Volvo '360c' Tease of 'future ride' on Facebook

[mrbrian200]

Volvo goes full cryptic with short tease of '360c'

Volvo says: looking waaay into the future with this one. Presumably a concept. They did hint fully self guided.

Here's my guess...

I see vertical fins. That's just enough to form an educated guess. I say flying car/drone. You know, the FAA, for obvious basic national security and public safety reasons, isn't going to let hundreds of millions of people just take off and fly around 'manually' how and wherever our heart desires all willy nilly like. The concept of a mass produced personal flyer will depend upon a self guided, smart system connected into FAA flight plan and weather services: We hop in, state a destination, and the vehicle (connected to/working with the FAA) automatically determines a safe flight plan free of conflicting traffic all on it's own and simply takes us there like a personal driverless flying UBER. Or not. I'm guessing it still has wheels for when we think want fly somewhere and either the FAA or weather data comes back with 'That's not gonna happen, buddy!'. I don't see the city of Chicago allowing personal drones to fly around except within pre-defined 'traffic corridors'. And the FAA will need a way to lock these out of being flown into protected airspace, hence, at least in the air they're going to have to be strictly driverless/self guided. Which might also get around the requirement of a pilots license/training which most people aren't going to want to mess with.

[mrbrian200]

For the record, Yes, I might be probably am nuts. Vertical fins are not an 'in thing' at the moment. Nor do I see those ever coming back purely as a style element. So that's got to be some sort of functional aerodynamic stabilizer.

If they're really thinking far far ahead into the future, which they say they are, PAVs would absolutely be something they'd want to be at least thinking about in early conceptual R&D and feasibility.

Geely has invested ~$5bn into Volvo already. You'd want to cover your bases into the far far future. And the Chinese do tend think way far ahead like this: 20-30 years into the future whereas US based companies tend not to be too concerned about much beyond the next fiscal year or two. Or even the next quarter.

[93Regina]

Here's my guess...

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/about/our- ... -cars/360c

[93Regina]

Which might also get around the requirement of a pilots license/training which most people aren't going to want to mess with.

That's what is being developed these days....computerized, so anyone can jump in...

[mrbrian200]

The ambience concept is a separate thing from the 360c. The 360c page doesn't load. Tried all 4 browsers that are installed on my computer. Appears they're not ready to show us what it is just yet.

For the sake of argument. If it's (probably) not a flying Volvo, which by the way I'd be thrilled to see some non working early strategic concept, even if it were just drawings/graphic renderings. What do you suppose the vertical fins might be for? I don't see anyone integrating pronounced vertical fins these days unless some functional purpose needs them. In Volvo naming convention "c" denotes a smaller 2 door coupe. In this case it's probably related to the "C-segment" vehicles talked about below, which I believe is now known as the CMA platform.

Volvo And Geely To Create C-Segment Vehicles At Their CEVT Facility

[93Regina]

ambience concept is a separate thing from the 360c.

Well yes, but that "chime" sound represents an ambience:-)

What do you suppose the vertical fins might be for?

Volvo Concept 360c teased

The video indicates that the front of the Concept 360c gets dual LED strips ending in what appears to be LED position lamps at the edges of the car and there is an illuminated Volvo logo in the centre. A small, illuminated portion extends beyond the edge of the body. The rear gets the LED treatment as well. It also gets fins at the back with illuminated edges and illuminated white '360' lettering on the side.

[mrbrian200]

360 might be a reference to degrees, ie a full circle from either from a design or operational standpoint. Or something loosely along the lines of 'limitless/unbound' which I believe was what Microsoft was getting at with the 'Xbox 360' name. Which could be fitting for a fully autonomous system, flying or not LOL.

[93Regina]

...fully autonomous system, flying or not...

I don't think this system is ready for prime-time yet:

Hakan Samuelsson - Volvo Car Group President and CEO - Volvo will accept full liability whenever one of our cars is in autonomous mode. We are one of the first car makers in the world to make such a promise.

Last I knew, in general, is GPS mapping is required on roads traveled, which must be updated for road detours/construction/etc, before a drive....at least for Telsa's system. This might suggest a given system might check a data base before autonomous engagement.

As noted at link, "The Time Circle displays the amount of autonomous driving time available, giving drivers a strategic level of control over their journey. That could mean choosing a longer route because it provides more delegated driving time."

[mrbrian200]

I don't think this system is ready for prime-time yet:

They're touting the 360 as a future ride. ie, a concept vehicle not immediately slated as a production model. A production model based on it may be 5-10 years out.

Depending how far out they're looking, say more than 10 years, that's where PAV flying concepts might start coming into play. Such as a 1 or 2 seat low altitude autonomous drone. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the military already has something at their disposal about the size I'm thinking that can carry a payload comparable to 1 average person + 60 lbs (a few grocery bags or carry-on luggage). The physics of the thing would require a footprint wider than standard lane width (>10 feet). But for road use the fans might retract fully/partially underneath the passenger cabin sort of like the 'wings' that swing out from the bottom of the car in chity chity bang bang.

I just can't seem to get unstuck from the prospect of a flying concept. That'll teach them not to tease us with tailfins until they're actually working on a PAV.

[93Regina]

They're touting the 360 as a future ride

Here's a 360 Circle - "The Time Circle displays the amount of autonomous driving time available, giving drivers a strategic level of control over their journey. That could mean choosing a longer route because it provides more delegated driving time."

prospect of a flying concept.

I haven't touched base with autonomous flight for awhile, but FAA was receptive on this topic, if safety is end result. Guidance wise, the tech is available today, but sorting out a flight system might be up in the air for these smaller crafts.

Tidbits:

1. And for airlines, the ultimate goal is autonomous flight ...airlines now want to attack their second biggest cost – labor. With savings as high as $110 billion annually, autonomous flight would essentially change the airline business model, according to our estimates.

2. The problem is convincing passengers. In several surveys – the most recent one this summer – consumers balked at getting on a plane with no pilot.

3. Passengers may start seeing planes with a single pilot in the cockpit within the next three to five years – assuming certification challenges can be overcome.
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1. FAA Grants Aurora’s Autonomous Huey a Certification November 1, 2017 - According to the company, the latest certification under FAA Order 8130.34 permits optionally piloted aircraft operation with only a safety pilot required to monitor the controls.