MELBOURNE: After a $7.7 million, four-year development project, robotics company Applied EV has revealed its first “mobility solution” – the Blanc Robot (pictured) an autonomous electric vehicle platform.

The Blanc Robot is designed to cover short distances at low speeds, and can be fitted with a wide variety of ‘pods’ tailored to transporting passengers or goods.

Fully autonomous and programmable, the vehicle is run by software, and features a lightweight composites body developed in association with Japan’s Teijin.

Built from glass fibre-reinforced sheet moulding compound (GF-SMC), the body is claimed to be 20 percent lighter than equivalent aluminium structures.

CEO Julian Broadbent said the company is backed by $2 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.