“MicroMAX” - the networked swarm car

ORIGINAL: ZeitNews

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Rinspeed and Harman develop comprehensive mobility concept and corresponding vehicle. The incarnation of the idea is: “MicroMAX” - the networked swarm car

Frank M. Rinderknecht. 
Founder and CEO of Rinspeed Inc.
Photo: Rinspeed Inc.

At the very latest ever since the publication of Frank Schätzing’s novel “The Swarm”, everyone knows of the potential power of intelligent collectives - much more powerful than merely the sum of all its individuals. With “microMAX” Frank M. Rinderknecht, boss of Swiss creative powerhouse Rinspeed, transfers the idea of swarm intelligence to urban traffic and sets out to do nothing less than to revolutionize it.

The incarnation of the idea is “microMAX,” on display at the Geneva Motor Show, March 7 through 17, 2013. The ingenious commuter vehicle merges personal and public transportation in very clever fashion. In the Rinspeed “microMAX”, renowned manufacturer of top-class automotive multimedia and infotainment systems Harman for the first time introduces its vision of an “urbanSWARM” community concept based on the Harman Cloud platform.

This concept involves combining the company’s individual technical features that are already available commercially today with a comprehensive Cloud-based mobility concept. This allows, for instance, easy access to navigation functions in real time. Based on the information from all vehicles connected to the swarm, the system can modify the routes dynamically to account for current traffic.

Rinderknecht says: “We have developed an intelligent and eco-friendly mobility concept complete with its own vehicle that combines the benefits of personal transportation with those of taxis, car-sharing services and carpool concepts as well as those offered by public transit. It uses the powerful UMTS and LTE data networks in urban centers and operates in real time.”