Smart city is an advanced stage of urban informatization and a new model of urban development。Although the cities we live in today are still quite far from smart cities, we are accelerating towards smart cities driven by technologies such as the Internet, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and big data。More and more technologies and applications that can bring "smart" to cities are starting to emerge, and here's a look at some of the novel things that are coming into our lives。

A car that can be placed end to end



There must be smart vehicles in smart cities。As we move into the era of smart cities, how will cars evolve？The latest research results of the Robotics Innovation Center in Bremen, Germany - end to end intelligent cars are giving us new inspiration。

The mini electric car, called the EO Smart 2, is a futuristic car designed for the city of the future。Its biggest feature is that it can be connected to each other end to end, which means that it can not only drive alone on the road, but also can be connected like a train car。The biggest advantage of this is that it can save energy, and the car after the "combination" can minimize the wind resistance, but also improve the utilization rate of the road to avoid the rear-end situation。

As an electric vehicle, the EO Smart 2 modules can be connected and transmitted power, which means that the vehicles can supplement each other's power, and the vehicle's endurance problem is solved。In terms of appearance, the EO Smart 2 is very small, with a size of only 2.5m×1.The 57m is much smaller than the Smart car produced by Mercedes-Benz。Its wheels can rotate 90 degrees, not only can walk sideways, but also can transform, which is really enough science fiction。

Home robot



The Disney animation "Big Hero 6" has many people looking forward to having a healthy robot like Baymax。In fact, this is no longer a dream today, but a reality within reach。With the development of artificial intelligence technology, more and more service robots have emerged to replace humans to complete various tasks such as cleaning, caring for the elderly and the sick。

Japan's SoftBank launched a humanoid robot called "Pepper" last year, which has been favored by the market。The design concept of Pepper is to accompany humans, it can communicate with people, identify people's emotions, and constantly learn people's habits and preferences in the process of "getting along" with people。Recently, SoftBank announced that it will work with Microsoft to further optimize Pepper's capabilities, and in the future, it can use facial recognition and voice recognition technology to recommend products to customers。

It has become a trend for robots to enter the homes of ordinary people。According to Juniper Research, 1 in 25 U.S. households currently has a robot, and by 2020, 1 in 10 U.S. households is expected to have a robot。

Intelligent house



Smart house is a very hot word at the moment。Even if you do not know its specific definition, as long as you see these four words, you can emerge some relevant scenes。When you get up，Curtains in your home will open automatically;When you work out at home，The home health system will record exercise data and a range of physical fitness indicators;When you feel a little hungry，The automatic cooking machine in the kitchen has prepared the meal;When you entertain your friends at home，The lights will automatically adjust to "Party" mode...

Although today's smart home technology can not achieve all of the above functions, more and more homes are developing in the direction of automation and intelligence。The Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute of Japan is conducting research on the "BMI Smart House" project，By installing hundreds of mobile detectors in the house，Constantly sending messages to the "brain" of the house，Thus, some of the facilities of the house can be automatically operated according to the needs of the residents，It makes life more convenient for some people with limited mobility。

However, there are also views that while it is convenient for people to live, smart homes will make humans more and more lazy and life will become more and more boring。

Intelligent parking lot



Parking is a problem in major cities around the world。On the road to intelligent city, intelligent parking schemes emerge in an endless stream。

According to the German "Automobile Manufacturing" reported that last year, Audi and Somerville, a city on the east coast of the United States, launched a smart city project to develop automatic parking technology to solve local parking and traffic jams。The project focuses on automatic parking of smart cars, reducing the area occupied by parking, which can save up to 60% of the space in the parking lot。

In fact, Audi's autonomous parking technology is also being used in another project - the Federal Real Estate Investment Trust's (FRT) planned "mixed-use development" in Somerville's Assembly Row district。It is estimated that autonomous parking technology will save $100 million in the Assembly Row area alone。

In addition to cost savings, smart parking is surprisingly efficient。An underground smart parking garage at a library in Denmark, for example, can handle 235 cars per hour, and users can park or retrieve their cars within two minutes。For people living in the city, this is definitely a "blessing".。