Hyundai imagines a world in which it has turned everything into a robot

Hyundai has already showed off some practical robotics concepts last month in the lead-up to the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. Now the South Korean automaker is going full galaxy brain with the introduction of a new "Mobility of Things" concept that it claims will power a whole slew of objects, from household plants and book shelves, to ambulances and autonomous passenger pods. The spectrum of things that can be roboticized (for lack of a better term) is "unlimited," said Dong Jin Hyun, vice president and head of Robotics Lab of Hyundai Motor Group, in a statement. "The goal is for robotics to enable all kinds of personal mobility, connected to communicate, move and perform tasks autonomously." Hyundai says it is developing two different standards: a modular platform called "Plug and Drive" (PnD) that combines steering, electric drive, and suspension hardware; and "Drive and Lift" (DnL) that can lift objects up and down.