MIT is involved in various automotive research programs, including the MIT City Car, designed to provide an alternative way for people to travel in urban environments. The lightweight, energy-efficient car features robotic wheels and the ability to stack, addressing problems of parking and congestion. MIT also entered a driverless vehicle in the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is typically involved in a wide variety of different research programs, many with automotive applications. The MIT car can refer to a handful of different projects, such as the compact MIT city car, or its entry into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge. The MIT City Car incorporates a number of different concepts and is designed to provide an alternative way for people to travel in urban environments. Some features of the MIT city car include wheels that are powered by electric motors, computer systems to navigate and communicate with other vehicles, and a small frame that allows both movement and parking.
MIT automobile-related research began around 2003 and examined a number of factors related to the way people travel. Several problems and problems were identified, and the city car is seen as a possible solution. A great deal of excess energy can be used to move heavy vehicles, and the MIT City Car is designed to be lightweight compared to many modern vehicles. The average weight of a car is about 3,000 lbs (approximately 1,300 kg), which can be twenty times more than the weight of the person driving it. According to MIT automobile research, this means substantial energy savings could be made by using lighter vehicles in urban environments.
MIT city cars are also more energy efficient through the use of robotic wheels. An individual electronic motor at each wheel can allow these vehicles to move efficiently on power without tailpipe emissions. These robotic wheels may also allow vehicles to more easily maneuver in the tight quarters present in some urban environments.
Parking is another problem addressed by the MIT car, as on average there can be four parking spaces per vehicle in an urban environment. This can represent a substantial amount of wasted real estate, while there is still a problem of too little parking in congested areas. The MIT City Car can address this through a smaller physical size and the ability to stack somewhat. Some MIT car designs would allow these vehicles to be nested similar to shopping carts, which could provide a much more efficient use of space.
An MIT team entered a vehicle in the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007, which is also known as the MIT car. The vehicles entered in this contest used various sensors and computer systems to operate without a human driver. One of the purposes of this challenge was to encourage the development of technology that could make driverless vehicles possible. This same type of technology could be implemented in the MIT city car, allowing it to communicate with other vehicles on the network to avoid congestion and accidents without driver input.
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