Airbus launched a self-driving taxi with the ability to transform

The flying car, called Pop.Up, from Airbus combined with Italdesign designer is said to be a solution to solve congestion in another 5-10 years.

Airbus has announced a taxi model called "Pop.Up" with the expectation of ending traffic jams. This is a modular system consisting of a two-seater passenger cabin that can be mounted on a four-wheeled chassis, and is capable of using propeller engines such as flycam to move when roads are congested, according to Wired.

When the passenger arrives at the destination, the aerial module and ground will return to a dedicated charging station to recharge and wait for the next customer. Pop.Up is the result of cooperation between Airbus and Italdesign, an Italian design and engineering company.

Modules in Pop.Up.(Photo: Airbus).

"Today, cars are part of a large eco-system. If you want to design urban vehicles of the future, traditional cars can't be the solution for megacities, you have to think about sustainable and intelligent infrastructure, applications, unity, electrical systems, urban planning, social aspects and the like, " said Jorg Astalosch, executive director (CEO ) by Italdesign, said.

Passengers only need to book a trip via a mobile application, the system will automatically suggest the best travel method based on criteria such as time, level of traffic congestion, cost and need to share the trip. . Using this information, Pop.Up lists options that it evaluates to be reasonable for a customer's journey.

The passenger compartment is made of carbon fiber material 2.6m long, 1.4m high and 4.9m wide. It becomes a car by connecting to the ground module, battery-powered system and has a range of 100km on a single charge.

The device will scan the passenger face for authentication, as well as show entertainment content during the travel process. If there is a traffic jam, users only need to ask the vehicle to switch to flight mode, the propeller system will fly in, automatically assemble to turn the car into a taxi.

Airbus said Pop.Up is a three-layer system. The first is the artificial intelligence platform to determine the best route, providing passenger choice. Next is the passenger compartment designed to combine with two different modules and completely independent. Finally, the interface communicates with users in a virtual environment completely.

However, Airbus confirmed Pop.Up will not be implemented before the period 2024-2027.