MIT CityCar Featured at the Cooper-Hewitt
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In New York during the holidays? Stop by the Cooper Hewett National Design Museum for a close up encounter with the MIT CityCar, the brainchild of the late Media Lab director William Mitchell. The SmartCar is featured in the Mobility section of Why Design Now? the National Design Triennial (also accessible online for the rest of us).
The CityCar, conceived by the Smart Cities group, is a stackable, two-passenger electric vehicle designed for urban dwellers who can stop by a local charging station, swipe a card, and drive off in a charged up vehicle. Returned vehicles are stacked and recharged. The critical component of the car is an omni-directional robot wheel that contains an electric motor, suspension, steering, and braking.
Another MIT Media Lab project, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), was honored for its second generation XOXO prototype, which consists of two touch screens that can act like a laptop or a book.
Why Design Now? also includes the Masdar Development, an MIT project built on the desert outskirts of Abu Dhabi to demonstrate a host of sustainable energy efficiencies.
The exhibit, which explores 134 projects divided into eight themes—Mobility, Community, Materials, Prosperity, Health, Communication, Simplicity—ends at the Cooper-Hewitt on January 9, 2011.
