Mouser Electronics, Grant Imahara and Local Motors Team to Reimagine the Autonomous Driving Experience

Dallas & Fort Worth, TX, September 8, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​Mouser Electronics Inc., the global authorized distributor with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, is teaming up with Local Motors and celebrity engineer Grant Imahara to build a fully transforming vehicle cockpit for 3D-printed autonomous vehicles. It is the latest series from Mouser’s highly popular Empowering Innovation Together™ educational program.

A new video previews the exciting 3D-print project. The build will focus on reimagining the interior of the Local Motors Strati, the world’s first 3D-printed vehicle, to highlight the extraordinary possibilities with autonomous car design. Features of this innovative build will combine electronic components from Mouser’s valued manufacturer partners and Platinum Sponsors of the series, Maxim and Murata. The design, created by Finn Younkers of Rhode Island, features a drone mounted on the rear of the vehicle that, when launched, gives the driver an unprecedented birds-eye-view of the surroundings. Younkers’ design was chosen as the winner of the Local Motors Challenge.

Mouser, Imahara and Local Motors are teaming up to build a new full-transforming vehicle cockpit for 3D-printed autonomous vehicles as part of the Empowering Innovation Together™ program.

“At Mouser, we love to help engineers push the boundaries of innovation. It’s not just fun — it’s rewarding. By increasing innovation and the speed of technology, we can all do more to help humanity and our world,” said Glenn Smith, President and CEO of Mouser Electronics. “We look forward to unveiling the finished product soon. Stay tuned!”

“Local Motors already had most of the technology to make the autonomous vehicle figured out. This project was about taking it to the next level,” said Grant Imahara. “To do this we called on the imaginations of engineers all across the world. Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together™ program and vast array of parts enabled this, so it was a great partnership to bring our shared vision to life.”

“The Local Motors approach to direct digital manufacturing and the ingenuity of our co-creation community means that we have the ability to partner with cutting-edge suppliers like Mouser Electronics to bring innovations to life at unprecedented speeds,” said Local Motors Co-founder and CEO John B. Rogers, Jr. “The Mouser Strati offers a glimpse into the future of autonomous driving right now.”

To learn more about the Empowering Innovation Together™ 3D-printed autonomous vehicle project and watch the new video, please visit the Mouser YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjhl3UgbWxI.

In addition to the platinum sponsors Maxim and Murata, gold sponsors Lumileds and Phoenix Contact made this build possible. To learn more about all of Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together series — featuring the newly developed Innovation Lab for new projects ranging from bringing super hero technology to life to future projects like pushing the boundaries of drone technology — visit http://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation.

About Mouser Electronics

Mouser Electronics, a subsidiary of TTI, Inc., is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Mouser is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor, focused on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies to electronic design engineers and buyers. Mouser.com features more than 4 million products online from more than 600 manufacturers. Mouser publishes multiple catalogs per year providing designers with up-to-date data on the components now available for the next generation of electronic devices. Mouser ships globally to over 500,000 customers in 170 countries from its 750,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.mouser.com.

 About Grant Imahara

Well known in the engineering community, Grant Imahara has paired his engineering expertise with a Hollywood TV and film career. In addition to his roles on MythBusters and BattleBots, Imahara is the inventor behind many famous robotic characters, including the Star Wars prequel-era R2-D2, talking robot sidekick Geoff Peterson from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the rhythmic arms on the modern-day Energizer Bunny.

About Local Motors

Local Motors is a technology company that designs, builds and sells vehicles. By combining co-creation with local micro-manufacturing, we are creating a better world through hardware. We invite the global community of solvers, makers, and technologist to join us as together we create technology-forward products that inspire, empower, and nurture humanity. To learn more, visit www.localmotors.com.

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Source: Mouser