“Wild” Buggi Drone Introduces You to the Future of Off-World Protection Vehicles

One vehicle you may see around your off-world colony may be the “Wild” Buggi Drone. Just as its name suggests, it is a vehicle that does not require human intervention to operate.

The designer responsible for the Wild is Roman Zhuravlyov of Donetsk, Russia. Designer and lover of off-roading vehicles, robots, weapons, and drones like the one you see here, his works are a combination of AT vehicles meet futuristic robotics and warfare, traits that are expressed in the Wild.

As mentioned earlier, this vehicle is an autonomous one. At first sight, it may seem as if there is space for a driver and maybe one passenger, but upon closer inspection, you’ll realize that there’s very little room to incorporate a human. The lack of a windshield or any visor sustains this impression.

Starting from the ground, the first feature you’ll notice is the wheels. Two small wheels at the front and two larger ones at the rear give the Wild that buggy stance. The lifted rear and dropped front add even more of a menacing effect to the look.

Because this rover will be riding around on planets where the terrain isn’t yet charted, massive rock guards and skid plates protect crucial undercarriage components. This sort of protection is also offered to the suspension system.

Speaking of the suspension, the front of the Wild is operated by a hydraulic piston system, much like what people use today. The rear is a bit different. Here the designer included a design seen before on off-world vehicles. Massive and motorized arms support the wheels and possibly operates via electronic control. If this is true, this rover is perfect for riding around in atmospheres of different pressures as it can regulate systems for the perfect amount of cushioning.

The designer mentions that this vehicle is a drone. Now, there seem to be two ways a drone can be controlled, either by software or by remote operation. No mention is made of this for the Wild, but if it’s meant to be driven by an AI, there’s sure to be several sensors, cameras, and software to make sure the rover patrols safely. If it’s meant to be controlled by remote operators, again, the designer makes no mention of how this happens or even if it does.

One of the last thing humans will want to do once on a different planet is pollute the whole place. To keep that from happening, vehicles like this should be electric. Again, nothing is known about the drivetrain for the Wild. Still, if it’s going to be an autonomous rover, it better be electric as I haven’t seen many ICE vehicles refueling themselves. In contrast, vehicles running under electric drive can recharge without any human intervention. Heck, check out this real lawnmower that recharges on its own. Your Roomba probably does this too, so the Wild better be able to do it.

Finally, there’s a real menacing arsenal mounted on top of this rover. Hopefully, these weapons are used to protect against some city-swallowing alien worm and not against each other.

Personally, if humans don’t lose this drive to harm one another, for whatever reason, then maybe this species shouldn't go any further than Earth (insight into what the aliens might think about us).