CIXI: Pedaling the future of transport

“We’re creating a whole new market of active mobility.”

In this episode of Third Angle, we’re taking a trip to the French Alps to learn all about the future of one of the newest forms of transport - a visionary, chainless vehicle with an advanced pedaling system. Carlos Torres, Co-Founder and Head of Design at CIXI, Nicolas Ohlmann, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer and Fabien Ronzani, Engineer show us how the team is redefining active mobility and creating a new world where they want everyone to be physically active. They’re doing this through the use of their pedaling system, PERS and their exciting creation, Vigoz. 

Listen to explore how CIXI integrates innovation into every detail - from the workshop’s “theatrical” assembly process to the high-powered Vigoz, which amplifies human energy enabling riders to reach up to 120 km/h. 

Find out more about CIXI here. 

Find out more about OnShape here.

Your host is Paul Haimes from industrial software company PTC. 

Episodes are released bi-weekly. Follow us on LinkedIn and X for updates.

This is an 18Sixty production for PTC. Executive producer is Jacqui Cook. Sound design and editing by Rema Mukena. Location recording by Ashley Clivery. And music by Rowan Bishop.

Transcript

Welcome to Third Angle, where we're testing the limits of pedal power.

I'm your host, Paul Hames from industrial software company PTC. In this podcast, we share the moments where digital transforms physical and meet the brilliant minds behind some of the most innovative products around the world, each powered by PTC technology.

In this episode, we're taking you to the French Alps with Cixi, a company at the forefront of active mobility and sustainable design. Known for their groundbreaking mobility inventions, Cixi has set out to change how we think about getting around and keeping our bodies moving with one of their latest inventions, the Vigoz, a human powered vehicle with an advanced chainless pedalling system.

To find out how they're achieving this, our producer, Ashley Clivery, went on a tour with Carlos Torres, Head of Design, Nicolas Ohlmann, Chief Technical Officer, and Fabien Ronzani, an engineer

So georeaction is also, , electronic. There is no mechanic between the hand and the wheel. So it's the same. It's just, , electrical order. 

So welcome to Cixi. I'm Carlos Torres. I'm an industrial designer, head of design at Cixi. 

Basically, we are looking at a mountain right away here. It's called the Mandala mountain. , actually there is a little tradition here where all the guys go running, , maybe once a month and they go and climb the Mandala mountain, , running. It's a special place also because it's kind of the place where Pierre, the founder, he chose to be. His philosophy basically is, , if you're able to work on yourself, if you're able to improve yourself, you'll feel happier. You’ll feel lighter. We want people to move, to be active, and to be happy. 

So, all the collaborators are almost neighbors. It's kind of crazy to me, also, to think that maybe the laser engraver person is actually just down the block, or the person who's doing the gears in the lab is actually behind the other mountain, and so and so. So, it's kind of, the region here in France, in the French Alps, has so many technological advances that are so close to make it possible to happen here.

Now we're here in the part where we are setting up the first, , , the beginnings of our production part of the, of the PERS technology itself. So now, , what we're looking at is we're looking at some of the racks that are going to hold all of the stock of the different parts. And here we have, , one of the first prototypes of the production.

So, yeah, here is more like, , let's say subassemblies and so, and over here is kind of the, the part where it feels almost theatrical because they have to rehearse little by little, like how you're going to put all the different parts and to understand what is the right balance, which I love as well on the French culture, is that what is the right balance of productivity versus rushing out to assemble something that has a really good quality.

We really care about quality, because we want to build something that really lasts for a long time. I mean, in theory, the, the pedaling system, we can theoretically last for about 50, 000 kilometers without the maintenance during the different iterations we were fixing the position, the position of the driver, , developing these new technologies around the pedaling system, but we are also developing other technologies. For instance, the steering and tilt. The vehicle tilts and it's all in order to have an amazing pedaling experience.

I'm Nicolas Holman. So I'm the CTO, Chief Technical Officer. So I'm in charge of technical development of our products. So both the Vigoz and the PERS. , it's really a vehicle that's fully, the PERS is a, is a brick that's integrated around pedaling. The Vigoz is a full Vehicle that's built around the pedaling experience. So there's a lot of new stuff in terms of vehicle architecture in terms of the fact that it has a steer by wire, and tilt and steer by wire. So the vehicle automatically leans into curves and steers accordingly. Three years ago what happened is that we said, “okay the PERS is going to be amazing on the Vigo, but we should use this technology for Other, , types of vehicles and in particular everything that looks like bikes”.

