How self-driving cars create the "25th hour" Audi AI:ME is the secret

With the increasing pace of life, more and more urban white-collar workers feel that "there is not enough time every day". How to do more in a limited time has become the most concerned issue for contemporary young people.

As one of the most influential companies in the automotive industry, Audi has found through market research and industry analysis that people spend a lot of time every day during the driving commute. "According to survey data, motorists spend an average of one hour a day in the car." Wu Yunzhou, interior designer at Audi China, said that traditional car design in the past made it difficult to use this hour effectively.

Where there is consumer demand, there are opportunities and markets. In response to this situation, Audi recently launched a new concept car AI: ME. Through comfortable space design and technological configuration, we strive to stitch together the scattered time consumed in driving through the car and become the "25th hour" that can be used.

Nowadays, people spend more and more time with cars. To make the car a "third living space" besides home and office, you must first be comfortable enough. Therefore, Audi regards the interior space design of AI:ME as the core of the design of the whole vehicle, and strives to create a luxurious "haven".

According to Wu Yunzhou, the main control units inside the Audi AI:ME adopt a retractable design, weakening the traditional operation between the driver and the vehicle through the steering wheel, pedals and various types of equipment.

In addition, the front seats feature the classic comfort design of the lounge, with large seat cushions made of warm-coloured grey textile fabric, and the adjustable range of the rear seats extends to the edge areas on both sides of the vehicle, allowing passengers to adjust the position of the seats as needed.

In addition to the variety of seating and storage spaces, the Audi AI:ME also supports human eye tracking, voice input and a touch-sensitive area on the door interior panel to control in-vehicle communications, interactive systems and the vehicle itself. In addition, thanks to a high-quality sound system with physical noise reduction, the Audi AI:ME actively reduces noise from the outside.

"Audi AI:ME brings not only the convenience of a means of transportation, but also the excellent driving experience composed of many high-tech configurations and luxurious inner cabin environment." Ouyang Qian, president of Audi China, proudly said that while creating enough comfort and intelligence in the interior space, Audi AI:ME has also achieved L4 level autonomous driving, and retained the steering wheel and pedal control unit. In this way, consumers can either choose an autonomous driving system in a specific area such as a highway or a designated area of the city center, or they can take over the vehicle using the steering wheel.

"The future of travel doesn't have to be one or the other." Ouyang Qian said that the steering wheel coexists with advanced automatic driving, which means that in the case of perfect infrastructure, Audi AI:ME can enjoy both the relaxed pleasure of automatic driving and the thrill of manually controlling the vehicle.

Of course, the involvement of the autonomous driving system will allow the vehicle to process more road information, which requires the car to have richer external communication capabilities and a more dexterous body. The Audi AI:ME has a body length of 4.30 meters and a width of 1.90 meters, but the wheelbase reaches 2.77 meters. In addition to providing a spacious interior that is one class higher than that, this body design can also shorten the front overhang and improve the agility of the vehicle.

In addition, the AUDI AI:ME's LED lights are placed above the wheel brow, and this non-traditional high-level lamp design makes it clearly visible at all angles. This 360-degree approach to dialogue provides important additional safety for pedestrians and cyclists. At the same time, the LED unit and micro matrix projector at the front of the vehicle are used to project symbols for informing passers-by on the road ahead and amplifying red flags.

For an urban car, data such as cornering speed, ultimate acceleration and top speed are not very important, because the extreme driving situation represented by these values is almost impossible to see in daily life. In view of this, Audi has re-planned the parameters of Audi AI:ME.

On the one hand, the Audi team of engineers has adopted a simple and lightweight basic configuration design, and the battery cell with a capacity of 65 kWh is enough to meet the travel needs of Audi AI:ME. On the other hand, the Audi AI:ME is also equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor on the rear axle, which can bring up to 125 kW of additional power when necessary, and only need to play a small part of its functions to meet the normal urban travel needs. At the same time, thanks to the kinetic energy recovery system and the lighter body weight, Audi AI:ME maintains extremely low energy consumption even in urban traffic.

With the unveiling of Audi AI:ME, people can glimpse Audi's vision of the future of urban mobility: not a wild fantasy, but a prediction that "there is a possibility of realization". Audi is exploring AI technology to explore more possibilities for cars.

Although it is not yet possible to mass-produce 100% audi AI:ME concept cars, through the continuous updating and iteration of technology, Audi's future models will be more intelligent and humanized, and will also bring unprecedented experiences to drivers and passengers. (China Youth Daily, China Youth Online reporter Zhang Zhenqi)

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