress that can be applied to any vehicle and will speed the development of advanced mobility solutions.
New Horizons Studio furthers Hyundai Motor Group’s vision to shape the future of mobility and brings onboard forward-thinking, innovative leadership from Silicon Valley and other innovation hubs. UMV concepts in development do not rely solely on wheels and are expected to address challenging driving situations – for example, a car with robotic legs could save lives as the first responder in natural disasters; or people without access to a curb ramp could hail a car to walk up to their front door, level itself and allow wheelchairs to roll in.
Using a combination of robotics and wheeled locomotion technology, Elevate, TIGER and other vehicles by New Horizons Studio are expected to redefine vehicular mobility.”