Michelin has announced the results of the 2014 Design Challenge. The first three winning projects are by Chris Luchowiec from Poland; Chuang Dong, Zhen Qiu and Haowen Deng from China; and Takbeom Heogh from South Korea.

Below we report additional details and images on the winning entries. Also check our previous coverage of the finalists announcement and the extensive image gallery.

1st Place: BOT Concept by Chris Luchowiec (Poland/Finland)

BOT is a completely autonomous transportation solution for areas with relatively low population (such as Finland).

Conceived for a vehicle sharing system, BOT is a cheap, safe, self-driving cab that allows shared rides particularly suitable for daily commuters.

It’s also accessible for everyone – providing door-to-door mobility for children, elderly and people with disabilities.

Ride sharing also allows meeting new people, which could strengthen the feeling of belonging to the society.

BOTs has accepted ride-requests which can be easily made with a mobile device.

They can pick up users at any location, and just like a taxi, drive them directly to their final destination.

One cab can theoretically replace four or even more private cars, thus contributing to the reduction of traffic congestion and reducing the need for parking spaces.

“The design of the vehicle reflects values that somehow have been forgotten or twisted by the automotive industry: friendliness, humbleness, honesty, simplicity and optimism. BOT is not egocentric. It creates a deep relationship with the user. A relationship more similar to the one we have with living creatures, not soulless objects.”

Technology-wise the vehicle uses multiple innovative solutions: self-driving ability, capacious air-lithium batteries, artificial intelligence, organically folding seats, light-emitting windows (thanks to transparent display tech), and all-year-round tires.

About the Designer

Chris Luchowiec, 24, born in Poland, graduated in 2013 from Lahti Institute of Design in Finland with a degree in industrial design.

2nd Place: AKA24 Concept by Chuang Dong, Zhen Qiu and Haowen Deng (China)

The AKA24 is designed for a single driver, and was conceived to provide a compact and flexible solution for daily life needs in China’s big cities.

The car has two operating mode: in the autonomous driving mode (“undriven”) its body rotates 90° around the longitudinal axis, into a vertical position, and the vehicle runs on a rail road system with magnetic drive technology.

In the manual operating mode (“driven”), the vehicle has a conventional horizontal layout, and it runs on four wheels.

About the Designers

Zhen Qiu, 23, was born in China and in his third year of college studying Industrial Design at the Jiangnan University, School of Design.

Haowen Deng, 24, was born in China and graduated from Jiangnan University, School of Design. He is a designer at CSVW in Shanghai.

Dong Chuang, 24, was born in China and graduated from Wuhan University of Technology, School of Automotive Engineering. He now works at CSVW as a Digital Sculptor with alias in Shanghai, China.

3rd Place: GelenK Concept by Takbeom Heogh (South Korea)

GelenK is a study of a transformable truck for both long-distance and urban transport. The vehicle features a Split Driving Mode, where the trailer are not towed, but are turned into individual autonomous vehicles, which helps traveling in crowded urban areas or moving through narrow corners.

About the Designer

Takbeom Heogh is majoring in industrial design at Hanyang University in Korea and studying transportation design.

(Source: Michelin Design Challenge)