Munich shines in Hannover Messe

Recently, the international trade fair Hannover Messe took place, from April 23-27, bringing together some of the world's most interesting and ground-breaking innovations in various field of technology. You can check their website for videos of the event at hannovermesse video.

Munich researchers had a place at this conference with an innovative vehicle named "Innotruck", designed with a futuristic look and a smart "mind" of its own, being capable of interacting with its driver, and adapt to his or hers individual capabilities and typical behavior.

The "Innotruck", part of the project "Diesel Reloaded" was built under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Gernot Spiegelberg, who works for Siemens Corporate Technology and is a Rudolf Diesel Industry Fellow of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study.

Hauke Stähle, PhD student, and part of the Munich team at Hannover, shared with The Munich Times some of what their team experienced at the conference:

"At the Hannover Messe, hardly someone passed by the InnoTruck without stopping and taking a picture. The people were curious about what the project is all about and why the truck has such a strange shape. Mostly it was called "Concorde-like" by the people but I also heard "Spaceship" and "High-Speed Train". One of the most frequently asked question was: "Does it drive"? Right now, it does not. But we are working on that point and expect it to be driveable soon, at least with a conventional combustion engine. After that, we are going to integrate the serial hybrid drive and work on the road permission."

So what does it do?
Hauke shared some exclusive material showing exactly what this amazing machine can do, see the poster below.

For starter the vehicle is divided in three parts: a cockpit, a VIP lounge and a presentation area. There are solar panels and retractable wind generators, driver assistance systems with things like "driver state recognition" and "Environmental analysis". It has a centralized computer and you can recharge up to two electric vehicles with the InnoTruck.

Is this what future vehicles will look like? Time will tell. For now, let us enjoy this technological marvel.