The PERS is really acting as a demultiplicator of the human, , power. So typically in the Vigoz, maybe the most impressive one is, , you pedal, you're going to produce typically a hundred watts, , and the vehicle is going to develop up to 40 kilowatt of power. So that's. times a lot of, , a big factor,  so it really demultiplies human power.

Would you say it's a car or a bike? 

It's an active vehicle. 

So it's neither? 

It's neither. It's different. You have to try it.

Great.  should we go for a little drive? Yeah. Is it like getting the other side, or?

So, we are installing the mule. And, , so, you are the back. I am front. And, , and now we can go for a ride. 

Let's do it. Yeah. 

It's like on the bike. If you adjust pedal forward and the mule go forward. The direction is also electronic. There is no mechanic between the hand and the wheel. So it's the same, it's just electrical order. So it's the same, when you just turn, it turns the wheel. And after it will also do the tilting, so the inclination of the vehicle.

It's like when you ride a motorbike. In fact you, if you are riding at high speed, the motor will go a bit,  will be a bit rolling. There will be a little bank, bank angle, and it's the same with this vehicle. 

Yeah, it's going to lean. 

Yeah, exactly. 

It's very smooth. 

Yeah. 

Feels smooth. 

Yes, there is only the frame. It's only the basic structure, there is no door, etc. Because it hasn't been developed yet, so it will be another prototype. 

Great, thank you. 

You're welcome. 

Let's pull up and we'll get out. 

Yep.

So the system itself is kind of the, the parallel system, the PERS is a generator. So on the bicycle versions, you can actually enter a mode where you can remove the battery. Yep. And the thing works like magic, like you don't have a battery and the bicycle still runs. , so part of it, of course you can potentially imagine like some sessions where you can, if you want not go to a gym, but basically you just park your vehicle in a nice landscape.

Then you kind of shut down the propulsion. Then you can actually recharge the vehicle just with your own energy. What our goal is to encourage active mobility. Pushing the boundaries of how people view transportations and exercise in their daily life. That's the future for the vehicle and the whole company.

So, if we're, how to measure that, there are different ways. But one of them could be how much the technology is getting traction in other vehicles, how the market is early showing, , kind of signals that it's going to be robust and so on. But for me, it's kind of an example of what a style of life is that allows you to be a little more human in a future that doesn't look that human.

We are still doing a lot of things, like a startup, which for us is very important. It's part of the culture, it's part of what we do. Keeps us flexible and keeps us innovating. , I think we are in a gray zone area where we, we still need to be having a lot of the attitudes of startup to be adaptable because we are, , I mean, the things that we are doing at Cixi right now, we are kind of from creating a new market, a completely new market of active mobility, , to building a new technology that can disrupt an existing market.

So for that, we need to be super flexible, and that's what startup does.

That was Carlos, Nicholas and Fabian from Cixi, teaching us all about the importance of integrating movement into our everyday lives. Now it's time to meet our expert, Jon Hershtick from PTC. Welcome back, John. This isn't the first time we have had a guest who is connected to Onshape, but in the case of 6e, we have a new customer who has recently displaced their previous product development platform with PTC's Onshape.

Are you able to give our listeners an idea of why they took that decision and what Onshape offers them? 

Cixi were having 20 to 25 percent of their time lost in crashes and instability from its former CAD and PDM solution. That solution wasn't cloud native and collaboration was difficult too. So with the deployment of Onshape, they not only receive better performance, but also other major benefits, including better organization.

Due to versioning and Onshape function that lets users capture design milestones, important changes, and compare. different, , design milestones and, and change points and increased collaboration. Thanks to our cloud native platform, Onshape improves CAD collaboration, which allows simultaneous editing.

And of course, better collaboration improves designs by bringing together diverse perspectives, which enhances overall team creativity, which lead to a better product. Cixi has a truly innovative product. And as I look at both the environment and my own health, I look forward to when I can purchase a Vigoz myself.

Thanks to John for providing us with his knowledge about Onshape. The Cixi team for their insight. And for our producer for taking us on the tour, please rate, review and subscribe to our bi weekly third angle episodes, wherever you listen to your podcasts and follow PTC on LinkedIn and X for future episodes.

Companies that make products the world relies on rely on PTC. This is an 18Sixty production for PTC. Executive producer is Jackie Cook. Sound design and editing by Rema McKenna. Location recording by Ashley Clivery. And music by Rowan Bishop.