A Foldable Car Of The Future l Bizarre Buffet Podcast
The Armadillo Car, a compact vehicle designed with everyone’s greatest fear & challenge in mind….parallel parking! Aside from the benefit of assisting you park, the Armadillo cars’ design is quite condusive to city living. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the Armadillo car is that its designed to fit into even the smallest of parking spaces. In case it wasn’t obvious, the Armadillo car is also modeled after an Armadillo’s likeness…which is just kinda adorable.
The Armadillo – T car. A foldable, electric micro car created by KAIST ( Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology ).
Learn About ” The Armadillo Car ” Below!
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The Armadillo Car – Episode Credits
Hosted By Mark Tauriello , Jen Wilson , & Marc Bluestein
Original Artwork By Mark Tauriello
Original Episode & Story Concept By Jen Wilson
Episode Production By Marc Bluestein
The Armadillo Car – Show Notes
Happy ASIAN New Year or LUNAR New Year !
It’s the year of the Tiger.
Those born in the Year of the Tiger are supposedly kind, adventurous and enthusiastic, but also display aggressive, short-tempered and anxious traits.
“The tiger is commonly associated with something like bravery, courage and strength,” Chen said.
The tiger comes third in the Chinese zodiac, and is considered the king of all beasts.
The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches system is the basis for the Zodiac system.
People born in a water tiger year are thought to be very loyal to the family and have strong relationships with others in their life.
“Whichever new direction you’d like to go, this is the year the universe is ready to help you with all the support and focus at your fingertips.
“You could feel restless at the idea of the old stuff that no longer sits right – you’re ready to pounce this year and get out the gate with a bang.”
But this isn’t where we are going tonight. We’re going to SOUTH KOREA ! But before we jump into it, my question for you is…….
Question
Do you consider yourself a good driver ? Are you a good parallel parker ? Do you enjoy parallel parking ?
Tonight I’m taking us to SOUTH KOREA! Where the national sport is Taekwondo, Online banking/shopping must be done through internet explorer, when you are born you are considered a year old, and THEY HAVE AN ARMADILLO CAR
Before we dive into this, a few things:
- About 50,000 pedestrians a year are injured and or killed due to reckless drivers. It is considered an epidemic.
- South Korea is considered by WHO #133 in traffic accident deaths.
- Drivers licenses’ are attained for cars and motorcycles at 18. You receive your permit at 16.
- They take drunk driving VERY SERIOUSLY in South Korea.
- There are really no rules when it comes to a 4 way intersection, hence many accidents.
- In 2021, 24.37 million automobiles were registered in South Korea.
Because of this, there is a lack of parking spaces. People will tend to park on side walks, fire lanes, and any weird nook and cranny one can find.
But There Was A Solution, The Armadillo T Car !
You can thank I believe it was Scholastic News for this article. My students are learning about this, and are like “Ughhhhh boring”, and Miss Wilson is like “TELL ME MORE TELL ME MORE !”
The Armadillo T was conceived by a research team led by In-Soo Suh who is the associate professor of the Graduate School for Green Transportation at KAIST ( Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
The concept was to enable drivers to be able to park in tight spots within heavily populated urban areas. Say goodbye to parallel parking!
The car was based on the behavior of an armadillo. When armadillos are faced with threats from predators, they hide themselves in a ball and hide within their shell.
So You May Be Wondering, How Does This Work ?
- The car has a rounded shape inspired by the armadillo.
- Using a remote control from your smart phone, drivers can roll up the back of their car, spin it 360 degrees into the correct position and reverse it comfortably into a parking space.
- The concept car has loads of smart features on board, too: it’s a 2 seater, runs on electric, the cameras installed inside the car eliminate the need for side mirrors and increase the driver’s ability to see the car’s right and left side, thereby reducing blind spots.
- Once folded, the small and light (weighs 450 kg) electric vehicle takes up only one-third of a 5-meter parking space, the standard parking size in Korea, allowing three of its kind to be parked. With a smartphone-interfaced remote control on the wheels, the vehicle can turn 360 degrees, enhancing drivers’ convenience to park the car, even in an odd space in a parking lot, the corner of a building, for example.
- It only goes up to 35 MPH which for Marc and I would be great since we work in our respective towns. Mark, it would take you double the time to get to work.
- In-Soo has hopes for one day South Koreans to switch to electric cars, reduce the amount of accidents, and for the country to go green.
“I expect that people living in cities will eventually shift their preferences from bulky, petro-engine cars to smaller and lighter electric cars. Armadillo-T can be one of the alternatives city drivers can opt for. Particularly, this car is ideal for urban travels, including car-sharing and transit transfer, to offer major transportation links in a city. In addition to the urban application, local near-distance travels such as tourist zones or large buildings can be another example of application.”- In-Soo Suh
I have some images for us which we OF COURSE will share on instagram, but I would love for Marc and Mark to describe these images to our listeners.
Ending
So now I have a follow- up question. Would you prefer an actual armadillo or an armadillo T-car !?
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