A driverless shuttle bus is being tested in London for the first time.
For a limited time, members of the public are being given the chance to test out the vehicle as it travels around the London O2 Arena. It will be shuffling people around over the next 3 weeks in London and North Greenwich.
The vehicle technology was developed by Oxbotica and the company wants to get a feel for how the public is going to react to this sort of driverless autonomous pod. They hope that the design is going to improve public transport in congested areas and help to revolutionize the way that we travel within the city.
The vehicle is able to navigate by using lasers and cameras, as it travels along a riverside path that is also used by pedestrians and cyclists. The pod itself travels up to 10 miles per hour, and there are also plans to have a trained driver on board who would be able to stop the pod if needed while it is being tested.
The shuttles also come equipped with emergency stop buttons and it is able to see up to 100 meters in front of it in order to determine if there is anything in the way.
The pods are part of a multi-million dollar GATEway Project that hopes to have these on the road and accepting paying customers by 2019 on at least a trial basis. If proven successful, they might expand it to other locations across the nation.
Self-driving cars and taxi networks are coming to market quickly as a number of countries look toward projects that are seeking to have flying car networks built, autonomous cars put on the road etc. This is one market that is expected to show tremendous growth over the next several years.
Pics:
The Engineer
Digital Greenwich
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/04/05/driverless-shuttle-tests-begin-london/
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/uk-pod-trials-to-test-public-acceptance-of-driverless-vehicles/
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/uk-driverless-vehicle-tests-london-greenwich-oxbotica-gateway-project-a7668316.html
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