AUTONEWS

Shift Robotics Moonwalkers: the electrified scooter of the future

If walking is the most normal way for a human being to move, Shift Robotics has designed what it considers to be the fastest shoes in the world. Called Moonwalkers, they adapt to any type of shoe or boot and then glide on wheels, driven by an electric motor powered by a rechargeable battery.

Tired of the problems caused by electric scooters and bicycles on public roads, from being run over to falling, to the difficulty of transporting them when they are not in use, a team of engineers from Carnegie Mellon University decided to create Moonwalkers. And, after a series of prototypes, the concept was considered ready to hit the market.

To begin with, these motorized shoes allow you to walk 2.5 times faster than a human being, thanks to the contribution of the six wheels and the electric motor that makes them turn. But these Moonwalkers, in addition to encouraging (and requiring) the user to adopt a movement similar to walking, also adapt to the needs and type of locomotion of the person wearing them, all due to the artificial intelligence (AI) with which the shoe is gifted.

It is this AI that allows you, with a simple lift of the heel, to lock the wheels, making it possible to go up or down stairs, or up or down very steep surfaces. Furthermore, it is also the AI that deals with the different types of flooring, their irregularities and coefficients of friction, which makes it possible to run on asphalt and cobblestone sidewalks with the same ease as traveling on dirt.

Moonwalkers may not be the creation of the century and Shift Robotics may not have invented the wheel, but this is a decidedly innovative form of urban micromobility, thanks to yet another example of the potential of AI. The fastest shoes in the world are available through the brand's website for the equivalent of €1,328, which puts them on par with some electric scooters and bicycles.

by ​Mundoquatrorodas