By Shichun Hu, MSISE 2017

When talking about transformers, what would you think of? Maybe the childhood must-see TV series? Or the movie series with stunning image quality and animations? Either way, one still sees them as a part of science fiction.

Source: The Internet

However, on April 1^st (yes, on April Fool’s Day), a Turkish Company named Letvision uploaded a video on Youtube to showcasing its product. In that video, you can see a BMW moving slowly toward the controller and then transformed into a giant robot! It also performed head movements, wrist movements, and some other features. Click here for the full video.

Source: www.gizmodo.com

The product is named Letrons. The product displays 20 features which can be classified into four main categories: a) Movement; b) Control; c) Interactivity; d) Sense. Some of its unique features include a remote controlled car mode and a Wi-Fi system with 2.4 GHz, 54Mbps (which is somewhat indispensable in today’s life). However, in spite of the 20 features and awesome appearances, Letrons is still a transformer-to-be. It is neither drivable in car mode nor walkable in “transformer” mode. Yet the product team is positive about its future capability and expect walking functionality to be added when they secure funding for additional research and development.

All said and done, Letrons is a product made by a team of 12 engineers and 4 technicians in 8 months from a multi-touch technology company. We may not expect too much from the product itself, but its existence certainly provides more possibilities and new ideas in the diverse auto industry.

Shichun Hu

Author Shichun Hu is a student assistant at METRANS Transportation Center specializing in and coordinating the METRANS Mentor Program. She is a 2^nd year graduate student majoring in Industrial and System Engineering in the Viterbi School of Engineering, USC. Her interests lie in how to fully utilize the power of data and new technology in the field of transportation. She is pursuing internships in data analytics / scientists and operation research area.