Hyundai is the latest car company to get into robotics: meet the Mobile Eccentric Droid

Delivery robots are becoming a common sight in many US cities, but less so in Europe, where the sidewalks aren’t quite so wide, endless and sparsely populated. Companies like Starship typify the genre, with plenty of space for storing packages or takeaways and six wheels for stability. Such machines work best in the realm of flat pavements and dropped curbs – suburbia, in other words. Although quadruped robots have more agility (and more innate menace), they’re not so good at hauling cargo.

Hyundai’s MobED bridges the two archetypes, a ‘mass-produced mobility robot platform’ designed for any number of applications. MobED, which stands for Mobile Eccentric Droid, eschews the small truck and robot dog form factors in favour of a simple four-wheeled chassis, with articulated suspension that can tackle tricky terrain. Atop this scaled-down truck bed one can opt for a number of different specifications, including delivery, logistics and presumably reconnaissance and security.

It's the creation of the Hyundai Motor Group Robotics LAB, an R&D department that flies largely under the radar (this is its first mass-produced robotic platform), but which hints at the future crossover between car makers and robotics. This is something that Tesla are famously deeply immersed in, along with companies like Honda, Xpeng, GAC, Toyota and Chery all looking to get in on the mechanised action.

Although delivery droids don’t have to contend with the steep sides of the uncanny valley, they’re still a contentious technology, especially with regards to their impact on the job market. As might be expected, AI plays a role in MobED’s abilities, with an autonomous navigation system that uses LiDAR cameras and pattern detection to ease its passage through the world.

The other advantage Hyundai can offer is engineering skills. The MobED is built to the exacting standards of a modern automobile, with durability and modularity baked in. Designed for indoor as well as outdoor use, the robot is also intended to be upgradeable.

For now, it’ll be available in two models, both just over 1m long: a more sophisticated MobED Pro (with more sensors and a ‘follow-me’ mode) and the MobED Basic, which is intended as a starter pack for R&D.

For more information, visit Robotics.Hyundai.com