Rinspeed Snap concept highlights plastics' role in future mobility

Swiss-based think tank and mobility visionary Rinspeed AG has created its 24th concept car, and when it comes to plastics, the possibilities seem to "snap" into place.

The Rinspeed Snap, which debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is founder and CEO Frank Rinderknecht's answer to the dilemma of short-lived hardware and software and the high durability of a vehicle's interior and various components. The concept features a high-wear chassis or "skateboard" with fast-aging IT components and a durable passenger safety cell or "pod" that can be snapped into place or used for a stationary experience.

The company suggested its uses when not in ​ motion can include anything from a "variable shopping pod or a spacious camping pod to a cozy cuddling pod," according to a news release. To this end, the skateboard portion, featuring two steering axles and an integrated electric powertrain supplied by Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen AG, can be recycled after a few years of intensive use, while the pod is able to remain in service much longer and ultimately connect with an up-to-date skateboard.

German lighting specialist Osram Opto Semiconductors Inc., a division of Osram Licht AG, supplied several LED and laser technologies for the interior and exterior of the self-driving vehicle. The lights include human-centric lighting where in-car illumination can respond to a passenger's mood based on data collected from various health tracking technologies.

"Light has an influence with different receptors in your body," Mike Godwin, Osram's director of automotive LED marketing, said in a Jan. 5 phone interview.

"Human-centric lighting is a big, big area of exploration in general lighting," he added.

The company used facial recognition technology powered by infrared LEDs that allows the vehicle to adapt to individual passenger needs, such as personalized lighting options, preferred temperature and customized seat position.

Additionally, Osram provided a responsive LED license plate and exterior vehicle lighting in designated colors for the front and rear to enhance safety. Built-in LED and lasers also boosted safety by projecting messages on front and rear windows that communicate with pedestrians by informing them when it is safe to cross the road and passengers by displaying remaining travel time to their destination.

"Usually in projection, you have to have very, very good optical quality," Godwin said. "And in most projectors, the best optical material is glass, but then PMMA [or acrylic] is a very high-performance optic material."

The company also supplied high-power ultraviolet LEDs to disinfect the vehicle after each use.

"When your autonomous car is shared … the clean environment becomes a relevant topic. How do you ensure cleanliness?" he said.

The interior elements of the Snap correspond to how many auto experts describe autonomous vehicles of the future: multifunctional spaces where you can sit back and relax, have a mobile office or a feel-good "smart room" for entertaining.

Markus Langbein, vice president of sales and marketing at Dr. Schneider Holding GmbH, a German supplier of plastic interior auto parts, said with the ongoing development of self-driving cars, the vehicle interior is gaining significance since the focus is shifting from an active driving experience to a passive one.

"In particular, with regard to the trend of autonomous and self-driving, the car interior is undergoing a fundamental change. Occupants will have more time at their disposal to do other things than pay attention to driving," Langbein said in a Jan. 10 email interview. "The future interior will become a living and working space for people and must therefore offer a new quality of service."

Dr. Schneider supplied two multifunctional storage systems for the Snap. The first storage system consists of a sturdy storage case and a tub.

"Thanks to a loop strap, the system can be pulled out from the tub quickly and easily and provides a maximum of flexibility when using it as … an office box," he said. "At the same time, everything is safely secured and quickly accessible."

The second system consists of a center console storage compartment that has an inductive charging system for smartphones, two cup holders on each side and convenient storage space in the rear part of the console.

Components such as the housing are made from ABS, while the bezel and mugs are made from polyurethane.

"The materials used must meet the highest demands of the automotive industry," Langbein said, citing high-quality surfaces that are scratch-resistant and self-healing. "By combining high-temperature resistance with toughness, it is possible to simulate durable and precise plastic products."

The company's concept behind the storage bins was to create a mobile storage system that could hold a passenger's all-day items — such as a bottle, umbrella or office supplies — and safely secure them, while keeping the interior tidy. Additionally, four lighting modules are integrated into the storage system to create a "feel-good atmosphere to relax in," Langbein said.

"The comfortable portability outside the car is ensured through a retractable handle and allows customers to take the mobile case with them and use it on demand wherever they are," he said. "Functionality, design and haptic are combined perfectly."

Automotive injection molder Techniplas LLC supplied cognitive, programmable lighting to the front and rear fascia of the Snap vehicle to further enhance vehicle safety and visual communication.

The lighting displays various traffic symbols to pedestrians and also indicates vehicle battery life on the exterior.

"This kind of cognitive, programmable lighting gives you the ability to create complete images, signs for communication purposes — from vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to pedestrian and vehicle to other passengers on the interior," Avi Reichental, vice chairman of Techniplas and CEO of its digital business unit in Ventura, Calif., said in a Jan. 5 phone interview.

"And in essence, it renders all of these surfaces that historically were 'dumb' surfaces into smart, connected surfaces and really into human-machine interfaces," he added.

The light guides are made of Plexiglas from German specialty chemical company Evonik Industries AG and supply light via high-performance LEDs. Various 3D effects are created by multilayer structures of the individual optical fibers, the company said.

Techniplas also provided the housings that encase the embedded cognitive lighting on the Snap. To manufacture the housings, which are made from ABS, the company leaned on its new additive manufacturing center in Ventura.

"All of the parts that are housing and encapsulating the lighting were 3D printed by us," Reichental said.

From start to finish, Reichental estimated it took about 200 hours to print all the parts that went into creating the complete fascia.

"It was very delicate and very comprehensive, but we did it in a few hundred hours, and we think that it begins to — no pun intended — illuminate the future of cognitive lighting," he said.

A key initiative at Techniplas is to mainstream the use of additive manufacturing inside its own factories for things like jigs and fixtures, Reichental said. The company is also looking to "hybridize" the technologies between injection molding and 3D printing to help automakers take lightweighting to the next level, moving beyond material substitutions and into mass reduction.

"We're pushing very hard and moving very fast to shape future vehicle design by using generative design and topology optimization to reduce weight in the part without any degradation to performance," Reichental said.

"[Rinspeed] continues to inform the future of mobility, and we believe that our cutting-edge technologies together with Rinspeed positions us to be one of the companies that is making and shaping the connected world," he added.