Interior and Exterior Design
The ULTra vehicle is highly customizable, with a flexible interior and exterior design which can be tailored to suit individual client requirements. This can be done in conjunction with infrastructure customization to offer a complete solution which integrates perfectly into the application environment. The ability to adapt the vehicle to specific system requirements and design brief has been demonstrated by the customizations developed with BAA for the London Heathrow application.
Visualisations of the Heathrow ULTra vehicle interior.
A computer rendering of an alternative ULTra vehicle interior.
Interior Design
Everything within the vehicle interior can be customised to provide a travel experience that harmonizes with the surrounding environment. The current interior panels are vacuum formed from grey, grained ABS, which offers a neutral base from which stunning designs can be produced; the visualisations shown on the right outline some of the design ideas for the interior of the BAA vehicles, where the elegant bench seat design combines style with functionality, providing additional seating capacity for larger group sizes.
In addition to these aesthetic styling options, ULTra has many customizable interior features:
- Air-conditioning and heating systems provide passenger comfort during journeys, and can be adapted to suit the most extreme environments.
- Interior LCD screens and audio system allow the operator to provide the passenger with relevant information about their journey, and they can also be used to provide other services, for example the advertising of local services and amenities. Alternatively, the media system could be used to play music or video clips for the entertainment of the passengers.
- If this is coupled with a smart-card system for destination selection and payment, regular passengers can have their favourite video/audio preferences stored on their card, to enable them to enjoy the particular environment they like to travel in, hassle free.
The first production vehicle for Heathrow.
Exterior Aesthetics
The existing exterior style of the vehicle is the result of the use of vacuum formed panels attached to a tubular steel frame, with the panels constructed using self-coloured ABS with high gloss acrylic capping. This setup allows considerable flexibility in design, as each panel (including the windows) can be stylised as required to give the desired overall vehicle appearance, and enables completely different styles to be implemented in each system without significant design or tooling costs, or delays.
The exterior design flexibility allows the client to visually integrate the ULTra system with the architecture and feel of the location, as BAA has done at Heathrow.
