Eneron, a subsidiary of the UAE-based tech, transportation and sustainability solutions company Kintsugi, unveiled its Magnus prototype during an exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
A multi-use and tactical vehicle was unveiled on Tuesday, during the first day of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Simulation and Training Exhibition.
The vehicle – designed by automotive designer Michael Vernon Robinson, who has designed cars for Fiat, Ford and Volvo – will offer a smarter, faster and greener transportation solution, the company said.
“It’s an Italian look with a UAE heart,” said Tareq Albannay, vice president of future systems at Kintsugi, who said the plans entail for a street legal version to eventually be available.
“The car itself has artificial intelligence and provides you with optimisation, safety and maintenance alerts.”
Mr Albanny said the hybrid vehicle has a range of up to 800km, 600km via diesel and 200km via electric.
“It’s the future of tactical mobility,” he said, adding that the vehicle would also have the ability to be fully autonomous.
“Currently there’s no such electric-hybrid car of this type,” added Mr Albanny, referring to the tactical and armoured nature of the prototype on display at Umex.
According to Kintsugi, the body of the 6-tonne vehicle is made of an advanced composite material, giving it unprecedented durability against ballistics or mines.
The doors can open 90 degrees, something Eneron is referring to as a 'wide exit' or 'wide entry' feature, allowing for the doors to potentially be used as shields from incoming combat fire.
Kintsugi plans for the 6-seater tactical vehicle to be eventually manufactured in the UAE when it's ready for release, and for a non-tactical version to be made available.
“As a leading technology company we don't just cater to the military sector,” said Rashed Al Mohtadi, senior manager of business development at Kintsugi. “We are looking to have a civil version, a prototype displayed at Idex in 2025.”
“We're going to keep innovating and disrupting,” he added. “Kintsugi is a Japanese art form that brings pieces together to form beautiful art, and that's exactly what we do using AI and technology,” he added.
It usually takes the automotive industry several years to create prototypes of vehicles, but Eneron only took 3 months to go from concept to prototype, Mr Al Mohtadi said.
The potential price range of the vehicle was not announced at the exhibition.
At a news conference previewing the event last week, it was announced that more than 18,000 attendees were expected at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre for the three-day Umex and SimTex exhibition, along with 214 exhibitors from around the world.
According to organisers, at least 35 countries are represented.
Some of those, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Estonia, the Virgin Islands and the Czech Republic, are participating for the first time.
The themes, products and technologies on display were not limited to military applications at Umex and SimTex.
Among the plentiful companies showing the potential of unmanned systems was Adnoc.
At Adnoc’s booth, one device in particular caught the eyes of those who walked by, a robot that climbed the wall with its wheels.
The particular device was described as a corrosion detector that Adnoc said could potentially be used on tanks, boilers, pressure vessel piping and more.
“We don’t have to worry about it falling off any assets,” said one of the demonstrators at Adnoc’s booth from Gecko Robotics, maker of the robot it calls the Toka 4.
“It’s able to be guided by remote control,” said the demonstrator. “You can imagine being able to run this from the outside, how much energy and resources that saves.”
Also on display was the Sulfabot, a robot collaboration project combining efforts from Adnoc and Khalifa University that would help to clean up sulphur dust in various locations.
“We’re hoping to speed up the cleaning process by 50 per cent,” said Waad Alameri, a senior specialist in digital architecture at Adnoc. “The idea is to use the robot to make it much safer.”
Khalifa University also had a large crop of unmanned systems and research projects on display that illustrated the broad applications of unmanned systems technology.
Those projects ranged from a self-drive vehicle to an unmanned underwater vehicle called a ZodiAq.
The eye-catching ZodiAq, with its 12 flagella-inspired arms was designed to resemble aquatic life, while at the same time allowing for real-time ocean monitoring with minimal impact on marine life.
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RESULTS
6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Meshakel, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
Winner Gervais, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner Global Heat, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Firnas, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m
Winner Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m
Winner Wasim, Mickael Barzalona, Ismail Mohammed.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
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UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
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Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
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Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Tips for avoiding trouble online
- Do not post incorrect information and beware of fake news
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- Do not forget your children and monitor their online activities
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
