Alpha Smart Car Wash

Industrial Designer · Frog Design
YIGOLI Intelligence
Product Design · Industrial Design
2020

Alpha is an AI-powered autonomous car wash system designed to automate vehicle cleaning and enable a fully unattended service experience at scale.

I developed high-fidelity visualizations for the Alpha system, which were used as primary assets for the product launch and widely distributed across media coverage.

I contributed to the ongoing development of the system, including design exploration for the car wash unit, the A1 Plus drying robot, and support for UI/UX and spatial experience in the first flagship location.

Impact

Deployed across 5,000+ locations, forming one of the largest automated car wash networks in operation.
The system serves over 12 million users with 10,000+ daily operations, powered by AI-driven automation and adaptive robotic learning.

Launch visuals and system demonstrations were widely featured across global media platforms and exhibited internationally at The Car Wash Show (Las Vegas, Nashville) and YASEN (Beijing).

My visual work was used as core launch assets across product release and global media coverage.

Design Decisions

Form refinement strengthens the central “Y” identity and simplifies the overall geometry.

Sidelight update to adjust sensor new placement.

A1 Plus Dryer Robot extends the A1 system while introducing a distinct functional identity.

Alpha Public Launch & Deployment, 2021

01. Alpha Form Refinement

Aside from the launch-stage rendering work, I contributed to a series of post-launch refinements for the Alpha model based on market feedback and updated development requirements.

Top cover finish
Modified the top cover from an all-yellow scheme to a darker finish, enhancing the product’s technological character while making the central “Y” identity more visually prominent.
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Top cover slope, side-light angle, and Y-shaped light strip
Adjusted the top cover slope and side-light angles, and narrowed the Y-shaped light strip to create a sharper and more high-tech appearance. The Y-shaped lighting component was developed with soft, transparent TPU injection molding to improve safety.

Branding integration
Added the YGL logo to the device body to strengthen brand recognition and visibility.

Side-light redesign for sensor requirementsTop cover finish
Redesigned the side-light form in response to engineering requirements for sensor placement, allowing the sensors to be embedded within the light housing while extending outward by approximately 5 cm.
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Top-cover structural bracket
Replaced the internal structural ribs inside the top cover with a metal support bracket to improve strength and long-term durability.

02. System Integration

To strengthen the visual and functional presence of the car-washing robot itself, I worked on design adjustments that reduced the overall physical footprint and complexity of the surrounding industrial system.

Designing a pillar-based structure that systematically routes power and water supplies while housing the central control unit.
Incorporating QR-code-inspired recognition graphics at the top of the pillars as machine-readable information carriers for AI recognition, followed by graphic recognition testing.

03. A1 Plus Dryer Robot

I developed the initial form explorations for the A1 Plus dryer robot, extending the Alpha series design language while giving the dryer unit a clearly distinguishable identity.

Concept exploration and design positioning
Explored forms that aligned with the Alpha series while remaining visually distinct, then optimized the design around the structural requirements of the air-drying mechanism.
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Top-Cover Metal Support Frame
Designed the dryer robot’s metal support frame based on structural specifications provided by the engineering team.

04. UI/UX & Spatial Experience Support

I supported the YIGOLI App and spatial experience teams by creating conceptual demonstration models and physical experience mock-ups for interface and user-flow testing.

Conceptual demonstration models
Created highly conceptualized demonstration models for the YIGOLI App design team to support interface and user experience development.
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1:1 physical experience-store mock-up
Built a full-scale physical mock-up of the experience store, applying graphic and spatial design to test the customer experience and circulation flow.