The future looks bright for the automotive industry and uBox is proof.
Recently, Toyota teamed up with a group of graduate students enrolled at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research Design and the results of the collaboration are fascinating. The focus was to take students through the full process of vehicle development, providing hands-on experience for individuals who will be a part of the next generation of car designers and engineers.
The project, dubbed Deep Orange, led to the creation of uBox - a Gen-Z focused utility vehicle with youthful styling, a configurable interior featuring removable seats and other adjustable elements, and a dual-purpose, all-electric powertrain. While developing uBox, Clemson students actually came up with a first-ever “roof pultrusion” technique that showcases the value of Clemson’s program. For those of you who are curious, the new industry-first method enables composite carbon fiber rails that have been bonded with aluminum to support a curved glass roof.
Regarding the collaboration, Paul Venhovens, endowed chair for automotive systems integration at CU-ICAR said, “The collaboration with Toyota was extremely fruitful. The Toyota management team constantly challenged the students with justifying their design and engineering decisions based on brand essence, real-world customers and what the students believed the future would embrace. This experience can simply not be gained from a text book.”
For more details about Deep Orange and the uBox project, check out the video below!
