Italdesign and Airbus have unveiled the latest evolution in the Pop.Up concept, the first fully electric and zero-emission modular system designed to help resolve traffic congestion in large urban areas.

While the concept was first introduced in the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Italdesign has introduced the next evolution of Pop.Up concept at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show called ‘Pop.Up Next’.It consists of a modular multi-modal system that enables transportation to exploit both urban ground and airspace.

Pop.Up combines the flexibility of a small two-seater ground vehicle with the freedom and speed of a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle. Jorg Astalosch, CEO of Italdesign said, “ The close cooperation with the premium brand Audi confirms that the project could become the standard bearer for future mobility.”

Airbus teams worked on refining the aerodynamic design of the air module and rotor ducts to improve performance and reduce power consumption in cruise flight. They also introduced a concept for a functional coupling system with locking and latching functionality. Airbus also worked on the interior design of Pop. Up Next to harmonise the Audi design language with the Airbus’ Airspace cabin design language from its commercial aircraft.

Pop.Up Next reflects Italdesign's philosophy 

Italdesign’s engineers have developed an electric modular platform – currently remote steering and braking by wire – designed to integrate ADASs for fully autonomous driving in the next prototyping step. They have also collaborated with Audi’s engineers to integrate the autonomous driving system into Pop.Up Next. 2018 Geneva Motor Show also saw the demonstration of the Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) system that incorporates face recognition, eye tracking technology for activating and operating onboard services, as well as feedback systems for activating controls so as to achieve instinctive and natural human-machine interaction with the vehicle.

The Pop.Up Concept

Airbus and Italdesign are developing the system for coupling the capsule and ground and air modules. Due to stringent alignment and coupling requirements, they are working on a system that is same for connecting the passenger capsule to both the air and the ground modules, even though responding to completely different operating and safety dynamics. Both companies have started to work with their respective certification bodies to identify the basic principles of future regulation.

The 2018 Pop.Up Next  (Source: Italdesign)

With Audi backing this project, Italdesign has confirmed more innovations in this project with more future collaborations in the transportation sectors.